This month marks the 16th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Every year, Americans find themselves re-living the emotions and imagery of that day through social media and news reports. Naturally, on the anniversary, many people use social media to share their memories from that day including what they were doing, where they were, and how it changed their lives. As time passes, and I add more people to my network of friends and colleagues, I realize that every year I hear new stories of heroism from average people on that day.
Always Start with a Frog
What kept you awake last night? Was there one thing mentally nagging you that kept you from a restful night’s sleep? That one thing that wouldn’t let you take control of your thoughts last night will continue dominating your mental energy today — unless you do one thing: Eat the frog. Mark Twain popularized a way to procrastinate less and get more done. “Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” If you start your day by doing your least favorite thing, then you’ve already accomplished the worst task you … Read More
Do You Remember Your First Boss?
If being a leader is tough, then leading employees in their very first job out of college is like the Spartan Race of leadership! These new grads enter the workforce with excitement, wonder, determination, and sometimes anxiety. And as every blog post or article on Millennials and Gen Z will tell you, they often enter the workforce with unrealistic expectations and unchecked assumptions. As their first boss, you have to give the new grads a dose of reality while not crushing their dreams and killing their motivation. It’s a tough balance. In addition to the normal onboarding process you complete … Read More
The Best Part of Your Worst Year
The kids may have just started a new school year, but in the corporate world it’s time to start working on 2018 strategies, budget, production plans, etc. That also means we’re right around the corner from performance appraisal time. Let’s face it, the only people who enjoy annual performance reviews are the ones who had a phenomenal year. For the rest of us who have struggled and clawed our way through the year, performance appraisals are like pouring salt in the wound. Recounting all the things that didn’t go as planned can be painful and emotionally draining. Even when the … Read More
When You Can’t Control the Storm
Last week was rough. If you watched even a few minutes of the news or spent any time on social media, you were, no doubt, bombarded by unsettling words and images. No matter how fast you changed the channel or closed the laptop lid, the images and feelings stayed with you. The feelings of shock, anger, pain, anxiety, sadness, helplessness, etc., permeate everything we do. What do we do now? Take a deep breath. Now get back to work.
Building a Leader’s Bucket List
The idea of a Bucket List was popularized by a 2007 film starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, but Bucket Lists aren’t just for senior citizens. In fact, as the end of summer nears and the first day of school looms, I’ve been looking over my family’s summer Bucket List to make sure we accomplished all of our goals — like going on a road trip, attending a concert, and catching the upcoming solar eclipse. The idea of a Bucket List is to prioritize all the things you want to accomplish before it’s too late. Bucket Lists are great ways … Read More