As LionSpeak continues to grow, my team must grow also. Apparently, this presents an opportunity disguised as a challenge for me. Every time we add a new person, I’m eventually, if not immediately, confronted with my own personal leadership abilities (or lack thereof). I learn and relearn that everything they contribute which delights and pleases me is due to a …
The Space Between
I facilitate an exercise with groups where I ask everyone to write down a quote from a book, movie, play, or song that had a profound impact on them personally. We use the quotes throughout the day in a variety of ways. So far, I’ve not met anyone who didn’t have one. Mine is easy to recall because when I …
Outside Voices
An outside voice can challenge and encourage our inside voice. “I bet your husband doesn’t have a chance if he gets in an argument with you!” That’s what someone actually said to me after a presentation I gave on mastering crucial conversations. I wasn’t really sure what he was talking about because my husband and I don’t ever have any …
Become the Leader Others Want to Follow
Leadership is the number one skill professionals need to master to create the career and life they want. Leadership trumps every other skill you need. Everyone can become a great leader. And, it’s not as hard as you’ve been led to believe. Recently, a new dentist told me, “My father was a natural-born leader. My mother was not. I think …
Roll with It
Back in May, I started a list of suggestions for how we could live and operate our businesses from a place of greater happiness. This is a list of what could make us happier people and better business leaders, but it could also be interpreted as a list of the things that make us miserable or make our lives and …
Freedom
We’ve just celebrated our national 4th of July holiday, one of my favorites. It’s the day we dedicate to remembering what it means and costs to be free. I work hard at never taking for granted that I live in a nation that allows me to pursue my dreams, live where I want, worship as I chose, and always have …
Everything Else…
If we aren’t paying attention (and sometimes even if we are), there are three things that happen naturally in all companies: friction, confusion, and underperformance. Friction is a naturally occurring state that happens when you have more than one person working in a company. Hire two or more people, and at some point, you’re going to experience some friction. Friction …
Yes, You Can
I have a sign on my desk (given to me by the fantastic Sara Connell) that says, “I Can and I Will.” I’ve put lots of sayings on my desk, bulletin board, dream boards, laptop screens, and bathroom mirrors over the years to give me a nudge about sentiments I tend to forget or acknowledge. They simply remind me of …
Running the Leadership Marathon
If you want to run a marathon, life will not hand you the trophy. It will hand you a pair of running shoes. I read this quote on one of my social media channels recently, and it got my attention because it’s so applicable in business and in life. If you’ve taken on the role of leader in your business …
Tasks vs Results
We’ve probably all had at least one of these handed to us in our professional careers: a job description. It lists the duties we were hired to complete. A good one lists the tasks in detail and aids us in assuring we meet expectations. However, even a well-written job description is only half the information we need to understand what …
