Only 60 days until Christmas – only 67 days until the New Year. Are you ready? If you’re like me, you aren’t ready for either, but we can be! Ready or not, we all have a fresh start waiting for us as we begin 2016. What are you doing NOW to ensure next year will be the best year of your life as a leader?
Have you ever been part of a start-up? Do you know people who have? Recently, I have had the opportunity to work with a group that is in this phase of their development as an organization. There are a lot of the attributes I see in them I want to borrow for my team.
Every leader and team should have a scorecard… I tried to convince you of this in my previous post. Today is part one of a post on how you can create a scorecard capable of driving real performance improvement. The following are some concrete ways to add impact to your scorecard.
I’m re-reading Henry Cloud’s book, Boundaries for Leaders, which I highly recommend. I just finished a chapter entitled Control and Results. It was so well written, I want to share a short version of Henry’s challenge.
As a photographer, I pay more attention to images than your average person. I often wonder how the photographer created the image? Something I’ve noticed over time, rarely do I find an out of focus image compelling. I think the same can be said for an out of focus leader.
Have you ever flown in a 1967 Piper Comanche? Until recently, I had not. Here’s the story… We were scheduled on a flight from Atlanta to Birmingham. We boarded the plane; they shut the door and about three minutes later, the pilot said, “This plane is not flying today.” What would you do in that situation?
This year, I’m conducting an experiment. I mentioned it in a post entitled, Create a Better New Year. In case you missed it, here’s the essence of my project – I’ve divided my annual plan into four separate 12-week years. Today, the 20,018th day of my life, is the first day of my “new year.”
My friend, Elizabeth Dixon, started a website last year entitled, Bite an Elephant. If you don’t know the origin of the phrase, I’m guessing it comes from the old riddle: “How do you eat an elephant?” Answer: “One bite at a time.” Elizabeth is dedicated to helping people be successful, one step at a time. I’ve been exploring my own means of eating the elephant recently – Micro Moves.
This is the next installment of posts about words that impact leaders on a daily basis. Last week, I talked about Data and how it can help us lead at a higher level – if used properly. Today, one of the most important words in a leader’s life… Vision.
Last week, I had the chance to be with 4000 Chick-fil-A people at our annual meeting. As usual, it was a time of celebration, recognition and challenge. One of my favorite sessions was with Dr. Henry Cloud. He shared a success principle that most people know – but often forget.