Submarine Your Stress!

Lead Today

Most people have at least heard the phase “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” It’s not just a saying, it’s actually the title of one of the greatest books ever written. It was written in 1936 by the legendary Dale Carnegie. It has been a best seller forever, translated into more languages than virtually any other book.

It is truly a life changing book, to this very day.

But many people who know Dale Carnegie’s work well would tell you it’s not his most impactful book. They would say it’s the book Carnegie people call “the worry book.” It’s official title is “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.”

It is truly a masterpiece of tactical insights into how to control worry in your life.

The insight, or principle as Mr. Carnegie called them, that has made the biggest difference for me is the very first one discussed in…

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The Trouble with Managing People

Lead Today

I write about this topic from time-to-time but it never gets old. People still make this leadership mistake with great regularity.

The mistake they make is trying to use their leadership position to manage people. Let me say this yet again: managing people is impossible. People refuse to be managed, they want to be led.

For those of you who refuse to acknowledge the difference between managing and leading I say this: you are doomed to a life of limited leadership. Worse, you have sentenced the people you are supposed to be leading to a life of limited potential.

It really is that big of a deal that you understand the very real difference between managing and leading.

You manage things. Things like a budget, a building, and a process. You manage things that don?t think, don?t have feelings, don?t have goals and objectives, and don?t care one iota what…

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Living in Daytight Compartments

Lead Today

Some of the regular readers of this blog know that I worked for Dale Carnegie Training for a number of years. It truly was a life changing experience. The training business is a huge business with training companies and independent training “experts” almost as prevalent as people who need the training.

Despite the never ending attempts, in the 100 years of Dale Carnegie Training’s existence not one single company has been able to duplicate the results of the original Dale Carnegie Course. The design of the course and the incessant training of it’s instructors truly make it a one of a kind program.

Seventeen years after leaving that organization I still can’t recommend their programs enough. One of the books you receive as part of the Dale Carnegie course is of course, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” It is a timeless classic. The 36 principles written about in…

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The Trouble with Managing People

Lead Today

I write about this topic from time-to-time but it never gets old. People still make this leadership mistake with great regularity.

The mistake they make is trying to use their leadership position to manage people. Let me say this yet again: managing people is impossible. People refuse to be managed, they want to be led.

For those of you who refuse to acknowledge the difference between managing and leading I say this: you are doomed to a life of limited leadership. Worse, you have sentenced the people you are supposed to be leading to a life of limited potential.

It really is that big of a deal that you understand the very real difference between managing and leading.

You manage things. Things like a budget, a building, and a process. You manage things that don?t think, don?t have feelings, don?t have goals and objectives, and don?t care one iota what…

View original post 358 more words

The Value of Uncertainty

Lead Today

Most people like to know. They like to know what?s coming next. That like to know what will happen next year. They like to know how every decision will turn out, sometimes even before they make the decision.

Many so called ?experts? would have us believe that to succeed we need to remove as much uncertainty from our life as possible. They see uncertainties as leading to a lack of control. They say it adds stress to our lives that we don?t need.

Since they are experts I suppose they are right about all of that. But here?s the thing; without uncertainty there are no possibilities. Possibilities and innovation come directly from uncertainty.

We also need some stress in our lives. It?s what causes us to take action. A life with absolutely no stress is a life of immobility. It is a life lived stuck where it?s at with little…

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not less than…

Known is a drop, Unknown is an Ocean

The image of the morning sun in a dewdrop is not less than the sun. The reflection of life in your soul is not less than life.

~ Khalil Gibran

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Leadership Barometer 2 Level of Trust

There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly.

You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership. There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership.

These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures.

Level of Trust

Good leaders create a legacy of trust within their organization. I have written elsewhere on the numerous hallmarks of an organization with trust as opposed to one that has no trust. But is there a quick and dirty kind of litmus test for trust? Think about how you would know if an organization has high trust.

You can do extensive surveys…

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