“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” – Ernest Hemingway Thinking about and planning for the future sounds like something we should do as leaders. There are millions of books/articles/videos on the topic. So we all talk about doing it, … Read more
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about comfort zones (here and here, for example). There are plenty of reasons for that, but one of them is the realization that there are way more people cruising … Read more
“No man can, for any considerable time, wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne There are dozens of leadership buzz words that show up in books, in webinars, wherever any kind of discussion of leaders and what they … Read more
“We find comfort among those who agree with us – growth among those who don’t.” – Frank A. Clark One very noticeable trait of human beings is that we want to be comfortable. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that idea. It probably has its roots all the way back in our days as hunters & … Read more
“Excellence does not require perfection.” – Henry James One common trait I see in the great leaders I work with is the desire to do things better. Whether it’s how they produce their good or service, whether it’s marketing, whether it’s something internal or people related, they’re always looking to improve. It’s just a regular … Read more
“It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready.” – Sarah Kay If we were playing a game of hide and seek with the year 2022, this would be the part where 2022 says, “Ready or not, here I come!” The way the past couple of years have gone, there are plenty of people … Read more
“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” – Oscar Wilde Right now it’s pretty easy to focus on what’s going wrong. Maybe that’s always easy for a lot of people, but it feels worse than usual. The past eighteen or so months have seemed like a nonstop parade of problems. … Read more
“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” – W. Edwards Deming For the past couple of weeks in this space, the topic has been change – how we can’t keep doing the same things we’ve been doing, even if they’ve worked in the past, and how if we’re feeling overwhelmed by that … Read more
“The man who moves mountains begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius Last week in this space the topic was change and the idea that regardless of how successful things have been in the past, we still need to be continually changing. I didn’t hear from anyone who disagreed; however, I did hear from … Read more
“All failure is failure to adapt; all success is successful adaptation.” – Max McKeown I recently had the opportunity to work with a 100+ year-old business that was thinking about leadership. The company President of 30+ years was retiring, and the board of directors was beginning the search for the next President. The company had … Read more
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