SELDI Podcast with Tony Williams: Recent Episodes
Tony Williams
You are a leader. Everyone can discover their pathway for their leadership journey in life and career. SELDI "Career Principles Series" identifies and applies principles that great leaders modeled before us.
Our vision is to engage, equip and encourage leaders worldwide in applying the principles and reaping the rewards. Become a catalyst for awakening and growth for the "good works" ahead for us. We are here for such a time as this! Timing is everything in life and business!
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
Greetings, my friends.
God's love for you is unconditional. When you make the personal decision to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you are immediately embraced as a cherished child of God.
Becoming a child of God brings with it an abundance of supernatural benefits that are beyond measure. God wants you and me to know that we can rely on Him to fulfill all His promises to us as His children.
Please listen as I share this powerful message: "Believing in the Promises of God."
What does it look like when we believe God for a promise?
Let's talk about it.
Tony
Greetings, my friends.
God's unconditional love and promise to meet all our needs have equipped us with the power and process to conquer our anxieties.
Let's believe this truth to find freedom from anxiety, knowing that we are always cared for and never alone, for He is with us every step of the way.
God has given us the incredible gift of freedom from all anxiety.
Please listen to what He tells us and put into action the steps to freedom.
Tony
Greetings, my friends.
Did you know that God loves you unconditionally and has appointed you as a builder in your life and career?
There are key elements to every great building.
Every great building is composed of these key elements: a builder, blueprint, foundation, materials, and the building itself. Understanding and implementing these elements is not just crucial, it's empowering. It's the knowledge that can guide you to success, and knowing them will make you feel more informed and prepared for your journey.
Let's hear God's insights on building wisely in life and career. There's always more to learn, more to understand, and more to apply to our journey.
Tony
"Your confidence will be richly rewarded in life and career!"
Greetings, my friends.
Did you know that where we place our confidence will determine our rewards in life and career?
What can happen when we place our confidence in worldly things, such as the goals we set, money, relationships, careers, skills, talents, and abilities? They all can diminish with time. In contrast, when our confidence is in our relationship with God, we are fruitful in everything, every season, and in every way.
However, when our confidence is in our relationship with God, it is a source of everlasting fruitfulness in every season and in every way.
How is this possible?
Let's delve deeper into this. I'm eager to share my insights and experiences.
Tony
Greetings, my friends.
Remember, it's God's unconditional love that provides everything we need to enjoy an abundant life and career. You are always supported and cared for, no matter what challenges you may face.
The abundant life is one of purpose, power, fulfillment, prosperity, and more. It could mean having a fulfilling career that brings you joy and satisfaction, a loving family, good health, and the ability to pursue the good works God created for you.
Let me share how I've received and experienced abundance in my life and career. Your personal experiences, too, can be a source of inspiration for others. Let's discuss how you can do the same.
Tony.
Greetings, my friends.
Remember, God loves you unconditionally.
Did you know that God, in His infinite love, has a unique and special gift for you?
It's greater and better than anything you can imagine.
Let's talk about it. I'll share the steps on how you can receive and embrace the gifts from God in your life and career.
Here, we talk about God's love, God's Presence, God's Peace, God's Power and Authority, and God's joy.
How did I receive this gift?
Tony
Greetings, my friends.
God loves you unconditionally.
God has the best pathway for you in life and career.
Be encouraged! You can discover your pathway in life and career and prosper in all your ways.
It can be the adventure of a lifetime!
Let's talk about it!
This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in int, and you will find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16
Tony
Greetings, my friends!
God loves you unconditionally and Has made you strong, prosperous, relevant, and fruitful throughout your life and career!
Let's talk about it.
Tony
God gives us the process in Psalm 1:1-5.
He also shows us the results and outcomes in Jeremiah 17:7, Ephesians 2:10 and Ephesians 3:20.
Greetings, my friends.
Remember, my friends, that God's love for you is unconditional. His desire is to bless you with promotion in your life and career, a testament to His unwavering love for you.
Let's talk about it.
God, our loving Father, delights in providing the best for His children. As His beloved children, we can confidently expect His best in every aspect of our lives, including our careers.
"The LORD be exalted who delights in the prosperity of His servant." -Psalm 35:27
Remember, 'For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor the west, nor the south. But God is the judge: He putteth down one and setteth up another.' - Psalm 75:7-10. These words remind us that our promotion is in God's hands, and He will lift us up according to His perfect plan.
Tony
Greetings, my friends.
God's love for you is personal and unconditional.
He desires for you to experience a supernatural rest that is tailored to your unique journey in life and career.
Let's talk about it!
The benefits -
- God's Presence - Exodus 33:12, 14
- God's Peace - John 3:16, John 17:3, John 20: 21-22
- God's Power. - John 16:13, 2 Timothy 1:7
- God's Promises - Deuteronomy 28:8
How? - By praying in faith, as Jesus encourages in John 16:24, by seeking agreement in prayer with fellow believers, as advised in Matthew 18:19, and by entering into God's rest through faith, as Hebrews 4:3 teaches.
Tony
Greetings, my friends.
God loves you unconditionally.
God is love.
Your praise and thanksgiving release God's power in your lives and careers.
Let's talk about it.
Tony.
Greetings, my friends.
God loves you unconditionally.
Your greatest asset as a leader is your faith in God.
Faith in God positions us for extraordinary outcomes and victories in life and career.
Let's talk about it.
Tony.
Greetings, Leaders.
We face challenges that tempt us to fear on our journey in life and career.
When they arise, how are we to respond?
The focus of faith frees us from Fear. Our thinking will determine our response and victory.
"What time I am afraid; I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance in You. With the help of God, I will praise His word; on God, I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. What can man, who is flesh, do to me?" King David, Psalm 56: 3-4
The enemy of every great leader is Fear. So, to be an overcomer, we must train to win every time. The training starts with understanding that "God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and sound mind."
2 Timothy 1:7
Armed with an understanding of the nature of the battle, which is in our thinking, we can train ourselves to respond with an overcomer's mindset.
King David learns the ways of God and practices certain principles along his life and career journey.
Here are steps we can take to experience victory as an overcomer.
- Acknowledge your Fear. David did not attempt to mask his feelings but instead prayed to God and shared his feelings. He talked with God and was honest with God. Confessing our Fear is counterintuitive because our natural training is to deny we are fearful, which shows us as weak. But David understood that only God could understand and provide what David needed to overcome his fears. So, what are you facing that causes you to fear? Follow David's example and give your Fear to God.
- Affirm your reliance on God. King David learned the lesson of trusting in God through past victories when only God delivered him from dangers seen and unseen. He recalled when he fought the giant Goliath, and God gave him the victory. He meditated on the power of God in his life and career and concluded that God is faithful. His thinking about God made David proclaim, "I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance on You." Follow King David's example and proclaim aloud your confidence in God. The positive declaration of your faith energizes you with awareness of God's presence with you.
- Act in the power that God provides. King David knew that God would be with him and loved him. He trusted in God and received by faith all he needed to overcome the Fear in his thinking. He had the mind of God regarding the challenge and knew God would not fail him but remain faithful to him. "With the help of God, I will praise His word; on God, I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. What can man, who is flesh, do to me?" King David, Psalm 56:4. So what's the Fear you now face?
Follow King David's thinking.
1.) God will help me.
2.) I will praise Him for His Word of encouragement.
3.) I will be confident in Him.
What can we expect? Dramatic Victory!
Next week, in Part 2, I will share my story, "Dramatic Victory!"
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
You are bold as a lion!
The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions.
Encourage yourself. Speak aloud. "I am bold as a lion!"
The truthful affirmation of who you are will ignite your spirit, mind, and body to accomplish what seems to be the impossible.
Remember, King David of Israel. As a young teenage shepherd boy, he fought and won the impossible Victory over Goliath.
What can we learn from King David's life as a great leader?
We see that the God we serve can defeat any of the giants in our lives—fear, depression, financial issues, doubts of faith—if we know Him and trust him enough to step out in faith.
We will face many challenges on our journey in life and career. Some may strike fear in our hearts momentarily. How can we prepare and claim the Victory?
Listen to King David's response to the taunts from the giant warrior named Goliath, over nine feet tall, clothed in full armor, and trained from his youth to be a warrior.
Goliath taunts David, as fears, doubt, and circumstances in life and career may taunt us.
Goliath looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, "Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
Listen to David's bold and courageous declaration!
David replied to the Philistine, "You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven's Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
Today, the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!"
What challenges are you facing today? Be a lion-heart leader and apply the winning strategy of David.
David developed skills, talents, and abilities and relied on his God to make him victorious in every challenge and opportunity he encountered in his life and career journey.
Here are his steps to victory.
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Clean heart: He prays and asks God to "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit" (NRSV). Psalm 51:10-12
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Clear Conscience: He prays and asks God to "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14
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Confident mind: "Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13
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Certain victory: "How the king rejoices in your strength, O LORD! He shouts with joy because you give him victory. Psalm 21:1
You are victorious!
Proclaim it and take steps in faith for your victory day by day!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Where are you today in your life and career journey?
Whether you are seventeen or ninety-seven, rest assured that you can make the best decisions for your life and career and share the process with others.
King David is a great leader from ancient times who modeled the way and shared his insights centuries later in his writings. From the age of seventeen to thirty, he ran for his life from a jealous king who feared him because of his popularity among the people following his dramatic victory over the giant warrior named Goliath.
Every day, David faced decisions that would alter the course of his life and career. David's faith in God influenced his choices. Now, later in his life, He writes:
"The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand." Psalm 37:23-24
We will face many decisions on our journey in life and career.
When standing at the crossroads and seeking which direction, we can find the confidence to make the best choice.
Someone asks, "Is there a process for choosing the right way?"
Yes, and David shares his insight;
David counseled the man or woman of God to trust God and do good for His glory.
"Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday." Psalm 37: 5-6
By asking ourselves four key questions while waiting, reflecting on past victories in similar situations until we sense direction within our heart, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
Stop at the crossroads, look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for yourself.
The key questions are:
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Does this pathway align with my purpose in life and career?
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Does this choice support my vision and purpose as a leader?
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Will the path challenge me to exercise my faith?
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Will this road help me grow as a leader?
Today, let's focus on the benefits of the process.
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Discernment on the right path. We gain a fresh perspective by taking time to seek wisdom and insight.
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Conviction. We receive assurance that the road we are choosing is the right one.
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Courage. We gain new strength and boldness to take the next step to victory.
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Confidence. Our mind envisions the possibilities and outcomes ahead. We experience enthusiasm and resolve to do what's right. Remember the runner. You now see the end from the beginning.
Be encouraged, my friends. You are applying your mind to think the right way about your future. You will profit from correct thinking, motives, and actions.
Great victories are ahead for you. Do you believe it?
Someone once said, "Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment."
At that very moment, something happens inside our hearts! A spark ignites to light our way. We see the path we should choose and the best step to take!
My friends, you will choose the right path. You can expect, anticipate, and prepare for victory!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
I have good news to share today!
You are victorious! How do we see this come to pass in our lives and careers?
First, we must recognize that we battle daily in our minds, thinking, and attitudes. Once we understand the nature of the battle and take action, we will win. We fight from victory, not for victory, is the mindset King David exemplifies while still just a young shepherd boy.
This morning, he obeys his father and delivers food to soldiers fighting a war. His brothers are part of the army, and his father is eager to learn how things are going.
