Is Your Team Like Plywood?

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

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.

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

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

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?

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...