Leadership Series: Sharpen the Saw
Leadership Series: Sharpen the Saw As we discuss the topic of leadership it might be easy to become overwhelmed with a list of skills, capabilities and practices of effective leaders; enough to make us put our feet to the floor more hours each day and more days each week. But today we’ll discuss another essential and even invaluable habit of great leaders. This is what the famous Dr. Stephen R. Covey calls “sharpening the saw.” Abraham Lincoln, an experienced axman, taught a powerful life lesson that illustrates well this idea when he said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I...
Read MoreLeadership Series: Mentors
Leadership Series: Mentors Behind every successful leader is a great mentor. Think about it—Bruce Wayne (Batman) had Alfred, Luke Skywalker had Obi-Wan Kenobi (who had Qui-Gon, who had Count Dooku, who had Yoda…sorry, nerded out there…), Martin Luther King Jr. had Benjamin Mays, Warren Buffett had Benjamin Graham and Shaquille O’Neil had John Brown. Do you have mentors? That’s what we’ll discuss in the section of our Leadership Series—the how and why of acquiring and learning from different mentors. This content is inspired by a recent issue of Success magazine. First off,...
Read MoreLeadership Series: Networking
Leadership Series: Networking Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you know but who you know?” That could not be more true than when it comes to leadership. Behind every great person, are many great people. Today we’ll discuss briefly what David Bradford, former Chief Executive at Fision-io and Chairman of HireVue, calls his six “Up” principles of networking/relationship building in his book Up Your Game. Start Up – This is perhaps the hardest part–getting out of your comfort zone to meet people who can make a difference! If...
Read MoreLeadership Series: What is Leadership?
Leadership Series: What is Leadership? So, what is leadership? Well, that seems like an easy question but in truth, it’s hard to come to a clear cut answer. Some might say it means taking charge, others might say its organizing groups and still others might say it has nothing to do with authority at all. So let’s start with what some “well-knowns” consider to be leadership: “Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.” – Brian Tracy “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and...
Read MoreLeadership Series: Introduction
Leadership Series: Introduction Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, entrepreneur and motivational speaker once posed a powerful question that goes something like this, “What is the one skill that would dramatically change the quality of your life?” It might be communication, empathy, diligence, financial acumen, or perhaps a technical skill like programming or product engineering. But what if we told you that there is one skill that is the sum of all other skills–the culmination of them all? Well, there is. And it’s LEADERSHIP. Leadership...
Read MoreTime Management
Time Management Time management is truly a fundamental “make or break” in the life of anyone. The wise use of time produces powerful results and the misuse of time can be devastating. Today, we’ll provide some tips on how to manage this invaluable and wasting (constantly diminishing) resource. 1. Roles and Goals The first step in time management is to understand your roles and goals as an individual. Take a minute to write down each of your roles: husband/wife, father/mother, employee, boss, volunteer, student, coach, etc. Experts recommend having no more than...
Read More