TheChangeAdvantage – Page 4

The First Thing

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt I was fortunate enough recently to have the opportunity to assist the leaders of a 120+ year-old business that was … Read more

Only So Much Patience

“God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it in the nest.” – Swedish proverb Patience is a complicated virtue. The dictionary says that patience is “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset”. We prize patience, we tell people they should be patient, we … Read more

Always Learning

“One should pay attention to even the smallest crawling creature, for these too may have a valuable lesson to teach us.” – Black Elk Last week in this space the idea was that leaders need to make decisions and deal with issues that need to be dealt with, rather than hesitating until someone or something … Read more

New Ideas

“Everybody believes in innovation until they see it. Then they think, ‘Oh no; that’ll never work. It’s too different.’ “ – Nolan Bushnell I’m fortunate to be able to work with leaders from a wide variety of backgrounds and industries. Learning about each of their unique situations is one of the best parts of my … Read more

Be Real

“The world changes in direct proportion to the number of people willing to be honest about their lives.” – Armistead Maupin Last week in the is space, the conversation was about letting go of what’s worked in the past in favor of what can work in the future. That’s a hard thing to do. And … Read more

Quit Looking Backwards

“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

Your Best Thing

“The success combination in business is: Do what you do better…and: do more of what you do.” – David Joseph Schwartz Leaders get pulled in a lot of different directions. That’s true whether you’re leading a small business, an international corporation, a local nonprofit, or any other group of people anywhere. Everyone in the group … Read more

Make Your Own Road

“There exists in the world a single path along which no one can go except you: wither does it lead? Do not ask, go along it.” – Friedrich Nietzsche One of the marks of a great leader is the willingness to ask for and accept help from others. Regardless of the topic – people, products, … Read more

Challenges

“If you don’t think every day is a good day, just try missing one.” – Cavett Robert Being a leader is difficult. You get bombarded with questions and requests and complaints. You’re asked to make decisions that no one else wants to make. You’re responsible for organizational outcomes, even if you didn’t necessarily have any … Read more

Tell The Truth

“If you’re the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong – that’s healthy.” – Robert Townsend One of the struggles that many people in leadership roles face on a regular basis is a lack of honesty. It’s not because leaders are surrounded by people who are habitual liars. … Read more

GPS Blog

It's time to go "Beyond the Numbers".