The Machine That Oils Itself
My friend – and one of the Five Friends bloggers – Mark Sanborn wrote an excellent blog post last week titled “Why You Might Want to Stop Being a Thought Leader.” The premise is that [...]
15
Dec, 2014
18
Nov, 2014
Why Your Story Trumps Your Resume
I had the good fortune to meet and work with Bill McDermott years ago when he was with Xerox. Since then he has gone on to lead SAP and now write an excellent book titled [...]
3
Nov, 2014
Who Creates Jobs?
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent political commentators into high gear with her statement that businesses and corporations don’t create jobs. She went on to say that trickle-down economics has proven to be a [...]
20
Oct, 2014
Embrace the Coyote: Creating & Sustaining a Nimble Culture
The Road Runner cartoons are wrong. Wile E. Coyote is the exception rather than the rule. Coyotes are idea models for remaining nimble and flourishing in the face of change. Need proof? They continue to [...]
8
Sep, 2014
The Truth About Your Results
Your business, and your life are perfectly situated, organized, and operated to achieve the results you are achieving today. In short, you are exactly where you have earned the right to be. Don’t you hate [...]
1
Sep, 2014
Perspectives: Why Is Customer Service So Bad At Most Places?
From Scott McKain: Customer service is bad at most places, because evidently that is what CEO’s and managers want. What other reason could there be for them to accept such miserable performance? Most care more [...]
28
Aug, 2014
Leaders and Posers
I have stayed away from any direct public comment about the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. I don’t know the facts, and any comment would be pure conjecture. But, I do know what [...]
19
Aug, 2014
What is a Leader’s Most Important Job?
From Larry Winget: A leaders most important job: To lead. Duh. How do you lead? Not from behind, that’s for sure. Leaders have to get out in front with their ideas, vision, energy and presence. [...]
28
Jul, 2014
Slow Down Time to Experience Richer Results
I saw the movie Lucy this weekend. If you like a good sci-fi action movie combination put this one on your list. It isn’t amazing, but it will make you think. At one point, Lucy [...]
20
Jul, 2014
What’s in a Name Change? Part III
The first two parts of this blog series dealt with what went wrong when the National Speakers Association announced a name change and re-branding effort at its annual convention on July 2. Today we look at what went right.
13
Jul, 2014
What’s in a Name Change? Part II
Napoleon said, “A leader is a dealer in hope.” When it comes to change, that responsibility extends to creating the context of why and how the current reality should and could be different.
8
Jul, 2014
What’s in a Name Change? Part I
The majority of the world spent the last five days living their life. A small slice of the universe who make their living selling ideas, however, were agitating themselves into a frenzy. In case you missed it, the National Speakers Association, an association of which I am a member, decided to re-brand itself and change its name to PLATFORM. This is a first world problem. In the context of all of the turmoil in the world, the re-naming of this 41-year old association ranks right up there with … well almost nothing. And yet, people on all sides of the argument lit up the blogosphere and social media channels supporting their positions … even if it meant refusing to consider that others might be equally right in their own stance (see my blog on “Is It Always Right to be Right” for more on that phenomenon.)
2
Jul, 2014
Challenge Your Thinking. Focus Your Execution. Deliver Desired Results.
The walls of The Loomis Agency are adorned with pictures of dogs. There are so many photos and references to our beloved canine companions that conspiracy theorists might wonder if the company is secretly reviving [...]
17
Jun, 2014
The Fault in Our Institutions is the Fault Within Ourselves
The lack of confidence in the institutions that define our collective culture is threatening the civility, economic prosperity, and standing of the United States as a world leader. Let’s start with the government. The President’s [...]
12
Jun, 2014
Is It Always Right to Be Right?
The 1971 Oscar in the Short Film, Cartoon category went to a piece titled “Is It Always Right To Be Right.” It was directed by Lee Mishkin, narrated by Orson Welles, and written by Warren Schmidt. The opening words of the film are: There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it. It was a land where people stated with confidence, "I am right and you are wrong." These were words of conviction, courage, strength, and moral certainty. In this fictional land, any attempt at cooperation and understanding were viewed as cowardice and weakness. Everyone was so convinced of their rightness that no one dared to utter words such as, “You may be right” or “I may be wrong.”