Author Archive

Beyond Resilience

Empathy destroys us when it makes excuses. Grit is pressing forward.

Getting beyond resilience multiplies competence.

Delicate teams argue over trivialities.

Avoiding discomfort leads to weakness.

The feeble need rescue. The competent grow through challenge.

Resilience survives. Antifragile* teams thrive.

Here’s how to get beyond resilience and turn adversity into advantage.

Help for a Bad Mood

A bad mood suits this time of year. It’s the dead of winter in Central Pennsylvania.

Pursuing happiness leads to misery.* But ignoring it doesn’t help.

Your bad mood kills productivity, destroys retention, and dilutes engagement.

Unhappy leaders lead unhappy teams.

A bad mood spreads faster than the flu.

Become an “Ideal” Leader

A leader with ideals always strives but never arrives.

Anne Frank wrote, “It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical.”

Ideals are unreachable perfections. Excellence is always a pursuit.

Ideals make demands.

Ideals expose inadequacy.

Ideals show the way.

7 Leadership Ideals…

Prepare for Your Breakthrough

Effort isn’t your problem. You stall when pressure zones hijack behavior.

Breakthroughs need a catalyst.

Name the zone.
Shift your perspective.
Reclaim the future.

Learn 3 pressure zones.

Discover 5 steps to your breakthrough.

Comfort is Toxic

Comfort is a warning. Don’t wait for failure to change. Abandon what’s working before it fails.

Your Brain at Ease

Stops scanning for issues.

Stops challenging the process.

Stops questioning methods.

Starts protecting the past.

Comfort is unquestioned repetition.

Ease makes the pursuit of better impossible.

When you’re comfortable you’re sinking.

The 4 Secrets to Winning

Winning is dangerous.

Katie Ledecky won her first Olympic gold medal when she was 15 years old (a freshman in high school). At 28 she’s the most decorated female Olympian in history. She has 14 Olympic medals. Nine gold.

Success hasn’t hardened into nostalgia for Ledecky.

Don’t make winning your primary focus.