Focus. It seems like I hear so many people talking about needing to do it... but rarely taking the steps to create an environment where their physical and mental energy can be aligned with their most important work. Some argue that it's their coworkers fault, or they have to be available to their boss, or they have to leave their email notifications on in case of an emergency... the list goes on and on.

While at a reception at a recent association conference, an attendee found me in the crowd and said, "I am so looking forward to your talk about change tomorrow!" When I inquired as to why, he said, "I want to know how to get people to take action. They always say they agree with the change, but they just won't start doing things differently."

I had a most refreshing moment with a team of people a couple of weeks ago. We were discussing the upcoming solar eclipse, and John, (not actual name), immediately brightened and started sharing way more than I expected about the history of such eclipses. He even said he would be traveling to South Carolina to stand on the very spot where a famous (to him) astronomer stood during an eclipse in 1903. The rest of his team joked with him about his “nerdiness,” but you could tell...

You’re watching the train wreck unfold right in front of you. It might be your boss who has so much on their plate, and they are rarely communicating with you or the team. It might be a coworker who is drowning in deadlines or feeling overwhelmed with a new assignment. Having been in this situation yourself, you know the dangers of not taking action, but you struggle with how to have a helpful conversation. 

You could

One of the great joys I have in my work is that I get to have deep conversations with people from all seasons of life. They may just be starting out on their career, anxiously trying to figure out what they want to do to make a difference. Others might have reached a level of success, but find that they want to explore new options, while another may be yearning to start their own business or make a major life shift. What I find interesting is that the inability for all of them to move forward is caused by...

According to Merriam-Webster, some of the primary definitions of indifferent are: Marked by impartiality, does not matter one way or another, or no special liking or disliking of something. Continue reading the list, and you’ll also find other definitions like, being neither excessive nor inadequate, or being neither good nor bad.

Indifference and leadership are two words rarely found together,

The pain in my hip and lower back was severe. After sitting in a plane seat for a few hours I could hardly get up to walk through the airport. As the pain subsided I rationalized that I must have "pulled something" and chose to try and resume business as usual. Then, when I least expected it, the pain would return. "I've just got too much to do to let this slow me down," I thought. I resisted for a couple of weeks until I just couldn't take it anymore.

Perfectionism wreaks so much havoc in our lives. At work we fail to take action on an issue or challenge because none of the solutions offered are without some negative consequence. We resist learning a new skill because we aren’t “good at it” the first time, or worse yet, we’re afraid to show our mistakes to others.

While catching up on some of Godin's posts a couple of weeks ago, I came across one that really rattled me as I read it. Three Ways To Add Value focuses on three words that can quickly expose how little time we daily dedicate to moving ourselves, our team, or our organization forward by acting on change. See which of these words best describes where you spend your time:

A speaker once caught my attention in a unique way. He began by saying, "What can't you stand anymore? What is that image or thought that stirs you to change your behaviors? He continued by giving an example near and dear to my childhood-Popeye the Sailor Man!

What a memorable day at my house last Sunday. Because it was Father's Day, my amazing daughters and wonderful wife went the extra mile in making the day special. There was the incredible lunch, time spent reminiscing about parenting, and a whole host of other moments directed toward me.

In the past, such days have made me uncomfortable.

I must say I'm not proud of this picture of one spot in my vegetable garden. One of the new favorite leafy vegetables for my family is swiss chard and those are the plants with the reddish-purple veins you see in the photo. In my part of the world they grow best in spring and early summer so we need to maximize their growth before the heat (and insects) overpower them.

This week I am exhibiting at the Association For Talent Development (ATD) Conference and Expo in Atlanta Georgia. Over 8000 learning and talent development leaders from around the world will be here. I absolutely love this opportunity to reconnect with past clients, make new connections, and just have some really memorable conversations about how to grow the talent within an organization.

I have a list of time management challenges that I use for discussion in one of my training programs. When I ask, “Which one seems to impact you the most,?” a surprising number of participants respond with, “Attempting too much.”

I personally see value in having more planned for your day than you might reasonably get done.

You’re probably nodding at your screen right now, saying, “Yes! That’s my world.” I think it is for all of us. Just like we are prone to eat too much, we easily allow ourselves to intake too much information.

At many of the conferences or corporate meetings where I am asked to speak, there is almost always someone talking about innovation. I hear things like “We need to develop more customer-centric ways of doing business” or “Leverage technology to increase speed to execution,” or one of my personal favorites, “Increase collaboration across the enterprise.”

This past Saturday I had the privilege of working with five amazing college students. They are all Shelton Scholars from the Shelton Leadership Center at NC State University. As one of the senior scholars, my daughter Alex got to choose a service project for her community and chose

The fine line between being passionate or obsessive about something has always intrigued me. In a past blog I even defined the words in my own terms. Here are the abbreviated versions:

My travels last week included flights on Delta airlines during their struggle with cancelled flights due to a major weather system affecting the east coast. As I sat at the airport all afternoon Thursday I could see that my return trip on Delta wasn’t looking good. I gave some quick thoughts to other options, but chose to wait it out and hope for the best.