The Art of Leading Coaching & Influencing Others: It’s Not About You! As a leader, coach, or influencer … when you make yourself the center of attention or the focus … you will fail more times than you win. Leading – When a leader chooses to be self-centered versus being other-centered, their people sense it…
Leadership Projection: Is It Just a Mere Image? Projection is a defense mechanism where we take a part of us that we don’t like (i.e. our arrogant-self, selfish-self, or our untrusting-self, etc.) and project it onto someone else. For example if we look at someone and say ” What an arrogant ass” while there may…
How To Get Unstuck … At different times in my life I have felt stuck. Stuck in the sense of being fastened, hindered, or held stationary by some obstruction or obstacle. Whether it was a relationship, an employee situation, a business deal, a career, or just a mental state, I would find myself unable to move forward, backward, or…
What it is … What it Could be? A great mentor of mine, Dr. Nido Qubein, once shared the difference between problem solving and solution finding. He said, “Problem solving is looking at what it is … Solution Finding is looking at what it could be!” This idea has influenced my beliefs since I first…
Leadership: Be Careful … It’s a Jungle Out There! Many years a go Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company sponsored a show called The Wild Kingdom. It was a show hosted by Marlin Perkins along with his co-host, Jim Fowler. Each an every Sunday night they took their audiences on amazing animal adventures around the globe. As…
Productivity & The Law of Unintentional Consequences A short time ago I was working with a team of senior leaders. We were discussing the overall purpose of the organization and the bottom-line goal that was driving the organization forward. In most companies these are things like profit margin, revenue, sales targets, production goal, etc.. This…
Emotions, Decisions, and Business There is plenty of research on the role that emotions play in the decision-making process. Some folks believe that people make decisions based on rational analysis. And yet, research shows that emotions play a much bigger role because our emotions determine our preferences and we make choices based on what we prefer.…
The Art of Listening vs. The Ignorance of Interrupting 72 Interruptions … Yes, count them! Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine interrupted his opponent or the debate moderator 72 times in a 90 minute period. That’s once every 75 seconds! He wasn’t interested in debating, he had an agenda and he was driving it home. He…
Influencing Others: Outside-In or Inside-Out Your greatest ability to influence others comes from the fact that influencing others is not an outside-in job … it is an inside-out job! Before I explain why … answer the following questions and be brutally honest with yourself: In a conversation with another person, do you spend the majority…
Are You a Leader or a Glorified Individual Contributor? No one ever said that being a leader was going to be easy. In fact … I believe that being an effective leader is one of the greatest challenges one can face in their lifetime. Why? Because it requires a fundamental shift in how you perceive…