Zig Ziglar – Nathan Magnuson

Caps for Sale (and the Art of Influence)

“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.”…

How SMART Are Your Goals?

November 11, 2013 Coaching Leadership Personal Effectiveness planning Strategic Thinking

Zig Ziglar once said that “a goal properly set is halfway reached.” I don’t know about you, but I always figured if I could get a 50% head start in anything, I’d take it! Of course it can take a lot of effort to slug through the dog days of…

Leadership Profile: Truett Cathy

April 1, 2013 Leadership Profiles

I grew up in the midwest and didn’t get to experience a Chick-fil-A sandwich until I enrolled in college in Tennessee. Boy was I in for a surprise. Not only was the sandwich (and fresh squeezed lemonade!) amazing, but people were thoughtful and caring. My senior year, I was assigned…

What People Want: 8 Things Money Can’t Buy

January 14, 2013 Influence Inspiration Personal Effectiveness perspective

You may remember the Mastercard commercials that ran on television several years ago. Each one depicted a family having a wonderful (and expensive) excursion together. The punchline informed us, “there are some things money can’t buy. For everything else there’s Mastercard.” The subliminal message may have been that if you…

Leadership Profile: Zig Ziglar

January 7, 2013 Leadership Profiles

I had the privilege of meeting the late Zig Ziglar (1926-2012) a couple years ago at a seminar in Richmond, VA. Zig’s words and ideas have impacted my life probably more than any other thought leader out there. It was truly one of the highlights of my year getting to…

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! …