Michael Nichols

Apr 20 2015

10 Secrets of Highly-Motivated Leaders

The 10 Secrets of Highly-Motivated Leaders is a guest post by Neal Samudre, the creator of a personal-development website inspiring thousands to lead selflessly and live a life of impact. You can read his blog here and follow him on Twitter.

Productivity is a byproduct of motivation. When you’re motivated to do your work, you get it done. And when you’re not motivated, work takes forever.

It’s a futile effort to attempt to keep yourself focused on the task. It won’t be long before something more interesting comes along and grabs your attention.

A better approach is to evaluate your motivation. Ask, Why I’m doing this project? And let the answer compel you to work with more energy.

When people struggle to accomplish goals, often the problem is not a lack of focus. It’s because we lack motivation.

So here are 10 practices to keep you motivated toward your goals:

Apr 08 2015

Rejection – Turning it into Direction

Turning Rejection into Direction is a guest post by Jevonnah “Lady J” Ellison, an industry-leading Purpose Strategist and Executive Leadership Coach. She equips lawyers, doctors, engineers, professionals, and leaders with confidence and clarity so that they can live out their authentic purpose and experience incredible success. You can read her blog here and follow her on Twitter.

Everyone fears rejection.

Rejection is a type of communication that says someone else really doesn’t matter to us, or that he or she doesn’t measure up to a standard we’ve created or adopted. Whatever the form of behavior, rejection communicates disrespect, low value, and lack of appreciation.

Few things hurt like rejection.

BONUS: Jevonnah is offering a special opportunity TODAY that will help you clarify your purpose, amplify your strengths, and thrive financially. You can find out more at the end of this post or reserve your bonus now.

When I was 7, my Dad walked out. On Christmas Eve.

Feb 16 2015

Dream – Stop Chasing It and Start Living It!

You probably started the New Year with renewed resolve to pursue your goals, accomplish your plan and chase the dream.

And here we are – just a few weeks into the year. How’s it going?

I wonder how many people have already given up – how many are already derailed?

There is nothing wrong with making plans or pursuing goals. In fact, we should be doing those things.

But we can’t just keep dreaming about “some day”.

Feb 09 2015

2 Questions To Ask When Navigating a Significant Transition

A significant transition was about to happen in his life – James came to me with a question, “What do I do?”

He was unemployed. He had worked for a large software firm for nine years and had risen in the company to a junior executive level position. However, as the firm experienced a financial downturn they needed to reorganize.

Jan 05 2015

Team Culture – 3 Essential Practices of Every Great Team

Great team culture is less about a list of characteristics and more about understanding your team, discerning their uniqueness, and working together to achieve remarkable results.

Team members bring their own ideas, experiences, education, and skills to the group to work toward common goals. So when a new member joins the team, the team and its culture changes.

Every addition (or deletion) of a team member changes the team and its culture – some slightly, others significantly.

To complicate matters, it takes one to three years for a new team member to fully integrate with their team and effectively contribute to the team’s shared goals.

If that’s true, how can teams be effective in the interim? And what if team members are added frequently? How does a team continue to make progress, remain productive, and produce results with a continuously evolving team culture?

As I’ve led teams over the years, I’ve asked these same questions. And I must admit that, more than once, I’ve experienced the frustration of not having answers.

As we’ve coached teams and leaders across the country, we’ve learned that there are 3 things every leader must understand about team culture to effectively lead the team.

Here they are…