Excuses

17 Aug, 2011

Leadership & The Tea Party

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:29:53+00:00August 17th, 2011|Accountability, Government & Politics, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Personal Development|

What’s not to like? Millions of like-minded people promoting limited federal government, individual freedoms, personal responsibility, free markets, and a return of political power to the states and the people. How could anyone argue that the Tea Party is a bad thing? Oh wait! That can’t be right. The Tea Party is actually millions of small-minded people who engage in racist behaviors and want to take away the power of the federal government to set policy and help society by cutting the funding to every social program that they don’t like. So which is it? The answer is, “It depends on your point of view.”

3 Aug, 2011

The Love of Humanity

By Randy Pennington|2014-10-19T22:37:48+00:00August 3rd, 2011|Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Personal Development|

When I think of a “philanthropist,” I see someone like Bono, Oprah, or Bill Gates. I imagine that they wake up in the morning thinking about opportunities to influence the world for their cause. I, on the other hand, have a mortgage. I would like to spend my day tackling huge social and economic problems, but I have holes in my calendar that must be filled to pay my bills.

4 Jul, 2011

The Return of Responsibility

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:29:54+00:00July 4th, 2011|Accountability, Government & Politics, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Personal Development, Results|

The trials of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and disgraced self-help guru James Arthur Ray both ended in guilty verdicts. Blagojevich was found guilty on 17 of 20 counts of corruption. Ray was found guilty of three counts of negligent homicide from deaths in a sweat lodge ceremony. And though some would argue that the verdicts in both cases were never in doubt, the results could have gone either way. Here are three lessons leaders can learn from these two seemingly unrelated cases:

21 Jun, 2011

Milestones & Goals

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:29:54+00:00June 21st, 2011|Accountability, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Personal Development, Results|

Seventeen days can make a tremendous difference. The date was May 25, 2011. The Dallas Mavericks became the National Basketball Association’s Western Conference Champions for only the second time in its thirty-one year history. The 17,000-plus fans were anxious for a celebration. The team held up the trophy, smiled, posed for the obligatory photo-op, and then exited the arena – leaving ESPN reporter Doris Burke looking for someone to interview.

25 May, 2011

How Important Are Your Values? What Is Your Number 2?

By Randy Pennington|2011-05-25T18:31:34+00:00May 25th, 2011|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Performance Improvement, Personal Development, Results|

Values – every company hangs them on the wall and distributes them on wallet cards. It is the same for individuals. Ask ten of your friends to list their values, and at least eighty percent will use words like respect, integrity, and honesty. So how important are your values? Will you sacrifice them for the results and outcomes you desire? Are they so important that you would lay down your life – figuratively or literally – to protect them?

27 Apr, 2011

Are You in an Accountability Crisis?

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:29:59+00:00April 27th, 2011|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Performance Improvement, Personal Development, Results|

There are a lot of factors that could contribute to your lack of results – time, talent, resources – but for most of us the difference between excellence and mediocrity comes down to accountability. Accountability requires courage: Courage to tell and value the truth. Courage to remain keenly focused on results that matter, and courage to be relentless and unwavering as we look at contribution and behavior. The failure to stem a crisis of accountability places us on the path to mediocrity and worse – irrelevance.

15 Apr, 2011

The Rewards of Staying Stupid

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:29:59+00:00April 15th, 2011|Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Execution, Innovation, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Results|

I published a piece titled “Stupid Has Its Own Momentum” in November 2010. Since then, examples of stupid having its own momentum. have continued ... and continued ... and continued. Stupid maintains its own momentum because there are incentives to do so. Here are three powerful rewards to stay stupid:

15 Mar, 2011

How Public Sector Unions Could Work & Why They Won’t

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:30:00+00:00March 15th, 2011|Corporate Culture, Government & Politics, Leadership, Results|

Public employee unions could significantly increase their chances for voter support by taking the lead – or at least working together with their opponents – on the following actions: 1. Take strikes, work stoppages, and slowdowns off the table. The public has a right to expect that its public agencies continue to function even if there is a disagreement over terms of the contract. In return for this, public employee unions should receive the right for expedited arbitration over violations of the contract.

8 Mar, 2011

Why Public Sector Unions Could Become Extinct

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:30:00+00:00March 8th, 2011|Corporate Culture, Government & Politics, Leadership|

The standoff between Republican elected officials and their Democratic colleagues over the roll and scope of collective bargaining with public sector unions has escalated to the point where rhetoric has overtaken reason. So let’s look at what this means and why public sector unions could become extinct.

1 Mar, 2011

Getting Past Perception

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:30:00+00:00March 1st, 2011|Communication, Corporate Culture, Government & Politics, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Personal Development|

Fourteen senators leave the state. 60,000 plus show up to demonstrate. And, the next thing you know there’s a national debate on the role of public employee unions in the state budget crisis occurring throughout the country. Those who support the unions see this as a not-so-veiled attempt to alter the essence of collective bargaining and limit the people’s right to protest. Union members see it as a fundamental challenge to their right to organize, and in some cases, a violation of their contract. The union leadership no doubt sees it as payback for supporting Democratic and pro-labor candidates. Those who support the various initiatives view this as a much needed step to reign in spending that is out of control. They view unions as – at worst - the enemy that have secured salary and benefits that are unavailable to them as private sector employees. “Why should government employees experience no pain when they are out of work,” they ask. There are probably even Republicans who view this as the perfect opportunity to weaken a political opponent. The problem with perceptions is that it only takes one act to prove you are right. As the saying goes, “All Indians walk in single file. I know that to be true because the one I saw was doing it that way.”

31 Jan, 2011

Leading in the Face of Crisis

By Randy Pennington|2014-11-02T18:53:09+00:00January 31st, 2011|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Communication, Execution, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change|

Every crisis presents us with an opportunity to lead or shirk from service. It either paralyzes us from moving forward, or it pushes us to take action. Here are five actions you can take to lead your organization or team through tough times:

28 Dec, 2010

Resolutions for Results

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:30:01+00:00December 28th, 2010|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Leadership, Personal Development|

The tradition of New Year’s resolutions dates back more than 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians. Even then people were failing to turn intention into action. Very few of the good intentions professed as a New Year’s Resolution will ever come to fruition. The goals are noble, but the choices are wrong. For 2011, consider forgetting your typical resolutions and make this the year of better choices.

29 Nov, 2010

Leader or Liar?

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:30:02+00:00November 29th, 2010|Communication, Corporate Culture, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Personal Development|

We choose every day. Consciously or not, we make it nonetheless. Are we a leader or a liar? Here is the challenge – we know our intentions, but simply look at our behavior and performance filtered through their lens of perception. Did we do what we said we would do? We may see ourselves as a leader, but to others we are simply lying to them or ourselves.

22 Nov, 2010

Recover From Screw Up’s

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:30:02+00:00November 22nd, 2010|Business Growth, Communication, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Performance Improvement, Personal Development|

Mistakes happen. The lawyers are paid to tell you the answer that will protect your legal interests, just like your CPA is paid to tell you the answer that will protect your tax interests. You, on the other hand, are responsible for making the best leadership decision.

15 Nov, 2010

Stupid Has Its Own Momentum

By Randy Pennington|2016-10-29T15:30:02+00:00November 15th, 2010|Business Growth, Communication, Corporate Culture, Execution, Innovation, Leadership, Performance Improvement, Results|

We have all seen and/or participated in an experience similar to my purchase of an Arabian horse. More important, we have witnessed the result of a well-intentioned idea gone bad in the communities and organizations we serve. Stupid – once in play – can take on a life of its own.

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