Joe Contrera is the Founder and President of ALIVE @ WORK LLC, a leadership development company dedicated to helping Extraordinary Leaders Achieve Extraordinary Results. He is the author of three books. His latest, Extraordinary Results: Mastering the Art of Leading, Coaching, & Influencing Others, is quickly becoming a must-have resource for leaders in organizations across the country. It will not only change what you believe about leading, it will help you build your leadership skills so that you can successfully influence others.

Effective Communication: A 1000 Words Doesn’t Paint A Picture!

However … you can speak at a rate of 120 – 180 words per minute. You can listen at a rate of 400 – 800 words per minute. Your mind can process up to 3000 words per minute!! Anybody see a problem here? The Harvard Business review stated that 87% of business issues are due to the lack of effective communication skills NOT the competencies of the parties.

Empower Yourself: Count It All …

Do you make the choice to empower yourself? There is a saying, count it all joy, which is an interesting thought, especially if you feel like your sitting in a situation that feels like anything BUT joy. Most of us have been trained to look at what is wrong as opposed to what is right about a given situation. And a lot of this what’s wrong thinking comes from the way we were programmed along with our life experiences. Here’s what I know …

A Systems Approach to Success

A wise mentor once told me that in order to have success, I needed the ability to repeat the processes that were creating success in my business and my life. In other words … systems for success. This was difficult as I don’t naturally think in a process and procedure way. However, after he spoke, I realized that I needed systems in my life if I wanted to achieve a higher level of success.

ALL IN – Change Your Commitments, Change Your Life!

Whether it is a decision to exercise or a decision to spend the rest of your life with someone you love … no commitment can be complete unless you are ALL IN! So how do you define ALL IN? Sometimes it’s easier to help you get a clearer picture of what something is by identifying what it isn’t! That said, here is a list to help you define – ALL IN.

Love and Accountability – Happy Valentines Day!

It’s easy to want to blame or fault others when certain aspects of our lives aren’t going the way we want, especially when it comes to love and accountability. And yet few people embrace the concept that we are 100% responsible for the results we attain in our lives. This includes our thoughts, actions, and emotional well being. Accountability begins when we take 100% responsibility for every aspect of our lives … accountability begins with you!

Effective Leaders – Keeping Talent Can Be A Hard Habit To Break?

In 1984 the band Chicago was a leader in their industry when they released Chicago 17 which included the popular song, Hard Habit to Break. The song is a love ballad about a man who is ruminating over a failed relationship. He took her for granted and is now wishing he had her back. But as love stories sometimes go … she left.

Divisive or Decisive Its Your Call!

It’s easy to get caught up in the barrage of divisiveness that seems to be running rampant in our world. The politicians in Washington D.C. can’t seem to get pass the bipartisanism that divides us … even when the future of our country is at stake. And if you consider the magnification of this divisiveness by the media who seems hell bent on exaggerating either the US side or the THEM side, it could lead you to feel quite hopeless … if you let it.