“Communication is both a science and an art.” – Mark Sanborn Communication is the Tool, Not the Objective A sales manager approached me after I finished speaking about leadership at his association’s meeting. His mood seemed somewhere between perplexed and provoked. “You talked about how leaders communicate persuasively,” he complained. “Even with the word ‘persuasive’…
My late 20’s and early 30’s were spent seriously exploring the world and adventuring. One trip I made was to Ecuador. For several days the group I was part of camped on the Agua Rico River in the Ecuadorian rain forest. Our guide was a man whose parents had been bible translators who had come…
A Mark Sanborn Classic You’ve probably asked and answered one of the most common questions posed to adults in modern history more times than you can recall: “What do you do?” The repeated asking of this question over and over is not a testament to the significance of the answer, but rather a window onto…
Everyone matters. Everyone makes a difference. The cynic might argue that he or she can choose to be neutral and make neither a positive nor a negative difference. In practice, that just isn’t so. Have you recently encountered a person who just didn’t seem engaged? They seemed wrapped up in their own private world, and…
We are pleased to feature a recent article written by Jeff Thredgold in this month’s Leadership Lessons. Jeff is a very smart guy and the only economist to earn the CSP designation from the National Speakers Association. His piece titled, Wouldn’t It Be Nice If…, follows this month’s article. Enjoy. Mark The $1500 Beverage I…
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) met in San Diego this past week and I addressed several hundred of their members on the topic of my next book, “You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader”. (We want your opinion; see the end of the article for more information.) One of the points…
The vice president of a multinational technology company faced a challenge: he had a mission-critical project he needed someone on his team to handle. After careful thought and consideration, he approached a direct report who was considered an up-and-comer. This individual had demonstrated potential. The director and potential project lead met. After thoroughly explaining the…
“Measure what you treasure.” “Inspect what you expect.” You’ve heard those phrases before from speakers and consultant-guys like me. They make sense. As leaders we are accountable for the results produced, rather through direct effort or the efforts of others. Unfortunately tracking results isn’t enough. I’ve learned that leadership lesson the hard way. Recently I…
1. You and I know how good we have become, but we don’t have any idea of how good we could be. What great projects are you undertaking in your business? In your life? Many people go through life driving with their dome lights on instead of their headlights. What you have become is important,…
“The power of ideals is incalculable. We see no power in a drop of water. But let it get into a crack in the rock and be turned to ice, and it splits the rock; turned into steam, it drives the pistons of the most powerful engines. Something has happened to it which makes active…