Search Results for: strengths

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:20 — 11.2MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

This week’s theme is self-awareness. I landed on this theme due to the many people I encounter who spend way too much time comparing themselves. It’s why I intentionally built the foundation last week focused on your mental health. Now we’re going to work at getting very real with ourselves. It’s not about who or what you want to become, it’s about who and what you are right now. Sure, we’re all subject to growth and improvement – which means we can change, but I want to push you to consider innate strengths, talents, and abilities. I also want you to think about your beliefs, convictions and character traits. It’s time to look deeply into the mirror.

Randy

---

 

Beliefs are tough to categorize. There are the beliefs you have which determine how you view the world and your place in it. These beliefs are how you see other people – and circumstances and events – and how you judge them (and I don’t mean “judge” in some critical fashion, but how you discern them). For example, some of us are optimistic and others not so much. That belief – whichever it may be – impacts how we go about life.

There are religious or spiritual beliefs. Even people who don’t believe in God or any higher power have a belief – and that’s their belief — that there is no God. Then there are those of us who do believe in God, so much so that we make that a priority in our lives. I’m unashamed that I fall into that camp. I confess knowing firsthand how much that impacts all my choices, decisions and behaviors (well, at least when I behave as I should). 😉

Then there’s the belief I’d like to start with today – the belief we have in ourselves.

Everybody believes in themselves. The question is, “What do you believe about yourself?” What do you believe in when it comes to YOU?

Confidence. That’s how most of us put our self-belief in context. But there’s more to it.

There are many more things that you believe about yourself that have nothing to do with confidence. Confidence is merely a catch-all that doesn’t catch it all.

We’ve all seen those infamous people of Walmart pics of people who actually leave their house and go shop at Walmart in some of the wildest outfits ever. All of us are thinking the same thing, “What were they thinking?” I can tell you. They thought, “This looks good.” At the very least they thought, “Yeah, this is fine.” Proof of their beliefs about their appearance.

How else can you explain all the duck lipping and other things that the collective knows looks bad, but many individual people still leave the house looking rather absurd? The obese lady in those yoga pants believes she looks good. She’s unaware that she looks like a tuna in a tube. We all know it, but her belief is what’s driving her behavior. It’s driving mine and yours, too.

The thing about self-belief is how prone we can be to get it wrong. Colossally wrong sometimes. Yet we believe it so it’s right. Well, a truer statement would be if we believe it, then it’s our reality.

Figuring out what you believe about yourself is required work if we’re committed to learning, understanding and growing. When I was younger I’d spend time trying to convince people of what I believed FOR (or about) them. Somebody would express some dream or idea. We’d bounce it around and I’d get excited because I could see it happening. I could see them succeeding at it. I’d grow frustrated knowing they didn’t believe in themselves or their idea as much as I did. It took me years to realize that it didn’t matter what I believed. What they believed was the only thing that mattered.

The backside of figuring it out includes changing it. That’s the real deal for most of us, but it’s impossible until we know what it is we’re changing. Discerning the status quo of what you believe is mandatory.

Enter a debate people sometimes want to engage with me.

“But what if you believe something that isn’t true about yourself?”

I say, “It depends.”

For instance, figuring out what you believe – especially about yourself – may be easier than you think. Look at your behavior. Look at your actions. Look at your choices.

Belief isn’t disconnected from actions. So back when I used to try to persuade or convince people they could do something – because I believed they could – I figured I might be able to influence them to take action they mostly never took.

That’s why last Friday’s episode was focused on changing how we feel by changing our actions. Guess what? It works. And it goes even deeper into helping us change our beliefs. Largely because we prove to ourselves new truths about ourselves.

Entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, and leaders make decisions. It’s what we do. Sometimes we do it well by getting it right. Other times we don’t do it so well because we get it wrong.

What do you do when you get it wrong? Berate yourself? How long do you dwell on it?

Recently I heard a young entrepreneur give some great advice about what should happen when things don’t go as planned, “Unhook it.” That instantly made sense to me. Unchain yourself from it and turn the page.

I’m a hockey fan. Here we are at the conference championship phase of the Stanley Cup playoffs. To win the Stanley Cup a team has to win 16 games. There are four rounds of playoffs, each round determined by the best of 7 (four victories mean you advance to the next round). It’s a grind for teams who play just about every other day. As you’d imagine momentum can shift quickly within a game or a series. And in a sport where one position is far more consequential to the outcome – the goaltenders – these players must have sports amnesia. That is, they have to unhook it when they give up a goal, or when they lose a game. Translation: Forget about it and move on.

I bring this up because I encounter too many leaders who live in the past. But it’s not restricted to losses or mistakes. It’s also true of wins or successes. We may falsely believe that we’re a superstar and thanks to our leadership, that success happened.

Let me wheel back around to character (something I’m talking about more and more) and why I think it’s so important. Character strengths are what you most believe. Doing the right thing – honesty – is a character trait. Just the other night 60 Minutes did a piece on big pharma price fixing. Evidently, there are plenty of crooks at the top. They likely believe it’s okay or they believe their company profits trump moral uprightness. I don’t know exactly what they believe but I know honesty, transparency, and fairness aren’t among them.

I’m ending on this note because I believe that great leadership starts with being great human beings. Want to improve your leadership and grow great? Then look deep inside yourself and figure out what changes need to be made so you can become a better – a great – person!

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

RC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:50 — 10.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

This week’s theme is self-awareness. I landed on this theme due to the many people I encounter who spend way too much time comparing themselves. It’s why I intentionally built the foundation last week focused on your mental health. Now we’re going to work at getting very real with ourselves. It’s not about who or what you want to become, it’s about who and what you are right now. Sure, we’re all subject to growth and improvement – which means we can change, but I want to push you to consider innate strengths, talents and abilities. I also want you to think about your beliefs, convictions and character traits. It’s time to look deeply into the mirror.

Growing up in retail and spending decades serving the public taught me the importance of outward focus. It was an enormous business-building educational advantage. I bring that up because I think it’s important for us to be outward facing when it comes to providing value. Life isn’t all about you. It’s not all about me. It’s about THEM – those we want to impact. Those we want to dazzle. Those we want to influence.