Little does David know that this morning, he will face the giant Goliath, who continually taunts the army and has everyone in complete fear of him because he is over nine feet tall, massive in stature, and trained from his youth to be a warrior. Who can stand against an enemy like this?
While everyone was afraid, David, a youth, volunteered to fight the champion, Goliath. Everyone, including the current king, sees this as an impossible assignment but agrees to let David take the initiative.
With just his shepherd staff, a slingshot, and five smooth stones that he picks from a nearby stream on his way, David takes action to fight a seemingly unbeatable foe.
What can we learn about leadership from the life of David, a shepherd who becomes a warrior on this eventful day?
- David saw the nature of the battle. The soldiers saw a giant, while David imagined a slain taunter of men. Vision is essential in a leader.
- David has the conviction. This day he will prevail over Goliath and be victorious.
- David is courageous and recalls the faithfulness of his God when he faced a lion and a bear as the shepherd protecting his flock. David said, "The LORD who rescued me from the lion's paw and the bear's paw, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." (Goliath) 1 Samuel 17:37
- David is confident, and his faith empowers him to take action. He depends on the God he knows from the shepherd fields to give him victory.
David's faith had some experience behind it. We all face our bears and lions – battles on our life and career journey. The problems can be life-changing as our Goliaths, our challenges that need dealing with almost daily.
David's humility equips him for victory, while Goliath's pride positions him for destruction. "Before destruction, man's heart is haughty, But humility goes before honor." Proverbs 18:12
What is the outcome of the battle?
"David took out a stone from his bag. He put it in his sling and swung the sling. The stone flew from the sling and hit Goliath right between the eyes. The stone sank deep into his head, and Goliath fell to the ground—face down." Samuel 17:49 ERV
What battle are you facing today in your life or career? Victory is yours!
Your faith is the key to living victory to victory. David likely recalls his God-given victory over Goliath when he writes, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Psalm 5:3 NLT
Whatever you are facing, be encouraged that your victory is assured. Do not be afraid; have faith like David, take the shot in faith, and wait expectantly for your success.
David accumulated many victories as long as he focused on his God, who never fails, and so it is for us!
Victory!
Greetings Leaders.
The pressures and opportunities in life and career often force us to rush ahead without understanding who we are and why we were born.
Discovering our purpose in life eludes us because of the many activities demanding our attention.
In God's eyes, King David takes the first step in becoming a leader. "God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' Acts 13:22
King David began his career as a shepherd of a few sheep. He begins a relationship with his God during these times alone in the sheep fields.
His "relationship first" is the key to all his accomplishments and forty-year reign as the king of Israel. He is considered the greatest king in the nation's history.
David prepared and waited years before being crowned king.
His life exemplifies patience while he waits, running for his life from the current king but refusing to rush ahead of God's timing. His faith and willingness to trust in the wisdom of God's perfect timing grow.
He is a writer, and in Psalm 31:15, He writes, "My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me." The "times" spoken of refer to the various events that come into our lives, whether we see them as good or bad.
David must trust in God and believe his times are in His hands. A few insights from his life: God develops a leader progressively over time, gradually increasing their influence. He makes the leader along the way, building character and perseverance.
In the case of David, God empowered him to accomplish each task as he came to it. In the process, David starts the adventure of a lifetime in knowing God and relying upon His strength to achieve with excellence the opportunities ahead.
David defeated Goliath, an experience giant warrior, when the time came for him to do so. He could evade King Saul, his predecessor who relentlessly sought to kill him, forcing him to hide in caves while waiting and being hunted. He was able to take his place as king when Saul was defeated.
What are three insights from King David's life and career?
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David focused on his relationship with God as being his essential need.
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David relied on God's love, guidance, wisdom, strength, help, and knowledge.
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David's success came from the overflow of his relationship with God.
David pointed to God as his shepherd and learned to lead people from his experience with God.
He writes in Psalm 23;
1 The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
2 He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along the right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
As we contemplate our journey in life and career, what adventure could match a relationship with the God of David, who calls all to come to Him?
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Joy. This one emotion has an enormous impact on a person's ability to endure, gain new strength, and develop the power to overcome all life's challenges.
Can you recall a time when you experience joy?
This emotion makes life worth living in the moment because it resonates with our core identity. It is associated with feelings of ease, appreciation, gratitude, and meaning.
A group of Summit Leaders meets on "Victory Day by Day - Joyful Friday!"
The group shares one thing they are grateful for that day and shouts of appreciation to their teammates for an action, comment, or success. They look and listen as their teammates share their joyful moments.
"To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with." Mark Twain
Their sharing lifts their mood, boosts their energy, and brings smiles to their faces! Neuroscience calls this the Dopamine effect, known as the feel-good neurotransmitter, a chemical that ferries information between neurons. The brain releases it when we experience joy. Sharing joy helps regulate movement, learning, and emotional responses to life's challenges.
"I always feel good after our Joyful Fridays!" Summit Leader
The connective power of joy is visible in sports. When a team performs at its best, overcoming its challenges, every player — indeed, the entire arena — experiences an overflow of joy that lifts the team even higher.
Joy is a multiplier in our ability to endure and the strength to perform. I recall two quotes highlighting the effects of joy "... for the joy set before him he endured," and "joy... is your strength."
Gratitude can ignite our joy. Being grateful creates a mindset for resiliency, strength, and victory. Counting our blessings cultivates, stirs our emotions, and positions us to win the battles of life and career.
"The king rejoices in Your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give!" King David
Everyone in every walk of life can be a force for good through their response of gratitude with joy!
How can we cultivate the emotion of joy for life and career and experience endurance, strength, and victories?
Start each day by writing down several things you are most grateful for in your life and career. Think about them for a few minutes. Let your mind replay them throughout the day and replenish your joy.
Keep asking for joy, seeking it, knocking on the door, and you will find it!
Research indicates that cultivating this habit of dispositional gratitude
increases our state of joy over time.
Please remember to share your joy with others. Joy is contagious.
"Got joy?" Be glad and enjoy your days and your work. "A joyful heart is good medicine."
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
If anyone leads, let them do so with diligence.
Leaders that connect, uplift, engage, and make an impact always have four key attributes.
They are diligent.
They lead.
They care.
They win.
In his book, Lead. Care. Win. - How to Become a Leader Who Matters
Dan Pontefract points out that successful leaders make themselves relatable, practice humility, and show care and respect for the people they lead and serve.
Here are some insights that he emphasizes. They describe some of the best leaders I know and the ones who made the most impact on my life and career.
Leaders who are transparent, honest, and caring inspire collaboration and teamwork.
Pontefract encourages us to embrace transparency and honesty in all our relationships and extend empathy to those we lead and serve.
A Summit Leader shared his observations on his journey over the last eighteen months. He is engaging clients with this mindset and gaining momentum for the outcomes we want together with our clients.
He diligently shows himself approved by clients through study, knowledge, wisdom, and grace. He is confidently focusing on meeting the desires of his clients.
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." page 27, Atomic Habits - James Clear.
"You have a responsibility to think about and define what you are working toward and the impact you might make." - Dan Pontefract.
Our belief that clients will enjoy freedom and security from IBM's approach allows us to embrace change as the constant.
"Your capacity for growth and role success is commensurate with your willingness to embrace change because, within change, there is the opportunity." Dan Pontefract
We look not only at our interests but also at the interests and outcomes of others. The win is the outcome.
Caring for others is a vital part of flourishing during change.
• Conviction reminds us that we are here for such a time as this.
We can keep going when the battle is complex and challenging.
• Authenticity allows us to be transparent. We are not afraid to admit our failures, not knowing all the answers but are still committed to the best outcomes.
• Responsibility helps us see that our success means freedom and security for those we are helping.
• Enthusiasm empowers us to keep believing and lifting others as we go. We believe that our work matters to those we serve. The outcomes are well worth the effort required to finish what we start.
Keep on asking. Keep on believing. Keep on seeking the best.
Leaders sacrifice selfish ambitions by lifting others, sharing their knowledge, and collaborating for the best results.
"Sharing is at the very heart of leading." Dan Pontefract.
A great benefit is you feel good! Giving away information and knowledge to help others will release dopamine and oxytocin hormones. (They're the kind of hormones that make you feel good.) Lead Care Win by Dan Pontefract
We will reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow.
"We're all working together; that's the secret." - Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Great leaders desire to make an impact on their life and career journey.
Sometimes the desires for fame, fortune, and pleasure can cloud our vision.
Providentially I discovered something far more significant in value. I found faith in believing there were preordained good works for me to accomplish. My focus shifted from things to serving people and not pursuing the desires I once felt were important.
During this time, I envisioned faith as a little child holding an adult's hand, trusting and relying upon them to reach their destination safely.
Growing faith in life and career is essential to discovering and accomplishing the good works prepared in advance that we should walk in them. Walking by faith is a lesson great leaders learn as they pursue a vision for their lives and careers.
What is your vision? Your faith will be essential in its fulfillment.
Trusting faith may feel strange in its early stages. Faith requires intentional effort and belief, like a child learning to walk for the first time.
In observing the outcomes of faith, it is important to journal the process.
When we do this, we connect the events and the cause and effect of faith in action. Someone says, "It's I who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, fear not, I am here to help you."
Faith allows you to see what others can not and experience what appears to be the impossible.
The great value of faith is that it affects every dimension of our lives; work, social, family, and recreation. Once your faith expands in your thinking, it never returns to its original point. You are continually growing in your ability to believe in more extraordinary works.
Over time, you strengthen your faith and ability to serve more.
I recall my manager asking me to go to a city that I never visited before to serve in an account that, at best, was neutral to our services and be successful in creating a partnership.
Leaving the city where I lived and uprooting myself and my wife to head into the unknown made no sense at the time.
Nevertheless, I sensed a calling to the new city and the opportunity.
We sold our house, even though we had an option to "try things out, and if they don't work, you can come back."
I committed and knew the client needed to know my commitment, so we sold our home and moved to the new city.
In my first meeting, the client said, "I would not want your job. Your company is just another vendor to us."
Five months later, an enormous sales opportunity in my career presented itself, and we needed to be in a favorable position.
What was an impossible situation became possible, and we won the business!
Three lessons I began practicing for the next twenty-plus years that I learned.
- The one who believes will live by faith.
- We walk by faith and not by sight.
- Ask in faith, nothing doubting, and you will receive an answer.
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Life and Career require decisions, and decisions require knowledge, Wisdom, and, at times, courage.
Are you wise, knowledgeable, and encouraging?
The dictionary defines Wisdom as "the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting." Conversely, knowledge is "information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance." Knowledge can exist without Wisdom, but not the other way around. I can be knowledgeable without being wise.
Great leaders focusing on creating value in the lives of those they serve embody each of these qualities.
I love quotes from great leaders because their lives testify to applying the principles they share in their life and career journey.
A great leader once shared this quote regarding Wisdom and its impact on leadership, life, and Career. "Getting Wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. If you prize Wisdom, it will make you great. Embrace it, and it will honor you."
I observed his leadership and impact for over twenty years!
"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith."
"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." Confucious
How can we acquire Wisdom, and what does it look like?
Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will open to you. Faith in asking is vital to receiving.
What does Wisdom look like in practice? It is said, "The Wisdom from above is, first of all, pure. It is also peace-loving, gentle, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere."
I began practicing what I observed in the lives of great leaders and began to experience the benefits in my relationships, decisions, clients, and everyone I met on my journey.
