Each life accomplishment that filled me with pride was first felt as a desire that eventually became a personal quest, and it typically required mastering some new information or skills. Writing a book, getting healthy, managing money, training my dog, delivering a solid corporate keynote—whatever my aspiration, it required me to want it, own it, and learn how to do …
Who’s Your Ronaldo?
You’ve heard it before. One rotten apple spoils the whole bushel. Intellectually ,we get the wisdom in that idiom. Then, why is it so hard to effectively manage disruptive, disgruntled, or underproducing team members? I believe it boils down to fear or, better said, the lack of courage. I recently coached a leader who was struggling with a tough decision …
Raise Them Up
I recently listened to a webinar with Jon Gordon where he said, “Don’t call them out, call them up.” He was referring to the kind of leadership communication that LionSpeak is all about, one based in the belief that there is almost always more greatness to be leveraged within every single one of us than we routinely bring to the …
Cheer Up, Boys!
For 15 years, I lived on a small ranch in Southern California, just outside Temecula, which was an official stop on Butterfield Overland Stage, the southern stage line across the US in the mid-1800’s. Just off the corner of our ranch were the remnants of an old swing station for that stage line (with its own historical marker) which was …
Legacy
I’m a big fan of Don Miller, founder of StoryBrand. In one of his personal vision workshops, he recommends writing your own eulogy, filled with all the things for which you hope others will remember you. He further recommends reading it every day as part of your morning routine as a way of keeping the legacy you wish to leave …
Lessons from the Trail
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” I can’t say I do something that scares me every day, but when I get an opportunity, I like to push myself. This quote from Eleanor Roosevelt reminds me of the time I was invited to join a small group of dental colleagues on a mountain bike adventure …
Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable
My friend and training mentor, Ian McKelvie, says, “If you can only have conversations with people who agree with you and feel the same things as you, that’s a very small sliver of humanity to access.” Another really smart guy, Mark Twain, is famous for saying, “When two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.” Agreed. It’s hard …
Seeking Advice
Have you ever been driving your car, exercising, taking a shower or just drifting off to sleep and suddenly feel a brilliant, daring new idea born within you? I had that moment a few weeks ago and immediately picked up the telephone to call a friend and discuss it. She listened and, as I had hoped, gave me some advice, …
Just Ask
Have you ever answered someone’s question and heard them respond, “Oh, that’s not exactly what I meant…”? We aren’t typically great listeners so we often think we know exactly what someone is asking, jump to a conclusion, and begin to formulate our answer before the person has even put the question mark on their sentence. Additionally, as personal leaders we …
Sour Milk and Leadership
I know. It’s completely unladylike to drink milk straight from the container. However, occasionally when I’ve needed an ibuprofen for a headache to get to sleep and to put a little something in my stomach, I’ve reached straight for the container so I don’t need to turn lights on or make much noise. The last time I succumbed to this …
