Tag: leader

10 Tips To Help You Become A CEO

Making the leap from entrepreneur to CEO isn’t always an easy journey.  I’ve seen many people struggle with this transition.  The ability to lead is not something you are born with; it is something you must constantly cultivate.  And, the more success you have, the more leadership will be required.  It is one thing to […]

Feedback Is a Gift, Even When It Is Hard To Hear

  I live and operate in a professional world where feedback is a part of life. I am fortunate to surround myself with people who pay for the privilege to hear what others have to say about their business, their decisions, and their actions. It is not always easy to hear even though we know […]

Leader versus Anti-Leader

We are certainly in trying times. It feels like a period where our country is crying out for leadership. And, sadly, leadership seems to have taken a vacation.

11 Things Every CEO Should Be Doing Right Now

If you are a CEO, the time to lead is now! It is a fact of life that the only constant in the world is change. You cannot resist the future you must only embrace it. In addition, as we’ve seen lately, the present can change course quickly. This is why adaptability is such an […]

Leadership Thought #476 – Five Traits That Separate the Best Leaders From the Pack

What are the traits of high-performing leaders? Because of my line of work, I am fortunate to spend time with many successful people and study and research the topic even more. One theme that runs through of my experience/research is that financial success (while important) is not the primary driver of an individual business leader’s […]

Leadership Thought #482 – We Need Move Towards Not Away From One Another

We need to move towards not away from one another. I worry that lately, we are a culture that has embraced a “divide and conquer” mindset.  Instead of “win-win”, we think “win-lose.”  Instead of choosing to co-exist with people who think differently from ourselves, we further and further isolate ourselves from others who could potentially […]

Leadership Thought #460 – You Set The Tone in Your Organization

The leader of an organization always sets the tone. Never forget this fact. I am often slightly bemused when I hear a leader complain about the state of things in their organization. It’s almost as if they remove themselves from the equation. They wonder how things have devolved to this point as if it is some deep mystery when all they have to do is look in the mirror. Your people are a reflection of your hiring decisions; the quality of your meetings is directly related to how you lead them and model this behavior for others; missing deadlines is a reflection of what you are willing to tolerate in others and yourself; a lack of focus almost always starts at the top; teamwork only ever happens when the coach sets the expectations and creates the conditions for this to happen; optimistic or pessimistic cultures are usually a reflection of leader’s point of view; etc.

Leadership Thought #306 – Tired People Tell The Truth

Quite a few people bemoan the length of our presidential primaries and other election campaigns these days – I don’t. People can keep up an act or tell you what you want to hear for a short period of time, but when they get exhausted by the rigors of a long campaign and tired of answering the same old questions the same old way, the eventually will slip up and say what they truly feel or believe. In addition, when you are speaking to a niche audience with a particular ideology or playing to the base, it takes a strong personality to say what you believe they need to hear rather than what they want to hear. Whether you agree with him or not, Ron Paul (who has no chance of winning) has been fairly consistent on this front while the others seem to adjust their rhetoric to fit the moment and forget their own checkered past. The good news is that when people get tired and consistently challenged they usually end up telling the truth. Rick Santorum is a case in point this past week.

Daily Leadership Thought #130 – We Continue to Persevere!

Today we got the news that Osama Bin laden has been killed and is no longer a personal threat to the world. Justice has been served and hopefully our leaders will be keep forging ahead and doing what is right to protect our country and its allies from senseless violence and terrorism. I’m sure it has been and will continue to be a difficult and frustrating job for those responsible for our homeland security. It’s been a long time since 9/11.

5 Things Aaron Rodgers Did Right As A Leader

I know a lot of people get tired of sports metaphors for business and life, but they can still sometimes ring true. Everything Aaron did well is applicable in our personal and professional lives. I didn’t really have a horse in this race as a fan. I just wanted to see a good game and my expectations were exceeded. We also observed one of the best leadership performances I can remember in a long time on a football field (and during the two weeks leading up to the game).

Daily Leadership Thought #85 – Redundancy Is Important

A sign of a mediocre leader or manager is an unwillingness to let go of responsibilities and trust that others will get the job done as good as or better than they can. These individuals feels it is what they know and control that makes them important and ultimately irreplaceable.