Along with seeking and practicing Wisdom comes the opportunity to encourage others on their life and career journey, just as others inspired you. The more you encourage others, the more encouragement you receive.
Great leaders seek Wisdom and courage. Wisdom says, "I love them that love me, and those who seek me early will find me."
"You must have Wisdom. Without Wisdom, knowledge is useless. Wisdom is the power that enables us to make practical use of our knowledge." Thomas J. Watson, Sr., Founder of IBM.
Here are three steps to begin.
- Start seeking and practicing Wisdom. At each decision, ask, "What is the wisest choice now?"
- Consider, observe, and emulate the patterns of wise leaders. Take note of the outcomes and impact as you go on your life and career journey.
- Become an encouraging voice in the lives of those you care for and serve.
"Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be."
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!
You are a leader, and this is your appointed time to flourish.
First, remember to be thankful with a grateful heart for the "good success" this far on your journey in life and career.
A Summit Leader reminds me to "do something you love" now that you are retired from IBM.
First, I thank God for blessing me to serve at IBM for over forty-nine years!
I love to exhort and encourage you, my friends, with the principles and lessons I am learning in my life and career journey.
My first sales assignment was door-to-door selling the IBM Correcting Selectric II typewriter in a remote sales territory. I remember carrying one door to door on a hot summer day dressed in an IBM suit and shoes, expecting to make a sale!
Looking back, I hear, "Don't despise the days of small beginnings."
It's a life and career principle. Vision is essential! Write your vision. Make it plain so the one who reads may run.
Be thankful and practice Gratitude wherever you are.
I recall the faithfulness of an ancient leader named Joseph; he was sold into slavery and unjustly imprisoned but continued to believe in the vision for his life. He ultimately became second in command of the greatest nation on earth during his time.
How could this happen? His faith and vision provided perspective. His circumstances were a training ground and character building for an important position in the future. In each situation, Joseph learned the importance of serving with an attitude of thanksgiving and Gratitude.
Whatever your situation, no matter how small or undesirable, consider it part of your providential training program for serving.
When Joseph's time came to stand in front of the most powerful leader of ancient times, he made sure that he did not boast about his skills and reputation but instead in his knowledge of God. He made sure he gave credit to God.
His vision sustained him during the challenges. It has been said, "Without vision, people perish."
Vision helps us keep our perspective when circumstances are uncomfortable and times are hard. Having a vision for our lives protects us from despair.
Today, I am speaking to you, my friend, not to despair or despise the days of small beginnings or seemingly long delays in fulfillment. "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens."
"Welcome to the team!" "In its time, I will do this swiftly" is the quote beside the date written on April 4, 2013.
Now, over ten years later, by far the most fulfilling years of the forty-nine because of the seeds planted and the harvest reaped in the lives of leaders.
"Some seeds fell on good, fertile soil and grew and flourished until they produced more than a hundredfold harvest, a bumper crop."
And for these results, I give thanks with a grateful heart!
My friends, we can be this kind of leader! Please practice giving thanks with a grateful heart!
The best is yet to be!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders!
Great leaders, coaches, and athletes have several things in common.
- They believe in the fundamentals.
- They practice and instill the fundamentals.
- They execute from a playbook.
Lion Heart Leaders practice their faith in their calling as leaders who will impact for good whatever their hand finds to do. They are courageous in the face of obstacles, challenges, and opportunities.
Someone said, "The wicked flee when no one pursues them. But the righteous are bold as a lion."
What situation are you facing today in your life and career journey?
Be encouraged by one great leader's response; "When I called, You answered me and made me bold and stouthearted."
Practice your faith and the fundamentals from a clean heart, clear conscience, and confident mind.
The condition of the heart is the key to every great leader. The spirit of a person in ancient times represents then and now the type of leader we are. What is in our hearts determines our character.
"Guard your heart above all things; for from the heart flow the issues of life."
"He led them with the integrity of heart and skillfulness of hands." is a description ascribed to King David, a great leader in ancient times.
A great leader's faith is more than believing specific facts and fundamentals. Their faith is dynamic and results in actions that grow them as leaders in their walk, journey in life, and career.
Confidence, Conviction, and Courage come through practicing the fundamentals. Where we are now is a result of our practices and the discipline to apply what we learn daily in every situation.
Faith is the substance of things we hope for and the conviction of things not seen.
Remember the fundamentals and practice them. Think like great leaders and coaches.
Outstanding coaches constantly and consistently review the basics of the sport with their team, and the best athletes can execute the fundamentals consistently.
Just as an athlete needs constant and consistent practice of the fundamentals, great leaders need constant reminders of the fundamentals of our beliefs, faith, and actions in the first place.
Always remind each other of these fundamentals, even though you know them, and practice the truth you now have.
Now, after doing all these things, continue to stand firm in the confidence of the outcomes of your diligently practicing.
- You will enjoy "good success" - a balance, fulfillment, and joy-filled life.
- Your character will be a model for all you serve.
- Your life will be fruitful all your days.
Here are three steps to consider in diligently practicing for greatness.
· Plan each practice.
Schedule time each day to review, remember and reflect on the fundamentals.
· Keep a journal of your practices to refer back to. After each exercise scribble additional notes on your practice plan from that day in your playbook.
· Envision the outcome of your diligence and rewards for your labor. Think about the people who will benefit. What does your "good success" look like? Walk around in it through your imagination.
There is a reward for your work. "According to your faith, be it done unto you." These are encouraging words to us who believe and do more excellent work!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
What we believe about ourselves is essential to our impact as leaders.
"You are the salt of the earth and the world's light!" were affirmations to a small group of new leaders in ancient times.
These affirmations were markers in their thinking and how they were to view themselves, their purpose, and all they met on their life and career journey.
You are the world's light and the earth's salt, my friends! Where you are now will be enriched by your service there!
Where you are right now is impacted by your attitude, conduct, behavior, and belief, all contributing to your being salt and light leaders.
What is the impact of this kind of leader on a family, company, and community?
Salt has several qualities that apply to leaders who are difference-makers.
Salt is good for seasoning. It changes everything it touches. We must have the qualities of salt among ourselves, live in peace, and serve each other.
Salt is a preservative. It keeps food from decay. Our lives and career are excellent places to practice salt and light leadership.
Be alert for providential opportunities to serve and impact others wherever you go by sharing what you learn in your life and career journey.
A "Salt and Light Leader" sees the good in others and the possibility of greatness.
Be affirming, speak the truth in love at every opportunity, and never let kindness and truth leave you. Bind them around your neck, and write them on the tablet of your heart.
The combination of salt and light catalyzes growth as a leader in life and career.
Think about your clients, family, friends, and others you meet today.
Do you discern the opportunity to let your light shine before them so they may see your good works?
How we do our work and respond to stressful situations and challenging circumstances attracts people, especially when we respond with optimism, enthusiasm, and belief for the best possible outcomes.
How do we acquire the qualities of salt and light?
Keep asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and someone will see that the door will open to you.
The first step is the desire to be a "Salt and Light Leader" who is a difference maker in the lives of those they meet and serve on their journey in life and career.
Desire and belief, followed by action, start the lifelong adventure and process!
"Great leadership usually starts with a willing heart, a positive attitude, and a desire to make a difference." — Mac Anderson.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." is the proclamation for Salt and Light Leaders!
Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Our identity influences every aspect of our lives and careers.
Understanding who we are strengthens us for the journey ahead.
We battle an unseen enemy who fights to keep us from discovering who we are, our purpose in life, and becoming the person created for good works.
The conflict occurs in our thinking.
"As a person thinks in their heart, so they are."
This ancient quote packs truth that impacts every dimension of a leader's life. "Guard your heart above all else, for from it come the issues of life."
From early childhood, the people caring for your development share affirming observations of us that begin building our self-image. We build upon the foundation as we grow.
Outstanding leadership requires an ongoing becoming of the person we are born to be until we reach the full measure of maturity.
On our life and career journey, we experience victories and setbacks. How we see ourselves will determine our response.
The song "You Say" lyrics highlight the nature of the battle and the key to victory.
"I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I'm not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low
Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know
You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And you say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don't belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe
Oh, I believe
What You say of me
I believe
The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me
In You, I find my worth. In You, I find my identity."
Someone once said, "Knowledge is power!"
Knowing who you are-
Knowing to whom you belong-
Knowing what we possess -
Knowing the purpose and plan and will for us-
The answers to these questions build confidence! Confidence is the one attribute essential to every great accomplishment and fundamental to the success of every great leader.
Great leaders intentionally seek to know all the days of their lives—this quest for wisdom and knowledge fuels their purpose for life and work.
Wisdom calls out,
"I love them that love me, and those who seek me will find me."
Thomas J. Watson Sr. shared his leadership insight with a group of new sales leaders on July 12, 1932.
"Wisdom is the power that enables us to make practical use of our knowledge."
Invest time daily with pen and paper to write and reflect on your vision and the awareness of your identity.
I took time this week to reflect, write down and rehearse my answers to the "Knowing" questions.
I noticed a boost of confidence, enthusiasm, and new strength in my spirit for the future.
All of us benefit from remembering who we are.
The overflow impacts everything we do.
Get the most out of it. The best is yet to be!
Believe it!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Rejoice! There is hope for all who aspire to do more outstanding works of service. Hope for the future is one of the most empowering attributes great leaders exercise in their lives.
"A leader is a dealer in hope." Napoleon Bonaparte
There are several critical benefits of hope in our thinking.
A leader's mental health matters immensely.
Life events, disappointments, the delayed realization of our vision become the "slow leaks" in our emotions.
The gradual effect is unnoticed until we recognize we are living a less than abundant life. Hope ignites our passion for the gift of life and career.
"Where there is hope... there is life." Anne Frank
Now these three remain as essential in abundant life; faith, hope and love.
When you summon hope, it helps your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. You then are most effective in the good works you are engaging.
Here are some of the health benefits of hope.
• Hope can reduce physical pain.
• Hope may boost circulation and respiration.
• Hope, optimism and a positive outlook help protect against chronic illnesses.
Psychology Today - The Health Benefits of Hope" by Andrea Bonior, Ph.D.
Great leaders throughout time discovered the impact of hope in their lives and leadership. Their example inspires those they meet and serve on their journey. People begin to see life with a fresh perspective through meeting them- they become the catalyst for a new vision.
With vision, people have discipline, focus, and meaning for every activity.
A new image of the future is an adventure to go where you have never gone before, do what you have not done before and attempt to accomplish the impossible.
In the process, a leader is transformed from fearful to brave, doubting to believing, wavering to decisive, stalled to activated by faith.
A great leader's optimism helps them see more positive potential outcomes and not overgeneralize the negative. Someone once said of Abraham, a great leader from ancient times, as someone who "In hope against hope he believed" so that he could become a transformational leader and accomplish great things.
Your life as a leader is having a ripple effect as you engage people with a clean heart, clear conscience, and confident mind.
Every family member, each new client, a friend, and someone you meet as you go is a "ripple effect opportunity."
The impact of great leaders' lives exponentially grows as they remain faithful in the small beginnings. Our words can be encouraging "I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you hope and a future."
As you go, "make new" becomes the new story you write. "Behold, I am doing something new. Now it springs forth, do you not see it."
Recently, I heard someone say, "I see it! I see it now!"
They were awakened to the new chapter and resolving to write their story with a new theme.
So it is with us, my friends. Wherever we find ourselves on the journey of life and career, we see it as the new season for impact, joy, and growth.
