Category: Discipline

Reading Time: 2 minutesFixed vs. Growth Mindsets When we have a fixed mindset, we have a set way about ourselves. We are what we are because of our upbringing, plus our experiences along the way. If we have had weak role models, we will have bad habits, likely leading to fixed mindsets. We

Reading Time: < 1 minuteMany companies are currently engaged in year-end planning and too many plans are not much more than “how can we do more next year?” This can happen when companies are enjoying success and assume, without much reflection or analysis as to why.   As we often say at #Vistage meetings,   “the

Reading Time: < 1 minuteThis article from Ideas.TED.com suggests that life is a little like poker,  we know what cards and chips we hold and must do the best with what we have.  Check out this a simple but powerful self-management tool that requires nothing more than stopping to have a little “If/Then”  conversation with yourself before

Reading Time: < 1 minuteScott Fitzgerald once remarked that the “very rich are different than you and me” and supplied a long list of reasons.   If he were writing today he might have added that the rich read differently to that list. “Successful people know they are what they read”   according to this brief posting from

Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhen we are faced with a new problem, what is our first instinct? “How Do I Solve this Problem?”  Turn the question around – ask “Who Solves this Problem?” Here’s a valuable tool for your new venture from Peter Diamandis, successful entrepreneur, co-founder of over twenty companies, and founder of

Reading Time: < 1 minuteMost of us have participated in a planning session using SWOT analysis  (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).  Often, participants offer suggestions that however well-intentioned, are just “top of mind” or limited to their own area of responsibility or expertise.  This is especially true for weaknesses and threats which often come from outside

Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe most important person you ever manage is yourself.  Every person’s time talent and energy is finite, so your career advancement involves making choices about your behavior that provide the choices you want. To wit:  Facebook COO Cheryl Sandberg offers some advice in a very short article about whether you are

Reading Time: < 1 minuteBenjamin Franklin once challenged a friend,  “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” You’ll love your time more once you realize how much of it you are wasting. Start buying back some of the only resource you can’t buy more of

Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe create much of our own reality by our actions, but much of what happens to us is beyond our control. In the latter instance, how we decide to respond, can not only impact our well-being, but can often by itself create a new outcome, as this short video of a

Reading Time: < 1 minuteRisk is so pervasive in business that we often fail to ask ourselves if we really understand the fundamental nature of it, how to assess it and then manage it.  This short article by Jean Proussen of the Institute of Directors provides a valuable primer for C-Level Executives for thinking about,