However, for us to truly deliver the highest value – we have to be inward facing. We have to be more fully in touch with who and what we are. And it’s not an easy thing for most of us because outside influences press on us to dream or imagine being something we’re not. Or loving something we may naturally hate.

I’m kicking off this week’s theme with figuring out what you love for three reasons. One, it’s a more positive viewpoint than to approach it by concentrating on what you hate. Two, it’s more difficult to really figure out what you love. Three, it’s more impactful to your long-term success than a focus on what you hate.

Let me encourage you to flip negatives into positives. I’m not opposed to the high value of negatives. They can serve us. Parents say “no” to their kids an awful lot because kids can be stupid and make dumb decisions. And because parents love their kids and want to teach them. “Don’t cross the street,” isn’t negative advice. It’s a negative statement – don’t – aimed at keeping the child safe.

The problem is we learn to implement it throughout our lives. Be more thoughtful to flip it when you’re able. For example, how many times do you apologize for relatively minor offenses? “I’m sorry I’m late,” is a common one.

Flip it into a positive that puts the attention on the other person, in a good way. “Thank you for waiting for me. I appreciate it.”

Doing hard work as opposed to the easy work is a habit that’s good for us. To think of what you love is way harder than thinking of what you hate. You instantly know what you hate.  “I hate cauliflower” is an easy statement for lots of folks. “What’s your favorite vegetable of all time?” is a bit harder.

When we’re looking in the mirror – at our true selves – it’s insanely harder to land on what we most love. But the practice of doing it equips us to grow better at getting it done.

So it’s about a lasting impact. Long-term success and achievement. We’re not interested in some quick fix that won’t last. Sustainable growth is our objective.

Concentrate on the things you do daily inside your organization. Make note of the ones you truly love. The ones that fuel you. The ones that boost your energy just thinking about being able to do them.

The noise of business or organizational culture can ruin your ability to see accurately. For instance, culture gives so much wind and attention to the “start up” and “entrepreneurship.” People talk about starting a lot. It’s glorified.

But what if you don’t love the start? What if you know you’re not really good at the start?

True confession. I hate the start. I’m not good at the start. Meaning, launching isn’t easy for me because I hate that part of the process.

I know people who love nothing better than the start. But no sooner is the launch underway, they begin to lose interest. They so love the start, but they hate what comes after.

I’m the opposite. I hate the start, but once it’s underway – all that stuff in the middle, the building to get momentum – I love it. I love the middle.

Knowing that helps me. It can serve to keep me from trying to be something I’m not, or from saying “yes” to an opportunity that would likely not be fun or productive for me.

“To thine own self be true,” isn’t just some Shakespearean saying. It’s true.

But in order to be true to yourself, you have to come face to face with what you love. And you have to do it for one simple reason (although I’m sure there are plenty of others): you need energy for the grind.

When you love it you stick with it. When you hate it, you’ll accept any reason to quit.

Sure, it’s also highly probable that whatever you love is something you’re pretty good at. Better than something you hate.

I’m introverted. I enjoy being around people, but I don’t love being in crowds. I love being in a smaller group setting though – where conversations can go deeper than small talk (which I hate). What difference does it make in knowing (and facing) such truths? All the difference in the world if being at a bunch of events with lots of people is part of what’s needed to build my business. I’d be better served finding a person who loves that and delegating those activities to them.

So it’s not just what you love (and are likely pretty good at), but it’s knowing who and what you need to surround you in building or growing your business. The Jim Collins’ metaphor of putting the right people on the bus is true enough, but you need to be able to best figure out who they should be. I’m suggesting you focus on what you – and any potential teammates – love!

Besides, it’s lots more fun. And as much time as we spend working we should make it as fun as possible.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

RC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:07 — 9.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

This week’s theme is your mental health. Each week we’ll explore a single topic that impacts the lives of small business owners. Usually, the topics apply to executives and leaders in most any arena. You’re smart. You can make the application as it suits you. I’m just here to help you figure it out.

Randy

---

 

For the past few years, I’ve had a growing fascination with character strengths. Mostly because our beliefs drive our default behaviors. It’s the reality of who we are at a moment in time. It’s not static because we’re learning, changing and growing.

Lying is easy.

Lying to yourself, even easier.

It’s not only what you say to yourself, but it’s also what you say to others. Most of us put some importance on the way others see us. We care about the opinions of others. Sometimes even people we don’t know. Or like.

Pretenders. Wannabes. Call them what you will, we all hate them. The hypocrites. Except when it’s us. Then it morphs into the fake-it-til-you-make-it logic loop.

Most folks have a more clear idea of what they’d like to be rather than a true idea of who they actually are. You could more easily describe your ideal than your reality. Evidence of our proficiency at lying to ourselves.

Yesterday we ended the show encouraging you to put in the daily work to grow your self-respect. That theme is in play with today’s show, too. Actually, it’s in play no matter the topic of GROW GREAT because I don’t see any way to grow great without it. Too many of us don’t like who or what we are. Easier to create a narrative that makes us feel better than to put in the hard work to make ourselves better. Don’t use a bandage to make a temporary fix. Opt for the surgery to make yourself well.

Denial is the chief tool of lying to ourselves. Leaders aren’t immune. We deny there’s a problem. We deny we’re struggling. We deny we lack answers. Do we think if we deny it long enough then maybe it’ll be true?

Addicts deny their state. “I’m not addicted,” is the battle cry of every addict. It’s why AA thrives on the tradition of introducing oneself followed by the statement of fact, “And I’m an alcoholic.” It’s the reality check necessary to stop the denial and delusion.

This isn’t about abusing yourself. Nor is it about self-flagellation. It’s about knowing where you are so you can figure out to get to where you want. No different than any GPS app. All directions are based on your current location. Fool the app all you want and you’re only hurting your own chances to arrive where you aim to go.

