Leadership Skills

The dictionary defines empathy quite simply: “It’s the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” And for most of us, this simple sentence describes one of life’s greatest challenges. We come at everything from our point of view. Our personality, combined with our backgrounds and experiences, drive how we see…

Last Friday at 6:00 p.m., I drove past my local Chipotle restaurant. I was surprised to see only a few customers standing in line. A couple of years ago, lines regularly stretched past the front door from lunchtime until closing, seven days a week. Until recently, Chipotle was a darling…

For many years, the adage was “do you want it right, on-time or cheap, pick two”. And then somewhere in the 80’s and 90’s, perhaps associated with the dot.com era, marginal costs moved close to zero in some industries. Because of this, we began to expect all three. In fact, the…

Recently, Ryan Avery spoke to my Vistage groups where he shared valuable communication skills, strategies, and insights that the world’s best leaders use to influence others to take action. Ryan's infographic shown here lists some words that he recommends removing from your vocabulary to increase the effectiveness of your own communication.…

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.” —Steve Jobs “Saying no is the most powerful word in…

    Thank you Chip, for the remind that stress is not always a bad thing!   It's that time of the year again. The nail-biting, hand-wringing, buzzer-beating, stress-packed world of March Madness! We've seen just two rounds played, but I'm struck by the amount of pressure these "kids" endure…

Life Lessons are everywhere. The task is to slow down and find them. The trick is to apply them to your situation. Let’s see how the lessons I observed can be applied to you! This winter I’m working from Nashville. As expected – this town is amazing! What I didn’t…

Super Bowl 51 was an amazing game Sunday evening. It was played at NRG Stadium in Houston. The picture below is from the Houston Chronicle: Until the middle of the 3rd Quarter of the game, after an exciting halftime show by Lady Gaga, the Atlanta Falcons seemed to be in…

Sometimes the demands of one part of our life, work or family, consume us. Sometimes because of a crisis, sometimes because of a spike in workload or children’s sports or… sometimes just because we become consumed. These days, mobile devices link us 24/7 to the office, our bosses, our employees…

  The NFL Playoffs have begun! I love seeing and feeling the passion in a Playoff game - the intensity is palatable. This week, I was also struck by the intensity and power of the hits players endure. I forget, sitting on my comfortable couch, these are 250+ pound guys,…