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.
“Without the why, the how and the what don’t matter!” ~ Dr. Nido Qubein (Many years ago, before anyone wrote a book about “The Why,” my mentor and friend, Dr. Nido Qubein shared the above quote with me and it has impacted me almost everyday of my life. I hope it has the same impact…
“Happiness is an inside job.” ~William Arthur Ward In a world that seems to be filled with a whole lot of unhappy people I find that the decision to be happy falls solely on my shoulders. Sure, I can watch the news so I can blame the media, the president, congress, or all those…
“Changing an organization, a company, a country – or a world – begins with the simple step of changing yourself.” ~Tony Robbins If you think about the way most organizations choose a leader, it can be a bit mind-boggling at times. We take an individual contributor who is an excellent performer and promote them…
“You got to know when to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, And know when to run.” ~Kenny Rogers The above quote is actually lyrics off the soundtrack from the movie, The Gambler, starring Kenny Rogers who passed away back in March of 2020. Those lyrics make a whole…
“A lie told often enough (can) becomes the truth.” ~Vladimir Lenin There’s a scene from the movie City Slickers, where Mitch (played by Billy Crystal) and his two friends Phil (Daniel Stern) and Ed (played by the late Bruno Kirby) Phil’s life is a mess, he had an affair and as a result, his turmoil-filled…
“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn Below is a chapter from Joe’s Book, Extraordinary Results For Life: Discover Your Path to Be UN-ordinary (Chapter 20) When it comes to discussing Extraordinary Risk, I think it is important to understand how we…
“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” ~John Maxwell Defining an Extraordinary Leader The question of what defines an extraordinary leader has been argued back and forth for centuries. In some ways what determined the greatness of a leader was determined by the culture…
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ~John Quincy Adams Follow the leader is a game many of us played when we were children. The rules were simple: do what the leader does or get kicked out of the game and the…
In today’s world there is quite a bit of discussion about the word authority, and for the most part it has a tendency to be spoken of in a negative context. We too easily associate it with force, brutality, and manipulation, which is far from its original meaning. Force is about control and is the…
“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” ~Albert Einstein You would have to be living in a cave tucked away in the Himalayan Mountains to not see the hostilities that are raging around the world. The Ukraine, Multiple conflicts in the Middle East,…