Along with denial is the high price of promises. Mostly broken promises. All of us make promises to ourselves that go unfulfilled. “I’m gonna ____________, ” is a commonly heard phrase. I grew up mostly in the South. Old folks who grew up on farms recalled hours spent working the cotton fields. Super difficult work. Many of them would say, “Mean to don’t pick no cotton” which simply meant, saying you mean to do something isn’t the same thing as doing it. True enough.

Still we make promises to ourselves. We imagine it the way it should be rather than facing the reality of how it truly is. But tomorrow we’ll do better. We’ll do this, or that. And it’ll be great. The problem is we don’t follow through.

After all is said and done, far more is said than done.

Do you believe in luck? I don’t mean do you believe it ever happens. I mean, do you believe success hinges on it? Do you think the people who find success are lucky and the rest aren’t? It’s just another act of self-deception that might make us feel better in the moment, but it can cause us irreparable damage. Just more lies we sometimes tell ourselves for temporary comfort.

You’re seeing another theme emerge in this series on our mental health. Stop investing in short-term fixes for long-term welfare. It’s a cultural drive and I get it. We want to take a pill to make it all better. We don’t want to put in the hard work or make the sacrifice that would result in long-term improvement. Easier is a better choice but just another lie we’re willing to tell ourselves.

Truth. Evidence. These are invaluable to us. They help us become better people. They help us become better business owners, executives and leaders.

I love to dream of what’s possible. Most of us do. Embrace that. Just don’t fool yourself into thinking your dream is real until you put in the work to make it so.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

RC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:50 — 15.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

Culture is defined like this…

the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group

Investopedia offers this definition of corporate culture…

Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions.

It’d be easy to take issue with that last part about handling outside business transactions. But the site goes on to list a key point about company culture…

Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact.

Personally, I prefer to just use that key point as the definition. Simply put, culture is the beliefs and values that determine behavior and decision-making.

Culture is the beliefs and values that determine behavior and decision-making.

Think of culture as the operating system of your organization. It’s the architecture upon which decisions and actions are based for your team, your division, your organization or your business.

Some take issue with me putting culture on the list. They argue that culture isn’t something you do, but it’s something that’s created. To which I simply ask, “By whom?” Who do you think is most responsible for creating the culture that best serves the operation and the people in it – no matter if they’re inside it or outside it? Employees or customers?

Leadership matters.

I started playing tackle football in 5th grade. When I was growing up there was no flag football. By the time I entered high school I was growing increasingly interested in other things. But my buddies and I who had played together for years all hit the football field for the first spring tryouts. It was a less than stellar outing.

The coach stood before us and made what I thought was a ridiculous declaration. Here at Buba Gump High School (no, that wasn’t the name of it) we use the 3-point stance. He then commanded us to all get down into a 3-point stance. We did. I had a smile on my face. A “you’ve got to be kidding” kind of a smile.

He at least knew who I was, which may not have played to my favor.

He then starts lecturing us on the physics of the 3-point stance. Now, I was no physic whiz kid, but his next statement tickled me. “Whichever way you take a man’s head, that’s the direction he’ll go.”

Well, chop my legs off and call me, Shorty! Amazing.

My smile widened.

“Cantrell, you think that’s funny?”

That’s when it went south for me.

“Yes, sir. Kinda.”

The next thing I knew I was joining a few other guys running laps around the field. Yes, I was smiling with every stride. It was my final football practice. I figured any coach that stupid wasn’t worthy of my athletic prowess. 😀

However, there’s a lesson in all that coaching rhetoric. Leadership determines the direction of the culture. “Whichever way a company’s head goes is the way the company will go.”

Since it’s the operating system behind everything it’s the culmination or apex of the principles.

Compassion leads to Connection which enhances Communication which enables Collaboration which results in establishing and maintaining the Culture we want.

Beliefs and values – they’re the stuff of culture. They drive you. They drive the people on your team. You could approach the topic of leadership and culture from a number of angles, but the one I find most helpful is character strengths. These are broken out like this by the researchers at The VIA Institute on Character, a non-profit organization. They list 24 character strengths.

The thing about character strengths is they are what they are. They’re subject to change over time, but they give us a solid snapshot of who and where we are right now. It’s not some fanciful, what-I’d-like-to-be thing. It’s an accurate depiction of our current operating system.

Why does that matter? Because as the leader you drive the culture of the team. Just like Jim “Monty” Montgomery started driving the culture of the Dallas Stars hockey club almost a year ago. It’s what a head coach should do because Monty is doing his best to serve the organization by serving the players under his leadership. It’s his job to help them reach their potential. Hopefully, all the way to being able to hoist the Stanley Cup. The team is a proper reflection of Monty’s character strengths. When the players and the coach have aligned character strengths, then that whole “buy in” thing we all talk about happens. When the leader and the team members don’t have congruent character strengths buy-in is difficult, maybe impossible.

You are who and what you are. You can learn, understand and grow…resulting in changes (improvements) to who and what you are. But you don’t operate on who you may want to be. You operate on who you truly are right now. All the more reason to devote yourself to personal growth so you can improve.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

RC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:19 — 10.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

Five C’s comprise the work – and the progress – of transformational leadership. In this series, we’ll briefly go through these:

1. Compassion
2. Connection
3. Communication
4. Collaboration
5. Culture

I put them in this order intentionally. We’ll explain as we go along this week. Today we begin with compassion.

Transformational leadership is defined by the Business Dictionary like this:

Style of leadership in which the leader identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the members of the group.

Let’s personalize it a bit more though. We’re going to start with YOU and your leadership. Transformation begins with you, but that doesn’t mean you’re broken and need to be fixed. I tire of people who approach life – including leadership and business – from that viewpoint. I understand that some people are better at stuff than others. Some are more effective. Some are more impactful. Some more accomplished. But we all know there are plenty of ways to achieve success and find the results we’re chasing. There isn’t just one way. Study any handful of successful leaders you care to and you’ll likely see a variety of different styles and tactics. So before we dive into the first C, compassion, let’s focus a bit on self-awareness.

Who are you? What are you? 

