Recently, I wrote about the value of mantras and shared a few of the mantras that help me stay focused on what matters most. After that post went live, a number of you shared your mantras with me — and they were too good not to share with the world. Consider taking a breath right now,
John recently had a high-stakes meeting that did not go well. He became flustered and defensive when the CEO hit him with unanticipated questions and ideas about his team’s status. John admitted that he didn’t have good answers to the questions. But he also insinuated that the CEO’s questions weren’t relevant (after all, John had
Last week I was utterly spent. If you and I interacted and I seemed distant, discouraged, or just a bit off, I’m sorry. At times I felt myself slipping into darker mental places. Places I’ve been in my life where I don’t want to return. When I’ve confided in a few others, some have admitted
Years ago, I worked with a leader whose behavior would completely change during the final three days of every quarter. He would transform from a magnanimous, caring leader with a natural, relaxed demeaner into an anxious, ruthless man. Everyone knew that, for those three days, he was to be feared…unless we were comfortably ahead of
It’s not easy to lead or influence when you’re struggling to cope with the stress or frustrations of the moment or with anxieties about what might happen in the future. This is why self-regulation is such an important quality for leaders. According to Verywell Mind, self-regulation is the ability to act in a way that
My son is a competitive tennis player and often wins matches because of his speed and strong backhand shots. The trouble is, opponents now do their best to hit to his forehand, to exploit his relative weakness. Recently, I spoke with his tennis coach about the need to improve his forehand shots. The coach reassured
Forget titles, authority, or experience. Think of leadership as helping others be and do their best as they work toward a shared objective. With that definition in mind, let’s consider what gets in the way. Everyone reacts differently. I have twin teenage boys who I try to motivate every day to be and do their
A memory from the 11th grade still stands out to me today. I’m sitting at my bedroom desk, wringing my hands and finding every possible distraction from the assignment in front of me: Write an essay explaining who you are. What does that mean? Where would I begin to explain who I am? And why
Several people have told me in the past week that they feel afraid of failing in 2021. Afraid they’ll fail at work, that their marriage is failing, that they’ll fail as a parent/teacher/healthcare provider, that they’ll fail in selling, leading, or delivering. Afraid that they’ll fail in their goals for the year, fail to speak
One of my favorite “hacks” is re-typing highlighted portions of non-fiction I’ve read. The process of highlighting once then re-reading and re-typing later tends to lock concepts into memory for later retrieval when it’s most useful. Below are my re-typed notes from David Epstein’s recent book Range, which I found to be extremely interesting 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