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Run The Race You Want To Run

Posted by on December 11, 2017

There are more voices in the marketplace today that are telling us they have found the secret to success than every before. If you will follow their formula, then you will accomplish great things just like they have done. So you must find your Why and then do the One thing and walk away from everything else. Eventually, I realized I needed to do My thing and this post by Jeff Goins will help you get there:

It was a year ago. I had dozens of people working for me. My business was losing money every month. Everyone thought I was successful, but I was stressed beyond belief. I was racing toward a meltdown. After bootstrapping my company to seven figures, I was now living in the stressful reality of running a company. Was this what I signed up for? Was this what I really wanted? “I think it’s interesting,” one friend said, “that you started a business so you could write more, and now you’re not writing.”

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How To Excel At Both Strategy And Execution

Posted by on December 8, 2017

Some leaders are always coming up with new creative ideas that never seem to make it to the point of driving sustainable results. Others kill it daily on execution but never look up enough to see where the organization is actually going. Both are extremely important and great leaders find a way for their organizations to excel in both. This HBR post is excellent:

“For decades, we’ve often thought of leadership profiles in unique buckets—two popular varieties were the “visionaries”, who embrace strategy and think about amazing things to do, and the “operators”, who get stuff done. We intuitively knew that there must be leaders that span these areas, but in fact, few do.”

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Leaders Prepare For A Period Of Constant Transformation

Posted by on December 6, 2017

We have all known and said for years that change is constant and we must continue to be innovative to improve. What is new is that disruption is now becoming the major threat and without constant transformation we are always at risk for a total failure. There is obviously a major difference in leading innovation and transformation. This Forbes post helps us understand whats at stake:

“According to his firm, at any point, about a third of large U.S. companies endure a severe, two-year decline in their ability to create shareholder value. And of those companies, about a third fail to recover within the following five years.”

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How To Stay Healthy When You're Stressed At Work

Posted by on December 4, 2017

For years I took my health for granted and eventually paid a high price for my neglect. Sometimes its hard to accept that you have to make the hard decisions to eat right or work out before you gain the benefit of more energy and feeling better. These same healthy habits will also more than anything else help you deal with stress. This Fast Company post will get you started:

“Tis the season for stress. The holidays are crazy enough, but add in year-end deadlines and sales goals, performance reviews, and the news of yet another raise not given, and you can already feel your blood pressure rise. But there’s good news: You can still stay healthy, even when work is insane. It’ll just take a little extra effort.”

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4 Ways To Be More Effective

Posted by on December 1, 2017

Productivity is a very big deal. It’s the difference between working more hours or getting more high priority things done. Over three years ago, I went paperless and have absolutely no regrets. I use Nozbe and find it very effective in keeping the main things on top of the list. This post by Ashley Stahl is simple but profound:

“Ahhh, the true adage, “work smarter, not harder”. While it resonates with most, it can also be confusing and downright infuriating. Maybe you’re already working really, really hard and still aren’t achieving the results you’d like.”

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How To Let Go At The End Of The Workday

Posted by on November 29, 2017

The biggest challenge I have as an executive coach is helping people create the margin they need both personally and professionally. The 24/7 connectivity world we live in has totally blurred all the lines between work and family time. Unless you assume the responsibility to lead yourself, you will eventually fail in one or both areas. This HBR post is a must read:

“Chris, a senior manager at a New York design studio can’t sleep. His mind is churning, thinking about the mountain of tasks facing him back at the office. Katrina, the production manager at a well-known publishing house is distracted by a work email at the dinner table. Her partner complains that she “never seems able to turn off.”

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Change Your Leaders To Change Your Culture

Posted by on November 27, 2017

I have spent a lot of time this year reading about the importance of organizational culture in the success of companies. There are many variables involved but the one constant is the attitude and core values of the leader. These leaders walk their talk and place a high priority on the environment where their people work. This Forbes post is a good read:

“Research done on culture and organizational performance by Kotter and Heskett defines culture as “…gained knowledge, explanations, values, beliefs, communication and behaviors of large group of people, at the same time and same place.”

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Key Differences Between Management And Leadership

Posted by on November 22, 2017

It still amazes me when I am working with corporate clients that there is still so much confusion between the roles of management and leadership. There are many things in common, especially if you manage people instead of being an individual contributor. However, their can be no doubt that there are fundamental differences between the two disciplines. This post by Forbes Coaches Council is excellent:

“Every manager strives to become a good leader. Reaching this role takes a shift in thought, as well as in the way that you lead. Becoming a good leader doesn’t happen overnight as it takes time to cultivate your leadership and ensure you are thinking about your organization’s vision rather than the mere execution of different tasks.”

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The Importance Of Strategic Focus

Posted by on November 17, 2017

When I started working with a new large client last year I was introduced to Michael Porter’s HBR work on strategy. I found his findings challenging to understand at first but later realized just how critical his principles are to every organization. To put it simply being a mile wide and an inch deep is not a good place to be in any market. This post by Ann Latham is excellent:

“A good strategic framework provides focus by limiting the number of directions the organization runs. You’d be foolish to try to extend all your products while simultaneously expanding all your markets while also ramping up capacity or shifting your business model to include new types of production, sourcing, sales, delivery, and partnerships.”

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Four Pathways To Authentic Leadership

Posted by on November 15, 2017

I live daily in the world of leadership development. On one extreme many people fear the idea of being a leader thinking it almost takes some supernatural ability they don’t possess. At the other end of the spectrum are the ego driven abusers of power that in my opinion are not leaders at all. In reality we all lead ourselves everyday and if you want to help others then jump in and lead. This Forbes post is simple but profound:

“The familiar term leadership has become an unfortunate buzzword — something people bandy about without considering its deeper implications. It’s the same thing that’s happened with words like creativity, innovation and disruption. To help refocus, here are four pathways to becoming a more authentic leader.”

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