There are a variety of tools and assessments to help us. Some put the emphasis on our personality type. Others on our current strengths or talents. Still others on qualities and characteristics like values and beliefs. Many of these have their place as we dive more deeply into our lives to see ourselves more accurately.

I’m increasingly fascinated by looking at our value strengths. Namely, the beliefs and character strengths that drive our decisions and behaviors. Learning more about these helps us better understand our current default behaviors. These may change over time, too. They often do because we’re constantly learning, understanding and growing.

Self-awareness can be among the toughest work you’ll ever do. But it can also be the most profitable, too. I encourage you to spend the time to do this work because this podcast – and my work – takes aim at helping people live their best life. Yes, the focus is on business building and leadership, but those aren’t the only elements of your life. You’re a whole person. It’s important for you to commit to making all areas of your life shine.

Now, let’s talk about compassion, the foundation of it all.

The dictionary defines it as “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.” That’s too narrow for our purposes. Let’s broaden it to a more practical meaning…

kindness, caring, and a willingness to help others

Leaders who commit themselves to growth in this area are poised for extraordinary transformation. Consider it extreme growth.

For your life and leadership to be truly transformational…you need this foundation. We all have room for improvement. I hope you’ve got a great start, but if you don’t – then make up your mind you’re going to change this.

It was in the early 1970s when I first heard the phrase, “servant leadership.” It seemed ridiculous to me at the time and I was just starting a career in sales as a high schooler. I thought it was redundant. Now that I’m an experienced, mature person…I know it’s redundant. Leadership that doesn’t focus on the welfare of others isn’t leadership. It’s tyranny, autocracy and colossally selfish. But that’s not YOU.

How can we grow our compassion? Simple. Not easy, but simple. Focus more on others and what you can do to help them.

Empathy is a necessary component. It’s the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. Let’s lean heavily into that understanding part. This is a big step we can all make toward growing our compassion – working harder to understand others.

Pointedly, it means taking the time to fuel your curiosity instead of jumping to a conclusion or assumption without evidence. Think about the worst moment of your life. Did that moment properly characterize you, the whole you? Not likely. Now think about the best moment of your life. Did that moment properly characterize the whole you? No, of course not.

We’ve all had times like these where people misjudged us. Sometimes harshly. And without even a modest query. It’s easy to draw conclusions that may make us feel better, but we can get it wrong about the other person. No compassion. No understanding. Just judgment. A lack of understanding. A lack of empathy.

Start the habit of giving grace to people. This doesn’t mean you operate your life or your business without incorporating accountability. It means you work harder to understand who they are, how they feel and what really happened.

This is why I’m fanatical about evidence-based leadership. It’s just too easy for us to judge people and situations without really knowing the facts. The gap between what we know and what we don’t is most often filled with harsh judgment that is incorrect. But it can make us feel better about ourselves. Superior even.

Tap the brakes. Make inquiries. That means you actually ask questions and listen so you can better understand.

Then…deploy kindness.

Understanding without kindness isn’t compassion. My bias is that I’m a Christian. That whole “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you” means something. Walking in the shoes of the other person, however you choose to view it, can spark greater kindness. You’ll have to behave with higher intention and purpose. That’s going to be the hard part. To resist the knee-jerk conclusions and emotions long enough so you can behave more purposefully.

Transformational leadership doesn’t happen accidentally. So this process is a complete winner all the way around. You engage higher intentionality. You grow your ability and skills to seek better understanding. You reach more accurate conclusions. You behave with greater kindness to others. You grow as a leader. Your team members gain a much more effective leader.

There are no losers in this process!

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

RC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:59 — 11.4MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

In 1990 a paperback book’s title captured my attention while browsing through a bookstore (I frequently haunted bookstores; I miss it).

Learned Optimism: How To Change Your Mind And Your Life

It was written by one Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D. I knew I had to read it ’cause the author had TWO middle initials. E.P. stands for Elias Pete by the way. That actually had nothing to do with my buying the book, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

Dr. Seligman is the Director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center and Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology in the Penn Department of Psychology. I hadn’t heard about “positive psychology” in 1990. Nobody else had either since it was introduced by the good doctor in 1998 when he became the President of the American Psychological Association. The University of Pennsylvania website offers us this definition…

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths that enable individuals and communities to thrive. The field is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play.

There’s a chapter about kids. On January 25, 1992 I had my two kids take an assessment contained in the book. My kids were both under the age of 12. I’ve still got their answers, written in their own handwriting. It’s proof of how interested I was in helping my kids grow up to be optimistic.

Dr. Seligman writes…

“Your habitual way of explaining bad events, your explanatory style, is more than just the words you mouth when you fail. It is a habit of thought, learned in childhood and adolescence. Your explanatory style stems directly from your view of your place in the world – whether you think you are valuable and deserving, or worthless and hopeless. It is the hallmark of whether you are an optimist or a pessimist.”

According to Dr. Seligman, there are 3 crucial dimensions to our explanatory style: permanence, pervasiveness, and personalization. Today, let’s focus a bit on that first dimension, permanence.

People who quit or give up easily believe the causes of the bad events that happen to them are permanent. They think the bad events will persist, always impacting their life. People who resist hopelessness believe the causes of the bad events are temporary.

Words matter.

If you think about bad things and attach words like “always” and “never,” then you’re bent toward a permanent, pessimistic style. “This always happens to me,” is a common refrain we heard. Maybe from our own lips. “I never seem to win,” is another common one.

Contrast those terms with these: “sometimes” or “lately.” Those kinds of qualifiers, says Dr. Seligman, blame bad events on transient conditions and mean we have a more optimistic style.

Hopelessness is real for all of us. Sometimes. Because failure makes us all feel hopeless momentarily. We describe it as a gut punch. It buckles our knees. It hurts. Badly sometimes. But the hurt dissipates. For some, it can go away almost immediately. For others, it takes more time. Still, others don’t seem to get over it. They seethe, feeding the pain until it grows into bitterness. These people can remain helpless and hopeless for a long time, even after a small setback. If the hurt is big enough, they may not ever find their way back.

The flip side of this is how we explain good events. No point talking about how we process bad events without considering how we process good ones.