You are in the right place at the right time, doing the right things.
You are here for such a time as this! What story are you writing?
Great leaders are bold, strong, and carry out great exploits!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Where are you on your life journey? Rejoice if all is well with you, your family, your work, and your health.
If you find yourself in a storm, again, rejoice!
Leaders are navigators, and storms in life and career are inevitable. Someone wisely stated, "You are either coming through a storm, entering one, or emerging from one."
Here are some truths to keep in mind when navigating your storms. I call them "The three V's in navigating a storm." Vision, Valuation, and Victory!
Vision is essential in life and career. Without vision, people perish and lack the restraint and discipline needed to endure the challenges we face in fulfilling our good works.
Your vision for the impact of your life, the "good works" created in advance that you should walk in them, and the outcomes of your faithfulness are motivators.
"Write the vision; make it plain that one who reads it may run."
Valuation says, "How important is your becoming the person and fulfilling the vision to you?" The power of the vision is proportional to the value you place on the outcomes. It is the estimation and appreciation of the worth, merit, or character of something important to you. Think your vision through. Who will benefit from your endurance, perseverance, and faith?
You, your family, friends, clients, company, community, nation, and the world are beneficiaries of your faithfulness.
One great leader says, "Let us go to the other side! Don't give up! Where is your faith? Peace be still!" as we navigate the storms of life and career.
Currently, I am in a storm challenging my faith, hope, and love. I am practicing the "Three V's for Navigating Storms in life!"
Be encouraged, my friend; you are victorious!
Life's storms will last only as long as necessary to accomplish their purpose in us.
Remember, don't complain. Every leader’s faith will be tested. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Be careful with the words you speak. Be grateful and rejoice in the victory that is yours and mine for asking, obeying, and believing.
For those desiring more excellent results, I share this quote from Thomas J. Watson, Sr. "The only things we need are knowledge, faith, determination, and the will to make up our minds that, regardless of how small a position we hold in this company, before twelve months roll around, we are going to think out something, that we are going to make a suggestion that will add to the growth and development of this business."
Believe it! All things are possible to the one who believes. "According to your faith, be it done unto you!"
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Everyday presents us with the opportunity to respond with "An attitude of gratitude."
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you." - Charles Swindoll.
A great leader suggests making this thinking our mindset. "Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."
What are you most thankful for as you reflect on your life and career journey today?
Take time to get alone with pen and paper and write down the things, turning points, people, and events that were breakthrough moments in your life.
When you do this exercise, you will discover a reoccurring process that takes place in making you the person you are right now.
Thanksgiving
By Ralph Waldo Emerson
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Success in life and career is never just about us; it is a combination of the people who poured themselves into us, shared our pains and setbacks, and encouraged us to persevere and not give up.
Make it your goal to remember those leaders who spoke truth into your life and give thanks for them.
One Leader said: " Like the pilgrims, we have to adapt to change."
As I listened and observed this leader express her optimism for the future, the phrase "attitude of gratitude" came to me.
Here are some of the benefits.
- The attitude of gratitude protects us from pride. Remembering the people who helped you encouraged you to "stay the course" in adversity. We understood that none of our success would be possible without their support.
For instance, fire tests silver and gold. Also, a person undergoes testing by their responses. Pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall. Humility comes before honor.
- The attitude of gratitude preserves us from falling victim to traps along our journey. Sometimes, the mistaken belief that my destiny is only through my hard work, skills, talents, and abilities. Notice the emphasis is self and not others or recognizing time and circumstances providentially designed for us.
- The attitude of gratitude gives us perspective in living and leading. Being thankful helps us see life and events more clearly and respond to challenges, opportunities, and outcomes.
- The attitude of gratitude prepares us for promotion in living and leading. A combination of our responses, remembering the turning points, reflecting on the process, and experiencing our transformation while adapting to change, prepare us for more significant influence and leadership levels.
This Thanksgiving Day, let us reflect on how far we have come, how blessed we are to experience this day, and continue daily to give thanks for all the right things in our lives.
Thanksgiving positions us for transformation in renewing our thinking, perspective, and outlook for our future.
Be thankful and believe for the best is yet to come.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
I am grateful to be associated with a team that promotes trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships.
Many benefits come through trust.
"People buy from people they like, respect, and trust." IBM Leader
Trust is necessary to influence and credibility, which empowers companies, industries, and relationships.
One of our core value statements is "Trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships."
Steven Covey highlights practical steps in building trust and seeing the impact on outcomes.
"Contrary to what most people believe, trust is not some soft, illusive quality that you either have or you don't; rather, trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create - much faster than you probably think." - Steven Covey The Speed of Trust - The One Thing That Changes Everything.
Trust is a distinctive quality of every great leader.
Great leaders build trust with all they serve and lead. It's been said, "By yourself, you're unprotected. With a friend, you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped."
- Trust in themselves and others.
To be trusted, we first had to trust in ourselves. Our credibility grows as we believe in our ability to impact results and that our motivation is sincere.
"When trust is high, the dividend you receive is like a performance multiplier, elevating and improving every dimension of your organization and your life." Steven Covey's The Speed of Trust - The One Thing That Changes Everything.
Character and competence are foundational. Our nature includes integrity and motivation. Covey suggests a proven approach to testing our cause by asking ourselves why we want or don't want to do something and then asking why that is our answer. Making our motives and intent known builds trust.
- Trust in others and earn influence.
Leaders extend trust and build trust in their relationships. Trust sows faith and reaps trust in return.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States and our country's leader during a moral and political crisis, embodies the trusted quality. He worked to earn the trust of those he served.
"If you trust, you will be disappointed occasionally, but if you mistrust, you will be miserable all the time."
— Abraham Lincoln
- Trust in providence and impact the world.
One person can be the catalyst for trust in a nation, company, and relationships.
The culture has become one of high trust, sharing information, collaboration, and a spirit of cooperation in accomplishing our mission - making IBM the most trusted technology partner of the 21st century.
The value is recognized by clients worldwide. The growth is part of the overflow.
So, what should be our next steps?
"Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them."
It is required [as essential and demanded] of stewards that one be found faithful and trustworthy. Time and providence take care of the rest!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Thank you for being a mentor!
"Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care." Theodore Roosevelt
It is great to see that you are giving yourselves away for the good of others.
You position yourself for reward whenever you invest your time, talent, experiences, insights, and gifts for others' good.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is the golden rule for lasting relationships.
Everyone remembers the people who mentored them on their life and career journey. It could be a sports coach, a colleague at work, a friend, or a relative.
We are incredibly thankful to you as a mentor. You touch new leaders' futures and influence our company, family, and clients' outcomes when engaging in growing new talent.
You can anticipate and expect a return on your investment in ways that may not appear immediately, but the return is sure to come.
"We reap what we sow—more than we sow. Later than we sow." is called the Law of the Harvest.
Think about the people who came into your life at the right time. They believe in you and envision your impact on others as you go.
Early Career Professionals are grateful for their mentors. Not only are you shaping new leaders, but you are also giving of yourself in kindness to someone new to the family.
Mentorship is occurring all across our company.
We are learning new insights from those whose experience enlightens us and prepares us for business and life success.
What are the Proteges saying?
"Maggie and I have been connecting weekly, and I have made a lot of progress toward the goals we detailed in the beginning. She is a very trusted mentor to me! I look forward to continuing my relationship with her throughout my career." – Eary Professional Hire Leader.
"This has been a great relationship all the way around. I have learned much about our business, goals, and the general challenges of being a seller. Betty has been wonderful." – Early Professional Higher Leader.
"My mentor is great. He is smart. He knows IBM well. He is dedicated and there when I need to ask him something." - Early Professional Hire Leader.
Good mentors are "difference makers." That's why our best is yet to be!
Here are some of the characteristics we see in Summit Mentors.
- "A good mentor is a worthy example."
- "A good mentor is available."
- "A good mentor has proven experience."
- "A good mentor possesses wisdom."
- "A good mentor provides friendship and support."
John C. Maxwell, The 15 INVALUABLE LAWS OF GROWTH.
Our growth plan is coming to pass this year and beyond!
Someone once said, "Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back - given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."
Thank you for everything you do as a mentor.
You are an encouragement and inspiration to those you mentor. Your "good works" could have occurred years ago, this week, or will happen in the future.
Start expecting and anticipating the outcome of your service to others.
Your reward will appear at just the right time!
We appreciate you!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders!
Think about a time when you helped someone, and you witnessed the expressions on their faces. What feelings do you recall as you reflect on these experiences?
If joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, and purpose describe your emotions, you share a collective experience with all great leaders. "it is more blessed to give than to receive."
Treat people the same way you want them to treat you, your family, and your descendants.
I recently had several discussions with a group of early career leaders and a professional with over three decades of work experience regarding the value and rewards of volunteering.
The first things I noticed during our conversations were the elevated excitement in their voices.
Then a glow appears on their countenance, the gratitude, and the discoveries they made through their selfless giving of themselves to help someone on their journey in life.
If you are starting on your life and career journey or a three-decade established professional, now is the best time to seek opportunities to volunteer.
Throughout history, wise advisors have pointed to the hidden value and rewards of serving others and using our talents, gifts, and abilities to empower others. Quotes from smart leaders look to the hidden treasures found in helping others.
'We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow."
"Do not grow weary in doing good, for you will receive a reward if you do not give up."
"Give, and it will be given to you."
“Give back before you get to” - (the accomplishment of your goals)
The rewards are sometimes immediate. One early career leader shared that he gained an insight that was a "defining moment" through a new volunteer opportunity." "I am convinced the volunteering helps me at the age of twenty-one see the bigger picture of life, discover my purpose and my value to others."
As he talked, you felt his passion and conviction.
"I want all of you to resolve to stand for something big and fine outside of your business life. That is the way to grow; that is the way to develop; that is the way to become real leaders in the company, in the community, and the state."
Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
What joy there is in working with leaders who serve with the desire to help through their giving. They desire to give, and wisdom says, "those who give to the poor will lack nothing."
Victory
Greetings, Leaders.
Everyone enjoys seeing themselves growing as a person.
Think about a time when you experienced growth in your life.
It makes us glad to see ourselves becoming the person we envision becoming.
Keeping our focus is essential in continually moving forward and growing. Many distractions are clamoring for our attention. How are we to avoid being taken off our pathway?
Focus on your vision and envision you are becoming the leader you see.
Be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in enthusiasm as you do your work and live your life.
Great leaders prepare and shape themselves by thinking of whom they can become.
Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.
They don't copy the behavior and customs of the world that are counter to their vision.
They are transforming into a new person by changing the way they think.
The transformation of a leader begins with the renewal of our thinking and actions.
Great leaders see themselves continually preparing for the expected fulfillment of their vision.
They expect, anticipate, and prepare for it—their faith-energized mindset fuels personal growth - according to your faith, be it done unto you.
What quality is found repeatedly in the lives of successful leaders?
The answer is faithfulness.
"I will study and get ready; perhaps my chance will come."
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States from March 1861 - April 1865,
Mr. Lincoln committed to staying the course and growing by doing what was necessary as a leader.
"I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right will make no difference."
Abraham Lincoln.
President Lincoln persevered in his leadership and commitment during some challenging times in our nation.
He was steadfast and determined to stay the course. He understood the responsibilities entrusted to him were the ones he had prepared for most of his life.
When we are faith-energized, as Lincoln demonstrates in his personal growth, we expect, anticipate, and prepare for our transformation into the person who impacts their family, business, clients, community, and nation.
