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.
“Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong.” ~ N. R. Narayana Murthy At various times throughout my life I have felt stuck. Webster’s defines stuck as: the sense of being fastened, hindered, or held stationary by some obstruction or obstacle. Whether it was a relationship, an…
“Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.” ~ Brian Tracy In almost every conversation I have with clients when I ask them the biggest challenge facing their…
“If you are not consistently looking for ways to bring more value to your work, you are simply taking up space!” ~ Joe Contrera What is the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the word – quality? Is it something that you look for when buying goods or services? Or is…
“The disconnection between corporate and those in the field, is and has been one of the major causes of self-inflicted problems in the business world today!” ~ Joe Contrera Over the years I have had the opportunity to work for organizations who have multiple locations all over the world and a centrally located corporate…
“You can only lose what you cling to.” ~ Buddha If you’ve ever been to the circus and observed acrobats swinging from one trapeze to the next, you realize that at some point there is a defining moment when they must let go of one trapeze and leap to the next. For a short…
“You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.” ~ Zig Ziglar I’m sure most people have seen the 1980 film by Stanley Kubrick entitled, The Shining. The story, written by Stephen King, is a psychological thriller about a writer who takes his family to an isolated…
“Just because some people are fueled by drama doesn’t mean you have to attend the performance.” ~Cheryl Richardson. drama: /ˈdrɑː.mə/ˈdræm.ə/ – n. a) a state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of forces. Origin – from the Greek word drāmat, which simply means to perform, or to act. Have…
“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got , till it’s gone.” ~ Joni Mitchell Sometimes it takes losing something or someone to help us gain clarity on what we value in life. One way to prevent this from happening is making sure our values are in alignment with…
“Ideas without action are useless.” ~ Helen Keller This weeks’ topic is about ideas. After pondering the topic I had this realization: ideas are simply thoughts that when acted upon, materialize in the physical world. For example, the Empire State Building was just an idea that formed in someone’s mind. It took action and a…
“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” ~ Henry Ford Do you consistently 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…