27 Nov

Posted at 22:30h in Authentic Leadership, Leadership Development

We live in an increasingly complex, uncertain, and ambiguous world. All businesses and organizations face tough decisions, where there are no clear, easy answers. Trade-offs must be made. Rigorous debate is often required to try and solve even issues of low-to-medium importance, much less tackle the challenges that are urgent. Few places are more challenging than the Public Sector. Sure, there are different stakes—not so much about profits—but about lives, community or national safety, health and public welfare, all of which have a value that transcends the bottom line. In areas like these, where there could be 1,000 different options or...

27 Nov

Posted at 22:23h in Motivation & Inspiration, Personal Development

Most of us are familiar with emotional intelligence, and how important it is to couple strong “EQ,” or emotional intelligence, with strong IQ in the workplace. In addition, a strong body of work exists that helps us to understand how “thoughts are things” and, “what we think about, we bring about.” Both philosophies are very powerful, and together they have developed many leaders from ‘mental and emotional weaklings’ into ‘executive Atlases.’ How strong is your own mental and emotional physique? Have you ever spent time building intentional strength in these two areas? Were you once strong, but perhaps missed a few...

27 Nov

Posted at 22:20h in Motivation & Inspiration, Personal Development

“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.” — Lao Tzu Music is one of life’s rare “larger than life” themes; it is as old as history itself, residing in virtually every living element. Music can soothe the soul, reach broadly with its messages, spark creative dialogue, build character, and enhance self-esteem. We all recognize the visceral emotion a song evokes, as it touches our hearts and moves our spirits; we can truly feel it. Aside from being a general music fan, I believe music, in many ways, is a metaphor for life. We all have music within us and...

27 Nov

Posted at 21:53h in Motivation & Inspiration

I met a woman who didn’t sing until she was forty because her kindergarten teacher told her before a performance, “Just move your mouth, dear.” How horribly tragic. The truth is, this woman had a wonderful voice, and it was clear she loved to sing. Who would have known she was silenced for decades, refusing to believe she possessed an incredible gift that was literally dying to be released? Maybe you are one of those who say, “I have no musical ear,” or, “I can’t carry a tune,” because, like my friend, somewhere along the line you’ve come to mistrust the...

01 Apr

Posted at 22:11h in Communication

Originally posted by Sherrie Campbell, Entrepreneur.com. Creative people often get a bad rap for being who they naturally are because they are different than everyone else. They tend to struggle through times of being ridiculed and misunderstood until they make such a major difference in the world that others can only admire them and want to be a part of it. These traits are traits we can cultivate if we can open our minds to think more flexibility and with more plasticity. 1. Restless. Highly creative achievers are naturally restless. They tend to be easily bored and may even be accused of...

22 Mar

Posted at 17:18h in Character, Integrity, Values & Judgment

“You are only as good as your word.” This used to be a popular, if trite and overstated, concept.  Unfortunately, in many circles today, the mantra may sound to many as some quaint old notion. We all know that, in reality, it’s far more than that. Without high integrity – without an implicit trust that people can fully believe you actually mean what you say – all of our interactions with other people are cheapened dramatically. However, if I can trust you – and you can trust me – then, we already have the most important piece of the puzzle...

10 Feb

Posted at 15:50h in Authentic Leadership, Integrity, Judgment & Decision Making, Leadership Development, Relationships

As a society we’ve come to care a lot about health and fitness. We read food and drug labels, go online for medical information, learn new fitness techniques, and fuss with diets. In other words, caring for the body is high on our priority list as a daily target. Maybe it’s irrelevant to ask amidst all the gasping and research, but are we happy about all this? Watching the faces of runners puffing down the roads, or those at the gym toiling away on the exercise machines, I’d say, not much – and I’m a former athlete and multi-sport aficionado! The...

10 Jan

Posted at 16:17h in Communication, Motivation & Inspiration, Personal Development, Workplace

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.  - Charles R. Swindoll I’ve noticed that when I say “Hi” to some people I pass by these days, they’re more than likely to use a popular street-speak reply that sounds more like, “Howru” Or, “’Sup.” Note the absence of a question mark. They’re not asking. Feeling not so much acknowledged as texted, it’s easy to feel a bit saddened, or even annoyed, at the lack of any real interaction. It’s phony caring, a leftover from preceding generations that used to go, “How are you?” meaning, I...