Achieving your goals is hardly ever an easy journey. If it were easy, we'd all already be there. One of the keys to success is, without a doubt, perseverance. With improved perseverance you'll have that extra push from within to try, try again. Humans have the tendency to want to control everything. Since there are always situations that can't be controlled, suffering occurs. Unfortunately, this suffering can't be escaped. Your goal should never be to avoid mistakes at all co

One of the ways to differentiate leadership is to differentiate mindset and expertise. Cross functional teams are a common representation of such differentiation and have become increasingly more important to the success of organizations. As individual leaders, it is also advantageous to develop a cross functional mindset. Cross functional teams working towards a common goal have more influence in an organization than any one leader individually. Similarly, a leader with a

Companies tend to naturally accelerate when it comes to innovation of new products and services. And, they work diligently to be the first to market. Where companies tend to fall short or be inconsistent is in their speed and innovation focus relative to talent. It’s no secret that the talent pool across industries is shallow and/or competitive. For talent to become, or remain a competitive advantage, leaders must have an urgency connecting with the talent market. They mus

As a leader it’s important to remember that the “how” always trumps the “what” when it comes to communicating with your team, peers, your boss, etc. Making the “how” the priority means you must have the ability to be agile in communication, constantly adjusting your messaging in efforts to get your point of view across. A big piece of adjusting the message for the audience is the verbiage you use. Verbiage is significantly important. Not only should verbiage used be at a l

I’m sure we’ve all seen the classic movie The Wizard of Oz.  In that movie one of the key characters is the cowardly lion.  This character is a notable oxymoron.  He is the King of the Forest yet he lacks courage. His mindset and behavior are not reflective of his title. Similarly, leaders often lack managerial courage. This can be described as the ability and confidence to communicate direct and actionable feedback to leaders at all levels, in moments of conflict, and in way

Sports coaches have an obsession when it comes scouting, recruiting, developing, and retaining talent. In addition to the competitive desire to win, coaches work in one of the most publicized industries. Unlike many industries, their track record of winning, based on their leadership and the performance of the talent they invest in, is blatantly visible. Most leaders, whether they be coaches or executives, understand that talent carries a business value. Their track record

The goal of any company is to stay out of the red and get in the black. Of course, the notion of getting in the black is being profitable or making earnings after taking expenses into consideration. This is the state of the company at which it becomes successful. But, to be competitively successful, a company must maximize profit, coloring boldly beyond the line that simply justifies profitability. While customers and employees are priority and enable top line growth, the

Employee engagement is either a positive reflection of, or a side effect of leadership. Leaders are charged with connecting with employees as both individuals and as a holistic team in an effort to earn buy-in and loyalty. It is a leader’s responsibility to bring clarity to the vision and inspire employees’ desire to help bring the vision to life. Unfortunately, employee engagement as a side effect of leadership has become commonplace. Only about 15% of employees are truly e

Diversity can no longer be tangibly defined. The “face” of diversity is constantly changing, expanding and evolving. Diversity in the workplace now includes a lot more women, and an increasing variety of minorities. It includes a workforce that is aging more than we have seen in the past as well as a decline of middle-age workers. But, the ambiguity of diversity comes into play when you consider that gender and ethnicity are no longer the primary characteristics of diversit

Procrastination can be defined as delaying action that reflects purposeful leadership. It is the avoidance of actively completing a task that needs to be accomplished by a specified deadline. It is an intentional delay of expected behavior despite consequences. Procrastination is an active choice to make something else a priority over the activity that should have an urgent focus. As a leader procrastination hinders you from maximizing your potential and may hinder a depart

In an assumptive society, introverts are some of the most misunderstood individuals in any environment whether it be at school, in a professional environment, in a band, on an athletic team. They are often perceived as being shy, boring, anti-social, or disengaged. To the contrary, introvert is not synonymous with any of these characteristics. Introverts tend to have more of an inward focus than extroverts. While they enjoy connecting with other individuals they are more ap

My Sr. Manager told me I couldn’t be promoted because I was the only one who could do her job when she wasn’t there. While she recognized my talent and the value I had to add to the team and the organization, she chose to take advantage of it. She chose to focus on self. She chose not to invest in me with development. She chose not to partner or collaborate. She chose not to create conditions where I could continue to grow and be successful. Her boss had already signed of

Talent is at the very core of any company’s success. It impacts customer experience and engagement, productivity of process, operational efficiency, brand perception to the customer, and realization of results. Talent is people. And, while people can be seen as a resource, they are more accurately the tangible basis of relationships. HR has been traditionally focused on processes and resources as its title implies. However, HR is really more about human relations than it i