Tag: Leadership
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Vacuums: People Will Fill the Void
Why it’s important to communicate clearly and often. The law of entropy states: the total entropy of any system can’t decrease other than by increasing the entropy of some other system. Hence, in a system isolated from its environment, the entropy of that system tends not to decrease. How does the law of entropy apply to people…
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Pulling Up the Flowers to See the Roots
Farmer Brown once planted a seed. The seed eventually yielded the most beautiful flowers he has ever seen. Once the flower bloomed, his curiosity got to the best of him. He thought to himself, “man, those flowers are beautiful, I wonder how I can replicate the process that created such a beautiful sight”. With that,…
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Sharp Edges and Gems
When two rocks with sharp edges are tumbled together for an extended length of time, eventually such violent interactions yield gems that are refined, beautiful and valuable. The constant interaction between two harsh objects eventually creates two completely new objects unrecognizable from its past that are polished, refined and uniquely excellent. Why then are humans…
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Unexpected Connections
Unexpected connections are what truly brings value to an organization, life, products and family. It’s the interconnectedness that was once thought not connected which allows one to bring light to a city (electricity and the light bulb), electricity from falling water, wind, the sun and oil for the combustion engine. It is through such unexpectedness…
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The Bottom Line Fallacy
Leaders can oftentimes fall into the bottom line trap. When times are tough, they may myopically look at the bottom of the income statement with incredulous disdain and make rash decisions before funds run dry while obsessively speaking about the importance of maintaining margin to those he/she are leading. While the bottom line is important, leading from the…
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You’re Either Growing or You’re Dying
Every day we have a choice: we either grow or die. Nothing more, nothing less. At the end of your day did death or growth occur? No matter your age, growth or death can happen and there are simple steps one can take to ensure growth supervenes. Start every day with a question. What is…
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Communicate Up, Down and Sideways
Communication is a skill that must constantly be refined and changed based on the desired outcomes. Yet, for communication to be effective; one must always communicate a whole 360 degrees (up, down, and sideways). Communicating Up What obstacles are in your team’s way that you need upper management to diffuse so you can effectively accomplish…
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Doing versus Being
A life of constantly doing things in and of itself will lead to unhappiness, angst, nervousness and anxiety as there are an infinite number of “things” to do and once a task is completed, another will fill its place (thus there is never rest for the doer). Instead, for each task that has been laid…
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Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes: 5 Ideas on How to Initiate Change
If nothing changes, nothing changes. Yet, we do the same things in life expecting a different result. Why then are we so surprised when we are in the same rut day in and day out when we are not willing to change any of the processes that yield to the deepening of the aforementioned rut?…
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Thermostat or Thermometer: Which One are You?
Thermometers tell the temperature; thermostats change the temperature. Which one are you? Thermometers are those who simply tell folks what is going on and often times state that something is amiss. Conversely, thermostats identify a problem and make adjustments accordingly. While thermometers are valuable; thermostats are powerful. Below are some steps to become a thermostat:…
Time to Think 