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.
“All you need is love, All you need is love, love…Love is all you need” ~ The Beatles Well before you go and get all mushy and start conjuring up images of Juliet wondering where the heck Romeo is, or trying to remember when Harry actually did meet Sally, stop, take a deep breath…
“When work is a pleasure, life is joy! When work is a duty, life is slavery.” ~ Maxim Gorky No matter which survey you look at, overall employee disengagement at work still remains frighteningly low. Which means that the percentage of employees who have loudly quit, quietly quit, disillusioned, and disengaged continues to negatively…
“Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity.” ~Warren Bennis At different times and with different clients when I ask them if they believe they are achieving excellence, too often I hear… No, I wouldn’t say excellence, BUT we’re better than we were 2 years ago! Each time I hear this my first thought is this,…
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” ~ Lewis B. Smedes The topic of forgiveness is a prickly one because some folks believe that there are situations in life that not only unforgettable but equally unforgivable. Regardless of whether you agree or not, I think it…
“You have to be authentic with yourself before you can be authentic with others.” ~Joe Contrera * Years ago when I was married, my wife and I were going through a rough patch, and so we separated for a while. After a short time, we reconciled, and in celebration of our decision, we threw…
“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well you just might find, you get what you need!” ~ The Rolling Stones Hard to believe that after 62 years, The Rolling Stones, are still touring and performing for audiences all over the world. While watching a friend’s video post of their…
“The most difficult matter is not so much to change the world as yourself.” ~ Nelson Mandela It is amazing to me, that in this time where there are countless videos, seminars, workshops, books, and podcasts on how to be an extraordinary leader, we continue to hear story after story and see example after…
“Baseball (*Leadership) is like church. Many attend, but few understand.” ~ Leo Ernest Durocher When I was a kid, we spent hour after hour in our narrow driveway playing baseball. First base was the fence post, third base was the spigot, you get the picture… We didn’t use a regular baseball, we used using…
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again.” ~Samuel Arnold There has been much debate about whether Humpty Dumpty was actually an egg or not. The point here is that whatever he was, he certainly didn’t have a whole…
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” ~George Bernard Shaw As a leadership speaker, coach, and consultant for a few decades, I have come to the realization that not every company or leader who says that they want change, really does. The reasons vary, and while…