“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber One of the difficult lessons of the past year is that we always have to be prepared for the unexpected. I don’t mean that you can physically prepare for every eventuality. I just mean that you have to be prepared for … Read more
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” – John Wooden Almost everyone I meet talks about how little time they have. They have a laundry list of things to do, and not enough time to get them all done. It feels like we’re all … Read more
“I thank you in advance for the great round of applause I’m about to get.” – Bo Diddley Over the past 12 months we’ve been very rudely reminded that there are a lot of things in the world that affect our businesses that we have no control over. There is constant pressure from outside forces … Read more
“You may not control all of the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou Most years, we start off the month of January with big ideas about growth, or increased profitability, or some new product or location, or any number of “business” things that … 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
“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
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