Stay the course, and keep the faith!
At the right time, the vision will come.
Abraham Lincoln and all great leaders with vision discover that delays are not denials.
Though the vision tarries, please wait for it, for it will undoubtedly come.
Here are four actions we can take from President Lincoln's growth plan.
1.) Always give yourself entirely to your work.
2.) Persevere when facing obstacles.
3.) See yourself as a steward of a vision and purpose. Remember that the responsibility of stewards is that one be found trustworthy.
4.) Become transformed by renewing our minds.
"We can succeed only by concert. It is not "can any of us imagine better?" but "can we all do better?"
—Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1862,
Victory!
"Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!
Yesterday, during a meeting with IBM managers, we shared our sentiments about the bright future for IBM and our delight to see early professional hires joining their team. "There are changes underway, and we are seeing positive results." IBM Manager
Nothing so impacts a family, community, company, and nation like leadership!
It has been said, "Everything rises and falls on leadership!"
Leading with gladness of heart multiplies the impact of a leader because their team usually mirrors the leader's attitude, perspective, countenance, and behaviors.
A cheerful heart does good like medicine. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Guard your heart above all else because the issues of life flow from it.
These truths highlight the impact of a leader's heart and ability to lead others, including themselves.
Great leaders seek a clean heart, clear conscience, and confident mind.
Here are some of the benefits of leading with gladness of heart.
- Optimism for people you lead and their future. "Our future is bright. You can sense victory in the air; a belief that victory is on our minds and hearts." IBM Leader.
- There is an atmosphere and spirit of unity and cooperation, one mind, voice, and vision. How can two walk together unless they agree?
- Regaining surrendered territory in the marketplace, community, families, and company. Please return to your stronghold, you prisoners of hope. I declare this day. I will restore twice as much.
- Freedom from the past; forgetting those things behind, I press on the mark of a higher calling.
We deliver the best experience for our clients and those we lead.
I am glad to be among a group of leaders exhibiting conviction, courage, and confidence - empowered to win and overcome!
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice. We shall recover it all.
Yes, pursue. You will surely recover it all!
Great leaders lead with the integrity of heart and skillfulness of hand.
May this be our vision!
Victory!
Attitude, Belief, and Conviction lead to victory every time!
We can live a victorious life.
Greetings, Leaders.
Many of us are experiencing struggles in life.
Wisdom can be our greatest asset in discovering purpose in our struggles.
Wisdom is the ability to gain a new perspective and make the right choices.
Two new seller leaders shared the situations encountered during their first year and their discoveries.
"In my new role, so much is happening at once, learning so much every single day. Remember, every day; I make mistakes; I ask questions, use my best judgment, try to take action." New Seller Leader
"I will probably make mistakes but continue asking the right people, and I will not hold back." New Seller Leader
- When facing uncertainty, continue practicing patience with yourself while doing your best in the moment, day by day.
- Do not allow our emotions to dictate our interpretation or response to situations.
- Exercise the learning and training provided during the first stage of your journey.
I will apply these insights from the two new seller leaders.
Recognize that struggles in life will come; our responsibility is how we respond.
Our view of the circumstances will affect our responses. When we face the battles of life on our journey, consider it all joy, knowing that the challenges are testing our faith.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."
Be encouraged because there is good news for us today!
We can emerge victoriously from the struggles if we rely on the unshakable faith and expect the outcomes when we practice these steps our new seller leaders discovered.
Patience.
Exercising patience helps us understand that the struggles will not last forever—their purpose is to refine our character and prepare us for more extraordinary things.
When we act on the insights that point out needed change with resolve in exhibiting the proper response, the results are transforming.
Don't dwell on the struggle. It only magnifies the problem and diminishes your impact as a leader.
Set your mind to respond in a manner that is in keeping with the leader you are and envision becoming.
Recognize that you are not alone in your struggle. Engage and help others as you walk.
Now is the time to persevere and lead in faith.
Perseverance.
Please keep going despite the circumstances and outlook. Great leaders embrace endurance to win a threefold victory when they emerge from the struggle.
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Personal fulfillment.
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Increased capacity to serve and the ability to lead positively.
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More significant influence and credibility as a leader.
Practice.
Please continue and faithfully prepare yourself during times of setbacks, changes, delays, and defeat because your new opportunities will eventually appear. Everything you need will come at just the right time.
Acquire new skills, expand your vision, extend your reach, and exercise your faith. Say to yourself, "When the time is right, I am prepared and ready!"
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Envision being on the edge of your most significant accomplishments and season for growth in your life. Advance in confidence that the vision you received and believed is coming to pass.
Confidence! All things are possible to the one who believes and moves ahead, knowing they will conquer the giants of fear, doubt, and uncertainty. Great leaders move forward based on the conviction that they are on the right path, motivated with the right vision, and committed to becoming all they envision.
Great leaders are called to see more, accomplish more wondrous works, and by the truth guiding them step by step to victory!
Confidence is not an instantaneous attribute. We may look at our challenges through the mindset of feeling inadequate. Perspective is the cure for feelings not aligned with your vision and calling. The focus of faith frees us from feelings of inadequacy and liberates us to become all our calling has for us to do and become.
"Where is your faith?" is the question a great leader asks his followers during a time of crisis. The question is one of refocusing and gaining the proper perspective.
"Now faith" is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. At this moment, great leaders have self-talk to remind themselves that everything they need is available when they advance!
They are more than conquerors and victorious. How we see ourselves in the journey determines our response.
Take the time to write down five attributes that define you.
Take the time to write five victories won.
Take the time to remember on whom you relied.
Now, look again to your future, knowing that you are never alone on the journey. Expect everything you need to be already in place awaiting your arrival, anticipate the mountains to move when you advance, and prepare for wonderous works one activity at a time, day by day.
Someone once said, "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Great leaders are blessed with understanding, wisdom, knowledge, and joy when they discover victory comes in being faithful to complete activities at the moment.
Remain faithful in completing by the grace given for moment-by-moment activities. I recall a quote that says, "One who is faithful over little will be ruler over much."
What is the more wonderful opportunity ahead for you?
"Advance!" "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
Victory is in store for you!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
The mind is the most potent creation known to man. How we think determines the leader we are, the one we need to become for leading in the 21st century.
Our thinking will influence how we see ourselves, others, and the success we accomplish or miss in life.
Please do not allow this world to mold you in its image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind.
Early in my career, my thinking about what I desired to accomplish and how I thought of myself was not aligned.
Consequently, I struggled with self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy, and fears of failure.
My performance seemed superb on the outside, but within, I was divided in my thinking, doubting I could accomplish much or compete with so many seemingly more talented people than me. In a sense, I was masquerading. I was not authentic.
"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." Polonius in Hamlet, Act I, scene iii, lines 78–80.
Not being true to who we are places extra burdens on us, and we are not as effective as leaders.
Our best interest is in the renewing of our thinking. Changing and rewiring how we view ourselves, perceptions, and attitudes. Neuroscience shows us that our minds are programmed to think in specific ways from childhood based on our life experiences.
The intentional development of new ways of thinking about ourselves aligns with the vision of who we are and what we envision becoming.
Being transformed by renewing your mind became my new mission in life around my career's quarter-century mark. While becoming authentic, the first place was changing my thought patterns. I wrote on paper the person I envisioned becoming, the qualities I desired, and the impact I wanted my life to make.
I was blessed to be associated with leaders who saw potential in me and nurtured my new leader's vision. The process is ongoing. These are the benefits I noticed.
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Personal trust and responsibility in my client relationships became enriching.
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My clients responded differently to my leadership and suggestions.
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I began to experience the meaning of "trusted advisor."
Someone once said, "People buy from people they like, admire, trust and respect."
According to the Center for Creative Leadership, Trust = Ability + Loyalty + Integrity.
Here are four outcomes.
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We lead with purpose and meaning.
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We are consistent in our responses to circumstances.
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We give honest and caring feedback.
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We lead with the integrity of the heart and skillful hands.
We grow and rise as leaders when we elevate our thinking with more noble visions and take action!
The result is the release from old thought patterns and the joy of experiencing the new you.
"Keep your eyes fixed straight ahead. Look into the future. Always look up." Tomas J. Watson, Sr.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Perspective makes a difference! When we see our long list of to-do's and goals, they can be overwhelming.
But, to the leader who walks by faith and not by sight, these to-do's and challenges are "Opportunities and breaking through" to becoming the leader you are and impacting others for good as you go!
"Breaking through" is a mindset a leader takes when looking at challenges and requirements in their pathway to victory.
Thinking in a new way that transforms old behaviors into confident actions is like a sonic boom. Boom! is a sound associated with shock waves created and the ground shaking when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. About 750 miles an hour at sea level.
Here's how we build the momentum needed for a breakthrough.
Remember, Rely and Resolve.
- Remember past victories and insights.
- Rely faithfully on your source of strength.
- Resolve to move forward, focusing on your vision.
Great leaders exhibit three attributes in achieving the breakthrough.
- Conviction: Believe that you are here for such a time as this and can do everything providentially assigned for you to accomplish.
- Courage: Take the initiative and make the first step of faith toward more wondrous works than you can imagine. Envision the victory already won! "It's done!" "Well done, good and faithful servant."
- Confidence: When we encounter and open the door to a "More Abundantly!" mindset, we can walk through confidently, knowing that we are victorious; "I will give you victory!"
Someone said, "We fight from victory, not for victory!"
Impact others by encouraging them as you go and modeling the way.
"To perform at their best, leaders enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared ideals and aspirations." Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership, James M. Kouzes, and Barry Z. Posner
Encouragement is a multiplier and distinction of great leaders.
All of us are encouragers. Seek to exercise this gift intentionally throughout your day, wherever you are.
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think.
A great leader shared this insight; "We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow."
We can bring out the best in those we touch on our journey. Publicly acknowledge people, their qualities, and how they are impacting you for good. People gain new strength and confidence and boost their performance.
Empathize, think, and envision the future with your family, friends, colleagues, clients, and all you serve. We will discover our ability to influence people will grow as we practice these steps.
Caring for others is one of the most powerful drivers of personal growth.
We persevere because of the people we will impact and more remarkable outcomes as we go.
Keep a journal of your breakthroughs and impact on others as you go on your journey. Keep your notebook and pen ready to write down your insights. Please share them with others along the way. You can expect, anticipate, and prepare to see breakthroughs in the lives of many!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Rejoice! There is hope for all who aspire to do more excellent works.
Hope for the future is one of the most empowering attributes great leaders exercise in their lives. "But as for you, be strong and courageous, for there is a reward for your work ."
There are several critical benefits of hope in our thinking.
A leader's mental outlook matters immensely.
Life events, disappointments, and delayed vision realization become the "slow leaks" in our emotions.
Hope ignites our passion for the gift of life and career.
"Where there is hope... there is life." Anne Frank
When you summon hope, it helps your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. You then are most effective in the good works you are engaging.
Here are some of the health benefits of hope.
• Hope can reduce physical pain.
• Hope may boost circulation and respiration.
• Hope, optimism, and a positive outlook help protect against chronic illnesses.
Psychology Today - The Health Benefits of Hope" by Andrea Bonior, Ph.D.
Throughout time, great leaders discovered hope's impact on their lives and leadership. Their example inspires those they meet and serve on their journey. People begin to see life with a fresh perspective through meeting them- they become the catalyst for a new vision.
