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2019Beware of the Credit Card Minimum Payment Trap
When it comes to credit cards—there’s an important topic to consider: beware of the minimum payment trap. Millions of Americans think they’re doing just fine as long as they make the minimum payment each month. But, believe me, if that’s all you’re paying you’ve already got one foot in the financial grave and the other on a banana peel! Credit card companies love people who…
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2019Crabs Hate Succeeders
Herd-Think (when we follow others for no good reason) is one of the great killers of accomplishment. While crabs don’t congregate in herds, their behavior in groups is a perfect example of Herd-Think. Crab fishermen have learned a curious truth about the crustaceans they seize from the sea. They’ve learned that crabs hate succeeders. When a crab trap is lowered into the sea, the little…
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2018Long-Term Success in Leadership…It’s All So Counterintuitive
The earmark of contemporary Western culture is an unmitigated drive for instant gratification. That’s why we drive cars we can’t afford with money we don’t have to impress people at traffic lights we don’t know. We routinely see CEOs running up stock prices by doing things that will hurt their companies in the long-term. But there are, as there always have been, a relatively small…
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2018Counterintuitive…Go for the Long-term…Do What You Don’t Want to Do
FACT: Successful Leadership is a most counterintuitive commodity. I first noticed a forlorn-looking office building on Nashville’s world famous Music Row in late 1981 with our country still deep in an economic recession. Our business was still young, and so was I—just 29. Money was tight. But, at a glance, I saw what could be done with this property. So, I inquired and found that…
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2018The Problem with the Ordinary is, that it is, well, So Ordinary
It’s hard to see the big picture while living in a world filled with small thinking people. We tend to start projects with high goals, but somehow drift into the weeds of life, making it difficult to remember what’s most important. Take the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright who made their first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. On…
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2018Want to Resolve a Conflict? Here are 4 Things Not to Do:
The only thing worse than a conflict is an even worse conflict. Here are four ideas from my bestseller, ReTooled & ReFueled, which you might find helpful. 1. Picking the wrong time and place. Little good is accomplished when we are tired, stressed, ill, or focused on too many other issues. Sometimes the best thing to do is schedule an exact time for discussing a…
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2018Welcome to the United States of Victimhood!
We are living in the age of the victim. We live in a culture that worships at the altar of the victim. Americans everywhere are looking for others to blame. If I trip in my neighbor’s yard—it’s his fault. If I hang out at Burger King until I look like a Whooper—somehow Burger King is to blame. On the surface this may be a comforting…
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2016The problem with the ordinary is that it is, well, so ordinary.
It’s hard to see the big picture while living in a world filled with small thinking people. We tend to start projects with high goals, but somehow drift into the weeds of life, making it difficult to remember what’s most important. Take the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright who made their first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. On…
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2016How to Kill Conflict…“Nip It In the Bud!”
To quote the great 20th-century philosopher, Mayberry’s Deputy Barney Fife, one of the best ways to avoid consequences is to do the right thing in the first place and simply, “Nip it in the bud!” Succinctly put, conflict often happens because people tend to be gutless. I’ve heard it said, “If you want to have less conflict, have more of it.” I think that’s profound….
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2016Want to Resolve a Conflict? Here are 4 Things Not to Do.
The only thing worse than a conflict is an even worse conflict. Here are four ideas from my bestseller, ReTooled & ReFueled, which you might find helpful. Picking the wrong time and place. Little good is accomplished when we are tired, stressed, ill, or focused on too many other issues. Sometimes the best thing to do is schedule an exact time for discussing a conflict….