Mark Miller – Nathan Magnuson

Creating a Leadership Culture

This post comes courtesy of Mark Miller, a best-selling author of 6 books, an in-demand speaker and an executive at Chick-fil-A. His latest book, Leaders Made Here, describes how to nurture leaders throughout the organization, from the front lines to the executive ranks and outlines a clear and replicable approach…

Is Your Organization Playing Chess or Checkers?

May 4, 2015 Communication Leadership Organizational Effectiveness

Is complexity leaving your organization behind? That’s a question we considered at a workshop I attended recently. Author Mark Miller and a team of facilitators walked a large group through the content of his new book Chess Not Checkers. The boardgame imagery? It’s symbolic for what happens as organizations grow.…

Great Leaders SERVE

July 21, 2014 books Humility Influence Leadership Organizational Effectiveness Personal Effectiveness Values

I had the chance to travel to Greece and Bulgaria recently and give a series of leadership presentations to several university groups with a small team of business professionals. The sights, food and people were reward enough, but getting to share our leadership presentations with the future leaders of two…

Caps for Sale (and the Art of Influence)

June 2, 2014 Influence Inspiration Personal Effectiveness

“How do you get someone to push you?” I was taking a wrestling class as a kid and that was the question the coach posed as he demonstrated a new move. “You push him first. Then he’ll want to push back and you can use his momentum to your advantage.”…

7.5 New Year’s Leadership Resolutions

December 16, 2013 Character decision-making Expectations Influence Inspiration Learning Networking

This year has just about come to a close. The Type As among us are probably wrapping up their goals and planning for the new year (if they aren’t finished already). The rest will catch up. Maybe. I saw a great post from Mark Miller last week on New Year’s…

Wanted: Optimists!

December 9, 2013 Character Expectations Influence Inspiration Leadership Personal Effectiveness

Is the glass half empty or half full? You’ve undoubtedly been asked this rhetorical question before. Apparently how you answer is supposed to quickly reveal whether you are an optimist or a pessimist – and perhaps a lot more about your inner worldview. I’m not sure what the “right” answer…

It’s Time to Be Generous

November 18, 2013 Inspiration Misc.

On November 7, 2013, one of the most intense storms in recorded history Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines. Wind gusts were estimated at 195 mph. Early estimates suggest over 10,000 people have died in the city of Tacloban alone and more than 11 million citizens have been displaced. Aid workers…

The Day an Exec Showed Me Up

October 28, 2013 Character Influence Leadership

Several years ago when I was in graduate school, I invested a summer at a major restaurant franchise with the hopes of landing a corporate role after I graduated. I worked with an incredible operator who went out of his way to help me build my network with the corporate…

Three Keys to Sustaining Culture Change

September 10, 2012 Culture Leadership Organizational Effectiveness

I read an excellent post by author Mark Miller recently about what it takes to create a leadership culture. It couldn’t have been more spot on. To create a winning leadership culture, according to Miller, you must define it, train it, practice it, measure it, and model it. Want I…

Favorite Books on Leadership

August 27, 2012 Leadership Reading

It’s pretty common that my friends or folks in my network will ask me what book they should read. I love the question, but it always puzzles me just a bit. Without any context, it feels kind of like they are asking me what outfit they should wear that day! …

Principles of Reading

August 22, 2012 Leadership Learning Reading

I came across an alarming statistic awhile back from Dan Miller that college graduates on average will spend more money on soft drinks than on post-graduate education. Right then and there, I resolved that this would never be true of me. I heard Dave Ramsey say that the average millionaire…