“When you’re through changing, you’re through.” – Bruce Fairchild Barton One of the most challenging things leaders have to deal with is what I call a “legacy of success”. Leading an organization with a long history of high achievement sounds like it should be a great thing. It usually means a solid foundation of people, … Read more
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.” – Elbert Hubbard Normally in this space we’re talking about leadership, or change, or some kind of challenge we face in our organizations. Today is a little different. It’s still about a challenge, but that challenge is of a completely different … Read more
“It is what we know already that often prevents us from learning.” – Claude Bernard Most of the successful leaders I know pride themselves on being lifelong learners. They like to talk about how they’re always seeking new knowledge, new ideas, new ways of doing things, and that being open to all that kind of … Read more
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” – Alan Alda I’ve been reminded a number of times over the past several weeks of the impact that our beliefs and attitudes have on our lives. That maybe sounds like a pretty … Read more
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw So many leaders I talk to express frustration about the situations they find themselves in. The organizations they lead aren’t performing the way they’d like, something’s wrong with their people or products or services, or maybe they … Read more
“I am in competition with no one. I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone. I am simply trying to be better than the person I was yesterday.” – Unknown I’ve had several eerily similar conversations with leaders over the past two weeks that really forced me to stop and … Read more
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Joe Sabah One of the things I hear leaders talk about negatively on a regular basis is people. They’re frustrated that their people don’t want to work, or don’t want to work enough, that they have a bad … Read more
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” – John Maxwell When we read about changes throughout history, it’s usually something huge. Somebody invented the automobile, somebody found a cure for polio, etc. Big, giant, huge, immediately world-altering stuff. … Read more
“People learn something every day, and a lot of times it’s that what they learned the day before was wrong.” – Bill Vaughan In general, most people like stability. We want to wake up in the morning and know we can count on certain things to be the same way they were yesterday. People will … Read more
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar I had a conversation with a leader a few weeks ago that went something like this. Leader: “I’m frustrated with our people.” Me: “Why?” Leader: ”They don’t understand our vision.” Me: “Why might that … Read more
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