Isolate the “But”

You know what I’m talking about … the infamous and dangerous word “but.” There are two versions of “but” that we love to use. First, is the “but” that virtually negates everything we said before it: I don’t want to complain, but … I don’t want to sound negative, but … I love your […]

The Reality of Fear

(Excerpt from my soon-to-be-published book, Just One Step: The Journey to Your Unstoppable You) Last week I wrote to you about feeling lost or stuck and the reality that being stuck is a choice. I also closed out my thoughts with a few comments on fear – the importance of […]

Lead Like Patton – NOT

General George Patton was in many ways an incredible leader and one who certainly had a significant impact on the outcome of World War II in Europe. While General Patton definitely utilized some leadership approaches worthy of modeling, some of his other tactics are not well suited for leadership today. […]

Why We Quit

A friend of mine – Bryan Perez – posted this question on Facebook last week: “Why do you think most people quit just about everything they start?” It probably won’t surprise you that I had some thoughts on this topic which I wanted to share with all of you. Whether you […]

Why of Change Part II

Last week I wrote (in the Daily Wake Up Call) about the why of change. The post was titled Change Follows “the Why,” and it highlighted the ways that people miss the “why” step of change. Specifically, before you can change, you need to figure out and understand the why […]

Field of Dreams

This week is the celebration of baseball – the All Star Game – and as a person who grew up with, loves and still plays the game of baseball, it reminds me of some of the great baseball movie lines of all time. There are two that I want to […]

What’s the Big Secret?

  In most organizations, the norm is to withhold information (especially financial information) from the team members, or to at least limit what information is shared with team members. I’ve heard many reasons for this withholding, but what message do we send when we choose not to let team members […]

LEAP Into 2016

In case you missed it, 2016 is a special year – special because you get a whole extra day during the year. That’s right, every four years we get an extra day and 2016 is one of those years – a leap year. But let’s face it – that extra […]

Leadership Lessons from Butch and Sundance©

If you don’t know what the title is referring to, then you’ve never seen the Oscar-winning and iconic Western starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).[1] The movie tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker (aka Butch Cassidy – Paul […]

Reframing Courage© (adapted from Unmask: Let Go of Who You’re “Supposed” to Be & Unleash Your True Leader)

One of the best ways to experience the difference between conscious and unconscious leaders is to examine the concept of courage and what it means for a leader (or any person) to be courageous. Here are some of the most common definitions of courage: Mental or moral strength to persevere, […]