The optimistic style of explaining good events is just the opposite of the optimistic style of explaining bad ones. People who believe good events have permanent causes are more optimistic than people who believe they have temporary causes.

Optimistic people explain good events to themselves in terms of permanent causes. That’s why their self-talk includes terms like traits, abilities and always. Pessimists use different language: moods, effort, sometimes.

People who believe good events have permanent causes try even harder after they succeed. People who see temporary reasons for good events may give up even when they succeed because they’re tempted to believe the success was a fluke.

That’s why yesterday I urged you to keep growing if you’re “on the gold.” Lean into the success and create even more success.

This particular dimension of our explanatory style – permanence – deals with TIME.

It’s important that you – the leader, the business owner – learn to be optimistic and view failure or bad events as merely temporary conditions on the path to success. While simultaneously seeing good events and success as being more permanent and things well within our control.

Why does this matter? Because it will determine our outcomes and the outcomes of our organizations. Pay close attention to the language you use with yourself and with others. You can start changing that language to something more profitable, but I encourage you to do some deeper work by changing your mind so you truly believe.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

RC

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:46 — 11.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

Faith is a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, drywall. She comes from a long line of tradesmen. Both grandfathers. And her own dad. She’s accomplished in the trade specializing in high-end residential construction, but she’s also an accomplished business operator. She knows her stuff. But she’s struggling with something she thinks should come more naturally. Celebrating when her company achieves a victory.

“It just feels fake,” she confesses. “I’m just not the cheerleader type.”

It’s not uncommon. Many leaders and business owners don’t know how to celebrate victories. It’s like everything else. You have to learn how so don’t shy away from figuring it out. Let’s talk about some things you can consider.

You don’t have to be the birthday clown!

Too many entrepreneurs endure the pressure of being the birthday clown of the celebration. Get that out of your head. You’re not the focal point. Nor are you the entertainment. You’re the leader, responsible for making sure the celebration happen. You’re the leader, the one leading the parade to show gratitude to the troops for achieving victory.

You likely had birthday parties thrown by your mom when you were little. Your folks did the work. They showed they loved you. And okay, maybe your dad dressed up like a clown. So nevermind. 😀 Listen, the hired birthday clown doesn’t love you. Your parents do. You knew that. This isn’t much different.

Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines passed away some weeks ago. Herb was a grand birthday clown. He was a tremendous celebrator of victories. It was one of his strengths, but it was just who he was. His personality was ideally suited for big, audacious celebrations. And for the smaller, everyday acts of recognition, too. Read about Herb. Don’t do the heavy drinking he did 😉 but there may be something to his ability and willingness to celebrate the people of Southwest Airlines. I’d argue that it was a big contributor to the culture that created such a successful airline.

Some of you are comfortable showing off in public because you’re very extroverted. Others of you are like me, more introverted. The good news is that no matter how you’re wired, you can lead the celebration. You can be like your parents were during your birthday parties – the ones making it happen because they loved you. You can be like Herb – the one making it happen because he loves you and because he loves a party!

Be yourself. Find your own path.

Victories have to be defined. Else it’ll be just another old hat, meaningless celebration.

Faith’s challenge is pretty ordinary. “What exactly should be celebrated?” she wonders.

Sidebar — rant alert — it drives me nuts that some companies have regularly scheduled celebrations. They pigeonhole things to celebrate into the calendar based on the schedule. Employees aren’t impressed. It’s too forced. Too disingenuous. Don’t do that!

Here’s my viewpoint – big achievements deserve celebration, the extraordinary and remarkable accomplishments. Great effort with a willingness to fail in the effort to grow is worthy of celebration, no matter the outcome. That’s it.

I’m being honest. That’s it. Now, let’s define a few things though so you clearly understand. We’re talking about CELEBRATIONS. I make a distinction between celebrations and acknowledgments, or recognition. Well, kinda sorta.  I believe strongly in constant recognition and acknowledgment. I believe strongly in a culture of celebration. These can be private or public. Sometimes it’s appropriate and powerful to simply let a person know you’re aware of their success and contribution. Other times it’s better to shine a spotlight on somebody in front of their peers. Read the situation and do whatever you think is best.

Yes, you can overdo it.*

*Give a kid a birthday party every day and it’ll become ordinary very quickly. You’ll end up with a ruined kid who is entitled. My preference is that celebrations remain extraordinary. Something special. I also like them to be unexpected, or at the very least, to be conducted only when warranted. I hate scheduled celebrations. And I don’t mean something is achieved so you plan a celebration in advance. I mean calendared celebrations that just always happen, then the company finds things to celebrate. Foolish!

Did your company’s fiscal year end December 31st? Then when the final numbers come in and you figure out that the team hit the goal and exceeded it, then it’s a BIG victory worth celebrating.

One of your sales teams lands a major deal after months (perhaps years) of work. The deal gets signed. Time to celebrate. Time to recognize that victory publicly I think.

Celebrations vary based on the victory.

Just like real life, huh? Birthdays are great, but getting married trumps an ordinary birthday. So does having a child. Think over the milestones of your life: birthdays, wedding days, births of children, births of grandchildren, new jobs, job promotions, launching a business, and so on. I get that we can celebrate something every day. I celebrate waking up alive every morning. 😉 But we need and want these to be special events that shine a light on remarkable events, not ordinary events.

Faith wonders if she should throw a companywide party. Maybe. Maybe not. Celebrations based on the victory aren’t all the same. And owners or leaders aren’t the same. Herb celebrated in ways I never would because, well, because he was Herb. I’m not. I’m not a party animal like Herb was.

I can tell you some things I personally would never do. I don’t share these as truths you should embrace. These serve to illustrate how personal these decisions are for leaders, and how your beliefs impact things.

One, I wouldn’t impose on people – and if I did, I’d include their significant other or a plus one. We spend so much time together it just never made sense to me that all the employees have a big blowout and spend more time together without including the one person who is important to each employee. Let me include my wife, for instance, and that’s different. Now we’re able to enjoy the celebration together.

