“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” – Peter Drucker One of the things I hear leaders talk about repeatedly is productivity. Usually, the conversation is about how they – as well as the rest of the organization – need to be more productive. Most organizations … Read more
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain There are any number of traits that people ascribe to great leaders, but one that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is courage. I’m not talking about the kind of courage that usually makes the news. I mean … Read more
“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it’s not open.” – Frank Zappa It goes without saying that the world we’re currently living in does not resemble anything most of us have seen before. Whether it’s customers, employees, the supply chain, financial markets, or any number of other things, everything around us … Read more
“Failure is the tuition you pay for success.” – Walter Brunell Sometimes, as leaders, we get frustrated with outcomes. We usually have pretty lofty goals, and when we don’t meet them it’s disappointing. We had these pictures in our heads of how things were going to work out perfectly, and when those pictures disappear it … Read more
“If you are tuned out of your own emotions, you will be poor at reading them in other people.” – Daniel Goleman One of the more popular topics in leadership today is emotional intelligence, or EQ. You can find a lot of definitions of EQ, but a simple one is this: EQ is the ability … Read more
“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” – Samuel Johnson It’s part of human nature that we tend to not want to make mistakes. We’re taught from an early age that mistakes are bad and successful people don’t make them. People who make mistakes are failures and usually suffer … Read more
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden Understatement of 2022: Sometimes our world is pretty complicated. It can feel like every decision or every action is impacted by literally dozens of factors, each of which is impacted by dozens more. We try to get our heads … Read more
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas.” – Steve Jobs Early in my career, I thought I understand the primary idea of leading an organization, at least when it came … Read more
“It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.” – Seneca Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and with those shapes and sizes come every different kind of personality. Every one of them has a different way of approaching and solving problems, … Read more
“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” – Frank A. Clark Last week in this space the topic was self-sabotage. I could probably write something about that topic every week for a year (don’t worry, I won’t). There are just so many ways that we are consistently our own … Read more
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