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Simple Tip for Big Picture Thinking

What inspires people to spend time on “big picture thinking“?  I mean, most leaders are insanely busy.  Who’s got time for it?  Seriously.  And yet we forget:

“Adversity doesn’t develop character, it reveals it”.

It’s incumbent on leaders to figure this out, isn’t it?  To find time for the inspiration to think big picture, and contemplate a better future.  These opportunities present themselves to us constantly and surround us everyday.  It could be as simple as spending a moment looking out a window on the descent of your flight.  For example:

Alaskan Glaciers from the Delta flight descending into Anchorage, Alaska yesterday.



Today is anther opportunity to be a great leader. Hope we are all up for the challenge.

Top 10 Web Bookmarking Sites

Click here to see list on Top 10 Social Bookmarking Sites on the Web. Social networking has many tools, and many challenges. There’s an ocean of competition, but technology makes for smoother sailing.

Don’t ya just love technology?  The more we do something, the less fearful we are of it.  That’s one of the key drivers that makes many people want to try something new – to lessen fear.

And that’s one of our key accountabilities as a leader, isn’t it?  To lessen fear.  Carpe diem.

PS. Skyped a friend in South Africa yesterday.   Wasn’t exactly fearful of it, but had never done an International video chat before. Now I wonder why I waited so long.  It was ridiculously easy.

jungle jeff Leadership 101 Tip

jungle jeff Leadership 101 Tip:

“Leadership  – Inspiring others by the courage of your own example”.

This is the essence of what I personally believe is the ultimate leadership definition.

Perhaps the best way to fully understand its meaning is to re-read it, think deeply about it, and ultimately, evaluate our own “daily examples”.  This would lead us to a “personal leadership score”.

We would base our “score” on our daily leadership example.  And our basis should be brutally honest.

It seems, to me, that on days where I don’t need much courage, I’m probably not a very good example.  Hope today is a courage-filled day for all of us.

Rosa Parks Was Not, Was She?

Rosa Parks was not out to win a popularity contest.  Was she?

She also was not the first to refuse to give up her bus seat for a white man.  But thank goodness she did on December 1, 1955.  She was 42.

  • Where did her courage come from?
  • Why did she demonstrate it?
  • Did she have a plan?
  • What was she prepared to give up?
  • What did she think she’d gain?
  • Was she scared?

Rosa Parks is one of my heros, inspiring  me to use courage for the right reasons.  So today I commit to asking  the same questions.

And, by the way, it’s not a popularity contest.  Courage rarely makes you popular until years later.

Fortune Favors The Brave

Fortune favors the brave.  It does indeed.  But what does that mean, “favors you“?  Or what does it mean, “brave“?

This sounds pretty inspiring, yet how do we apply it or gauge whether we are brave?  Try this on for size.

I believe if everyone likes you, you are not brave enough.  Courage implies risk. And risk implies challenging the status quo. Generally, people do not like being challenged.

This also applies to us when we look in the mirror.  I am often tempted to not  challenge myself to do more, do better, do differently.

Why?

Because it’s too much work, too much risk, too much uncertainty. Isn’t it?  Ever find yourself thinking like this?  Good.

Most people intuitively understand that hard work pays off, that uncertainty is part of life, that risk is a key ingredient for continuous improvement and that fortune favors the brave.