“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll Core Values are the compass for your journey. All of us, have beliefs that are intrinsically valuable to us. Some can articulate them well and some struggle to explain what is most dear to their heart. Still, whether we always know it or not, our core values are guiding us from within. Our core values help affirm us when…
We all have a choice to just go through the motions or fall in love with today. When I was a kid, Choose Your Own Adventure books were extremely popular. Characters would come to a crossroads, and you could choose page 46 for one path and page 77 for another. Without fail, after reading only a few pages of your chosen path, you were peeking back to see how the other options would have played…
Are you a First Responder in your life and work? The call came in the middle of the night. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks Coffee, rolled over and answered the phone. A gunman had broken into one of their Washington, D.C. stores and shot and killed three of the workers while attempting to rob the register. Within hours, Howard Schultz was sitting with the families of the lost, with his other employees, with the community….
Purpose. Why do you do what you do? Not a bad question. It was a not just good work, it was great work. World-rocking work. But after 10 years at First Community Church in Columbus, Ohio as director of an idyllic summer camp and leader of local and international service projects, my gut told me it was time to evolve. So I took a leap of faith into the unknown. (Thank God for a supportive…
My wife, Amy, is a longtime teacher who returned home a few years ago from a “back to school” night with this story: As the evening ended, parents were invited to the hallway to ask teachers any specific questions about their child. A specialist educator was beside Amy, and Amy watched as about a dozen sets of parents approached her with one critical question: “What does our child need to do in kindergarten, first or…
(leadership lesson) My son, Benton, is absolutely amazing. I know I’m not the first father to say that. But, with this guy, a leadership lesson is always near. He is about to launch into his fourth-grade year. A couple of months ago we were driving down the road and just the two of us were in the car. From his seat in the back, he broke the silence. “Dad, do you think they allow people…
There may not be a word I hear more discussion about in teams and organizations than…Accountability. Every team or company says they desire greater accountability. I hear things like… “If only people were more accountable.” “We talk a good game but we don’t follow through.” “If only we had a culture of accountability.” You are not alone if you are reading any of those statements and thinking very similar thoughts about your team or organization….
Leadership is just like riding a bike. It’s another leadership lesson that is all around us. But, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, we probably use the phrase “just like riding a bike” too much. The reason is that we forget all the practice, bumps, bruises, support, balance, and focus it took for us to learn how to ride a bike. It wasn’t an easy process. But, where it is “just like riding…
The pause button is a beautiful thing these days. With DVR and on-demand viewing patterns, I love hitting that little pause button on the remote control prior to watching a TV show. It freezes live television. I then have the freedom to move around the house, laugh with my kids, go to the restroom, or just do anything else. Then, when ready, we can just come back to the TV and, because of the pause…
In the most highly-distracted and busy times in the history of the world, I’m often asked how and where creative leaders make time for creativity? Of course, there is no one answer to that question. But, the question itself reveals something. We are moving so quickly and are often so scattered, which leads to a lack of creativity or room to explore. This is why I often talk about bamboo when I’m asked to speak…
