Michael Nichols | Leadership Made Simple
Leadership Made Simple
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”.
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.
You’ve probably already heard about all kinds of stuff that people are selling to help you improve in this year. But have you heard about the big giveaway I have going on?
Yep, when most people are selling stuff, I decided to do it a little different – I’m giving stuff away instead. Think of it as a gift – from me to you. I’ll tell you how to get it in just a moment.
Most people wait for life to happen to them. They plod along – reacting to the circumstances along their path in their life and work. Sadly, many end up never accomplishing important life or career goals for one simple reason – they never paused long enough to give some thought to where they were headed and how they were going to get there.
About 15 years ago, that was my story. I wanted my life to matter but couldn’t figure out how to make it happen. And few people understood my passion and fewer challenged me to pursue it with abandon.
Let me tell you – that’s not the life you were meant to live. And it’s not how your career is supposed to go.
When you purposefully set aside time for reflection and planning you are far more likely to accomplish your goals.
How do we get more margin? Every leader wants the team to maximize efficiency. And in this quest for efficiency and productivity some team members can become so overwhelmed that there’s no possible way to get everything done.
The resulting frustration can be devastating to morale and retention.
The first house I ever owned belonged to an elderly couple. I bought the home just a few months after Fred’s wife, Andree’, passed away.
One day Andree’ went to the hospital for a routine procedure and died suddenly from complications during the surgery.
Fred was devastated. He later told me, “When Andree’ died, I lost every reason to live.”
With all the memories, it was simply too painful for him to stay in the home.
Read More