With vision, people have discipline, focus, and meaning for every activity.
A new image of the future is an adventure to go where you have never gone, do what you have not done before, and attempt to accomplish the impossible. It has been said, "All things are possible to one who believes."
In the process, a leader is transformed from fearful to brave, doubting to believing, wavering to decisive, stalled to activated by faith.
A great leader's optimism helps them see more positive potential outcomes and not overgeneralize the negative.
Your life as a leader has a ripple effect as you engage people with a clean heart, clear conscience, and confident mind.
Every family member, each new client, a friend, and someone you meet as you go is a "ripple effect opportunity."
The impact of great leaders' lives exponentially grows as they remain faithful in the small beginnings. Our motivation can be encouraging "I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper, not harm you, and give you hope and a future."
As you go, "make new" becomes the pen of a ready writer. "Behold, I am doing something new. Now it springs forth, do you not see it."
Recently, I heard someone say, "I see it! I see it now!"
They were awakened to the new chapter and resolved to write their story with a new theme.
So it is with us, my friends. Wherever we find ourselves on the journey of life and career, we see it as the new season for impact, joy, and growth.
You are in the right place at the right time, doing the right things.
You are here for such a time as this! What story are you writing?
Great leaders are bold and strong and carry out great exploits!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Joy! This one emotion dramatically impacts our ability to endure, gain new strength, and receive the power to overcome all life's challenges.
Can you recall a time when you experienced joy? This emotion makes life worth living in the moment because it resonates with our core identity.
"To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with." Mark Twain
Sharing joy lifts our mood, boosts our energy, and brings smiles to their faces!
Every leader will experience testing on their journey. Someone shared this insightful perspective.
"Don't run from tests and hardships, leaders. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing."
When a team performs at its best, overcoming challenges, every player — indeed, the entire arena — experiences an overflow of joy that lifts the team even higher.
Joy is a multiplier in our ability to endure and the strength to perform.
Gratitude can ignite our joy. Being grateful creates a mindset for resiliency, strength, and victory. Counting our blessings cultivates, stirs our emotions, and positions us to win the battles of life and career.
Everyone in every walk of life can be a force for good through their response of gratitude with joy!
How can we cultivate the emotion of joy for life and career and experience endurance, strength, and victories?
Consider starting each day by writing down several things you are most grateful for in your life and career.
Think about them for a few minutes. Let your mind replay them throughout the day and replenish your joy.
Keep asking for joy, seeking it, knocking on the door, and you will find it! Research indicates that cultivating this habit of dispositional gratitude increases our state of joy over time.
Please remember to share your joy with others. Joy is contagious.
"Got joy?"
Be glad and enjoy your days and your work.
"A joyful heart is good medicine."
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Change is inevitable and is the friend of great leaders.
I love to observe beautiful butterflies. They remind me of the process great leaders undergo. Their growth requires effort to work through their journey from a caterpillar to a cocooned pupa and pressing outward until a breakthrough to become what providence built in them.
Great leaders understand that change is necessary for growth.
They embrace change as being part of something new! "I am so grateful to be a part of 'I am doing something new. Now it springs forth. Do you not see it?"
Perspective on change is vitally important. The mindset of gratitude dominates the thinking of great leaders during change.
They see change as transformational for them personally and professionally. The results significantly impact their journey in life and career while influencing others for good as they go.
Thinking the right thoughts is their focus in leadership and living.
Someone once said, "As a man or woman thinks in their heart, so they are."
Change requires the correct thought patterns and actions because the enemies of every great leader are always lurking. "I wrestled with the imposter syndrome but overcame it." Leader
How can we become the leaders we envision, have the impact we desire, and the success we are working to achieve? Guard our thinking.
Be alert! Take captive every thought not in alignment with your purpose and vision. Build a grid system to protect your thinking and exercise it with patience, perseverance, and practice.
Let these virtues become part of your cerebral defense system. "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Great leaders understand it takes practice to develop disciplined thinking for everything. They focus on the results and outcomes - transformational leadership starts with one. They do not allow this world to mold them in its image. Instead, they are transformed from the inside out by renewing their mind.
Please remember that your growth is determined by how you treat people, respond to circumstances, and what we allow to dominate our thinking.
Outstanding accomplishments begin with one, then a few people who believe it is possible.
One person with faith can be the catalyst that changes a family, company, community, and nation. She does not despise the day of small beginnings. They know the one who is faithful over little will receive the opportunity to be a good steward over much.
Growth-minded leaders stay the course, keep the faith, guard their thinking and keep fighting. The victory is assured. Let me hear you say, "I will give you victory!" So, the pupa hears the appeal and perseveres, emerging victorious.
Your transformational leadership will impact all you meet.
Someone once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed. It is the only thing that ever has."
Believe you can impact people's lives on your journey. Today, with a new seller leader, we envisioned his impact now and in the future. According to your faith, be it done unto you.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Someone once said, "Timing is everything in life and business."
What would you say is the value of timing in life and business?
What role does timing play in your reaching the goals you set and fulfilling your vision?
What actions can we take to understand the impact of timing on our lives? How will we benefit from understanding the importance of timing in life, career, and business?
These are some of the questions and answers we will seek during the coming weeks as we examine the lives of great leaders and their responses to timing in life and career.
It all begins with vision and purpose for our lives.
Regardless of age, a person needs to have a vision for life and career.
The power of the vision with purpose will sustain us when difficulties come.
That is why, from ancient times, we have been encouraged to write out our vision and move forward in life.
"Write the vision and engrave it plainly on clay tablets So that the one who reads it will run. The vision is for the appointed [future] time. It hurries toward fulfillment; it will not fail. Even though it delays, wait patiently for it because it will certainly come; it will not delay."
Taking the time to think through and write out what you believe is your worthy destination in life is vital.
Having a conviction about your goal is essential - knowing that you are in the right place, doing the right things at the right time with the right motives.
My daughter and granddaughter gave me a Charlie Brown and Linus birthday card. Even Charlie Brown in Charles Schultz's "Peanuts" comic strip has a point of view as he reflects with his best friend Linus regarding the timing of his journey in life. Charlie says, "For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven." Observation can reveal timeless insights.
For example, the farmer knows the right time to plant and the expected harvest time through careful lessons taught in nature.
I am sure each of us can think of examples where it is evident that timing is essential. The farmer also knows that he needs to exercise faith in what he knows to be right about sowing and reaping.
We, too, can expect, anticipate, and prepare for our harvest to come at just the right time.
Be encouraged!
Keep moving forward by faith!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
As a person thinks in their heart, so they are. This ancient quote packs truth that impacts every dimension of a leader's life. "Guard your heart above all else, for from it come the issues of life."
Be an encourager and remind someone of who they are today!
Someone once said, " a person has joy in an apt answer, and how delightful is a timely word."
From early childhood, the people caring for your development share affirming observations of us that begin building our self-image. We build upon the foundation as we grow.
Outstanding leadership requires an ongoing becoming the person we are born to be until we reach the full measure of maturity.
On our life and career journey, we experience victories and setbacks. How we see ourselves will affect our response and the impact of achievement and delays.
Someone once said, "Knowledge is power!"
Knowing who you are-
Knowing to whom you belong-
Knowing what we possess -
Knowing the purpose and plan and will for us-
The answers to these questions build confidence! Confidence is the one attribute essential to every great accomplishment and fundamental to the success of every great leader.
We encounter circumstances that challenge our confidence. The strongest leaders are most aware of who they are.
How do we obtain this knowledge? Wisdom! We ask, seek, knock, expecting to receive our answers.
As young children, we were naturally curious and asked for answers. It seems we lose this childlike curiosity as we experience life and the demands of daily living.
It is said,
"Great leaders have curiosity, a commitment to continuous learning, and
the conviction that failure breeds knowledge and fortitude."
How to Lead
Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers
David Rubenstein
Great leaders intentionally seek to know all the days of their lives—this quest for Wisdom and knowledge fuels a passion for life and work.
Wisdom calls out,
"I love them that love me, and those who seek me will find me."
Thomas J. Watson
Sr. shared his leadership insight to a group of new sales leaders on July 12, 1932 "Wisdom is the power that enables us to make practical use of our knowledge."
Someone suggested,
"Begin today with pen and paper to invest time to reflect on your vision
and the awareness of your identity as a person and leader."
I took time this week to reflect, write down and rehearse my answers to the "Knowing" questions.
I noticed a boost of confidence, enthusiasm, and new strength in my spirit for the future.
All of us benefit from remembering who we are.
As leaders, we need Wisdom and knowledge to serve the best and make the most significant impact on the lives of others on our life and career journey!
Be encouraging and know that you are here for a purpose.
Get the most out of it. The best is yet to be!
Believe it!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
It is possible to finish strong this year!
It is possible to start best for next year!
It all starts within us as leaders.
Recently, in a conversation with a leader, she shared her admiration of the leader from ancient times named Daniel. She admires his courage, conviction, and confidence despite the incredible challenges he faced in his career and life journey.
The essential leadership qualities were faithful, responsible, and completely trustworthy.
Daniel proved himself to be more capable, developed extraordinary abilities, and accomplished much during his life and career.
He practices integrity in all his affairs. He received honor and promotion from three different kings.
When you see men and women diligent in their business, you can predict that they will stand before kings; they will not stand before mean men. In all labor, there is profit. We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow.
When studying the practices of great leaders from the past, we ask three essential questions. What did it mean during the time of his leadership? What does it mean now, and how can I apply the principles to my career and life journey?
Here are four steps to consider as you think about finishing strong this year and starting best in 2023. They are the four Rs.
Reminded: Everyone needs reminding of critical principles.
- Run the race set before you with patience and endurance. Avoid the distractions of circumstances beyond your control. You were running so well. What caused you to swerve from your path?
Remember: We gain confidence when we remember past victories.
- Remember the past victories this year and how you won. Often, the patterns of the past are the ones we continue practicing for starting best.
Renew: Focus on the things that are transforming you as a leader.
- Continue thinking about new patterns you are developing. Be no longer conformed to the old routines but continue to be transformed by renewing your mind.
Resolve: Commit to your vision, calling, and purpose as a leader.
- Be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in hope, faith, and love, knowing there is a reward for your excellent work.
Leaders encourage others to share their desire to "become the best versions" of themselves, and through perseverance, practice, and patience, they are growing as leaders.
Great things are ahead as we finish strong in the race this year.
Even greater things are in store for us in 2023!
Do you believe it? Yes, we do!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice.
Wherever you are now on your journey, rejoice that you are here at this point on the way. Be encouraged by taking time to wait; you will gain new strength. You will walk and not faint. Run and now be tired.
How is this possible?
When we wait, regardless of the time, it is a mindset and perspective we gain in addition to replenishing our physical strength. In addition, we become sensitive to what a great leader shared with me; "Remember "HALT."
Don't allow yourself to become too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired.
These conditions negatively affect our perspective and faith.
They are enemies of every leader.
Here are three where words to encourage us.
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Replenish: Take time to rest, eat and sleep. It seems simple, but many of us do not practice these disciplines. I heard someone say, "He satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth renews like that of an eagle."
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Renew: Busyness is a robber. We become focused on all the activities that need to be done and lose the joy that is ours if we only make time to wait. Waiting in minutes or days depends on the amount of replenishment needed for the journey ahead. "Get up and eat some more—you've got a long journey ahead of you." Don't go alone; seek like-minded, encouraging, and supporting people to travel with you. "My presence will go with you." is a word of encouragement from a friend.
