How To Inspire 5000 People In 5 Minutes
I gave my first university commencement address yesterday. And then, two hours later, I gave my second one. (The first was for the graduate degrees; the second was for the undergraduates.) Speaking to...
View ArticleThis Surprising Leadership Tool Can Help You Conquer Pressure
Crystals. Shamans. Dream catchers. Nehru jackets. Those are the images some leaders conjure up when you mention the word meditation. “That’s a little too woo-woo for me,” they say. “I really don’t have...
View ArticleThese Are The Two Reasons Why You Feel Like A Fraud
I have a friend (really!) who’s going through a bit of a personal crisis right now. He just got a new job in which he’ll be leading a team of about 25 people. He’s very well qualified for this job. In...
View ArticleSometimes The Easy Way Out Is The Best Way Out
I’m a big fan of delegating work. I’m not always good at delegating work, but I’m a big fan of it. In general, you should delegate work that: you aren’t good at doing you don’t like doing keeps you...
View ArticleAre You Missing Out On The Moose In Your Business?
I saw a moose yesterday. He wasn’t easy to see. He was standing among some aspen trees and was camouflaged by shadow. But I saw him. I’ve spent the past week driving and hiking through the Grand Tetons...
View ArticleHow To Win At The Game Of Employee Engagement
Engagement drives results. That makes sense, doesn’t it? When your team is more engaged, you get better results. But it turns out the reverse is just as true, if not more so. Results drive engagement....
View ArticleTo Be A Great Leader, Do The Opposite Of James Bond
We all love the “oh-so-cool” person who can just “wing it” in any situation, don’t we? That’s why we admire (and secretly want to be) James Bond — the guy who can go through a brutal, life-or-death...
View ArticleHow To Not Crash The Airplane Under Pressure
Let me give you a hypothetical high-pressure situation. You’re the pilot of a small, single-engine airplane. You take off, alone, in this single-engine airplane, and head out over a large body of open...
View ArticleHow To Lead A More Effective Team By Disagreeing
It’s great when people agree with you, isn’t it? It’s a wonderful validation — of your thoughts, your ideas…of you. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Yes, it’s great when people agree with...
View ArticleHow Not To Make A Decision Under Pressure
Fight or flight? This way or that way? Yes or no? Each of these three questions describes a brain under pressure. Could be your brain, could be mine. When it comes to pressure situations, we all tend...
View ArticleThe Danger Of High-Pressure Focus
On December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing more than 100 passengers and crew members. That, of course, would be tragic under any circumstances. What...
View ArticleWhat The Mission:Impossible Movies Can Teach You About Pressure
I just saw the new Mission: Impossible movie. I’m not going to give anything away here (because you may not have seen it yet, and besides, I’m not that kind of a jerk), but it is absolutely filled with...
View ArticleThe Best Way To Deal With A High-Pressure Situation
A friend of mine got a flat tire on the way to the airport last week. It was a crisis, and she missed her flight. I got a flat tire on the way to the airport several years ago. It was an inconvenience,...
View ArticleHow To Feel Great in A High-Pressure Situation
Imagine you’re in this situation. You’re a professional hockey player. You’re playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s the deciding game; you’re in overtime. There are 10 seconds left, and suddenly,...
View ArticleHow Not To Kill The Astronauts On Your Team
Have you seen the movie Apollo 13? In case you’re unfamiliar with it, it is not the sequel to Apollos 1 through 12. It’s a nail-biter of a movie that tells the true story of the ill-fated—and almost...
View ArticleHow To Keep Your Team From Freezing Under Pressure
First question: Have you ever played poker? I mean real poker, with real money at stake. (“Real” money, of course, being a relative term—primarily relative to your current net worth.) Second question:...
View ArticleWhy Believing Your Own Hype Will Make You Choke Under Pressure
The stories are legendary. Abraham Lincoln loses his run for the Senate…twice. And goes on to become our greatest president. A young Robert De Niro gets passed over for the role of a lifetime as Sonny...
View ArticleAre Your Policies Killing Your Opportunities?
Back when I was in high school (or it might have been shortly after; I don’t really remember, and it doesn’t really matter), I got a part-time job at the Don Randall Music Store in Lancaster,...
View ArticleThe Winning Mindset For Creative Solutions Under Pressure
For fifteen years, part of my job was to come up with creative ideas—every week, under extreme time pressure, with roughly a million people watching. I was good at it. Really good. But I didn’t start...
View ArticleHow Socrates Can Make You A Better Leader
Remember Socrates? Greek fella, lived a long time ago, had a drinking problem (specifically with hemlock)? He also invented this thing called the Socratic Method. (Although, for the record, he didn’t...
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