At the end of every year, I take a personal private retreat to clear my mind, take inventory of the past year and create a new vision for the new year. Knowing the power of questions, at the start of each retreat, I ask myself …
What are the 10 most important questions to ask myself in this retreat to take my business (and life) to a more meaningful, impactful and prospering level in the new year?
For 3-4 days, I spend time by the ocean simply reflecting, letting go of any goals, plans or expectations.
Overwhelmed by an overload of demands, not knowing what to respond to first?
Continually fighting for certainty, paralyzed by fear of the unknown?
Blind sighted by unforseen events that jeopardize your company’s stability and bottomline?
I’m guessing what you really want is to stop your perpetual busyness. You want to focus on the critical few. You want to navigate your company, amidst constant change, to its ultimate destination.
In my decades of working with leaders, I have found that the above are symptoms that a leader lacks the capacity to think strategically.
“Leading From Guts” drives extraordinary organizations and a company’s distinctive edge in the marketplace.
The inspiration for this article was the movie “The Rosa Parks Story” – a story about a simple seamstress and civil rights activist with unwavering toughness of character that, in 1955, changed the course of history and segregation in the U.S.
Her unwillingness to relinquish her seat on a segregated bus to a white person set in motion a whole chain of catalyzing events – including imprisonment, a boycott of the Montgomery Bus, a new civil rights organization led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a repealing of the segregation law on buses in Montgomery.
Building leadership courage is not as mysterious as it sounds.
The 90 second video below is worth it’s weight in gold about moving forward with courage … even amidst fear and panic. You can hear the panic and anxiety in this 4th grader (and also notice her feet).
And you may even notice your own anxiety getting triggered and wondering why she would put herself through such an ordeal. Yet, in the end, she not only overcomes her fear. Notice what she says to herself once landing at the bottom.
As a leader, what can you learn from this 4th grader?
In July of this past year, I had the honor of meeting Mike Gustafsen, CEO, Virident Systems Technology with seasoned experience in growth driven companies/divsions at the C-level. His story as part of a panel discussion at a networking event – The Path to the C-Level – left such a strong impression that I asked him for an interview to share his secrets.
In my view, Mike embodies the essence of a great leader – a visionary, strategist, big thinker, leader of leaders, great team and culture builder, global thinker yet down to earth, authentic and the list goes on.
It’s that time of the year! Most business leaders are preparing for an executive off-site to define their company’s future direction for the new year.
Yet, in my 30 years experience of working with leadership teams and companies, the terms “vision,” “mission” and “values” are THE most overused, misunderstood and abused words in the business community today.
Vision statements, mission statements and strategic plans in many companies reduce to mere academic exercises with no real value in driving an organization forward. Why? Let’s take a look.
Why Most Company Visions Get an “F”: The Big 3
Your company’s vision lacks the necessary specificity and inspiration to pull your company forward.
With the new year coming, I asked myself … what wisdom could I provide to help leaders change their game in 2014?
Most leaders’ looming questions during this time are …
• Where do we go from here?
• What can we do to get to the next level?
• What are we not being that we need to be?
• What are we not doing that we need to do?
While there are many classic leadership books that are still relevant today – like Good to Great and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – and a flooded market of other business books, I wanted to share ….
With permission to reprint his article “Hire for Will; Teach the Skill,” Ron Alvesteffer, CEO, SEI Service Express, Inc., shares how his company hires top-performing employees – – his secret to achieving SEI growth goals and cultivating an exceptional organizational culture. Enjoy his wisdom!
(Reprinted with permission from March 27, 2013)
Hire The Will; Teach the Skill
by Ron Alvesteffer
It’s a phrase I often use with leaders at SEI, particularly when they’re recruiting for talent at our organization.
For example, when a company is stuck or has plateaued, I often hear reasons like …
