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Category Archive: Personal Leadership

Man In The Mirror

Posted by on October 8, 2014

I finally realized after many years of making excuses that the hardest person in my life to deal with was myself. If you can discipline yourself to keep yourself at the top of your priority list then you will solve most of the other problems in your life. I was reviewing my Life Plan today and had a good look in the mirror. This post by John Maxwell was very helpful:

“In leadership, the first person we must examine is ourselves. That’s the Mirror Principle. If our self-perception is distorted, then our attempts to influence others will be misguided or even manipulative. The first person I must know is myself; this brings self-awareness.”

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Say No To The Good And Yes To The Best

Posted by on September 24, 2014

This represents the highest development level of leadership. In this day of high collaboration there is a build in bias toward doing more because there are more voices at the table. The only way I know as a leader to say No to good things is to already have a bigger Yes. Leaders have to have the courage to say no to the few for the benefit of the many. Brad Lomenick owns this problem and offer practical advice:

“I love this quote, but I struggle constantly with implementing it. It makes total sense, but as a persuader, my leadership style is to include and to invite more and more into the conversation and the huddle.”

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6 Ways To Make A Real Difference

Posted by on September 22, 2014

I learned very early in my corporate career that there had to be more to life than showing up for work, getting paid and going home. I had my family life and that was meaningful. I had my faith life and that was very rewarding. The big problem was all these parts were all segmented and not integrated. What was the overarching purpose of it all and how did it all work together? Cary Nieuwhof has another excellent post:

“So you want to make a difference—a bigger impact with your life. I echo that. Most leaders want that. I do.”

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The Most Effective Leadership Habit

Posted by on September 11, 2014

I love the truth that the single most effective habit you can develop to help lead other people is the ability to lead yourself. This is so often overlooked and significantly undervalued. You cannot successfully pass on to others with credibility things you are not first living out yourself. John Maxwell hits another home run:

“Self-leadership is where credibility is established. It’s what makes your leadership appealing to others. Without self-leadership, a leader can’t make any progress or take anyone with him or her. Here I want to share just one of the ten questions on self-leadership that I answer in Good Leaders Ask Great Questions.“

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Restoring The Lost Years

Posted by on July 18, 2014

This post was at first a very painful reminder of all that I have lost. Then as I read it over and over again it was an encouraging reminder of the faithfulness of God throughout all of life and what I still have left. None of us would choose dark days but we now realize the lessons we learned through them come no other way. Great writing by Colin Smith:

“Money can be restored. Property can be restored—broken-down cars, stripped painting, old houses. Relationships can be restored. But one thing that can never be restored is time. Time flies and it does not return. Years pass and we never get them back.”

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Why Sleep Impacts Leadership

Posted by on June 23, 2014

We all know the value of margin in our lives. We use the latest and greatest productivity tools to buy back maybe 30 minutes each day of additional time only to waste it watching too much Sports Center. Sleep is really a bid deal and we should value it more according to Michael Hyatt:

“Ive been thinking a lot about sleep recently. Most research shows that we don’t get enough, and our deficit is seriously hurting our productivity, our physical health, even our mental well being.”

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Daily Disciplines For Success

Posted by on May 21, 2014

I have probably tried more crazy ideas over the years to try to improve my performance than I can even remember. Most of them were fads of the moment and never produced any lasting change. I have found though the repeated use of less than a handful of daily disciplines has proven to be the foundation of any lasting momentum. John Maxwell has a list that you need to read:

“Everyone wants to be thin, but no one wants to diet. Everybody wants money, but not many people want to work long hours or to follow a budget. Lots of people would like a nice yard or garden, but few want to pull weeds.”

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How To Maximize Today

Posted by on May 16, 2014

We spend so much of our emotional energy thinking about the mistakes of the past or worrying about the fears of the future that we routinely miss the gift of today. I am convinced that our personal and professional success is bound up in the whole idea of maximizing each and every day. David Hoyt has an excellent post on how he does this in his life:

“In just 2.5 weeks I turn 40. As I enter a new decade one of the areas where I’m working on being more intentional is in my daily reflection. The older I get the greater level of accountability I feel to steward my time wisely. No matter your age we all have a finite number of “todays” that we get to experience.”

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3 Ways To Know If Your Business Is A Home Wrecker

Posted by on May 8, 2014

Work and life balance is a hard thing to come by these days. The reality is that we bring our work home too much and we know it. On the other hand we must all remember that we bring our home to work as well. Personal productivity demands we are being successful in both areas. Casey Graham has some practical suggestions:

“We just conducted a survey with over 100 small business owners & asked them some open ended questions about their biggest challenge in business. About 1/3 of the responses had to do with the issue of balancing business & having enough time to do everything.”

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8 Ways To Get Unstuck

Posted by on May 2, 2014

There is not a week that goes by that at some point in time I don’t feel stuck. Sometimes this can build up to the point of a total loss of momentum and even discouragement. Thats whey its so important to have some clearly defined steps that you can take that have worked in the past. I love everything Brad Lomenick writes and this one is near the top:

“Sometimes we just feel stuck. Not that anything is really wrong, but more the sense that we’re not going anywhere. That place where you sense that things are okay, but not great. Where it seems like you are just going through the motions. Dependable and reliable, yes. Consistent, absolutely”

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