Take out your smart phones or laptops and look at your social media accounts. Many people judge their status on social media by how many friends they have on Facebook or Snapchat, Connections on LinkedIn and Followers on Twitter or Instagram. Hard to believe that not so long ago none of these things existed including the internet. (My children still don’t believe I didn’t have a cell phone or laptop when I was growing up!) Now take a look at…
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Many years ago on the 28th of November, a woman wanted to clean the salt off of her car and went to a drive thru car wash. She got out of the car to put money in the machine but It was slippery and she fell down on the ice. Ordinarily not a good thing, but when the woman is 9 months pregnant, then there is more cause for concern. Later that night she went into labor and delivered a…
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Monday is the first day back to work for many people after the holiday weekend. Many people traveled over the holiday and had four days off. Enjoying family, eating way too much and shopping with the zillions of people at Black Friday Sales takes a lot out of you. The time off went very quickly and now it is time to head back to work and school which will be a challenge for everyone. By the time that you…
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“Forget yesterday – it has already forgotten you. Don’t sweat tomorrow – you haven’t even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift – today.” ― Steve Maraboli This quote is about appreciating what you have right in front of you and being open to it. Don’t live in a world of regret dwelling on what you wish would have happened or constantly wishing for what might be coming next. Take a moment to appreciate what…
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The Thanksgiving Holiday is fast approaching this week in the U.S. It is the time of year that people are thinking about what they are grateful for and spending time with their families. It is one of the holidays that so many people travel to be together looking forward to having all of those traditional foods and desserts to celebrate the day. In a lot of cases, you will be seeing family members and friends that you don’t see very…
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If your company follows a traditional calendar then you and your team are probably preparing for performance review time. For those maybe not familiar with that term, it is the time of year where management will give a formal review of their employee’s performance. Theoretically, if the leader is giving feedback throughout the year, then this should not come as a surprise to the person receiving the review. Unfortunately, many leaders are not doing this on a consistent basis. There…
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I was working with one of my clients the other day and he shared that he didn’t think he had what it took to perform a senior level role. This is a person who has accomplished a lot in his career. Even though we detailed out his background and all the things that he accomplished, he still struggled to feel like he was qualified. This is how strong a belief can be for a person. Even with all the facts…
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“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.” -John Wooden This quote was a good reminder to me that leaders have to set the tone no matter what is going on in the organization. Change is a constant and leaders are getting new information to process all the time. They need to discern if it is something to act on, share with their team, communicate to the rest of the organization or keep it to themselves. …
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Have you ever considered the question, what makes a leader a leader? By definition, a leader is “a person who leads a group.” So that would say that when you have a group of people reporting to you, then you are a leader in the most formal sense of the word. How would you describe yourself? Are you a leader? I worked in an organization that felt a bit differently than that regarding the term leader. Everyone was considered a…
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Imagine that this is what is on your calendar this week…3 presentations, 15 meetings with various groups, 6 meetings with your direct team and your kids have two sporting events that you need to attend after work. Some of you may be thinking how on earth can that be real? I can tell you that it is absolutely real and the way that many people will be spending their week. It seems crazy, but this is actually probably conservative…
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