Beliefs/Ideals

Organizations rise and fall on the strength of their leadership.  Work on being an outstanding leader.

Communication is the number one thing that can raise or destroy an organization regardless of talent or will.  Listen well.  Check your emotion.  Be objective.  Think before you speak.

Without a common vision, your team will not end up in the same place and therefore not achieve anything significant.  Know your destination before you leave.  

[Begin with the end in mind]

Everyone in an organization should be developed as a leader, then everyone is responsible for and engaged in guiding the organization toward its future.  Develop leaders around you.

You can’t lead what you don’t believe in.  Know when to rethink something or walk away completely.

Integrity is given, not taken, and is the result of your day-to-day actions.  Without integrity, you are nothing.  Be honest in all your dealings.

It’s all about relationships.  You will not achieve anything significant alone.  Treasure your friends and allow them to help you when you need it.  Learn from your enemies for they always have something to teach you about yourself.  

[Think Win/Win]

People need to feel heard and understood before they can begin to understand anything else.  If one doesn’t feel genuine empathy toward their situation first, they will never be open to understanding your point of view.  Connection is the key to any relationship.  Whenever someone is talking to you, be there… both in mind and spirit. 

[Seek first to understand, then be understood]

We are all unique; in personality, education, and job responsibilities, and as such we each require unique tools, training, support, and mentoring to help us be successful.  Respect individuality.

There is more to who we are than work.  We are the sum of our beliefs, interests, faith, family, and friends.  Leadership needs to understand and value these unique characteristics in everyone.

Continuous self-assessment and training are required to ensure an organizations’ advancement.  If you’re not growing, you’re dying.  Strive to learn something new every day.

Everyone wants to do something significant in his or her work.  Without it, there is no meaning or purpose to their efforts.  We all want to leave some sort of legacy, a marker to our having been here.

Nothing great ever came without great passion.  Do it with passion or don’t do it. 

Diversity in thought and perspective help create a better view.  Be accepting of contrary ideas.

Fear is healthy.  Paranoia is insidious and deadly.

Creativity is the palette from which we color the world.

Every single decision you make decides your success.  Think before you act.  Do not be hasty if the situation doesn’t call for it. 

Not everything is obvious or clearly defined.  Trust your gut.  Intuition is undersold nowadays. 

Timing is everything.  Pick your battles carefully. 

Fight for what is right.  Never back down, even in the face of overwhelming opposition, for that is the only true tragedy.

Be damn sure you know what’s right.

Time is your currency, the only thing you truly own.  Spend it wisely because you never get it back.  Give freely to the worthy and guard it from waste.

Realism is simply informed Optimism.  Be a realist.

Compassion is not a weakness.  It’s o.k. to cry with your people.

More has been accomplished that was once perceived as impossible than was ever done accepting status quo.  Always challenge the status quo.  Sometimes the victor was the one who was simply brave enough to ask. 

Barriers are just solution modifiers to a problem.