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.
Clarity: You Headed in the Right Direction? With all the craziness happening in the airline business right now, it reminded me of an incident from a few years ago. I was in Cleveland tending to some family business over the Thanksgiving Holiday. While there, I decided to make a reservation to return to Cleveland for…
Social Media: Breaking Up is Hard To Do Like many people, I have a love-hate relationship with social media. Recently, I have been contemplating whether or not to remove myself from Facebook. In fact, I’ve even attempted to break up with them a few times. After a few unsuccessful attempts to disengage, I had an…
Achieving Greatness…Need a Nudge? Years ago, I attended the National Speakers Association (NSA) Annual Conference in California. For those of you who don’t know NSA is an organization made up of some of the world’s best professional speakers. Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Les Brown, Dr. Norman Vincent Peal, and Og Mandino are just a few…
What if… “You may say I’m a dreamer, But I’m not the only one! I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one” John Lennon Years ago there was a series of Hewlett Packard commercials whose tag line were “What If?” Since then, a number of folks have adopted this same…
“Money Changes Everything” – Cyndi Lauper Two Sides of a Coin Money is an extremely powerful force. There is volumes and volumes written about its impact on people and society. Most people’s beliefs about money lie somewhere on a spectrum between two end points. On one end we have the belief that money is evil…
Us vs. Them: A We Bit of a Problem The other day I was chatting with a client about the inner-workings at a gold mine. There is an ongoing issue that happens throughout the mining industry between the Maintenance Department and Operations. Now remember, we’re talking giant pieces of equipment. Fully-loaded Haul trucks that weigh…
That’s What Friends Are For… “For good times, for bad times, I’ll be by your side forever more, that’s what friends are for!” – Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager The year was 1982, Dionne Warwick and Friends (Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Gladys Knight) collaborated on a hit song entitled, “That’s What Friends Are For.”…
7 Minutes To Live? Okay so it sounds like an absurd question? And yet, I have been asked this question once before. It happened when I working with an amazing woman and mentor of mine by the name of Glenna Salsbury. As part of the process, I had to answer a few very poignant questions.…
Leadership Isn’t a Reward for Performance, It is a Calling! The way most organizations choose a leader is to promote a good performer. Even though they may lack the skills, talent, or even the desire to lead. In other words, leadership is a reward for great performance. We take our top producers, promote them, and…
Goals – Hold’ em or Fold ’em! “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 off the soundtrack from the movie, The Gambler, starring the late Kenny Rogers. Which makes a whole lot of sense if…