Category: Personal Effectiveness

Give Them Something to Believe In

January 7, 2019 Personal Effectiveness
Recently retired Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder famously crafted 16 Goals for Success which he used with his football teams over his decades of coaching. Goal #13 stated, “Expect to win… and truly believe we will.” According to Coach Snyder, one of the root causes of success was belief…

Respond to Crises with Clarity and Confidence

December 3, 2018 Personal Effectiveness
What happens when you find yourself in the midst of a crisis situation? Do you freeze up? Jump into action? Sit down to create a plan? What if you’re the person in charge? It’s the leader’s job recognize when stakes are high and respond appropriately. We don’t need to look…

3 Ways to Pursue Productive Failure

October 1, 2018 Personal Effectiveness
Winston Churchill declared, “Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” He wasn’t the only leader who recognized the reality of failure on the journey to success. Late Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy admitted, “When you fail, you have to start all over again from a lesser…

The Business Case for the Stop Doing List

August 6, 2018 Personal Effectiveness
Are you a “to-do” list person? For each leader reaching for higher levels of productivity and accomplishment, a “start doing” list can be a friendly companion or a demanding task master – sometimes both at the same time. But what about a “stop doing” list? Whether you have an aggressive…

How to Be a Responsible “Idea Guy”

July 2, 2018 Personal Effectiveness perspective
Are you an idea person? Do you find yourself coming up with new business ideas, branding concepts or process improvements? Does careful project management sometimes stifle your creativity? Do people ever give you that look that implies you ought to focus on the task at hand instead of daydreaming? If…

More Smiles, More Dollars

June 4, 2018 Personal Effectiveness
Several years ago I had a shocking experience that permanently changed my outlook. I’m afraid the traces of that experience began in high school. As a high school football player, we had a strictly enforced protocol among the players for team photos. Forget saying, “Cheese” – everyone needed to wear…

4 Pitfalls of High Competence

April 2, 2018 Personal Effectiveness
We all know that competence is one of the main requirements for effectiveness. But can you become so competent that it actually becomes a detriment? The answer is yes. If you’ve developed a high level of competence in a particular area, you’re actually in a danger zone. If you don’t…

My #1 Productivity Tip (and 5 Others)

February 5, 2018 Personal Effectiveness
As you continue to grow as a leader, the invariable happens. You get put in charge of more. Whether you’re promoted to a higher position or have your level of responsibilities expanded in your current role, there’s simply more to oversee. In fact, as unemployment rates fall and Baby Boomers…