Category Archives: Leadership

Titles and desks don't make great managers or loyal employeesLeadership is not about you or your title, your money your possessions, your power, or how much pleasure you can get from life.

Leaders never have all the answers, but they seek them constantly and often find them in the places that others have overlooked.

The articles below will challenge you and inspire you to grow your thinking and your behavior first, and then help you bring your best to the people and the organizations you serve.

Posted on

Life on an Expat Compound – AKA Sesame Street

by

Just over a week ago, I arrived in a new country, ready to begin my first expat journey with my husband and our dog.

Since my arrival, my heart has continually been filled with thankfulness for:

  • Our safe travels and that our little family is together again
  • Friends and family in the states that were incredibly supportive through our transition
  • Virtual friends here that have offered advice and encouragement – they are indeed made of flesh and blood and so welcoming!
  • A beautiful new home and modern conveniences that will make the transition a little easier.

We will be living on an expat compound – which I have fondly renamed “Sesame Street.”

These are my First Impressions of Life on “Sesame Street”

  • It is a place filled with parents of great vision that are determined to give their children a global understanding of people, geography, culture and history.
  • It is a place filled with courageous families that continually adjust to life in different climates, with different customs, with different transportation systems, with different freedoms and different restrictions.
  • It is a place where everyone knows your name.
  • Where it’s normal to knock on your neighbors door and welcome them to the neighborhood.
  • Where doors are frequently left unlocked.
  • Where kids play in the streets, leave their bikes on the sidewalks, and play freely throughout the neighborhood.
  • It’s a place filled with people of all colors and from all nations.
  • And a place of instant camaraderie.

It is also a place where the ideal runs into the real:

Posted on

The Secret Sauce: Social Media and Networking

by

How often do you play video games?  What is the first thing you do when you are playing a new game?

When I sit down to play a new game that is filled with scenery and objectives, every part of my being wants to explore and experiment.  I’m curious how far I can wander before the screen freezes; I want to see where the path leads; I’m in awe of the creativity of the designers, and I want to know what happens when I push certain buttons!  (I drive my husband crazy, because he wants to achieve as much as possible as quickly as possible!)

In the debate about Social Media and business, some say it is the future and it must be explored!  Others say it is a source of information and connections and a critical marketing tool.   While another group says it is a waste of time, a risk and that it must be tightly controlled!

Posted on

“With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility!”

by

[Tweet “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility”]

Does this quote resonate with you as loudly as it resonates with me?  I think it is hard-wired into my DNA.  I believe it so much that sometimes I’ve assumed it was self-evident to everyone around me. So, if someone had a title and they were not using their power to serve others I judged them harshly.  (Not something I am proud of, but it’s true.)

Eventually, I had a powerful head smacking moment (visualizing the old V8 ads) and realized:  

Posted on

Being a Leader Means Understanding…

by

(Originally posted on The Be A Leader Blog…)

Has life ever handed you a hurricane of change that took you to your knees? And every time you started to stand another storm hit? A few years ago my husband and I were hit with several seasons of hurricanes. (Some literal, most figurative.) In the midst of lots of change that we had no control over, I was desperate to be in control of something! So I accepted a marketing position that I knew would challenge me and that I could learn from, even though there was a lot about the position I knew I would not enjoy.

One of my first challenges was to learn to drive a club-cab pickup truck and a 28-foot long trailer through traffic in the 4th largest city in the United States! (Let me be clear – I am as girly as they come and I don’t get a kick out of driving a car, much less a truck!)

On the flip side, my husband is completely comfortable with that world and he knows me well. He was fully aware that this thing that I’d agreed to do had many potential downsides including having an accident! He understood that I am a visual learner and that I needed to see the big picture before details would make sense.

Leaders understandSo he made a trip to the store and came home with a toy truck and trailer. He then grabbed some flip chart paper and drew a multiple lane road with a 4-way traffic stop and a parking lot. He put the paper on the floor, and had me drive the truck and trailer up and down the road, around the corners, and back it into parking spaces. Each time he helped me identify all the potential dangers like driving over curbs, hitting other cars, and considering how much time it takes to slow down, or stop that much weight!

Posted on

Perseverance: A lesson from my childhood hero!

by

When I was in elementary school I was EXTREMELY fascinated with this man’s life, and his contributions to our world.  So much so that when my classmates were ordering posters of movie stars, I ordered posters of him.  When my family drove to Disney World in Florida from North Dakota, the greatest event on the trip was a surprise visit to his birthplace!

As an adult, my co-workers gave me a beautiful gift from Successories with this man’s image and the quote below. Today I honor his birthday by sharing some of the lessons about perseverance, character, courage and leadership that I’ve learned from a man I’ve never met…

He FAILED in business in ’31.

He was DEFEATED for State Legislator in ’32.

He tried another business in ’33.  It FAILED.

His fiancée died in ’35.

He had a nervous BREAKDOWN in ’36.