Is the Allure of Success Leading You Astray?
How easy is it to sacrifice your values in pursuit of success? Said another way, what are you consciously or unconsciously willing to give up in order to get what you’re aiming for? In our book, Thriving in Business and Life, we dedicate a chapter to the importance of infusing our values into everything we do, including our vision crafting. Values, ideally, are like a compass that helps keeps us true to our own values-based North Star while we pursue our passions. But, unless
How Problem Solving Can Create More Problems
Chuck Blakeman, writing for Inc. Magazine* states, “Business leaders are taught to be relentless problem solvers. But that focus traps them in a downward spiral of reactive problem-solving that feels more like a hostage situation than leading.” He goes on to say, “A problem, once solved, merely restores the status quo. Solving it gets you back to where you were before the problem arose but brings no lasting difference to the situation. A staff member quits, we recruit a new o
What the Smartest People Do to Stay Smart
Albert Einstein once said that “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” That quote often takes some people aback . . . especially if they’ve been trained to think of imagination as child’s play. But Einstein went on to say, “Knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress and giving birth to evolution." It was in this spirit, that the creators of the award-winning PBS series, Sesame Street, regularly inserted a feature where a
How to Know What You Really, Really Want
In what may be the most unlikely reference we’ve ever made in one our blog posts, we’re recalling for this post some lyrics from a Spice Girls’ song: “I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want.” The song then goes on to say: “If you want my future, forget my past.” Granted, not exactly the most poetic lyrics ever written, and yet they introduce several important points related to the process of creating powerful visions. Here’s what we mean: While it may seem obv
Why Your Unconscious Mind Craves Meaning
Vision statements. Most of us have made a few with colleagues over the years and can recall the hours spent in discussion, carefully wordsmithing, scribbling on flip chart paper and a white board, finally agreeing on the perfect vision statement, then filing it away or posting it on a wall and pretty much forgetting about it. If you’ve had that experience you may be wary of the practice. So were we, until we began experimenting and eventually developed an entirely different p
How to Apply Shawn White’s Secret Technique for Winning to Your Life
Have you ever seen an athlete going through their pregame or pre-run visualizations? Olympic Gold Medalist, Shawn White, is a huge fan of these type of visualizations (or as some call it, “visioning”). When interviewed about the topic on Impact Theory’s webcast, Shawn shared that he identifies what he’ll accomplish and then sees himself doing it successfully. It's not something casual or laid back though. He really gets into his process with questions like, “What’s it going t
Is it Possible to Die Without Regrets?
Most of us hesitate to give much thought to one of the few certainties in life—the fact that we’re all going to die. Some might say that the topic is too morbid, but we’ve found just the opposite to be true. Whether working on our own lives or coaching others, it seems that when we become clear on how precious each day of life is, we live with deeper purpose and authenticity. One step we can take to deepen our daily experience involves connecting more fully with our personal
How to Deal with Pointless Situations
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a job, a series of meetings, or situation that seemed pointless? Most of us have, at one time or another. And it’s likely to happen again. The question is, what can we do about it? We might choose to simply survive the experience; find ways to cope with the boredom or deal with the nonsense and drama that’s playing out. But, there is another option . . . one we explore in our book Thriving in Business and LIfe. It's an approach that puts
Is Your Mind Infected?
If you knew that a virus had infected your computer, how quickly would you act to neutralize it? Well, there is ample evidence to suggest that bias cycles, or what we call the Virus of Bias™, work in our minds just like viruses do in computers, damaging our organizations and inhibiting our leaders’ ability to see clearly and make well-informed decisions. As we begin this exploration with you, we’ll start in the same place we do with organizations, by explaining just what a bi
When Do the Means Determine the End?
It’s amazing what an extended trip to another part of the world can do to provide a new, fresh perspective. The following approximates the conversations we had after Will’s return from the island country of New Zealand. WILL: It’s good to be back Chris, after a full month in New Zealand. CHRIS: You told me you met some amazing people there. WILL: I love the country; it was my fourth visit, first for my wife. The people are wonderful. The weather, the beauty, what’s not to lov