Two, I wouldn’t provide alcohol. I don’t drink. Never have. Yes, it’s a religious conviction. I don’t judge people who choose to live differently, but I would never budge on this. This isn’t nearly as controversial as it once was. There was a time when open bars were commonplace in most company events. Due to liability issues and safety concerns, it’s grown increasingly less common. My decision isn’t based on any of that, but it may be worth considerating for you.

Three, I wouldn’t likely conduct some big company-wide blowout during off hours. It’s just not who I am. I go back to point one, I wouldn’t want to impose on people. I’d much prefer to do something during hours so people’s lives aren’t disrupted.

So how would YOU celebrate?

That’s for you to figure out.

Sometimes all hands on deck and let’s recognize some special accomplishments. That’s the order of the day.

Other times it’s a private one-on-one conversation with an employee who has or is overcoming some adversity and they’re still performing at a high level. “I want to let you know I notice how exceptional your work is, even under these circumstances. Thank you for what you do.”

Sometimes it’s a memo that goes out informing the company that our sales team has just landed a major piece of business and we name the team members.

Sometimes it’s a bonus paid to people for performance above the goal.

Sometimes it’s an unexpected gift card with an acknowledgment of special effort or achievement.

Don’t celebrate ordinary. Don’t celebrate just for the sake of celebrating. Challenge people to perform at celebration-worthy levels. When they do, don’t hesitate to get too wrapped up in how you go about it. Always remember the objectives. To make them feel appreciated and respected. To shine the light on their accomplishments. To let the entire organization know you care. About them as people and about the work they produce.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:21 — 9.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

Simply put, core competencies are what you do best. A more detailed view might be the things you need to do best in order to thrive. It’s the practical side of business building that relies on focusing more on your strengths, and less on your weaknesses. Soar with your strengths.

What would your answer be if I asked you, “What’s your core competency?” Shockingly, some owners and CEO’s struggle to answer succinctly and clearly. A common response is more of a rambling searching than a clear declaration. I don’t think it’s because owners and CEO’s don’t know. They’ve just not really given it enough thought. It’s like I’ve caught them off guard (which isn’t really the point). I honestly want to know their answer.

Think about it. Self-awareness is hard. Whether it’s your personal self-awareness or your self-awareness about your company. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about when we talk about core competencies. “What do you do best?” “What does your company do best?”

It’s at the heart of who you are and your competitive advantage. You’d think more of us would think about it. Sometimes we don’t because we’re just too busy doing business. We’re installing HVAC systems, repairing cars and trucks for customers, selling boats, building custom homes, selling cars, or whatever else defines our business. So it’s understandable that quite often business owners or CEO’s answer the question – “What do you do best?” – by simply stating what they do for their customers. But it’s deeper than that. More foundational.

A home builder builds houses, but his core competencies may include being able to find and acquire land. Building the homes on the land is just a way to enhance the investment and turn an even higher profit.

A retailer sells stuff, but her core competencies may include being able to find and acquire solid bargains. Selling the products at retail is just how she leverages her buying skills into higher profits.

In other words, it’s not always as it appears. Nor is it always what you might think it is.

“What do you do best?”

Let’s start with your company. What are the core competencies of your business? It’s worth wrestling down so you’re sure about them.

Suggestions

Step 1: Assemble multiple groups of people to see what others think.

Sit down with your leadership team and ask them to answer the question: “What are we best at?” But don’t stop there.

Create a group comprised of front-line employees with leadership (front line leadership and others). Mix and mingle is a good strategy. Hierarchy doesn’t exist in the group. The representative roles does matter.

Create a group of customers. How about a group of suppliers? Have top leadership facilitate these groups (for obvious reasons).

Have the groups wrestle just one question: What are we best at? As a company, what do we do well – perhaps better than anybody else?

You may learn that others, inside and outside the company, think your company is best at something very different than what you think. It’s easy for you to see what you want or hope to see. By getting a perspective from a variety of viewpoints you’ll more likely find out how things really are.

Step 2: Assemble the information and review it with your leadership team.

With fresh eyes – as much as that’s possible – open the envelopes to reveal the answers of what people think your company is best at. Don’t debate the validity of the opinions. What’s the point? People think what they think. If what they think is incorrect, it’s your fault. No point blaming them for their opinion.

Start with the congruencies. You’re likely going to discover some opinions that fit your own, and the opinions of your leadership team. You’ll have the thoughts of your leadership team, your front-line employees (and others inside your organization) and hopefully you’ll also have the thoughts of people outside your company because it’s their feedback that’s most valuable, especially customers.

Are the congruencies top-ranked, meaning do they occupy the top thoughts of the groups? It may be that you and top leadership feel a core competency is one thing and the groups agree…except it’s the number 1 thing according to your leadership team and it’s about number 3 on the list of others. Sometimes disconnected. Wrestle with that.

Examine the incongruencies, those things others list, but you may have not considered. Don’t be angry about it. Instead, be thankful because there may be big opportunities in those areas where others see strengths you’ve not considered.

This is the time to debate and argue amongst yourselves – not on the validity of the feedback, but on the viability of these things. Some questions to help you and your team may include:

“Do we want to leverage this core competency?”

“Do we want to rearrange our core competencies in order of importance to our company?”

“Are we working to leverage the right core competencies?”

“Are we in the right business (based on our core competencies)?”

Step 3: Keep the debate alive. Work toward clarity.

Don’t conduct one meeting. Keep the conversation going. Keep your leadership team thinking about it. Sit down periodically to see what new insights have bubbled to the surface. The team will likely know when they’ve wrestled it long enough to have gained clarity.

Step 4: Develop a plan.

Now what? Well, that depends on what you’ve discovered. And on what you want to do. There are no rules. You can do whatever you want. That includes ignoring what you’ve learned (which I’d advise against). 😉

Figure out how you want to proceed. I’ll just give you that phrase I’m so fond of, created by the father of StrengthsFinder, Donald. O. Clifton.

“Soar with your strengths.”

