Build a great company on a powerful foundation!
It’s really nice to be needed, to be valued based on your knowledge and skills.
The real question is: Do you want your organization to outlive your personal contribution? It’s actually a tricky question to answer, because it means that you need to be able to put aside your ego.
And it’s hard to prepare others to take over your role. I get that.
Read the rest of this entry »On the seventh day, God rested. So we’ve known for an awful long time how important it is to have cycles of time where we step away from the work.
But with the way Americans (in particular) are addicted to always “being on”, you’d think we’ve found a magic solution to such a waste of time.
We haven’t.
Read the rest of this entry »Expect resistance. Resistance is not a sign you’re going wrong. It’s a sign you’re growing. Trees grow strongest where wind blows hardest. The parts of you that resist are the parts most in need of transformation. Love them anyway. Grow anyway.
— Steve Martin, Instructions for Becoming
Steve here is talking about the kind of interior resistance you experience when you’re trying to grow as a person.
It’s really hard to tackle these, because it’s easy to avoid growth by saying, “that’s just who I am.” Yes, you may find it difficult to grow a third arm. But that’s not what we’re talking about.
This is about growing into the kind of person that you want to be. That you know would bring fulfillment.
Read the rest of this entry »We never have enough time to get everything done.
So things get dropped, done incompletely, or come in late. The alternative is to burn yourself out with overwork, but the result of that is that work increases until you’re well beyond capacity.
Your health, family, and life pay the price.
Read the rest of this entry »It’s all so unfair! This shouldn’t happen!
You may be absolutely right. But if you’re stuck in this state of frustration, you’ll never move on to useful progress.
Life is unfair, my friend. Business is unfair.
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve made plenty of mistakes and missed opportunities.
That’s a fact of life: everything doesn’t go perfectly. Whether I have a plan or not, there are things which disappoint me.
But this is also what creates the opportunity for joy and fulfillment.
Read the rest of this entry »It’s a new year, fresh with possibilities! Let’s go team!
But you might be battling against winter blahs, uncertain economy, or still reeling from the craziness of the holiday season.
It can be hard to get people energized in that situation. But as a leader, it’s part of your job to be a cheerleader.
Read the rest of this entry »I have an appointment set up, then sit in the coffee shop for half an hour wondering why they didn’t show.
Did I write it down wrong? Did they decide I’m a jerk? Were they turned off by that email I sent yesterday?
The truth is that it’s never about me. People have lives and distractions. And to be honest, I’m not the most important part of their life.
Read the rest of this entry »There’s a lot to worry about in the world today. And it seems that media and social media are designed to magnify that worry.
But the truth is that you have a choice here.
After all, there are a billion things you DON’T worry about. Because you don’t even know they exist, and they don’t affect you.
Read the rest of this entry »Humans are amazing pattern matching machines!
We especially focus on anything which makes us feel endangered – our reptilian brain takes over before we even notice it’s happening. Or can think through it.
But why is that a problem?
Read the rest of this entry »
The Values-Based Business 