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Why Aren’t You Hearing Your Team’s Best Ideas?
Why are the people on the frontline such dullards? I mean, really, these people couldn’t come up with a creative idea if their jobs depended on it. Thank goodness you don’t expect too much from them,...
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A “Basic” Trick to Boost Your Team’s Creativity
Imagine this: There’s a crisis looming in your business. [You: “Why do you have to be so negative, Bill?”] [Me: “Fair point. Let’s reset.”] Imagine this: There’s an opportunity looming in your...
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Is This the Key to an Interesting Life?
“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.” ~ Samuel Johnson If there were a “magic bullet” trait for living an interesting (and interested) life, I would...
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Why Leaders Need to be More Like Shakespeare
Leaders should be intelligent, right? I mean, it doesn’t always work out that way, but that’s kind of the ideal. We want our leaders—community, corporate, political—to be intelligent. But what kind of...
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Are You Playing to Your Strengths Every Day?
Yesterday I was the closing keynoter for a conference of credit union leaders. One of the speakers who was on before me mentioned what was, to me, a startling statistic. He said that the average credit...
View ArticleHow Your Birthday Can Make You A More Successful Leader
There are few things more challenging to a leader than having to lead your team through a major change. You hear all the usual whining from your team: “But we like it the way it is!” “It’s too hard!...
View ArticleStop Choking Under Pressure with this Simple Technique
Do you regularly find yourself in high-pressure situations? If you’re a leader (or a lion tamer), the answer is probably yes. And if that’s true, then it’s also true that you’re expected to produce...
View ArticleThe One Word That Will Eliminate Your Pressure
I used to work 100 hour weeks. I still do, on rare occasions. But back when I was first producing my weekly comedy TV show Almost Live!, they were routine. And most of those 100 hours, especially the...
View ArticleHow To Move From Pathetic Pretender To Powerful Producer
Producing great results consistently is hard. Producing great results consistently—and under pressure—is harder. It takes a great deal of confidence to pull it off successfully. But confidence, it...
View ArticleHow To Make People Hate You
This morning I flew from Seattle to Chicago for a speaking engagement. During the course of that trip, these three things happened: The 40-ish-year-old gentleman sitting behind me on the plane, while...
View ArticleWhy You’re A Fraud, And How To Stop It
You’re a fraud. That’s the bad news. You’re not very good at your job. Sure, you’ve been lucky so far. You’ve gotten away with it. You’ve managed to fool everyone around you. But sooner or later...
View ArticleHow To Be Better At Leading Change
70% of all change initiatives fail. That’s a pretty startling statistic. Especially when you consider how important change is. I mean, we all acknowledge this, right? There aren’t many organizations...
View ArticleIs Lack Of Preparation Adding To Your Pressure?
Twenty-seven minutes and fifty-five seconds. That’s the time I had to hit—exactly—every week for fifteen years. 27:55. Not a second more. Not a second less. 27:55. Welcome to the world of television...
View ArticleHow To Keep From Crashing When The Engine Stops
The single-engine Cessna 172 was about 1,500 feet above the Pacific Ocean when that engine stopped. I still don’t know why it stopped. All I know is that I was the pilot and the sole occupant of the...
View ArticleThis Simple Technique Can Reduce Your Pressure Immediately
What do you do when you’re under pressure? How can you be at your best when it matters most? If only there were something that could reduce that pressure—immediately. Well, I’ve got good news for you....
View ArticleIs A Lack Of Trust Killing Your Team?
Does your team trust you? Do they trust that you will: share the credit when things go well? have their backs when things go wrong? be honest with them about what’s going on in the company? make the...
View ArticleUnlock Your Creative Ideas With This Magic Question
It happens virtually every morning. You wake up, and there in the paper, or online, or on TV, is a success story. (Yes, they’re there. Sometimes you have to wade through the garbage.) Some...
View ArticleHow To Be Your Best When It Matters Most
I emceed a local TEDx event yesterday. It’s an interesting experience, watching eleven incredibly diverse people share a singular moment. A moment when they stand on stage, alone, in front of several...
View ArticleWhat To Do When You Feel Like A Fraud
Do you feel like an imposter? It’s okay. Really. Most high-achievers do, at least occasionally. (My research indicates that the percentage may be as high as 80%!) There’s even an official name for it:...
View ArticleWhy Talking To Experts Will Make You A Better Leader
In a few hours, I’m going to be delivering a keynote for about 800 college and university professors. These professors come from a wide variety of disciplines. I arrived at the conference just...
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