You’re wise to influence your team to lean into what you’re already great at. The goal should be to leverage it for all its worth and stop trying to be something you’re not. By the way, that goes for you and your leadership, too. Don’t mistake that for neglecting to improve. It’s just the opposite. It’s all about improving. It’s about not being satisfied with who or what you are, but it’s also having a strong enough self-awareness to stop fooling yourself.

I’m far better with words than math. My strength isn’t math. Try as I might, I’m not wired to be some high-level mathematician. It’s never going to happen. What about you? What are you far better at? Go in on that. It’s about being the best version of yourself possible. As the CEO or business owner, it’s about the same thing for your company. Make your company the best it can be at whatever it’s good at. Build on that to make your company great at it. Even world-class.

Do it for yourself, too.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:28 — 12.6MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

How serious have you been about them? Have you ever done it so well you remember doing it? Or…

Do you give it just a quick drive-by?

Be honest.

Mostly, we’re too busy living to do much of either one – counting blessings or giving thanks.

Let’s get to the real crux of it. How serious have you been about what you lack? How often do you complain about the government, or government-related stuff like paying taxes, or regulations? How often do you get privately angry at vendors or other business partners?

Mostly, we’re too busy focusing on what we don’t have or what we wish would go away. Where’s the time for counting blessings or giving thanks?

Answer: We don’t take the time to do the right things to help ourselves grow great because quite often we’re too busy doing the wrong things to help ourselves feel better in the short term. Complaining and getting angry fuel our short-term satisfaction. So much so, we find it very difficult to hit the eject button the hampster wheel.

Optimism or pessimism isn’t hard-wired. Pessimists enjoy fooling themselves into thinking it is. It plays into our notion that some folks are just luckier than others. It gives us an easy excuse, allowing us to avoid accountability.

Optimists know life – all of life – is a choice. We decide. We act. We behave. But even optimists can have moments of pessimism during times when we’d rather avoid responsibility and blame others.

All this plays into our sense of gratitude, our ability and willingness to count our blessings while simultaneously giving thanks for them.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in America. It’s a day when family and friends get together, eat way too much, watch a little bit of football and kick off the holiday season.

The path to a brighter future hinges on our personal responsibility. I believe a major part of our personal responsibility is our obligation to ourselves, to others and to God is to embrace optimism through gratitude. And in reverse order: God first, others second, and ourselves third.

Start By Taking Just 15 Minutes A Day

I believe in small bite-sized approaches. At least at the beginning. To get started.

Quieten your mind. However best you’re able.

Then, roll through the blessings to discover THE blessing for which you’re most thankful. Admittedly, it’s going to be challenging, but it’ll force you to quickly catalog the blessings as you search for the one you’re most thankful for.

It won’t matter if you get that top spot filled accurately at first. After you get the first one, then go searching through the list for the next most important one.

This is your list so you get to decide for yourself. You may find that as you’re looking for number two you displace number one with something else. That’s fine. Keep the exercise going for as long as you’re able…up to 10 minutes. Two-thirds of the 15 minutes.

Devote the final third of the time to giving thanks for however far you got with your list of blessings. Do that in whatever way suits you best. Me? I pray and give God the thanks.

Reflection After The Fact

Counting blessings and giving thanks won’t likely sit idly by satisfied with their 15 minutes of daily fame. They’ll wrestle your mind to the ground for greater attention. Give it to them. Your surrender to them will fuel growth. Your growth!

It’s not important that you dedicate more time to the 15-minute exercise because you’re going to reflect on them throughout the day. What is important is that you not ignore the urge. Don’t suppress thinking about them again. And again. And again. Instead, embrace thinking about them whenever they emerge. That’ll help you own them. It’ll also improve your gratitude.

Your Smallness.

Counting your blessings isn’t a contest. The blessings or lack of in other lives is of no consequence to your life. Finding or examining somebody who has a blessing you feel is lacking in your life has no bearing on your life. None. Well, actually it has a tremendous bearing on you if you view life through that lens because it will foster jealousy, envy, and bitterness. Stop that nonsense. It won’t just stunt your growth, it’ll kill you from the inside out.

Arrogance. Selfishness. Pride.

They feed our desire to be larger. Larger than we really are. Giving us a wrong-headed sense of self-importance.

By contrast, our devotion to being a blessing counter and giver of thanks shows us our smallness. Not our insignificance because we’ve all got that. We all matter. But these honorable actions persuade us to learn and understand that we’re uniquely who we are, but we’re not inherently better than anybody else.

There are currently 7.7 billion people on the planet. I’m religious. I believe in God and the Bible. That means, I believe we have a soul that will live forever after this life. Somewhere. And it’s up to us to decide where based on how we live here. In light of that view, there is no ranking of all these people. Meaning, nobody is number 1 and nobody is number 7.7 billion. Or anywhere in between. Our inherent worth is equally high. Each of us.

That makes me small enough to give grace to others. In my personal scheme, the number two on my list. God first. Others second. I’m third. My smallness serves me, preventing me from thinking too much of myself. From thinking I’m better than somebody else. From wrongly, too harshly judging others.

Your Bigness.

Counting your blessings. Giving thanks. They generate in us the realization that we can make a difference. Not some philosophical “change the world” kind of a difference, but a very practical positive difference.

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir”.

The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”

The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, “I made a difference to that one!”

I love that parable. For its brevity. For its powerful truth. That we’re all big enough. As big as we need to be to make a positive difference in the world. Our little part of the world. Our slightly larger part of the world perhaps. Who knows? Our service to others is like a ripple of the ocean. Who knows how large a wave it *may* create?

Thank You!

Here, on the eve of a day we’ve set aside in America to give thanks…I want to thank you. For letting me enter your earbuds however often you listen. For allowing me to share whatever insights I’ve been fortunate to learn (part of my list of blessings includes the array of people who have graced my life with a positive presence and helped make me who I am).

Thank you for letting me pass along almost 4 decades of leadership living so you can build on it as you wish. I hope this podcast is serving you well as a catalyst for figuring it out for yourself. Whatever it may be.

