My world is filled with working with leaders daily. Everyone is busy. Everyone. Some of them forget that from time to time. Additionally, they forget “busy” is a choice. We do the things we want to do. That’s it. Saying we’re busy, using it as a shield to hide behind, is shorthand for “not important enough.” You’re not fooling anyone,…
When things are challenging, many of us get stalled at starting and proceed to feel bad. Once we feel bad, we justify our inaction by creating stories, rationalizations, excuses, and justifications thinking our feelings are reason enough to remain stuck. We do other things, deprioritize the “big” thing we need to do that might be new, different, larger in scope,…
To lead well means you turn challenges into chances. When things get difficult, pausing to get perspective will give you space for three things: Adaptation. In order to respond, not react, you change your plans to fit the situation, just like a pilot adjusts their course during a storm. Inspiration. Find ways to boost your team’s spirits, reminding everyone of…
Whoever said structure kills creativity clearly hasn’t met its partner. Picture this: creativity strutting around like a free-spirited rockstar, leather jacket, wild hair, and breaking all the rules. And who’s right there, making sure the show goes on? Structure, the unsung hero in this creative jam (by the way, this is also how Visionaries and Integrators partner). Think of structure…
“The task of leadership is to create alignment of strengths to make a systems’ weaknesses irrelevant.” – Peter Drucker When you think about it, no system is perfect. In fact, all are flawed. Yet, when you think about leadership, alignment is the sum of all talents, thoughts, ambitions, insights, beliefs, and behaviors. Your company can only go as fast and…
Over time, I’ve learned that life rewards action over intelligence. Being trapped in a cycle of overthinking, holding back from taking the necessary steps to move forward rarely leads to a better outcome. I’ve come to realize that courage is the missing ingredient that brings intelligence to life. Being smart doesn’t guarantee success or fulfillment. When I step outside my…
Have you ever started a day and it went to hell before you were an hour into it? Me too. I bet you’ve also had days where you awakened and felt like you could do nothing wrong, and within an hour you’d determined it could be one of the best days of your life. Me too. In either case, you…
Finding peace in the day. Some days, you’re ready to quit. You’ve had enough and that’s it. Sound familiar? For me, whether I’m ready or not, I’ve found several things that will “right my world” the vast majority of the time. During the summer months, we take a pontoon ride. Yup, that’s it. It only takes a lap or two…
Abundance. It’s easy to forget there’s more than enough of everything when you focus on what you don’t have. I see it every day with teams as we check in quarterly regarding their goals for the year. For those measuring on a calendar year, it often happens around June or September. They look at their progress relative to the goals…
Control what you can and release the rest. One thing I know about myself, if things feel out of control, I clean; I organize, I purge and I clean. It works. It restores a sense of peace in my environment, while I’m organizing, purging and cleaning I also declutter my thoughts. I empty some demons lurking between my ears. It…