Category: Leadership

What is Attitude.. With Some Help From John Maxwell

6/7/2022

I found a great reminder about the importance of our attitude & I wanted to share it with you. This came from "The Daily Reader" from Dr. John Maxwell. This is something that I have on my Kindle app on my phone and I try to start out each day before I leave my house, along with a few sips of morning coffee. It gets my day going in a great direction.

Here is the entry from April 27:

Attitude is something that shows up in all aspects of our lives, from our words and actions to even our body language and non-verbal expressions. Many times people like to try and mask those negative attitudes and try and get people to buy the fake positive ones. The problem is, those fake ones usually get found out - eventually by others, but right away from ourselves. We can only fake ourselves out for so long.

One of the biggest truths for attitude is that it is either our "best friend or our worst enemy". The key for this one is that its totally up to us to decide which one of the two it will be. It is also our "librarian of our past", and it is also the "speaker of our present." The biggest one of all is that it is the "prophet of our future." That is something we can't get away from. It's a guarantee for sure that they will show up, even if we don't want to admit any of these parts. The sooner we connect to these points - the better off we will be.

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Teamwork Connections with John Maxwell

10/6/2021

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John Maxwell always has some great wisdom to share when it comes to Leadership & Life topics. Teamwork is something he knows a lot about. He reminds us that as humans, we are not put here on earth to go through life alone. I love his quote - "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others." It's so true as we can see any great thing ever done in life has all been connected to a group of people and not just one person. One truly is too small a number to achieve greatness.

I always look at a basketball team (as I stared coaching in 1982, it's been a major part of my life) and I always remind players about it takes 5 people to do great things on the court. Just as we don't dribble the basketball with just one finger - it takes all five fingers to control the ball; great things on the court cannot be done by just one person. It's like that in work, with our families, with our friends, etc.

Watch this "Minute with Maxwell" video to get a little bit more details as to what he is talking about.

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A Little Encouragement Goes A Long Way

11/27/2020

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Love these quick hitters from John Maxwell - this one from his book "25 Ways to Win with People" and it comes at a time where we all need this reminder. Little notes (or texts even) of encouragement to others are needed so much today. And those notes last a long time too for people. Try it. Reach out to someone or more than one person & let them know not only that you are thinking about them, but you are also in their corner too. Encouragement goes a long way for sure.

In today's times things like this are needed more than ever. With the pandemic, politics, weather events, the economy, etc., it's crucial that we find it for ourselves. I'm finding I have a lot more of this to give, when I find more of it from reading great books, fabulous articles, listening to incredible podcasts along with watching inspirational videos. There are so many great avenues of picking up encouragement from so many resources. I will continue to share them in my podcasts, Facebook Live Videos, on Twitter, Instagram and on my YouTube Channel too. If you find anything that you find encouraging, make sure you send it my way and share it with others too.

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Become Courageous

11/8/2019

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This week's blog assignment had a couple of things to check out. First was this video, "Become Courageous - A Motivational Video" had so many great reflections for us to use on ourselves. One of the first things that really jumped out to me was this thought "What would your life look like if you decided to be courageous?"  WOW... I've never really heard that question asked before, let alone try to apply it to myself. It's a really powerful one if you take it to heart. I start to think about the many areas that I need to be more courageous in my life and I find it encouraging to think about the results that might come my way with having more courage in those areas. One is for sure to keep going after my dream of doing more with podcast, writing a book (or more than one), developing a few video/audio courses, and other things. I can see myself doing it - I just need to get through the limiting beliefs that are holding me back. Nobody's fault other than my own.    Do me a favor, ask yourself that question above and get back to me on any thoughts you may have.

Another question from this first video is "What would your life look like if you decided not to care what other people thought of you?"  For one thing, I do care what some people think of me - those that I love and care for, the important people in my life. My family, close friends, etc. Others? The critics in the world? The negative ones? NO WAY! I need to not let their opinions hold me back - especially since their opinions don't pay my bills!! How are you with this one?? For some people they worry way too much what others think about them.

The other video link - "Golden Buzzer - Kodi Lee" showed a super talented young man who is blind and is autistic, show tremendous courage when he did a 5 STAR performance on America's Got Talent. The look on the judges faces were something to see, especially Simon. ;-)    This emotional and super-powerful performance is something that you need to check out. Since we are talking about bravery & courage, check out Kodi's mom. Talk about a lady who is brave and strong, but one who has so much compassion for her son. That is another huge lesson for all us as the world needs more of those traits now. This story really sends the message that we all are totally capable of doing great things as people with so many more difficulties and challenges are doing great things in their lives. I asked myself, what is my excuse as to why I'm not doing more things that I know I want to do, and even more importantly - I need to do them.   How about you?

Finally, I put out a challenge to my students (and myself too) to have the courage to see what we can individually do to unplug from forms of technology that are really getting in the way and causing us problems. Whether it's our phones, computers, video games, etc. This is a powerful reflection moment for us to do some checking to see where we can have some self-improvement. I know I need to maybe switch my time on technology devices to be more productive. There are things that I need to spend time on - there are a couple of training / educational / self-improvement items that need my attention, compared to other non-productive things that I do with technology. I see this happening in school and in all around life way too often and the sad thing about it is that most of the people don't see themselves doing anything wrong or negative. Time is one of THE most important resources we have and we seem to be "wasting" it more and more when it comes to technology. What would you challenge yourself to get better at with technology?

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The Sting

8/14/2019

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The power of reading great books can be life-changing for sure. "Lead With No Apologies" by Jesse A. Cole, Jr. is one of those books. Find the book HERE. One of the main points I wanted to share today was about having an important conversations with your future self. Sounds a little bit strange, I know. But, it's a really powerful concept to try and wrap your head around too.

Think about what your future self would tell you about things that you did well to get you where you will be in the future. Not this can be for a year, five years, whatever time period you want it to be. But also be ready for the tough feedback you might hear from your future self too. Now i'ts not meant to be embarassing or maybe it is. You see, it will only be for you. Nobody else has to know about it. It's not going to be out there all over social media - only if you put it out there will it be.

Hopefully the things that your future self brings up to you, are things that you already know. It's a way to put some skin into the game about fixing things that you know you should fix. I know as I have this important conversation with my future self, many of them in fact - I know it's leading me in a fantastic direction for my life. I hope it can for you too. Remember, your past is your best mentor. Never forget where you came from too. It's connected to your future more than you think. So when you have that important conversation with your future self, remember you both will know and understand those things from your past. You have either learned lessons from those things or maybe you have not learned the lessons yet. Either way, you have the opportunity to start learning from them. That will make for a brighter future too.

Check out more from Jesse Cole at: https://www.kingdommogulcoaching.com/

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Those That Offer The Most Value, WIN!

7/12/2019

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If you want to win in life, offer more. The more value you offer in life, not just in your profession, but in life - you will have more winning moments for sure. One of the key ingredients in this mindset is to understand first of all how rare it is. Just the mere action that you take to offer more value, to go the extra mile, that will put you in rare air. The best part of this is that since most people are not doing this, they make you look absolutely amazing by doing what they do!

I have many of these experiences in everyday life, again, since they are easy to spot in today's world. One of these happened with of course, one of our cars. I go to Mike Dorian Ford in Clinton Township, MI. There are 3 people there that offer above and beyond service in what they do. First is the salesman that I go to there, his name is Bob. He's taken care of us for plenty of our vehicles over the years and he does a great job. Again, so many other car salesmen & women, don't bring a lot to the game. Many years ago, we went to another dealership and the salesman turned me off so much with his attitude, and how he talked about other people - I have not been back there since.

The service department that I go to is led by a guy named Shawn. Funny thing, there was another dealership that we got a few of our cars from years ago, a Lincoln/Mercury dealership and Shawn worked there for awhile. Due to our salesman from that dealership, his name is Chris along with Shawn, I kept taking my cars for service to that dealership. Once we started buying Fords when the Mercury brand disappeared, that's how I got connected to the Ford dealership. Guess what? Shwan became the Service Manager at the Ford dealership. I see how he handles things, working with his coworkers, how he treats the customers, the way he carries himself, these things really stand out to me. So now, since again I have a great duo to go to, I won't be going anywhere else.

Funny thing again as now there is a trio of people that continue to offer fantastic service with their great attitudes. Jackie is one of the customer service reps that I noticed her right away. The way she interacted with the customers, her fabulus smile and positive attitude was easy to spot. She takes so much pride and openly let's everyone know that she loves her job. I found out from Shawn today when I picked up our car that had a recall service appointment, that she was hired at the Lincoln dealership from a sub shop that was near there due to her outstanding qualities that she shows today. She just kind of laughed at the story and mentioned how lucky she is to work at a place that she loves working at so much. I will be filling out my survey that they send out and I will make sure that I let them know there how valuable these three people are.

Wherever you are in your life, you need to add this kind of value wherever you work, wherever you live. It will get you noticed more than you ever thought it could. When the old saying says go an extra mile, you need to look to go at least the extra 2 or even 5 miles. The world is crying for people to take the lead in customer service and leadership. These three are the latest example of people that bring it to whatever they do in life.

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Friday The 13th - Lucky & Blessed To Hang Out With 2 Great Guys!

7/13/2018

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Amazing discussion today with 2 very good friends of mine - Mr. Todd Stevens and Dr. Jeff Lip. Some great laughs, some fantastic insights to education, people, relationships, leadership and many other topics on a very lucky, Friday the 13th. You have heard from Jeff before but this was the first of many visits I hope with Todd. Join me in finding a little bit more about both these great educators. Click HERE to listen to show #178. Working with both of these guys in a career that we all enjoy being in, it reminds me how lucky I have to have Todd and Jeff as a part of my life. They are both good men that look to help people. The world needs more of what these 2 are all about.

After we recorded the show I took a drive across the street from the library, back to the neighborhood where my wife and I bought our first house back in 1992. It made me remember how grateful that I am for her and I to get that great start on our home ownership part of our lives. I remember not having a clue about being a "home-owner"! That was supposed to be my parents, certainly not me. I didn't know anything about owning a home. Looking back, we both figured out what we had to do and we are still doing that today after almost 21 years in our current home. Things worked out for both of us for sure way back then.

You can always find Dr. Jeff at his website: jefflip.com on Twitter: @DrJeffLip and you can get in touch with Mr. Todd Stevens at: tstevens@lsps.org or on Twitter: @LSHS_AP Thanks for listening. Please take a few moments to subscribe & share this with someone, also leave a 5 Star rating on ITunes or other services where you find this show. Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachtoexpectsuccess/ on Twitter: @coachtosuccess and on Instagram at: @coachjohndaly

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Responsibility - A Key Word In Success. One We All Need To Look At Taking

12/20/2016

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"Accepting responsibility is one of the highest forms of human maturity. A willingness to be accountable, to put yourself on the line, is really the defining characteristic of adulthood." — Jim Rohn

As we all get older – it is something we all have to face at some point and time and it really comes down to the fact that the sooner we start looking to be responsible, the better off we are. It’s one of the best skills we can have in life. In today’s world at times it seems that it is truly lacking and it causes a lot of problems.

You see, when we don’t take responsibility for ourselves that means that we put the responsibilities on others. Whether that’s other people, the government, our place of work, etc., this will always lead to more troubles. When we think others are responsible for us and our well-being, we will always be let down. Nobody else knows what we have inside of ourselves. Our dreams, hopes, goals, aspirations, etc., are not part of anyone else’s plan. They are only part of our plan. The sooner we realize that we have to take that plan on instead of someone else doing it, the better off we will be.

We must also remember that there are other people depending on us to take responsibility for ourselves. This is due to the fact that we have influence on others. That’s what Leadership is all about, having influence over others. Not being a boss over them, telling them what to do. True Leadership is leading by example to help others.

Whether it’s our family, friends, coworkers, players on a team, neighbors, etc., by us doing things we have to do to take responsibility we are setting the example for others to follow. When others see us sacrificing and putting in hours and hours of work to accomplish things, that’s a powerful message that many people pick up on – even if we don’t see them picking up the examples we leave. Remember that success always leaves clues. Leave clues for others to follow. It’s all part of being a difference maker, which I think is we all can do, no matter what career we find ourselves in.

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It's Been Said Before, Be Part Of The Solution Not The Problem

8/12/2015

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“Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.” ― Tina Fey

This got me thinking simply from the fact that it’s political season again and it seems that most, if not all the candidates that are running for president are just not connecting with me about them having solutions to the problems our country faces. In fact I think it’s most of America that see them as continuing to be part of the problems that we have in our country.

It’s hard to remember a time where our country has not been so divided in what it seems as so many different areas too. I don’t see any political party helping this out at all. That’s what real leadership is all about, finding solutions for problems that affect people. To be a difference maker for those people, that’s what elected officials are supposed to offer – service to the people they represent. It seems that blame just keeps getting passed back and forth.

I even forget this point as there are times I don’t help out problems and issues that go on around me, my family, my job, etc. I do like to think though that I work at getting back to the idea of offering ideas to solve or help the problems that are going on around us. I try not to stay in that negative mindset of pointing out the brick walls that we have to deal with, the blame game, and just that overall negative victim mentality.

Seeing that the majority of our government leaders seem to have issues with solving problems along with creating more problems and dividing our society, I guess it’s up to us. We not only have the power, privilege, and responsibility to hold them accountable but we also need to take this approach with ourselves and our lives. We need to be an active part of the solution for our own problems that we face throughout our lives. That does not mean we don’t need help, but we won’t solve our own issues if we are not actively working on ourselves to find solutions.

I need this quote this morning as my day got started out in a not so positive way – mainly due to me not thinking too clearly as I said something to my wife as she walked out the door that wasn’t the best thing to start her day off. I should have known better for sure. Now that I’ve read this quote again, I need to adjust my thinking and my actions to not only solve some problems that have come up with a variety of things we need to have done here to our house, but also to repair some damage I did this morning with my words.

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Quote of the Week - March 18, 2013

3/18/2013

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"Every challenge is nothing more than a chance to make things better." - Lolly Daskal

This in itself is an amazing quote due to the simple fact that since we have challenges just about every day of our lives, we have the chances every day to make things better. Some people have more challenges than others so they really have the opportunities to make significant changes in their lives to make things better.

Another key to this thought I think is that not only can it help ourselves in our own life, but those that we are connected to as well. You see, all the people that are connected to us in our lives also face challenges. If we are able to have this way of thinking to help ourselves, we can also help those around us too. If you haven't noticed the world if full of challenges each and every day. Instead of complaining, criticizing, condemning about them and letting those challenges dictate life to us, we have the ability to look at how we can get better from this. We can spend our time looking to solve these issues or at least work towards making them better.

Funny thing is, it's taken me so long to figure this out. Actually, I'm just starting to not only figure this out, but maybe even actually doing something about these things. Do I wish I figured it out sooner in life? You bet I do. I try and get my students to start thinking about these things sooner than I did. I always tell them to learn from me and others so they can do things differently than we did. Even today as I write these thoughts and ideas over a cup of coffee before I start my day, there are many things that I need to work on and this morning I did work on one small little thing instead of putting it off like I normally do. I look at that choice and I know my day today (a Monday) will start out better than normal all because of a choice I made to do something different this morning.

How about you? What challenges are you going through that you are trying to make things better? Remember, we can learn so much from each other. I love being a teacher because I can help others get better. But the flip side is more true than that.... I get to learn from others. So drop me a note, leave some thoughts and ideas for me and others to learn from and make things better for you and others too.

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<<Previous

What is Attitude.. With Some Help From John Maxwell

Teamwork Connections with John Maxwell

A Little Encouragement Goes A Long Way

Become Courageous

The Sting

Those That Offer The Most Value, WIN!

Friday The 13th - Lucky & Blessed To Hang Out With 2 Great Guys!

Responsibility - A Key Word In Success. One We All Need To Look At Taking

It's Been Said Before, Be Part Of The Solution Not The Problem

Quote of the Week - March 18, 2013

Coach John Daly

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