I’ve been re-reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography for the “umpteenth” time.  In his long journey of self-improvement, he came up with his own 13 “virtues”, which I will list below.  This would be a great set of values for any company or employee! It comes from a man who was not of any religion, but established his own moral [...]

I just arrived back home after delivering a breakout session on brainpower for Communicatiion ‘10, The District 7 Toastmasters Spring Conference at eh Oregon Convention Center. Because the introductory keynote ran a bit over, I had to cut our session short, so thought it would be helpful to post an outline for you, since we did rather race to [...]

last night I watched the premiere of a new show, right after the Super Bowl.  It was called “Undercover Boss”.  Another on the long list of ubiquitous reality tv shows.  Truthfully, I expected to be turning it off after a few minutes.  That did not happen.  In fact, I was amazed, impressed, and am a [...]

 
It’s early Monday morning and I’m looking at my schedule for today.  All the typical things are fighting for my attention and need to be completed:  yoga, devotions, coaching sessions, proposal submissions, a keynote speech prepared, a power point presentation created, list of people called, copy reviewed, part of a chapter written for the book, thinking and reviewing [...]

You are a passenger on an airplane.  You look out the window of the place and the wing is on fire.  The oxygen masks drop down.  The flight attendants make an announcement that the pilot is going to have to make a crash landing on water.  You hear yelling: “Brace…Brace”.  People around you are starting [...]

You’ve heard it a zillion times: “Leaders are Readers.”  My friend Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said “5 years from today you’ll be the same person you are today except for two things: the people meet and the books you read”. One of my favorite quotes. He passed on a few months ago, and my job is [...]

I shiver when I think how many books I have read on the topic of leadership, and I’m sure you have, too.  It’s a hot topic in today’s business world. We need more and better leadership than ever before: think about the business role models you’ve seen on the news lately.  Scandals, coverups, greed, dishonesty, [...]

Sometimes in your Mastermind Group you will want to spend time brainstorming.
A successful Mastermind Group is one that can brainstorm well.  Many groups have problems brainstorming, therefore do not leverage their thinking power to the extent possible.
Brainstorming is the unashamed, prolific sharing of ideas that come to your mind when you are in the group [...]

We have serious global environmental challenges to face,  an estimated 100 million homeless people worldwide, drugs devastating our communities everywhere, the US Financial Crisis weighing heavily on the global economy, countries at war, including our own, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
You have a company to run, a board of directors meeting to [...]

You are probably familiar with this poem. In today’s business climate you need the personal edge more than ever:
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well [...]