“When we view our path with clarity, we move with accelerated purpose and intent. We go forward with a full and committed heart.” ― Kevin Hall

What is the greatest tool you have as a leader? Every leader has this tool in their box, but not every leader has the skill to use the tool effectively, if at all. Notice I said tool and not skill.

Suppose you had a paintbrush and wanted to paint a beautiful piece like the Sistine Chapel. Could you do it? Maybe you could, but I am no artist so, no one would rave about my art. Just because I have the tool or paintbrush, doesn’t make me an artist. And just because I have the tools of leadership, it doesn’t make me a leader. Having the tool and having the skill to effectively...

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt 

Strong relationships begin with respect, and respect is about valuing people. This does not mean placing value on what they can do for us, or what we can get out of them, but truly valuing them as people.

On a scale of 1 to 10, we should treat every person as a 10. This is not as easy as it sounds. My observation, having worked as a leadership trainer for decades and in many different organizations, is that the number one issue leaders face is the inability of people to get along. Getting a team of individuals to work together is their biggest challenge.

These are adults in professional...

"Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths." ~ John Zenger

What does it take to be a leader? Are some personalities natural-born leaders while others of different personalities are exempt?  Can someone in a support position be considered for a leadership position? 

These are some of the questions I encounter as I work with organizational leaders to fill positions within their respective companies. They are important questions, too, because placing a person in the wrong role can have costly consequences – both financially and in the performance of the team as a whole. 

In my observation through many years, leadership is not limited to one certain...

"We all die. The goal is not to live forever; the goal is to create something that will.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk

 What does legacy mean to you?

To me, it means leaving an impression or a memory that lingers long after a person is gone.

Recently, my son and I were having dinner after hitting some golf balls on the driving range. As we sat in the clubhouse, my son then asked me about my grandmother, who died in 1998. Immediately, I was hit with a flood of emotion. I began to stare off into space, and my eyes began to water.

What caused this in me?

It was the legacy that my grandmother left in my life, the impression that is still imprinted on my heart.

When I visit my hometown, I can mention my grandmother’s name, and people...

Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is considered the cruelest of punishments. ― Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts

In his book The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, Gary Chapman talks about the five different ways love can be communicated. The premise is that not everyone “hears” love spoken the same way. 

How can we apply these in the workplace? 

Because we live in a very politically correct and regulation-based society, we have come to a place where we go to extremes to treat everyone the same. The issue with that is that everyone is NOT the same....

 “What do I mean by concentration?

I mean focusing totally on the business at hand and

commanding your body to do exactly what you want it to do.”

- Arnold Palmer

The word for this week is FOCUS.  It is the magic key to carrying through on those IDEAS we talked about in our previous article. 

We all know people who have a case of “shiny object syndrome” – in fact, we all have shiny object syndrome at times. Maybe you’ve started out checking your email with the intent of completing an important project your manager has just sent you…and ended up an hour later looking at decorating ideas on Pinterest. As the boss walks back in to see how it’s going,...

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. 
- Winston Churchill

Have you ever heard the saying that if someone is not mad at you, then you are not leading?

I suppose there is some truth in that. Over my life and in my leadership, I have made plenty of people upset at me. I never do this purposely, but in leadership, we just can’t please everyone.

As leaders, we can never look at a lack of consensus as failure. And yet, I know many who do. A failure to gain agreement for every idea and every direction we need to go as a leader or as an organization is not failure.

I do believe that, as a leader, you need to work really hard to gain buy-in. In John Maxwell’s book The 21...

“Good leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” ~ Jack Welch 

We live in a world of distractions – internet, email, phone calls, Zoom, voicemail, television, radio, social media, advertising, and many other avenues that, if not managed well, will distract us into oblivion. Compound that with the fact that, in the world today, change is a constant. Every year, it increases in speed and frequency.

There has never been a more vital time in history than now to stay focused on your vision and clearly communicate your vision to your team.

Most leaders begin their days checking emails, to-do lists, and voicemails, letting those...

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”  ~ George Bernard Shaw 

I am reminded of a story about Orville and Wilbur Wright. They had seen a bird fly and thought if a bird can fly, then so could man. They set out to prove their theory. Along the way, their father kicked them out of the family and said, “If God meant for man to fly, he would have given him wings.”

Do you think Mr. Wright changed his mind? I am not sure. I don’t know that part of the story. But I do know this: the Wright brothers will be remembered in history forever because they kept pushing toward progress and changed the way man traveled. We now fly all over the world...

“We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”
~ Max Dupree

What have you dreamed of doing your whole life, but haven’t done it yet?

For many years, I dreamed of speaking to and training others, but I didn’t do it. You see, I had this fear of showing up and forgetting my name like I did when I was 15 years old and was asked to speak in front of a bunch of my peers. This memory held me back for a long time. I would even take F’s in college on speaking projects because of this fear.

I was stuck, being who I was instead of becoming what I wanted to be.

When I joined the military, it was a perfect training ground for me. If you want to grow and get promoted in the military, you must be able to...