At a leadership conference years ago, I shared the stage with the CEO of a top-performing company known for its powerful combination of management discipline and people-focused leadership culture. He illustrated the defining role of vision, values, and purpose with a great personal example. He told us he called a friend and got this message; […]
Read post »As the Greek philosopher and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Plutarch, said, “If the ‘Know Thyself’ of the oracle were an easy thing, it would not be held to be a divine injunction.” Knowing what really floats our boat can be tricky. Are we allowing other people to “should on us?” Are […]
Read post »A young boy came home and told his dad that the other kids kept stealing his pencils at school. The father stomped off to the school to complain. “It’s not about the pencils,” he bellowed to his son’s teacher, “I get plenty of those from work. It’s the principle of stealing that bothers me most.” […]
Read post »Visions are values projected outward to the future. Values are visions turned inward. Both reflect and create each other in a synergistic — often unconscious — interrelationship. To see it, we need to be it. Intertwined visions and values are the core of personal, team, and organizational leadership. As with our visions or pictures of […]
Read post »In his book, The Hope Circuit: A Psychologist’s Journey from Helplessness to Optimism, reflecting on decades of research leading him to found the field of positive psychology, Martin Seligman writes, “I spend an enormous amount of my time imagining futures, daydreaming what-ifs, turning possible scenarios over and over, upside down, and backward, and the older […]
Read post »A wise old sage hosted a dinner. Toward the end of the meal, everyone was given fortune cookies and told that they’re holding their future in their hands. The guests eagerly opened them to read the words of wisdom they contained. The paper slips inside each cookie were blank. “Is this a joke?” they asked. […]
Read post »Visualization sparked my career and energized my life. When I was just starting out, someone recommended I read Claude Bristol’s book, TNT: The Power Within You. The book sparked such an intensity of energy and profound new awareness that I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep for almost a week. Even now, as I thumb […]
Read post »I’ve been studying and applying the power of positive pictures for most of my life. These skills, habits, and techniques are often called visioning, imagery, and visualization. They have a power for change, improvement, and energy creation that we’re only beginning to understand It’s hard to picture a positive, hopeful future if we’re not positive […]
Read post »Visualization energizes our dreams. The more vivid our visualization, the higher our energy and magnetic attraction. Neuroscience shows we’re hardwired to look for what’s wrong. If our ancient ancestors missed catching lunch, they’d keep trying for dinner. If they missed that rustling in the bush, they became lunch. We have a natural ability to imagine […]
Read post »That we are drawn by the future rather than just driven by the past is extremely important and directly contrary to the heritage of social science and the history of psychology. It is, nevertheless, a basic and implicit premise of positive psychology. Martin Seligman, Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being When I […]
Read post »Decades of research has proven the power of visualization in athletics, health, and personal, team, or organizational effectiveness. We become what we think about. The following is an exercise I’ve used personally, with my wife, Heather, and many groups. Recently I led a group of high potential leaders through this guided imagery process as part […]
Read post »The comedian Phyllis Diller once joked, “What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.” Hopefully, you’re not in that situation during the Holidays! This is a great time of year to step back to see if we’re caught in the speed trap. As the pace of life […]
Read post »Any job can become a career or calling, and any career or calling can become a job. A scientist, physician, or pastor may have initially felt called. But if he or she finds work has become drudgery, it’s now a job. An hourly production worker or hospitality server may have started in a job and […]
Read post »Extensive research in the last few decades on peak performance, leadership, personal effectiveness, adaptability to change, world-class athletes, and even the healing process, clearly shows the central role vision plays in success.
Read article »The beginning point of all our choices is our own thoughts. This is our personal source code that we execute or translate into action. Our thoughts set our programming instructions. Taking responsibility for our choices starts with choosing our thoughts.
Read article »The beginning point of all our choices is our own thoughts. This is our personal source code that we execute or translate into action. Our thoughts set our programming instructions. Taking responsibility for our choices starts with choosing our thoughts.
Read article »The "power of positive pictures" is a skill, habit, and technique often called visioning, imagery, and visualization. It has a power for change, improvement, and energy creation that we're only beginning to understand.
Read article »When our work is part of a deeper life calling we put our heart into it. Our work becomes our contribution to making this team, this organization, and this world just a little better because we passed this way.
Read article »Values provide a sense of common direction for all employees and guidelines for day-to-day behavior. Studies show the benefits of values-based leadership.
Read article »Not all experience is equal. Experience isn't what happens to us, it's what we do with what happens to us. There's a major difference between growth experiences and stagnating experiences. Just because we've shown up year after year and put in the time, doesn't mean we've gained by the experience.
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