Tomorrow will be a special day for many people in our country. For others, it may be no different than any other. My hope and wish for you – for all of us – is that it will become a daily ritual in our lives to give us perspective and insight that will serve to make us better. An impetus for our own growth, improvement, and transformation. That by counting our blessings and being thankful for them…that individually and collectively we’ll take our lives more seriously. Consider more soberly the choices we’re making. Determine it may be time to fix what ails us, and get on with strengthening ourselves by straightening out the kinks, shoring up the weaknesses, building even stronger the strengths and living lives worthy of influencing others in all the best ways.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:20 — 10.6MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More

Common (but foolish) wisdom says, “Find somebody who has already done what you want to do to help you.” It’s likely the result of a human trait we’ve all got. Laziness. We want a shortcut. To copycat somebody else so we don’t have to put in the work. Why machete our way through the jungle if we can walk right behind somebody else who is doing all the hard work? It sounds smart. And easy. Which is why it’s such an attractive thought. 

Arrogance sets in. I see it pretty regularly in social media when somebody blasts somebody simply based on some perceived success level. It’s the same wisdom that gives greater credence to what a Bentley owner might say about something versus a Honda owner. The presupposition is the Bentley owner is smarter and has better answers. Maybe. Maybe not.

I’m a hockey fan. I’ve never played the game, but I’ve studied it fanatically for decades. Even done my share of amateur coaching, successfully. The Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999 behind a head coach who never played high-level hockey. Ken Hitchcock discovered he had a knack for motivating players when he was growing up playing hockey. That led to a 10-year stint coaching teenage boys in AAA midget hockey in his home country, Canada. He was successful. That led to an opportunity to coach a minor league professional team where his success continued. Then he jumped on board a professional NHL team, the Philadelphia Flyers, as an assistant coach, which led to him taking the helm of the Dallas Stars’ minor league affiliate team in Kalamazoo. That’s where he was when January 1996 rolled around and he was hired to be the head coach of the Dallas Stars. A man who never played in the NHL. He never played professionally. Playing wasn’t his skill, but coaching was. 

In 1999 he and his Dallas Stars lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup for the first (and so far, only time). And the next year, he took them back to the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to the New Jersey Devils. The Dallas Stars didn’t approach the problem of finding a new head coach by saying, “Let’s find somebody who has already done what we want to do.” Hitch had demonstrated he knew how to coach and get the best out of players and teams. 

There’s a first for everything. 

In order for you to experience your first is it necessary for you to have somebody alongside you who has already been there? Just think about all the terrific accomplishments, like the Dallas Stars experiencing a championship for the first time, that disprove that. In fact, guess who Ken Hitchcock replaced as head coach? A man named Bob Gainey, an NHL Hall of Famer who has 5 Stanley Cups as a player. Plus the one with Dallas when he was their General Manager. But he was never able to take them to a Championship victory. And unlike Hitchcock, Gainey is one of the top 100 NHL players of all time. 

Do you remember when you first started your career…and when you ran into a problem…who you called?

Let me guess. Mom or dad? It’s likely. 

Did you call them because they had seen this problem before and you instantly thought, “This won’t be new to them!” ??

Ridiculous. They likely had no clue what you were talking about unless you entered the same field they were in. You know why you called who you called? 

Because you trusted them and knew they cared about you.

You called them because you knew they’d put their own interests behind yours. They just wanted to help you navigate the issue for your own success, not theirs. It’s what parents do. And trusted friends. 

Too frequently we feel like we’re being completely rational when we set about to find a person to help us – a person who has already accomplished what we want to accomplish. But we give no consideration to the context of them versus us. 

Question: Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla?

Why?

You can’t rationalize why you prefer one over the other. It just is what it is. It’s your preference. Is it emotional? Not entirely, it’s also involving your taste buds. 

I live in Texas and cilantro is a big player in Mexican food. I love Mexican food, but I hate cilantro. And it’s more biological than emotional. A small percentage of people taste soap when they eat cilantro. I’m one of them. You could rationalize with me all day long, but I taste what I taste. Soap isn’t quite what I’m going for when I eat Mexican food. Sing to me the virtues of cilantro and I don’t care. 

So it goes with trying to copy what somebody else has done. They’re them. You’re you. You have to figure out YOU. And you don’t have to be selective to lean solely on somebody who has already accomplished what you want to accomplish. 

Yes, there are certain trainings and education that can’t be discounted. Learning math from somebody who doesn’t know it themselves isn’t going to work out very well. For either of you. But we’re usually not talking about specific sciences or facts. People want to make a million bucks so they think finding a millionaire is the path toward accomplishing that. But there are millions of paths toward making a million dollars. Lebron did it. So did David Letterman. They don’t belong in the same conversation so how it going to work out to seek out somebody who has done what you hope to do? 

You are you. Unlike anybody else. Yes, with quite a lot in common with many others, but with enough uniqueness to completely throw off the equation of being able to copy somebody else. 

My son is going through some big growth and trying to figure out how to navigate that growth. He’s got many options. A good problem to have. But at the heart of the issue is one question, “What does HE want to do?” It’s got nothing to do with reasoning or rational thinking. It’s got to do with emotions and preferences. We talk about it and I don’t impose on him what he “should” do because I’m not him. We’re uniquely different. And what he may want today…is sure to change over time. As a business owner, he has to decide how he wants to spend his days. What does he want to do? 

I’m only nudging him to go all in on where he’s strongest. Soar with your strengths and all that. Because I know that’s his greatest competitive edge, and I also know what’s what he most loves to do. If he hated it, then that wouldn’t work – any more than me loving cilantro would work (unless I suddenly develop an affinity for the taste of soap). 

Who can best help us?

People who care about our success without getting tangled up in their own success. People who understand us. People who are intent on serving us. People with intentions of never hurting us. That’s why when you started out you called mom or dad. It wasn’t likely because they had seen your problem before. That didn’t matter. What mattered is they were fully invested in you and you knew it. 

It’s the power of others. The power and impact of surrounding ourselves with people who are anxious to help us. And don’t discount the poower of our ability to return the favor. Reciprocity is a big deal. Quite frequently we get more from helping others than they do. You’ve experienced that, too. 

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

Listen to the podcast