The Gallup organization just released its latest survey results about the perceptions of honesty and ethics for 22 professions. There are honest and ethical people in every profession. Rankings such as this reinforce a very important principle: Scandal paints with a roller not a brush. When enough people in any profession act dishonestly and unethically, it hurts everyone in the profession.
The people who have moved from success to significance in the personal lives don’t give because they are successful. They are successful because they give. They are not merely thankful for their success. They are thankful for the opportunity to strive. Research cited by Dr. Robert Emmons in his book, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, suggests that people who operate from a heightened place of gratitude and thankfulness typically experience better overall health, fewer physical symptoms, higher income, more energy, larger social networks and stronger marriages.
This blog was first published in 2010. Considering we are near the end of perhaps the most divisive Presidential elections in recent U.S. history, it is an excellent time for all of us to reflect and ask ourselves - are we leaders or liars?
What would you do to secure your 15 minutes of fame? How about to increase your financial well-being? Would you exploit your child on national television? Would you reinforce and applaud behavior that is likely to create lifetime problems for your child? Would you become the family that everyone loves to ridicule? For the parents of Honey Boo Boo, the uber-precocious child with her own show airing on TLC, the answer is yes and a lot more.
The "Weeds" series finale on the Showtime network left a lot of people disappointed. I was one of them until it hit me: The entire ending was about Nancy Botwin’s key question. What is your key question? Embracing your question provides the measuring stick for your success. It lights the path toward the results you need to achieve in order to be fulfilled. And, it defines what it means to be significant and contribute.
You can blame technology or globalization or anything else you want. It doesn’t really change the fact that the status quo is the kiss of death for every person, every organization, and every marketplace. And that is where constant change becomes the new stability.
Two incidents occurred in the past week that reinforces a critical factor in every leader’s effectiveness: The impact of mistrust. Both incidents prove this truth about the ability to influence others: If they don’t trust you, everything you say will be twisted against you and nothing you say will be given the benefit of the doubt.
Amazing rhetoric makes for interesting water cooler and Facebook conversation. Amazing results makes for legendary leadership. For which would you rather be known?
There are several guarantees in the campaign for President of the United States: • The other side – regardless of the side you are on – will be portrayed by their opponents as completely out of touch with the “average” American • Every candidate will make promises that can only be kept with the cooperation of Congress, and every candidate will pledge to work with their opponents across the isle • Personal attacks will be plentiful and usually cloaked in an argument about policy implications • The choice between candidates will always be framed as two distinct visions that will determine the destiny and fate of the country • Integrity – or specifically the lack of it – will be called into question by the candidates, their surrogates, and the media pundits There is little any of us can do to change the first four items on this list. They are going to happen regardless of any efforts to restore civility and common sense to the campaign.
Most of the people I speak with today describe their life as running as fast and far as they can … and then being asked to run even faster and farther. One of the participants in a leadership boot camp I’m conducting for a client asked for help with time management. It turns out that she didn’t really need time management tips at all. She keeps a calendar with priorities, and she knows all of the time management techniques she needs to be successful. In fact, this leader is widely considered to be very effective by her colleagues. The problem that we face isn’t time management. It is focus and resource allocation to be more effective.
Another month, and another weaker than expected jobs report. So what’s up with the economy? Welcome to the new normal: Unemployment that is higher than anything we can remember in decades. Scores jobs are available due to a lack of skilled workers. Slow growth that feels like a recession even though technically it isn’t, and most of all, uncertainty.
We live in an era of unprecedented uncertainty. At least that is what we are led to believe. Yes, the economy is sputtering at best. Jobs are at risk or non-existent. Europe could implode financially. The Middle East could implode politically. Depending on your political views, either the left or the right is about to take the country over a cliff from which there is no return. The challenges we face are certainly more expansive in their scope, but unprecedented uncertainty? Hardly. Do you believe that the level of personal anxiety is any higher today than that which existed during the Cuban Missile Crisis; World War I or II; the Civil War; the Great Depression; or life in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War?
In this era of economic uncertainty and stretched-thin corporate resources, many workers feel the need to practically chain themselves to their desks in order to maximize their productivity and thereby prove their worth. No one really likes the idea, but these days, how can you get everything done in less than sixty hours a week? In her new book, What to Do When There's Too Much to Do: Reduce Tasks, Increase Results, and Save 90 Minutes a Day, Laura Stack says the key is to work less to achieve greater success. She turns time management on its head and debunks the idea that you have to run yourself ragged to be more productive.
Our sins, as we learn from religious teaching, corrupt our character and cloud our sense of what is right and wrong. Most important, they form a habit pattern that leads to our downfall. It works that way for organizations, too. Here are the seven deadly sins for business success today:
My friend Larry Winget (www.LarryWinget.com), blew up his Facebook following last week when he posted this comment: “If your life sucks, it’s because you suck!” A number of people missed Larry’s point. Your life isn’t defined by your circumstances unless you allow it. There are many people – like my friends W. Mitchell and Chad Hymas – who have refused to allow tragic circumstances that were not their fault define their lives. And, there are others whose lives have spiraled out of control despite living in ideal circumstances. Circumstances can make it easier or more difficult to succeed. They can define your environment. But ultimately, the choice to be personally responsible and accountable is more important than your circumstances.