Right around now, many people who resolved to make positive changes this year are floundering. It’s easy to get pulled down by a few slips off our intended path. Pick up a cup of water or coffee and estimate how heavy it is. Now hold it straight out sideways at shoulder height. How much heavier […]
Read post »A New Year’s resolution is too often a good intention that goes in one year and out the other. To change habits we often need inspiration and action – or “inspir-action.” Here are action steps to build habits that continually move us out of wallowing, beyond following, to leading: • This is the perfect time […]
Read post »One evening I was slowly eating my dinner with Heather. She waited and waited for me to finish and finally asked me to hurry up. I told her I was mindfully eating by savoring every bite of the delicious meal she had prepared. She told me to “savor faster.” “Fast savoring” is an apt oxymoron […]
Read post »After a cool and wet spring in much of eastern North America, last week we finally started those lazy, hazy days of summer. Relaxing in a shady spot or sandy beach with a good book sounds pretty good. Since I am an avid reader, and I have just finished writing another book, here are some […]
Read post »As I am finishing the last editing stages of my latest book, Growing @ the Speed of Change, I am running into huge number of speaking and workshop Clients wrestling with massive personal and organizational change. It’s a powerful reaffirmation of the focus and message of this book. And I don’t think it’s just me […]
Read post »Here’s a an e-mail that caught me by surprise and made me sit up, take notice, and review what I’ve been sending out to subscribers of our Improvement Points service. “I enjoy your improvement points but think that you are far too hard on managers and leaders. Your articles show a distinct bias for employees […]
Read post »Too many managers seem to operate on a variation of an old Groucho Marx routine; “I’ve got top priorities. I am going to stick to those priorities. And if you don’t like those priorities…I have others.” It’s very hard to bring the discipline of a goal setting system or planning process to a team or […]
Read post »As I continue to think and write about leadership courage, two points stand out for me. The first point is around having the courage as a leader to make it easy for people in our organization or team to speak up. Most managers dump out information (mainly through e-mail) and call it “communication.” Strong leaders […]
Read post »I have known John for nearly twenty years. Our relationship started before he retired from his previous company and delivered his experience and wisdom to the larger world through consulting. He was an excellent coach and trainer with a strong internal reputation in the large Canadian bank where he worked. And his storytelling skills were […]
Read post »I have been thinking a lot about courage. It is at the core of leadership. What is courage? Most of us recognize its opposite in this snippet from The Wizard of Oz: Cowardly Lion: Look at the circles under my eyes. I haven’t slept in weeks. Tin Woodsman: Why don’t you try counting sheep? Cowardly […]
Read post »One of the rewards of being in my line of business is that I get to meet a wide variety of very interesting people doing this type of work. I met Donald Cooper five years ago and he’s become a very good friend. Besides being a funny and fascinating guy with lots of stories to […]
Read post »On the eve of his retirement from Industry Canada, Brian Johnstone sent me a thoughtful and reflective e-mail. With his permission, I am sharing a portion of it that draws the critical connection between personal and professional success. “Jim, your articles continue to provide focus and inspiration for me. I’m preparing to retire and this […]
Read post »There are about as many views and definitions of what encompasses “leadership” as there are experts in this field. There is one point that most leadership researchers and developers agree on: leaders are made, not born. Leaders are rarely naturals. But the ultimate level of mastery is to make it look natural. The great Italian […]
Read post »“The most fatal illusion is the settled point of view. Since life is growth and motion, a fixed point of view kills anybody who has one.” – Brooks Atkinson, drama critic “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer/philosopher “If we […]
Read post »The title of my fourth book, Growing the Distance (now available on our web site as an e-book download), reflects its focus on personal growth for personal, career, and family success. Following is an exercise taken from it’s Personal Implementation Guide. Both Growing the Distance and the Personal Implementation Guide are now part of an […]
Read post »Just telling people they need to grow is one thing. Actually offering practical ideas is what really helps leaders to reach their full potential. Here are a few ideas from dozens listed in the Growing and Developing section of the Growing the Distance: Personal Implementation Guide. Get a personal coach or counselor to guide your […]
Read post »Two and half years after I began writing (and more than fours after I conceived the book idea), I have finally finished the first draft of my Moose-on-the-Table book! Squeezing this writing between a major web site redesign, increasingly busy Client work schedule, and all the other writing I do for our newsletter and various […]
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