It's common to hear people say, "I just want to be happy."  And who doesn't?  It's certainly much better to be happy than sad.  Good times are better to experience than bad.  But pursuing happy is a little off the mark.  It's like trying to grab smoke.  Whenever we make happiness our goal, we set…

Learning starts with realizing that we still have more to learn.  As the saying goes, "The more I learn, the more I realize how much more I still have to learn."  In fact, I am continually surprised at how often I have to re-learn something.  I didn’t realize I had to re-learn it, until I…

You may have heard the old line that there are three types of people in the world: 1) those who make things happen, 2) those who watch things happen and 3) those who wonder what happened.  I think it might be time to talk about the role that initiative plays in the world of leadership. …

Sometimes, things are going to hit you.  Details will try to overwhelm you.  Obstacles will pop up in your path.  That's just the way life is.  And if you're a leader in hot pursuit of a vision, its best to learn to expect it. After all, resistance is what build strong muscles.  Ships are safe…

People will often say that they are in search of an opportunity, assuming that they have the correct thinking to carry an opportunity through to success.  What is most surprising, however, is that the challenge is usually just the opposite.  I know in my own case, I was convinced I knew how to think systematically. …

Leaders are hungry to assault the status quo.  And one of the biggest commonalities you'll find among leaders of different colors and stripes is their hunger to learn, to equip themselves with what they will need to make their vision a reality.  Here are some key questions for any would-be leader: 1.  Are you reading…

Leadership matters.  It makes a difference.  In fact, its results cannot really be measured.  A leader’s influence spreads through society and time and often has a much bigger effect than most can imagine.  This is called the Ripple Effect.  Remember, a forest fire starts with just a tiny spark.  The tallest oak grows from a…

At a speaking engagement in central Florida yesterday, I had the pleasure to meet many very fine people.  In one of the conversations I was asked to make available a list of principles I had presented.  The following is in answer to that request.  May these principles of leadership and life (which I have learned…

           Leaders must deal in reality, and often that reality is complicated and ever changing.  Complexity, however, is no excuse for lack of results.  Leaders, despite their circumstances, the pressures they face, the long odds they brave, and the machinations against them, are still, in the end, held accountable for results.  If…

The genesis of our book, Launching a Leadership Revolution, was a late night discussion Orrin Woodward and I had about the essence of leadership.  It seems everybody has a general concept about leadership, and there are myriads of misconceptions out there.  But when it comes to analyzing the subject and really understanding it, the topic…