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Leadership Factory

The journey toward wisdom is an essential quality of leadership, and a big part of acquiring wisdom is surrounding yourself with quality people each and every day. Some of you may have a choice in who will be part of your team or inner circle, so make your decisions carefully. Others will not have a choice of whom they will work closely with and lead. Regardless, wisdom is gained by not only making good choices, but nurturing everyone you work with into becoming world-class leaders. Grow the realm of your wisdom and invest in cultivating leadership. Create a leadership factory within your organization and produce leaders.

Help others become leaders by giving them leadership roles or responsibilities. Let them know they are leading and give them a framework to work within.   Tell them, “You will be

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People need to hear the words, “We need you.”

If you want an engaged work force, they need to know they are valued!

Write a note. Make a call. Announce it in your newsletter.

Let your employees, family members, and teammates know you need them, and that they add value on a regular basis. Don’t wait until the yearly evaluation or exit interviews, or when there’s a problem to let them know. Let them know what their purpose is on your team, whether it’s business, sports, or home, regularly.
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Whistle While You Work

Your level of self-motivation and passion will directly impact and influence those you lead. Yep! That’s your attitude. Attitude is one of the six essential qualities of a leader.

How many times have you said, “I can’t do that!” or worse, “I don’t want to do that!”? There are a lot of unpleasant jobs that need to be done in every area of our life. We have a choice.  We can choose to do them with a negative attitude or a positive attitude.  It really is that simple. Having a good attitude ensures the job will be done well and the time will move quickly.  All will benefit from a good attitude.

I have worked for some leaders that really thought there were certain jobs beneath them to do.  They saw themselves as sitting high on a throne ordering others to do the dirty work. I have had other leaders jump right in with me to help get the job done.  Guess which one I admired more and had more loyalty?  Guess which one I want to follow? It’s not the one yelling at me to do it, it’s the one working with me to get the job done.

We we can either work for bosses or we work we can work with leaders.  We have to do what our boss says, and we want to do what a leader says. Big difference, and it’s all in the attitude.

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Recognition is an important part of leadership. It can do wonders for your corporation, school or family. When recognition is implemented correctly it can increase retention, decrease absence, raise production, improve quality, change attitudes, and in general create a momentum of success and positive energy.

It has been wisely stated that a great leader humbly accepts the failures of his organization as his own, and passes any praise and success on as the accomplishments of his colleagues. In addition,  I have always been reminded that a great leader criticizes in private and praises in public. Clearly, recognition is an essential act of leadership. Clearly recognition is important, but so many organizations get it wrong. Many in leadership positions just don’t know how to effectively implement a recognition program, acknowledge someone for their efforts, or how to reward employees.

It’s all about making it personal. 

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I just finished Mark Sanborn’s book The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do. I highly recommend it to you, regardless of your occupation, because we should all be striving to improve, and The Encore Effect delivers.

Mark Sanborn is an amazing speaker, and his National Bestseller The Fred Factor is one of my favorite reads. I was excited to read The Encore Effect because I knew it would assist me on my quest to become a great speaker and performer, but like all good books, the lessons I learned applied to every aspect of my life. The Encore Effect improved not only my speaking, but helped be a better father, husband, educator, and artist. I highly recommend it not only for you, but for your entire team.

The Encore Effect highlights five areas for remarkable results: passion, preparation, practice, performance, and polish. In-depth explanations and engaging stories are aligned with Continue Reading…

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Nothing is more important than the return.  Nothing.

There is a wonderful Japanese proverb that captures the importance of ‘the return’ quite simply: ”Fall down seven times, get up eight.”

Going for a run is easily accomplished. Waking up the next day sore and tired and choosing to run again is a bit more of a Continue Reading…

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What Makes a Good Goal? 

Some people seem to achieve goals regularly and are continually climbing their way toward a better life. Still, others fail repeatedly and seem stuck in a rut.

A good goal is structured and planned in a way to be more likely achieved.

Achieving goals isn’t a matter of chance, there is a methodology anyone can apply to get better results.

Here Are Six Questions to Ask Yourself When Setting Goals:

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Escape velocity is described as the speed an object needs to be traveling in order break free of a planet’s gravitational force. On Earth, escape velocity is seven miles a second, or 25,000 miles an hour.  That’s fast. The good news is, that once an object reaches escape velocity it no longer requires further propulsion. If the object fails to reach this speed, consequently, it is pulled back.

For a long time the science community believed escape velocity was unobtainable. That nothing would ever leave Earth’s atmosphere. Now, you and I benefit from the thousands of man-made satellites orbiting our earth. They allow us to communicate, prepare for weather, direct our course and more.  Escape velocity achieved. Benefits obtained.

Right now you are sitting with a cold-blooded killer with a similar hold on you. Stress. Continue Reading…

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You’re Blowing it!

It’s not procrastination. That sounds too sophisticated.

You’re not stalling. That’s just too nice.

You’re blowing it! You are about to miss a once in a lifetime opportunity because you are more interested in reading your Twitter Feed or updating your current Facebook status.

Life is short and we all have goals and dreams. We work toward them or we don’t. When we don’t achieve our dreams we make excuses and cover up our inaction with niceties. We act like we will eventually get there and that everything is going to be fine.

Well, what if you’re wrong? Live your life without regrets and get your dreams on the production line.

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I was recently asked about what makes a good journal entry.

Here are my thoughts:

  1. Always include the date.
  2. Journal entries should be short.
  3. You should write frequently, routinely, and almost daily.
  4. Do NOT focus on spelling, grammar, or what others might think.
  5. Share your successes, failures, concerns, celebrations, defeats, dreams, goals, wishes, accomplishments, plans for world domination, and whatever else may be on your mind.
  6. If it is important enough to be written on any scrap of paper it is good enough for your journal
  7. Go ahead and Continue Reading…