Ask most anyone to think of a great leader and on their short list you will find someone considered to be a great orator or powerful public speaker. Ask anyone to list the skills of a great leader and communication skills or public speaking skills will invariably make the list. The reasons are clear and

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Last weekend my wife and I were at a conference in Cleveland.  As I walked through the hotel, I noticed a pair of shoe shine chairs – with no one to do any shining. Later in the day I noticed the chairs still unmanned. Then I looked up and saw the sign above the chairs. Since

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What? I mean Willie is and has been a lot of things, but an interpersonal skills guru? Over the past few weeks one phrase from Willie and his buddy Waylon Jenning’s mega-hit Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys keeps popping into my head.  (Actually the song was written by Ed and Patsy

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Monday 17th, I saw a morning news report that included a commercial for Dale Peterson running fro Commissioner of Agriculture in Alabama.  After seeing it, I went online to find it.  On YouTube I found it with about 3000 views. Here is the video: As of this writing, 8 days later, this video has over

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Values. Values is a topic not that often talked about, but one that plays a huge role in behavior and results. They are personal and not always clearly defined. Thus, they remain an important but under-discussed and under-appreciated part of who you are as a person and a leader. Today, I want you to think about your

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This week’s Resource Recommendation: The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right by Atul Gawande This book is about the value of the “lowly” checklist. Its author is a working surgeon, a two-time author, a contributor to The New Yorker and a consultant to the World Health Organization on, among other things, checklists. It is,

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This week’s Resource Recommendation: Making Them Believe:The 21 Principles and Lost Secrets of Dr. J.R. Brinkley-Style Marketing by Dan S. Kennedy and Chip Kessler First, to give you some context for this highly interesting and entertaining book, here is an excerpt from the back cover: DR. JOHN BRINKLEY was, at one time, the wealthiest doctor

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Earlier this week I wrote a post  about seeing what we are looking for, and even talked about how the news plays into that process.  (Read it now for some background for this post). So now, just a few days later,  comes a practical application of this principle. News Story 1:  The Dow drops almost 348

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I heard it on the local morning news about ten minutes ago.  “A new poll shows that one in ten people think pets are better listeners than people.” Really? So I went to find the background on the web.  As I was starting the search my son asked me what I was doing.  I told him what

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