“If you are in a leadership position, any you avoid conflict, speaking the truth (facts), or giving feedback, you might want to consider a different position!” ~Joe Contrera For more than two decades I have had the privilege of helping leaders develop their leadership and coaching skills. And yet…I am still amazed at the…
“The blurring of fact and fiction has great commercial potential, which is bound to be corrupting in historical terms.” ~Antony Beevor A great mentor of mine, Dr. Nido Qubein, once shared the difference between problem solving and solution finding. He said, “Problem solving is looking at what it is while Solution Finding is looking at…
“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…
“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…
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” ~Lao Tzu These words spoken by the 6th Century Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu, really captures the heart of leadership for me. Unlike many of the current leaders of today…
“Life is like the monkey bars: you have to let go to move forward. Once you make the decision to leap into entrepreneurship, be sure to loosen your grasp on old concepts so you can swing your way to new ones.” ~Leah Busque (American entrepreneur) Entrepreneurs are a special breed. It takes a great sense of…
“It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” ~J.K. Rowling One way to more powerfully influence others is to leverage your failures. People don’t realize the power of failure and…
“We all have needs, and we will find a way to get those needs met in either a healthy or an unhealthy way” ~ Joe Contrera Studies have shown that you can boil human behavior down into 4 basic categories. People are either driven by a need to be right, to be liked, to…
“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” ~ Sarah Dessen Many years ago, Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company sponsored a show called The Wild Kingdom. It was a show hosted by Marlin Perkins along with his co-host, Jim Fowler. Each an every Sunday night they took…