“The single most important characteristic of any leader is self honesty; without it you can’t lead anyone.” Joe Contrera Recently I was interviewed by Dr. Mathew Norton of The Mindfluence Revolution on the topic of Leadership. If you’re interested in hearing the interview simply click here …. According to Joe Contrera, leadership is not a reward…
Bad Habits: Are You A Fixer Upper? A mentor of mine, Dr. Nido Qubein once told me … “Joe, be careful who you spend time with because that is who you will become.” There is another thought that says if you look at where you’ re spending your time and money … that is a…
Creating a Culture of Communication … Sow What? Poor Communication continues to be the single biggest factor that negatively impacts organizations. The sad thing is that it has been this way … for 100’s of years. Poor listening skills, failure to communicate important issues, misunderstandings, and improperly trained leaders, are just a few of the…
Leadership Vision … Does Your Vision Need Correction! Leadership Vision … how clearly do you really see? Poor vision typically results from one of these three causes: You may be nearsighted (the inability to see things clearly that are far away), farsighted (the inability to see things clearly that are close), or an astigmatism (a blurred…
Listen, Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell, whoa oh, oh? The Beatles. Recently I had an online chat with a rep at Ally Bank. Here’s the transcript: Welcome to Ally’s Live Chat. Thanks for joining us! A Customer Care Associate will be with you in a moment. You are number 1 in the queue. Thank you for waiting.
This is a story about a book, a book about what happens when authenticity and risk collide. I started writing my soon to be released book, I Could Love No One Until I Loved Me in early 2009. At the time, I was going through a pretty traumatic time in my life. It was the onset of what some called the ‘second depression’ and my business had been significantly impacted. In what felt like a matter of days, we went from having our best year ever to having one of our worst … overnight.
Non-verbal communication can be more powerful than a thousand words. Have you ever received “the look,” from a spouse, parent, teacher, colleague, or boss? Did you notice the feeling in the pit of your stomach or the clenching of your fists in response to that look or something they did?
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.
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!
The Power of a Smile … Occasionally I feel the need to share a personal experience with you especially when something impacts me in a profound way. Yes, I know this is a business blog … And yet in my day-to-day life I find it nearly impossible to separate the closely intertwined personal thoughts and…