King on The Crazy Ones

 

“Almost always the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968)

American civil rights leader

Nobel Peace Prize winner

What if…

John and Abigail Adams had been more concerned with themselves and work/life balance than creating a democracy?

What if… Abraham Lincoln had quit trying after having a business go under and losing his first local legislative race?

What if… Martin Luther King didn’t have a dream and played it safe (and didn’t travel over 6 million miles giving more than 2500 speeches). What if he thought he was too young to have an impact?

What if… Gandhi, Teresa, Roosevelt, Ford, Disney, Walton, Gates, Winfrey, Jobs, Stewart, and Ash hadn’t stepped up and worked hard. (What if the thousands of people who supported them hadn’t?) What if your police, military, firefighters didn’t?

What if… No one pushed it, risked it, and pushed it again?

Be obligated to your world.

Huxley on Climbing the Ladder

 

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”

– Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)

English biologist and educator

Are you holding yourself accountable as a leader (with a title or not)?

As leaders, we enjoy the responsibility of helping people develop in a way that encourages them to hold themselves accountable for their attitudes, their work, and their results.

We need to be as disciplined, resourceful, and resilient in our efforts as we ask our people to be in theirs.

Relentless leadership is embracing the fact that the need for solid & ongoing reinforcement never ends and uncomfortable conversations are a necessity. This is how we create something special.

Managers: How much development attention are you giving to your team? (20% of your week would be a full day of nothing but development time… 40% would be two full days, beginning to end)

Professionals: Don’t have a coaching manager? Consider finding a development partner.

DeGeneres on Trust and Confidence

 

“Never follow someone else’s path… unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path then by all means you should follow that.”

–Ellen DeGeneres (1958 – )
American comedian and actor

Do your people (customers, prospects, team, colleagues) know they’re important to you? Always? Sometimes? Rarely?

Remember… It’s your occasional words and continual actions that’ll help them know best.

To be sure it’s a closer to always thing, consider implementing a personal appreciation audit each month or quarter for your most important people – remembering that actions speak louder than words (but words are important too).