Leader to Leader

I have a colleague in Canada who shared the following story with me. He talked about a very successful businessman who used to be part owner and CEO of a large company.

Of all the topics in management, leadership, sales, and team training, one of the most challenging to truly grasp is the subject of motivation. Part of the reason is the lack of a fundamental understanding of the meaning of “motivation.”

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to listen to hundreds of speeches ranging from the ho-hum to the incredibly inspirational. Regardless of the quality of the speeches themselves, one thing that is fairly consistent is the quality — or lack thereof — of the speaker introductions.

With all that has happened since early last year, the need to pivot, to sell new ways of doing business, and to survive and thrive has never been greater.

Sound goal setting always starts out with an almost magnetic vision of what the future should look like. When I say magnetic, that future vision should be powerful enough to pull you in its direction, in spite of whatever obstacles present themselves.

In this season of giving thanks, it will probably be tough for many to be thankful after the last eight months — and who knows how many more — of the coronavirus.

I make it a habit to scan LinkedIn on a regular basis to keep up with what is happening with good clients, potential clients, and colleagues. I recently saw that a very good client and friend had made a major career move.

A couple of months ago, my son and his family invited Kathy and me to spend a weekend at “the cabin” in Hayward. It only took us a microsecond to say, “YES!”

As business reopens across the country, many organizations are facing a choice: Should they allow employees working from home during safer-at-home orders to continue that way, or should they bring them back into the office at least some of the time? There are good arguments on both sides.

There is absolutely no doubt that there is a plethora of manure out there in our real world today: coronavirus, riots, protests, lootings, shootings, business shutdowns — the list goes on and on.