Recently, I read a famous story told by James Clear: “By 1918, Charles M. Schwab was one of the richest men in the world. Schwab was the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the largest shipbuilder and the second-largest steel producer in America at the time. The famous inventor Thomas Edison once referred to Schwab as the ‘master hustler.’ He was constantly seeking an edge over (Continue)
Are These Personal Growth Myths Limiting Your Leadership?
Recently, I arrived at a meeting to find an empty Mason jar positioned in front of each person sitting around the table. An orange balloon was lying beside each jar. The facilitator instructed each of us to put the balloon inside our jar and blow up the balloon until it filled the jar. Then we tied a knot at the tip of the balloon to prevent the air from escaping. After everyone finished, he (Continue)
If You Miss This Leadership Opportunity, You’ll Regret It Later
The other day, I ran into a friend from high school. After our initial pleasantries and greetings, my friend started to talk about our “good ol’ high school days.” A few minutes into our chat, I tried to turn the conversation to what was going on in his life now. But he repeatedly turned the focus back to what happened in high school and was uninterested in talking about the present or the (Continue)
Why Some Leaders Can Never Grow Their Business
When I was a little boy, I was full of curiosity. I was also full of energy. My parents could have said I was ADDDDDDDDDDD! I believe that is why they put me in kindergarten a year younger than all of the other kids at the age of four. All of my early years in school, I struggled to just make average grades (and sometimes below average grades). During the spring semester of my 5th (Continue)
Every Employee Asks These 5 Questions
For my first Olympic-distance triathlon, I trained with a good friend twice a day, six days a week. We scheduled our training round each other’s personal and work schedules. During our weekly training, we found that our strengths complemented each other very well: I was the morning person who would give him a wake-up call to meet for our training before going to work. We had (Continue)
What’s Your Leadership Roadmap?
Years ago, after losing more than 50 pounds of weight in six months, I participated in a short bicycle race. It was a 15-mile individual time-trial, a race where each individual competes against the clock for time. To my surprise, I was leading the race, until… …close to the finish line when I turned down the wrong road with a dead-end! Yogi Berra included this, now legendary statement, (Continue)
The Greatest Leadership Gap
“Bobby, I want you to come in and ‘fix’ my people.” As I have mentored CEOs, presidents, owners, and other key leaders, this is the most common initial request that I hear. What about you? Do you ever want someone to come in and “fix” your people? Have you ever looked in the mirror and asked yourself, “I want someone to come in and ‘fix’ my people?” Take another serious look in the (Continue)
I Had to Hitch a Ride from My Own Employee – For 2 Years
The unexpected death of my father left me as the young new leader of the family business. I was only 20 years old, and every one of my five employees was older than I was! To top it off, one of the first things I discovered about the business I was leading was we were $70,000 in debt and had gross revenue of less than $90,000. To pay down some of the debt, I even sold my personal car. My dad (Continue)
An Uncomfortable Conversation for Any Leader
As a leader, owner, president, or CEO do you feel at times like you’re trying to swim in this ocean called “the marketplace” but you struggle to keep your head above water? Do you feel like a concrete block has been tied to your ankles, pulling down even your best efforts?” Does it seem like your results don’t reflect your hard work? Do you wonder if you are a failure? I can assure you that (Continue)
Life Was Good and Then Everything Changed
The year was 1973, and life was good: I had just graduated with honors from our local state university after only three years at the age of 20. I had just concluded serving as the President of Student Government (PSG) at a university of over 4,000 students. By the conclusion of my term, I was able to lead with more Student Senate legislation approved by the University President (Continue)