vision

The Olympics of Dedication

by

The Olympics have a way of shining a new light on the meaning of dedication.

The opening ceremonies were comprised of one spectacular vignette after another, with thousands of performers, musicians and athletes knowing exactly where to go and what to do during every minute of their moment in the spotlight. That’s dedication.

Every commercial that runs during the Olympic Games tells the athlete’s tale of foregoing dessert, not watching TV, not skipping a single day’s workout in order to be the best. That’s dedication.

Then there was the Chinese farmer who spent the last two years traveling to London via rickshaw just to see the Olympic games. A little extreme, but yes – that’s dedication.

Read more

Fear and Vision

by

Fear paralyzes; sometimes we allow it to, calling it “caution”. It’s good to be cautious.  Not so good to be paralyzed. Either by over-analysis OR by fear. (Though, extreme analysis can combat fear; see Freakonomics for the statistics on child restraints…) A good nugget from Tim Ferriss’s Four-Hour Workweek is this (paraphrased): The thought of … Read more

Be smart about SMART goals (shortcut included)

by

Last week’s blog talked about the value of vision as a leader. With vision, you have a clear destination; a clear destination can aid in motivating your team. But with vision, comes goals. Goals serve as checkpoints on the way to your vision. But how do you know you have a goal worth pursuing? Enter: … Read more

Frame! (kind of a book report)

by

The brilliant folks at Manager Tools–specifically, Mark–have recommended this book highly for years.  I read much of it a while ago, and recently picked it up to re-read it. In 300 words, here’s why it’s worthy of attention; read at least chapters 1, 2, 16, and 20. (Those chapters recommended by Luther College professor Schweizer — … Read more

Effective Leaders get Everyone in the “Right Seat”

by

When I read the (rightly) popular Good to Great, I found myself agreeing with nearly everything in principle, but thought that some concepts were a little too idealistic for a small- to mid-sized organization.  Massive businesses, like his examples, have more luxury to move people around, for example.

That’s why I had a touch of a problem with

Read more

Priorities – why I’m not writing a blog post this week…

by

I blog for a couple of reasons — mostly to spread the word about positive leadership and its effectiveness to as many people as possible, and make it “real” by providing examples and tools. Also, I do it to provide a “touchstone” for current and previous clients (although I truly consider “previous” clients to be … Read more

What Three Things Make the Biggest Difference? (Part One)

by

It is good to be efficient, yes. It is also good to be comprehensive. Sometimes, however, those two things don’t work well together. Since starting this business, most of my work helping groups has been through 4-8 hour workshops. There is a demand for leadership training that can be delivered in much shorter periods of … Read more