“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy Everyone knows change is hard. And it’s not only hard to change, sometimes it’s hard to even wrap our minds around what change to make. We’re bombarded with ideas … Read more
“The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.” – Jeff Haden People like to talk about work ethic. It’s one of the core things that we value. Questioning someone’s work ethic is considered by almost everyone to be a huge insult. Any suggestion that we lack work ethic is a personal affront. And lots of … Read more
“Stop making excuses. You’re the only one stopping you.” – Issa Rae Life can be overwhelming. There are literally thousands of pieces of information coming at us on a daily basis. A study done not that long ago determined that we are hit with the equivalent of 150+ newspapers’ worth of information every day. It’s … Read more
“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can be grateful that thorn bushes have roses.” – Tom Wilson It seems to be fashionable these days to be as negative as possible. Finding something wrong in every situation and then complaining about it has become something of an art form. It’s almost like we’ve … Read more
“You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow It’s hard to escape our past, and I’m not talking about last week or last year. I’m talking about centuries ago, and the fact that our brains have developed to keep us safe. It started when we were … Read more
“People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it’s served up.” – George R. R. Martin Occasionally, a topic hits home for the visitors to this space. Both last week and the week before, the topic has been the idea that a vast number of leaders appear to be either … Read more
“Denial is a common tactic that substitutes deliberate ignorance for thoughtful planning.” – Charles Tremper Last week in this space, the topic was leaders operating in fantasyland. Based on the feedback we received, it’s even more common than we thought. In particular, leaders are apparently demonstrating the highest levels of delusion when it comes to … Read more
“I have been driven by curiosity rather than certainty, by the wish to understand rather than the desire to pass judgment.” – Ramachandra Guha Being a leader is difficult, and it’s especially difficult when things happen that don’t fit your expectations of how people, or the world, should work. Sometimes, the very core things we … Read more
“Never be so focused on what you’re looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.” – Ann Patchett Last week in this space, the topic was vision. Creating a clear, compelling vision isn’t easy, and most organizations never really get it done. Even organizations that succeed in terms of vision are faced with … Read more
“Imperfect action stops incessant overthinking.” – Jake Thompson It seems like an oversimplification to say that many leaders suffer from paralysis of analysis, but just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s not true. Leaders everywhere routinely fail to make decisions or take action because they can’t stop thinking. Obviously, you shouldn’t make decisions or take … Read more
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