“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do” (Steve Jobs) There are many phrases that describe resistance to the overbearing supervision of one’s boss – don’t breathe down my neck, don’t walk in on me, don’t look…
“Income and wealth may impress your friends and increase your vocabulary, but having a servant attitude and compassion for others will cause people to take notice and give purpose to your life” (Germany Kent) The company was ailing. It wasn’t that their chicken was bad or tasteless – indeed, their range of products was good….
“When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality” (Joe Paterno) Many motivation theories suggest that successful performance hinges on both having the needed skills and, also, the will to use these skills to achieve, but even motivated and skilled teams may fail to perform if they don’t have a…
One of the key roles of first-line leadership is to assist team members with their growth and development. Jim Rohn noted: “A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better”. This involves the mind-set, skills and…
A sedentary lifestyle is often characterised by sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like socializing, watching TV, playing video games, reading, or using a mobile phone or computer for much of the day. A sedentary lifestyle contributes to poor health quality, diseases, and preventable causes of death. Applying the word ‘sedentary’ to…
With all the technical, scientific, medical, and digital advances of the 21st Century, it is somewhat surprising that the human being remains desperately needy, broken, and fearful. The human condition, exacerbated by the selfishness, brutality, and immoral behaviour of many who are in power, drives people to search for meaning, hope, care, and love in…
I love mental games – solving problems that require the exercise of logic and the ability to get into the mind of the problem’s creator (understanding the sometimes-obscure reasoning that underlies all the issues related to finding a solution). Crosswords, Sudoku, and the Rubik’s Cube, amongst many others, require one’s mental freedom to be able…
“A person can flower on a rock” (Georgian Proverb) Firmness of purpose drives perseverance, persistence, and endurance. A clear vision of a preferred future reality engenders discretionary effort and energy invested in important strategic objectives. A compelling sense of purpose motivates resolve and diligence. This tenacity is often seen in situations like the following: defending…
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant” (Robert Louis Stevenson) The world looks for immediacy when it comes to measuring results – in one sense, rightly so, as this is what people, and specifically leaders, are hired to do. There is an expectation of meeting and…
“Passion is contagious – so is not having it” (Tim McClure) Top leaders care about the world around them. Their sense of “why” the business exists trumps any other issue – the business purpose (why we exist) becomes all-consuming and drives passion and behaviour. This burning belief is different to “making a profit” – making…
“I used to think the worst thing in life is to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone” (Robin Williams, 1951-2014) A UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) study by Naomi Eisenberger and Matthew Lieberman discovered that the part…
“How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great” (Bill Bennot) In their opening paragraph on the topic of ‘leadership’, Wikipedia notes the following: “Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organisation to “lead”, influence, or guide…
