Today’s question is this: Could you run a company if the serious threat of bankruptcy were looming? Could you reverse a disaster? C’mon, it’s much easier for a leader to run a company when business is bright and rosy, but you need to be a leader who can face reality, jump into an unexpected firestorm, and rescue your company from market obliteration. A leader like that is the one who should cash big checks and sit in the big corner office.
Today’s message is directed at whiners who want to go from Victim to Victor. Bold huh? Do you feel overlooked? Do you think you are being misjudged? Do have a lot of excuses for why you aren’t successful? Do you believe that nobody understands what you’ve been through in your life? Well hey, it’s time to get over yourself. Your scars, your upbringing, and your physical or learning disabilities are real, but they are no excuses for low performance.
This week I want to talk about why coaches are important and why wildly successful leaders still feel the need to be coached. You first introduction to coaching was a kid playing sports. We all had bad coaches who thought leadership was yelling… so the word coach still makes you cringe. But if you had a good coach, you learned discipline from the coach, you learned to push yourself further when you felt like quitting, and a good coach taught you skills and techniques that made you better than you ever thought you could be.
Today I want to talk about fear; the kind of fear that threatens to shut down your business or your career. I’ve talked to you about my being a serial entrepreneur and how some of my ventures failed miserably while others turned out to be very successful. My friends tell me I’m a guy who is fearless about making decisions. That may be what it looks like but I have a system for squashing fear and I’ll describe how you can make that system work for you too!
Today’s focus is on presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders but this is not a political rant or an endorsement. Leaders need to know WHY they have become national phenomenons; in spite of the fact that Trump insults everybody and Sanders is a socialist. Why does this matter to you? Because YOU would love for your products and services to become as popular as they have.
This week I want to talk about how easy it is to disconnect from the people who keep your company alive. Look, I know you have demands coming at you from all sides because, as leaders, we’re expected to drive growth, manage people, and cut costs. If revenue is lagging or costs are escalating, we call a meeting and strategize, we buy industry research, and we hire third-party companies to compile Big Data.
Today’s focus is all about YOU. I want to talk about your personality. How do suppose other people think of you based upon your personality? Are you approachable or are you shy? Are you likeable or are you standoffish? Let’s say you just got a big promotion and you have to give a public presentation of some kind. Are you expected to be grateful? Or Commanding? Are you supposed to be persuasive? Or, do you think you should demonstrate fearlessness?
Today, I want to talk about how to motivate your team…even when you don’t feel like it. You’ve heard the cliché “it’s lonely it is at The Top.” It’s true. Until you are sitting in the leader’s chair you never realize how isolated it can feel. Truth is though, even top tier leaders need a little motivation and validation – at the same exact time you’re supposed to be leading the troops. So how do you pull that off?
Today, I want to talk about what made the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge dominate social media. 17 million people dumped buckets of ice on their heads and raised over 220 million dollars in six weeks. First, the reason to get involved was that ALS is a good cause. ALS is a progressive neuro-degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.
This week I want to talk about how you can create a publicity stunt that goes viral. You’ve seen other companies get a huge boost from “going viral” and I’m sure you’ve wondered how you could pull that off. I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a long time because so many “new media” companies will try to convince you that THEY have the answer. Well, I’ll give you the answer for free. There is NO guarantee a video or newsworthy idea will go viral.