Is Your Team Like Plywood?

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In my last post, I mentioned I attended a leadership webinar by 4-Star General Stan McChrystal where he said the most important leadership quality of all is empathy.  Today I thought I would share his perspective on teamwork.  It is similar to Coach Mike...

The Most Important Leadership Quality of Them All

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I attended a leadership webinar today by General Stan McChrystal.  He is top tier; an engaging speaker who has instant credibility successfully leading our troops in the War on Terror.   Now retired, he is sharing his philosophy of leadership for the 21st century.  He...

Education is not filling a pale, but lighting a fire.

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I just got back from commencement and watched my students “walk” and shake hands with the President of Clemson University, Jim Barker.  In his remarks to the graduates, he quoted William Butler Yeats.  Yeats said, “Education is not filling a pale,...

Don’t try to make everyone happy

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I read a GREAT quote yesterday from one of the most successful authors today, James Patterson: “Thousands of people don’t like what I do.  Fortunately, millions do.”  My initial reaction to this quote was shock.  Is it really possible that...

My Ultimate Leadership Challenge

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I am 43 years old and have been teaching for over 20 years.  I am passionate about the subject of leadership and have read over 200 leadership books.  I take great pride in my leadership skills, but am always growing and want to be better today than I was yesterday. ...

Are You Truly Doing Your Best?

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How often can you truly say to yourself, “I did my best?”  I am reading The Little Book of Leadership by Jeffrey Gitomer and just came across a very inspiring chapter on doing your best that I wanted to share.  Gitomer says: “The word BEST is very...

The Responsibility of Motivation

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On LinkedIn, I found this interesting question: “Is it every employee’s responsibility to be self-motivated or is it the employer’s responsibility to motivate their employees?”  My answer is both.  To work toward excellence, you have to be hungry, which...

What makes a great coach?

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Last week I heard an ESPN talk show host refer to Bobby Petrino as a great coach.  In the wake of Petrino’s firing, this broadcaster still firmly believed Arkansas was losing a great coach.  Can Petrino coach football?  No doubt about it.  Arkansas was one of...

The Greatest Part of my Job

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The greatest part of my job is getting to spend 4 years with my students.  Music professors get to teach their students from the time they are freshmen to the time they are seniors, and sometimes longer.  You get to watch them grow up right before your eyes.  Other...

Expect Adversity

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Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen both played brilliantly on Sunday.   Bubba has never taken a lesson and Louis has the perfect swing.  But there can only be one winner.    However, if you listened to the media interviews, they asked some pretty ridiculous questions. ...