As the elevator opened to the fourth floor of the Graves 601 Hotel, my mind spun a web of excitement, nostalgia and anxiety. Earlier that day, my wife had asked me if I was nervous about attending my 20 year high school reunion. I had told her of course not. After all, I’m comfortable with
Last week, I introduced a four-step process for growth that I’ve seen work effectively in a variety of situations. But I realize taking the steps is often easier said than done, particularly when big obstacles stand in your way. That was the situation Beau Garrett faced four years ago. He’d just taken on the role
Life is about growth, whether you’re running a company, yourself or your family. If you’re not growing you’re either stagnating or falling behind. While it’s possible for growth to happen organically, it’s not something you can or should depend on. Positive growth—growth that leads to value—takes conscious effort. So how do you do it? To
Knowledge is power, so the saying goes. So when Matt DeKam, Senior Commodity Manager at Ingersoll Rand, told me that transparency has been one of the keys to his most successful supplier relationships, I was intrigued. After all, suppliers want to maximize profit, and buyers want to minimize cost. Can they really both meet their
We talk a lot about employee engagement and its connection to organizational results. And substantial research shows that employees are more engaged when they feel valued by their supervisor, senior leaders and company culture. But does it matter if our vendors are engaged? Will it affect their productivity and commitment if they feel valued? Peder
“Leadership is an intense journey into yourself.” – Bill Hybels The scene: An auditorium filled with thousands of leaders from around the world, gathered for the 2014 Willow Creek Leadership Summit. We watch as a group of kids with disabilities presents an honest, sometimes heartbreaking video that begins with each answering the question, “What’s hard
What if you knew as much about immigration reform as you do about your job? What if you were as comfortable discussing the trade-offs of imposing economic sanctions on other countries as you were discussing your favorite sport? What if you had as much of a well-informed point of view about poverty alleviation as you
What’s in a name? Since leading the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts has bucked a long-standing tradition. Instead of referring to lawyers arguing cases as “Opponents,” he calls them “Friends.” About this shift, Harvard law professor Richard Lazarus said in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “I think it does have an impact on
Last week I talked about three of the people who have inspired me recently. Every week we can find these moments of inspiration, both large and small, if we’re willing to look for them. Who moved you this week? Who made you sit up taller, think more clearly or engage more deeply? Here are three
Who moved you this week? Who made you sit up taller, think more clearly or engage more deeply? Here are three lessons of inspiration I learned this week. 1. Being flawed is being human. In telling me about his journey of accepting being flawed and broken, Dave talked about his desire to be perfect and
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