BLOG

Don’t Bother

“If you’re not going to come into the office on Thanksgiving Day, don’t even bother coming in on Christmas day”, the overworked, underpaid leader stated to the others on her team.

The Beatles got it right, didn’t they – “Eight Days A Week”.

This is a good time to be working harder than you ever have before.  I know firsthand, and some think I’m crazy, but I work seven days a week. And have for a long time.

Ain’t braggin’.  Just stating the facts.  And sometimes I wish the week had eight days. But mostly, an extra day just to sleep.

Hope you have an extraordinary week of hard work. We reap what we sow. This is the time to be out-working your competition. When others are ready to give up, it’ll be your opportunity to shine.

Glee Twitter Imagine

Last night, sort of by chance, I watched ten minutes of ABC’s new show, Glee.  Those ten minutes changed my mind about something.

And also yesterday, while changing a security question, one choice was,  “What’s the name of your favorite song?” Led Zeppelin immediately came to mind.

The rendition on Glee last night, and the inspiring lyrics to John Lennon’s “Imagine”, made me rethink the whole favorite song thing.

Yes, definitely, “Imagine”.

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”

Work For Money?

jungle jeff, Daily reflections on Excellence, has an overarching theme.  Money.

As I teach our son about life’s four big quadrants, jungle jeff’s blog is focused on only one.  Money.

Money is not the root of all evil. It is the love of money that is the root.

Whatever you believe, I’m teaching our son that every human should contribute to society in some way.  In return, society pays you with money, generally speaking.

With money, you can buy food, shelter, insurance, transportation, and even use money to help others.

And one more thing I’m trying to teach him, “He is rich who owes nothing.” — Hungarian Proverb

Only Going to Say This Once

Please listen carefully.  This simple fact about public speaking may be the key to becoming a more effective leader.

But only if people listen very carefully, and not rush through this.

Here’s the truth about being a Professional Speaker:

  • If you look out at your audience and they look bored, you’re boring them
  • If you look out and they are on fire, you lit it

Leaders hate to admit they sometimes stink are not highly effective. This makes them look bad and feel horrible. Who wants that?

But the simple truth is, if the people around you don’t seem passionate about their work, their mission, their customers, guess what?

PS.  If your team is on fire with passion, mission, service, guess what?

Seth Godin’s Top Book Picks

Seth Godin announced his November Top Book picks. Click here.

Most people, like I was three months ago, are clueless who Seth Godin is.

If you are serious about your career, and committed to becoming better at your leadership performance, and especially your leadership thinking, you better should become familiar with Seth Godin.

I first read Purple Cow (about being remarkable) and now Tribes (about, well, stay tuned).

Seth Godin is also on You Tube and you can start to see how refreshingly different, and amazingly brilliant, his thinking is.

But wait. I almost forgot. Most humans (like 90%) are not proactively seeking change.  Leaders say they embrace change, but how often do you see leaders transforming themselves and others?