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Positive Impact – 4 Words That’ll Make Your Team Think You’re Awesome

Can I help you?

Just one moment, I responded as I waited for Madison to make a selection.

Madison (our 8-year-old) and I have a standing breakfast date every Saturday morning. It’s one of my favorite parts of the week. We’ve learned so much about each other and from each other during these special weekly moments.

Today would prove to be the same…

Can I help you? The manager’s voice raised slightly, almost pleading. No one else was standing in line – glancing around, the restaurant was mostly empty. She was talking to us.

The phone began ringing. The manager calls back – Someone answer that! Two rings. Three. Will somebody answer the phone?! – borderline yelling.

Madison paused a few more moments as crew members shuffled around cleaning floors, doors, air conditioning vents, walls, trash cans. It was cleaning day.

The manager sighed then shifted. Then one last emphatic attempt to coax me into ordering – I’m ready to take your order.

What To Do When the Unexpected Happens

A young lady who was close to my wife, Sarah, was murdered in a domestic dispute a couple of weeks ago.

I don’t recall ever seeing Sarah so emotionally shaken by a life event. For several days, she quietly processed the events that led to the tragedy.

During that time our 8-year-old daughter, Madison, noticed something was different and began to ask what was going on. So I took her to breakfast one morning and spent some time talking to her about what her mom was experiencing.

After gently explaining the situation, I asked Madison if she understood. She quickly replied, “But mom’s a counselor. Why doesn’t she just tell herself what she tells her clients?”

After 40 Years of Experiences, I Have ONE Regret!

“We all want experiences that we can be proud of, but what we fail to realize is that the best moments may be happening right now.”

In his newest book, The In-Between, Jeff Goins writes, “Maybe the good stuff isn’t ahead or behind us. Maybe it’s somewhere in-between.”

Maybe the good stuff isn’t ahead or behind us. Maybe it’s somewhere in-between.

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(Take a few seconds and watch the book trailer – it’s the best I’ve ever seen!)

On Saturday, I will celebrate my 40^th birthday. There are moments in every life that seem to demand a pause – for reflection on the past experiences and to envision a future that can be. For me, turning 40 is one of those moments.

Looking back, I’ve done a lot of waiting in my life. More than I ever expected. There have been many delays, detours, and postponements. Looking forward I see more of the same – more waiting. More in-between. And that’s ok, because the in-between is “a place to slow down. Where we learn to be present in an increasingly noisy world. It’s the place where we learn to let go.” And live.

So after 40 years, my only regret is…

Do You Work With a Team or a Family?

Most teams struggle because they don’t know whether they are a team or a family.

Often they’re an intriguing mixture of both.

After spending several years studying executive leadership teams, interviewing scores of executives and managers, analyzing thousands of data points, and writing hundreds of pages on the topic, I found that most working groups truly believe that they are a real team.

Yet most of these “teams” struggle because their leaders and members are not functioning as a real team.

There is ONE fundamental question that you must answer to be effective in your work…

Growing Leaders – 12 Things They Do Differently

What makes a growing leader different?

1. Generosity

To make a significant impact, be generous! Growing leaders share their knowledge, experience, resources, and compassion with others. They implicitly trust people – they freely give people the benefit of the doubt.

Give because giving is fun. Give because it makes people happy. Giving can change a life. Give because it will help your team. Give because it can change your organization. Giving will change the world. Give because you can’t go wrong.

2. Serve

Every day you have the opportunity to willingly place the needs, desires, and ambition of those you lead ahead of your own. The best leaders are servant leaders. Growing leaders serve.