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Resume: During our time of waiting, replenishing, and renewing, review how far you have traveled and be grateful for your accomplishments. Look ahead, and envision the vision you charted in the beginning. Look again and ahead with faith that you will enter a wonderful place. The best is yet to be.
Your perspective matters. To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.
Believe. Expect. Anticipate and Prepare. Are we doing these things?
Yes, we are!
Then get ready! "According to your faith be it done unto you."
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Commitment precedes power!
We are climbing to reach our summit as leaders in business and life. There are parallels to the actual climb in our lives and on Mt Everest.
Recently, I listened to Alison Levine, the author of On the Edge - Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments
share insights that helped her lead a team in reaching the summit of Mt. Everest.
Your vision, our company's vision, and our clients' needs call us to the climb. The attributes of teamwork, flexibility, humility, agility, trust, and commitment are essential to a successful ascent.
Their commitment empowers great leaders.
Why? They understand that their success will impact themselves and others watching and following them.
Teamwork can blend hard work, individual skills, talents, and gifts to pursue and attain the goal.
Their care for each other enables them to become like-minded, love each other, be in one accord, and have one mind in sharing the same vision.
Acclimatization, as we climb, is essential. It requires you to go backward before you climb higher. Here is how the process works.
Climbing Mt. Everest involves going back to prepare to go higher.
You start the climb from base camp to Camp 1, which is around 19,500 feet. The team spends the night at this elevation and descends to base camp.
The next stage requires climbing to Camp 2, which is around 21,000 feet, staying there for a while, and returning to base camp.
Staggering your ascent prepares your body to climb higher by gradually acclimatizing to lower oxygen levels at these elevations.
Faith enables us to keep going when we cannot see the summit. We lift our eyes to the hills - from where does our help come? Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Perhaps our first attempt is not yielding the results we hoped for; we are still moving forward.
"Leadership involves compensating for your weakness and helping others do the same for themselves." Alison Levine, ON THE EDGE
We use this acclimation time to review our steps, practice for the next ascent, and collaborate to build our knowledge and wisdom, which prepare us to go higher.
The practiced patience is like a top-performing team repeating the fundamentals of their sport.
Here are three contributors to a successful climb.
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Perspective: A victory mindset understands when it is wise to wait. Think about who we are and what we will become. Envision the vision!
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Purpose: The reason for the climb is the fulfillment of the call. Many will benefit from your success and growth.
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Passion: Revival occurs when we ignite the right motivation and gain new strength for going higher.
Commitment is empowering. Being committed activates all the resources you will need for the journey. What's needed will come to us at just the right time.
Our job is to stay in step with the process.
Keep the faith!
My friends and fellow leaders - Let's keep climbing!
We will experience glory at the summit!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Every day we can impact people encouragingly. They could be a family member, colleague, client, or someone you casually meet on your life and career journey.
No encounter is insignificant in the mindset of great leaders. Great leaders possess a unique gift of engaging people everywhere they go. The good news is that this quality is available to everyone.
This week during a session with a group of leaders, we discussed how to develop the skill of creating and adding value. Value is providing something that enriches, lifts, and helps another in some way that is significant to them.
The habit is developed first in the heart and with the right motivation.
A clean heart with a clear conscience creates a confident mind and thinking.
Great leaders intentionally practice four steps in creating value in every area of their lives.
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They are caring.
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Have the conviction that people matter.
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They are confident they can impact people's lives wherever their journey leads.
Think about the person you felt had your interest at heart or acknowledged and affirmed. Who comes to mind?
That person had an impact on your life. Great leaders understand that people caring is the key to the success of any organization.
Someone once said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Every act of kindness is the planting of seeds for a future harvest. Great leaders practice kindness and caring every day.
Why? Like the farmer, great leaders understand that whatever a person sows, that is what they will reap.
- Leaders show kindness because they care and not for what they get. They are people of integrity. Many of us have encountered someone like this on our journey. We remember how their acts touched us.
Leaders who go about doing good are positioning themselves for a beautiful return on their investment in ways unimaginable. They are confident that doing the right things with the right motives is one of the best ways to enjoy an abundant life.
They teach others to learn and practice the principle. It is a lifelong learning process for sharing your life and career journey.
Our action today prepares us for tomorrow and the days and years ahead. Then at the "proper time," we experience the overflow of our good works.
It has been said, "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full - pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured out into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."
How would you categorize your life in the area of giving?
It is your opportunity to create and add value everywhere you find people!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Life and career are fast-moving and ever-changing. Each of us needs a proven strategy to build safeguards on our journey to prevent us from becoming overwhelmed.
What is your strategy for protecting yourself from being overwhelmed?
An IBM intern shared with me his strategy. "Time management, big to-do lists, step back now and then to relax between requirements helps relieve the stress and keep your cool." He shares that "taking time to decompress, organize my thoughts and plan things out helps me see there is enough time to get done what's important."
The essential attribute I sense while listening to him is "attitude."
We can color every area of our lives, our whole personality, through our attitude. Our circumstances and what happens are not always of our choosing. But we can choose our attitude toward each situation.
Attitude starts in the heart of great leaders. We see it emphasized in quotes attributed to great leaders.
"As a person thinks in their heart, so they are."
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
"A cheerful heart has a continual feast."
"A happy heart makes the face cheerful."
"A discerning heart seeks knowledge."
What we allow ourselves to think matters. Here are three words to consider as you build your strategy against being overwhelmed on your life and career journey.
Outlook: The IBM intern has an optimistic outlook. He believes that he can grow through the circumstances he faces. He shares his colleagues' recent boat trip on the Charles River in Boston.
"We had a great time; it was raining, but it didn't matter. In the end, we saw a rainbow that caught everyone's attention."
Rainbows! Train your mind. Look for the rainbow as a sign of something new, promises made, and victories ahead. Let it remind you to color each day with your attitude.
Perspective: "I am just learning that it is good to be uncomfortable. That is where growth occurs. It goes back to being growth-minded. It helps you know you are on the right path and empowers you."
Focus: He practices gratitude for the good things in his life by writing down three things he is grateful for each day. We remember what we write down.
What we allow to dominate our thinking will affect our attitude. Leaders have an opportunity to encourage others and share how they can protect themselves from the enemy named "overwhelming."
Follow the example of the IBM Intern and great leaders throughout the centuries. Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
As he talked about his journey, he encouraged me to "Stay in attack mode. Then you are never on your heels."
Let's encourage others even more!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
At this moment, each of us is experiencing change. You may be in a new assignment, your company may be undergoing restructuring, or you may be experiencing a challenge in your personal or career life journey.
Often, we face the temptation to resist change, even if it is for our good. Regardless of our circumstances, there are several proven steps great leaders employ when facing change, good or bad.
Our perspective about the change is most critical. With the proper view, we can see beyond the current to the future state.
Someone once said, "Vision is seeing the invisible." Walking by faith, leading by faith, and living by faith are phrases we attribute to leaders with vision.
Your current circumstances may be the test of endurance and perseverance you will need for the journey.
Over thirty years ago, Matt, an IBM intern, shared his favorite quote. He looked up from his desk and said, "count it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Since then, I am noticing that great leaders have a "don't quit" attitude when facing changes and challenges in life and career.
They persevere. If you are facing a challenge right now, one of the wisest actions you can take is to reflect, renew and resolve to move forward in faith.
Reflect: When facing similar challenges in the past, what happened that enabled me to move forward to where I am now? How did I respond?
Usually, you can identify perseverance as an attribute you exhibited.
Now, it is time to persevere and not quit. It is always too soon to quit.
Renew: Change can cause weariness, especially if it challenges our beliefs. Day and day and moment by moment, new adjustments, work opportunities, or health challenges all contribute to mental and physical fatigue.
How do we rise above all of it and gain new strength?
By recalling the past victories on our journey, faithfulness and insights gained along the way.
Cease striving and know that taking time to wait can give our minds time to regulate our emotions. Those who wait gain new strength.
Resolve: Commit to the journey. This season will, in time, pass, and the new one begins. You will be better prepared to enjoy what lies ahead when the time comes.
One of the most incredible benefits of enduring trials, changes, and tests is the reward of strength, comforting and encouraging others, and the character we gain as leaders.
"Strength of character is the one basic trait that will be found in all people who achieve greatness." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
My friends, someone once said, "endure hardship as a soldier." I pray we all gain new strength for our journey ahead.
Don't quit but stand firm! We believe the best is yet to be.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Someone once said that "everything rises and falls on leadership."
Someone said, "Nothing so determines a person's ability to lead than their ability to lead themselves."
This week I listened to two IBM interns share profound insight that moved me to think about "Leadership- moving up to higher ground!" - the process."
Two-step process.
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Vision
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Legacy
Great leaders think deeply about vision and legacy.
An IBM Intern leader shares his vision.
He outlines the upward climb and perseverance needed among each great leader's qualities.
"A vision is essential to recognize where you are going and what you are leaving behind; it is what you need to remind yourself when you look for motivation.
I always picture a vision as something that you are constantly walking toward achieving.
When it feels like you've been walking forever with no real progress, then it's time to take a minute and look behind you to see how far you've come and to use that hindsight as a reason to keep moving forward.
Change can be prolonged and, at times, overwhelming. A
vision for the future you want is a beacon of light to guide you in the right direction when you find yourself straying off the path.
Our dreams for the future may seem just out of reach, but maybe
that's a good thing, as it gives us reason never to stop trying to improve, and my vision is never to lose sight of this challenge and constantly improve." IBM Intern Leader
Regardless of their age, they are constantly seeking higher ground leadership.
Why? "I want to leave an impact and something that lasts as my legacy." IBM Intern Leader
Human capital is the gold standard for legacy. Doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold, forgetting those things behind and reaching forward to those ahead. I press toward the goal of the prize of the upward call.
We are moving to higher ground. C to the third power.
Clean heart. Clear conscience. Confident mind. Three attributes, when combined, qualify us for the opportunity to move to higher ground.
A great leader once said, "We fight from victory! Not for victory." The "Victory Mindset" is one committed to the climb. Thinking about the impact on others as they climb. As they rise, they bring others with them. They raise the performance level of the team!
Their thought patterns direct their actions for the good of all they serve.
Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Your "Victory Mindset" affects everyone you meet, everywhere you go!
Praise lifts the spirit, unites, attracts, and impacts those who give and receive it.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Rejoice, my friends. Again, I say, rejoice!
You are in an excellent time for your journey.
Now you stand on the edge of a promising journey ahead. Someone once said, "Timing is everything in business and life." All of this is true for you!
Now, in 2022 we are ready to do and see more wondrous works than ever before. Make giving a priority on your journey. Giving of yourself, your time, talents, insights, etc., are great multipliers of impact. It has been said, "Give, and it will be given to you. It will be given back to you with the same measure you give."
I recall listening to several IBM Leaders reflect on what they learned about themselves as leaders.
"It didn't click the first day, but I developed good friends, who became great partners over time, and we created a positive environment that allowed us to grow, even in a virtual circumstance." IBM Leader
"Attitude. 90% was how we reacted to our circumstances by creating an environment of caring for each other." IBM Leader
Great leaders are ordinary people who discover their pathway and purpose and walk by faith in their life and career journey. They believe that they can accomplish more excellent works. Through perseverance, patience, and practicing discipline, they build resilience and the ability to adapt.
