This post was originally published on December 22, 2015, and updated on June 11, 2019. Most people have an ideal self-image—one that often comes from things we admire or dislike in our own parents. Other people can crush this ideal through their criticism and we are wired to protect and defend. This defensive side of
This time of year, I love to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” where I affirm my admiration for Lucy van Pelt. She’s clever and direct as she operates her children’s psychiatric booth, offering psychoanalysis for a nickel to her anxious friends. This makes her the only friend in Peanuts that other kids open up to.
When you think about risk, your mind might instantly go to the external hazards and potential threats “out there.” But as humble leader Dan Dye, CEO of Ardent Mills, recently reminded me, one the biggest risks you can take is much more personal: It’s the risk to be who you are, no matter what. And
My friend and I were out for a run. Our conversation along the way began as an information exchange, talking to each other about what we’d done that week. And then it pivoted to his marriage. “It’s not going well,” he told me. “We’ve been fighting a lot.” At that point, my listening changed. I
Once upon a time…in a galaxy far, far away…the best stories begin somewhere, in a time and a place. That time and place present tension. The story explains how the tension gets resolved. But the events of the story are much less compelling than the inner change that people experience as the story resolves. Good
The Science Museum of Minnesota impacts over a million people from around the world every year through trips to the museum, school visits, traveling exhibitions and Omnitheater films. It exists, in its own words, to “turn on the science: Inspire learning. Inform policy. Improve lives.” Spearheading that charge is its humble leader, Alison Brown, the
I was confidently rolling through my day when I got an email intended for someone else. It was a strongly worded message criticizing my leadership, sent by a colleague who felt they’d been poorly treated. Seeing that felt like a punch in the stomach. And the discussion that followed was really hard. But, like many
It annoys my wife that I always ask the server at a restaurant for a food recommendation. You see, it’s more than a request for guidance. It also may reveal the server’s authenticity. A couple of tell-tale signs that they’re not being authentic: They recommend the most expensive items on the menu. They say something
I arrived home from work feeling very self-satisfied. I was on a roll. “How was your day?” asked my wife. “Great.” “Why?” “I got everything done that I wanted to.” And then she asked me this: “Is that how you measure the quality of your day?” Oh my, I thought. I certainly do. I mean,
Collin Barr has a framed vision statement behind his desk that reads: Solid Business Builder, Great Community Builder, He Made a Real Difference. As a market president for a national construction, development and property management company, he has indeed built and made a difference. Like many successful leaders, Collin pushes the limits of his schedule
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE