Be Human. Be Honest.

Surround yourself with smart people. Quality not quantity. Remove negative people from your life. Have a flexible strategy. Avoid playing favorites. Follow your passion. Never stand for dishonesty.

Believe in you. Do what you say you will do. Recognize the efforts of everyone on your team. Disconnect at least once a day. Don't pull rank. Take one think day every month. Pay it forward. Read and seek knowledge daily. Imagine often.

Never stop learning.
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A Dozen Ideas for Leaders

• Stop hiding behind email
• Don’t avoid difficult conversations and have them with respect and compassion
• Keep meetings to 30 minutes and on topic
• Allow all voices to be heard
• Be clear on expectations
• Don’t play favorites
• Be of service to your team/department/company; not the other way around
• Allow creativity to flourish
• Don’t evade conflict
• Remember every person on the team is just as important as any other person
• Hold yourself and others accountable
• Show up when things get difficult
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Not Today

Today we won’t focus on what we can’t change. Today we won’t compare ourselves to others. Today we won’t do what they say we should do. Today we won’t second guess ourselves. Today we won’t make assumptions. Today we won’t worry about yesterday.

Today we won’t sabotage our goals. Today we won’t lament about our weaknesses.

Today we won’t listen to opinions. Today we won’t expect them to read our mind. Today we won’t get distracted by actions that will derail us. Today we won’t change the past.

Today we won’t be hard on ourselves. Today we'll focus on today. Today we won’t fret the details. Today we won’t listen to our inner critic. Today we won't concern ourselves with petty arguments. Today we will get to that item we keep meaning to complete.

Today is all we got.
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The Key Ingredient

There are plenty of data to show we admire people who take chances as well as create and share new ideas. The things we can accomplish are astounding but are we admiring more than doing? It takes effort to have an idea, it takes guts to act on it. But what if you let everyone take more chances, act on ideas, and embrace a more creative culture within your organization?

We often hear of companies that tout their forward thinking attitude and openness. But perhaps cynicism creeps in when those promises are broken or don’t come to fruition in the purest of ways. Life gets busy and we pacify our need for engaging interactions by telling ourselves it only happens elsewhere.

The creation of meaningful experiences is often replaced by fear and inaction. Cutting the budget seems easier than taking more chances. The intersection of people and business requires relationships and one important element...

Desire.
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People Are Human Too

Leadership is the small things wrapped up in the big things. Leaders often manage the chaos so new ideas can be allowed to grow even when they may not seem like good ones at first. And thanking employees for their ideas and work is critical.

Employees get paid, they show up every day, they have bills to pay. If that’s all that’s going on, then you’re managing a transaction. If you can engage and encourage, you build a company. If you embrace the fact employees have lives too but want to bring their lives to work so they can bring their work to life, you create the seeds of a collaborative culture.

More Than a Paycheck

We work a lot throughout our lifetime and many companies are now expecting you to answer email on your smartphone on Sunday afternoons, in the evenings, give up family time, and sacrifice your space to give more to them. Balance isn’t just a handy word to use, it’s important to put into practice. And it begins when leaders consistently recognize employees' efforts with action.

You may think this is only possible in larger companies or specific sectors. Well, I’ve been fortunate to work with Fortune 50 organizations, large companies, medium to small businesses, and start-ups in a myriad industries. It can work in all of them.

Say thank you often.
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Do You Trust?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists "trust" as a belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, and effective. They use words like assured reliance on the character and a charge or duty imposed in confidence.

Trust is a big word we far too often toss around like it's part of a sales pitch. Trust me, my friend. It's all about trust. I trust that guy. But what is trust, really?

Trust is the transference of faith and Rachel Botsman examined the trust economy and collaborative consumption in her 2012 TEDTalk which continues to grow.


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Customized Motivation

We live in a plug-in-play world. The gadget comes with an instructional manual but few of us take the time to read it. Our collective impatience is too strong. We want to open the box and start using it. If there’s a problem, we’ll call someone or research the answer online. But what do we do when we can’t figure out how people work?

There is no owner’s manual with human interaction and relationships. Decades of experience can only give us a guide but each person is wired and motivated differently. We can’t simply apply one rule for all yet often the business world tries to do just that.

Leadership and People are Complex

You hear claims such as; “millennials behave this way” or “women 25-49 don’t like that” which are a generalizations. Marketing companies try and predict habits and companies attempt to guide behavior. No two people in history are identical.

If you have kids, you may have taught them how to ride a bike. At first, you put on training wheels, and then over time you raised them off the ground so your child could slowly learn how to balance.

Then the day came when the training wheels were removed. You may have stood nervously as they started to pedal off without your help or the help of two extra wheels. That’s trust in them, the system, and yourself. You gave them the tools but eventually had to let them find their way. Take time to find their motivation

Or you may never know how the gadget works.
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Random Thoughts

Embrace that there are many things you don't know. Focus on your strengths. Help something without their knowledge. Teach others. Waste no time with naysayers. Skip email for a day. Take time for you.

Surround yourself with smart people. Quality not quantity. Collaborate often. Remove negative people from your life. Have a flexible strategy. Avoid playing favorites. Leave politics to politicians.

Adopt an open-mind policy. Be true to you. Be clear on your beliefs. Let your team take credit. Surround yourself with people who improve you. Say thank-you often.

Don't compare yourself to others. Clearly define your boundaries. Believe in you. Do what you say you will do. Recognize the efforts of everyone on your team.

Never stop learning.
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