“I remind myself every morning. Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” – Larry King One of the traps we fall into as leaders is the idea that we’re supposed to know everything, or at least have a well-formed opinion on … Read more
“If you can do what you do best and be happy, you’re further along in life than most people.” – Leonardo DiCaprio Sometimes when I talk to leaders, I get the impression that things like “happiness” and “purpose” and “unique abilities” are not part of their vocabulary. It’s as though doing your job as leader … Read more
“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” – Winston Churchill There has not been a shortage of things to worry or stress about in the past ten months. We’ve experienced any number of things that would normally be enough to put us on edge – and then we’ve experienced a global pandemic just … Read more
“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” – Bill Vaughan Much to the relief of a lot of people, 2020 is gone. However, as one leader put it to me a few days ago, so far 2021 hasn’t been … Read more
“Tomorrow belongs to those who can see it coming.” – David Bowie It’s time to head into a new year, full of opportunities and challenges. We’ll be taking the next few weeks off to spend time with family and to recharge. Please make time to be with people you care about and do things that … Read more
“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.” – Lao Tzu One of the things that we’ve been reminded of over the past nine months is that, when subjected to stress and uncertainty for long periods of time, people wear down. Last week in this space we talked about energy, and … Read more
“Failure is more frequently from want of energy than want of capital.” – Daniel Webster Energy, or lack thereof, has been an issue for leaders for as long as leaders have existed. I’m sure that, thousands of years ago, the head cave man was tired and run down and felt overwhelmed with all the responsibilities … Read more
“Not being able to do everything is no excuse for not doing everything you can.” – Ashleigh Brilliant No one in a leadership role ever says, “I really hope we can work hard to make this organization mediocre.” No one. We’re taught from an early age that we should want to be great, that we … Read more
“People really don’t have to give you anything, so appreciate what people give you.” – Aretha Franklin As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on this side of the world, I’d like to thank each of you for taking a few minutes out of your week to read this blog. We consider ourselves fortunate to be … Read more
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” – Zora Neale Hurston In normal times, those leaders who are able to maintain focus in spite of all the noise nearly always outperform those who don’t. Being able to put aside things that don’t matter, or things they can’t control is one of the … Read more
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