Here are some observations of great leaders we can employ to set goals and live by faith
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Be bold, be strong, and act. Set goals that will stretch you beyond your capacity. It will help you do your best and rely on providence to fulfill the plan.
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Extend your reach. Plan to affect more impact through the goals you set. Ask; "What is the priority of my life, and how should I invest my talents, gifts and skills, and resources? Ask, and it will be given to you.
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Expand your vision and exercise your faith. Seek new ways to accomplish the greater good for others first. Believe that all things are possible, and you can find a way to win.
Think about your victories on your journey so far, and reflect on the conviction, courage, and confidence you now have.
Commit to your plan and take the first step. Commitment precedes power. Walk by faith and not by sight.
Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain in the 1940s, understood that each of us has a unique contribution to make.
From the beginning, his vision focused on one outcome against the enemy: Victory! This "Victory Mindset" is renewed thinking with power, love, and a sound mind to take action.
The "Victory mindset" is our attitude as leaders for the months and years ahead.
"What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory despite the terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; without victory, there is no survival." Winston Churchill
And so, it is with us in the moments, days, months, years, and beyond.
Be strong and courageous! For those with us are greater than those who are with them!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Joy flows from our hearts and our thoughts. Your thought process affects your feelings, and feelings produce behaviors.
Joy! This one emotion has an enormous impact on a person's ability to endure, gain new strength, and develop the power to overcome all life's challenges.
Can you recall a time when you experience joy?
This emotion makes life worth living in the moment because it resonates with our core identity. It is associated with feelings of ease, appreciation, gratitude, and meaning.
A group of Intern Leaders joined IBM this month. We meet on "Victory Day by Day - Joyful Friday!"
The group shares one thing they are grateful for that day and shouts of appreciation to their teammates for an action, comment, or success. They look and listen as their teammates share their joyful moments.
"To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with." Mark Twain
Their sharing lifts everyone's mood, boosts their energy, and brings smiles to their faces! Neuroscience calls this the Dopamine effect, known as the feel-good neurotransmitter, a chemical that ferries information between neurons. The brain releases it when we experience joy. Sharing joy helps regulate movement, learning, and emotional responses to life's challenges.
"I always feel good after our Joyful Fridays!" IBM Leader
The connective power of joy is visible in sports. When a team performs at its best, overcoming its challenges, every player — indeed, the entire arena — experiences an overflow of joy that lifts the team even higher.
Joy is a multiplier in our ability to endure and the strength to perform. I recall two quotes highlighting the effects of joy "... for the joy set before him he endured," and "joy... is your strength."
Gratitude can ignite our joy. Being grateful creates a mindset for resiliency, strength, and victory. Counting our blessings cultivates, stirs our emotions, and positions us to win the battles of life and career.
"The king rejoices in Your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give!" King David
Everyone in every walk of life can be a force for good through their response of gratitude with joy!
How can we cultivate the emotion of joy for life and career and experience endurance, strength, and victories?
Start each day by writing down several things you are most grateful for in your life and career. Think about them for a few minutes. Let your mind replay them throughout the day and replenish your joy.
Keep asking for joy, seeking it, knocking on the door, and you will find it!
Research indicates that cultivating this habit of dispositional gratitude
increases our state of joy over time.
Please remember to share your joy with others in your journey. Joy is contagious. We will reap what we sow and more than we sow.
A joyful heart is a good medicine and a greater return on investment.
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
You are a leader. Understanding this is the beginning point of a great adventure into the good works created for you to walk in them. Each of us has a pathway that is uniquely ours.
It's a great adventure to discover our purpose and impact the circumstances we encounter on your life and career journey.
Wherever you find yourself today and whatever the circumstance, seek to be the leader for such a time as this.
Esther was a great leader during a crisis that threatened many people, and she thought, "Who am I that I can possibly have an impact as only one person? Her initial hesitation appears to come from fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
In the battles of life and career, we encounter circumstances that affect people's personal lives and career journeys. Our sensitivity to our current surroundings and people helps us see our opportunity to lead.
I listened to a patient receiving chemotherapy treatment number 11 of 12 as she talked with Ashley, her nurse. "You are so conscientious! and I appreciate that." Ashley smiled and asked, "What makes you say that?" The patient responds, "because I observe you and how you work."
Situational leadership like this is our opportunity to help people see themselves and their impact for good. We affirm, uplift, encourage and inspire them at the moment.
How do you feel when you receive affirmation? I asked the nurse, "How did that make you feel? Ashley responded with a smile, "It makes me happy!"
What did this phrase mean? "For such a time as this."
It is a challenge to us to step up and act in the interests of others in any way we can, wherever we are.
When we look at life as only our dreams, goals, preservation, ambitions, and desires, we lose the joy, fulfillment, and victory that can be ours with a refocused mindset on the interests of others.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Let each of us look not only for his interests but also to the interests of others.
Being reminded that as leaders, we sometimes must set aside our interests, let go of our ambitions, and face an enemy full-on for someone else. Be a champion for someone today!
Providentially, "for such a time as this." means we receive a job, position, resources, education, etc. These are our opportunities to optimize all the work we are blessed to do for good.
Being placed where we are is to look, listen, learn and act.
Don't miss your assignment to impact the situations you are in today.
It has been said, "You are the light of the world like a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. " Therefore, let your light shine and see how you can impact those around you for good.
It is your great adventure!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Everyone is a builder.
You are building successful lives and careers.
Each of you has qualities of character that are uniquely yours. We call them attributes. Some examples are vision, integrity, attitude, enthusiasm, and tenacity, which are some of the critical elements of a good foundation.
Every wise leader calculates the cost to become the person they envision and the impact they want their life to have. Their commitment is to do what's required to grow, do, and become.
Someone once said, "No life grows great until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined."
Building a solid foundation is critical to every building.
There are only two types of builders; those who build upon a foundation of stone and those who rely upon a foundation of sand.
Once there was a master builder who gave this insight to two builders.
"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living.
They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like competent carpenters who built their houses on solid rock.
Rain poured down, the river flooded, and a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. The building stands on the rock."
No one intends to build upon sand. It is usually a result of an unexamined life.
The frequent examination enables you to detect weaknesses such as habits, vices, and practices that are unfitting to the lives and careers we aspire to build.
Your foundation is essential. Consider the tallest building in the world in 2021; The Burj Khalifa, known initially as the Burj Dubai, has 163 floors and is 2,717 feet tall. The concrete and steel foundation required over 45,000 cubic meters (58,900 cubic yds.) of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tons.
The infrastructure was essential to support the enormous size.
The life and career lessons are that careful planning and frequent examination are essential regardless of where we are on the journey of career and life.
Take time to inspect the foundation you are building. What attributes are in place now, and which ones do you aspire to add?
Why?
The storms of career and life will test our foundations and us. Those who build their houses upon stone withstand the winds. Those whose foundation is on sand succumb to storms, and significant is the loss.
Build wisely. Inspect daily the foundations and towers you are building.
It takes wisdom to build a house and understanding to set it on a firm foundation.
Enjoy a life well-built and a career with a lasting impact!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders!
If you were to describe one word that you would want most to define you as a leader, what would it be?
Some may say confident, intelligent, decisive, successful, brilliant, and outstanding are just a few descriptors that come to my mind.
However, when you carefully examine the lives of great leaders, you see the word "integrity" associated with their names. Why would you say integrity is an essential quality in the character of a leader? It seems to come back to the nature of the man or woman.
Every day we must intentionally guard our integrity as leaders. Our value and impact on our family and all we serve are immeasurable. Be careful to develop an attitude of integrity first. Every great leader understands the importance of stewardship of the gifts, talents, opportunities, and good works assigned for us to walk in.
You model the behavior and inspire others to follow and go beyond. You connect with people because your heart is right. A clean heart and clear conscience lead to a confident mind. Integrity is the overflow.
Think about the benefits that accrue over your life because of integrity.
Here are some that come to my mind.
- Integrity guards you and your reputation.
"May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I trust in you."
"A man or woman of integrity walks securely."
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Integrity will help you make the best decisions for your life and career journey. "The integrity of the upright guides them."
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Integrity will increase your capacity to serve others and gain their trust.
People want to know you care about them before listening to what you say. They look for and expect the integrity of the heart. I recall a quote: "People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care." Relationships and influence are powerful when guided by the right motivation.
I recently read a quote about a great king. I pray that this quote will define us as leaders and be part of our legacy.
"He led them with the integrity of heart and skillful hands."
- Integrity promotes stability in our thinking through a clear conscience and a sound mind.
"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching."
– C. S. Lewis
Point to consider.
Let integrity be the hedge of protection around your heart. Make it your constant guide for every decision and choice you make. Remember, "guard your heart above all else because out of it will flow the issues of life."
The rewards of integrity will yield a prosperous life. I know that we all desire this for ourselves and those we serve.
Be grateful that you can be called a leader with integrity!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!
It's a new season!
Every leader goes through seasons of life and career.
Your attitude and perspective significantly impact the effectiveness of your work and the outcomes.
Be outcome-focused on your vision coming to fruition! Someone said, "The vision is for an appointed time. Though the vision tarries, wait for it. It will surely come!"
Recall and reflect. Remember when it seemed impossible for you to overcome some obstacle or receive the desired outcome. The two attributes that come to mind are "faith" and "perseverance' - You did not quit. You did not give up! You kept the faith! "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not yet seen."
Don't stop believing! Keep focusing moment by moment, day by day, on your vision. Sometimes, no progress occurs, but trust the process; things are moving.
Testing our faith producing perseverance, let perseverance have its perfect work so that you may be complete, lacking nothing - fully equipped for the opportunities ahead. Keep serving and growing where you are now.
Seasons are providentially sent and have a set time to accomplish their purpose. Our life and career journey are similar. We encounter setbacks, trials, and storms. Why do we need these events? Why can't we just read them in a book and pass the test?
It's for our good. Our character is revealed and developed in testing.
We will never know what we can do and who we are until we are tested and pass the test. When we gain victory, everyone benefits - you, your family, clients, colleagues, the team, and the nation.
Regardless of your circumstances, keep the faith and your vision. Persevere in all seasons of life and career.
You will gain new strength, soar on wings like eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint.
As one leader shared with us, remember, "It's a sprint marathon!"
"None of us can ever hope to get anywhere, be of any real use to ourselves, our community, or our country unless we have the character, moral courage, and spiritual strength to accept responsibility. Strength of character is the one basic trait that will be found in all people who achieve greatness." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
So, my friends. Keep believing! You are making progress and impacting for good as you go. It has been said, "All things are possible to the one who is believing."
"One person with the belief is greater than ninety-nine who have only a casual interest."
Together we are better. Let us, please, continue in our commitment to walk by faith and not by sight.
Commitment precedes power!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Congratulations!
You are nominated to join a "Tradition of Winners!"
Everyone desires to be a winner in life and career. Even at an early age, we begin focusing on winning and continue through life on a quest for winning. We discern the most remarkable wins in serving others as we gain wisdom.
We are fortunate to have many great leaders who, through their extraordinary lives, provide examples we can follow.
Since such a cloud of witnesses surrounds us, let us run with patience the race set before us by fixing our eyes on the goal.
"We are better together!" is a quote I read this morning. Whatever the gifts each has received, you must use them as good stewards for one another's benefit.
"What is it that you want to be when you grow up?" is a question we hear from others who wish to stimulate our thinking about the future.
Remember your leaders who spoke the truth to you about your life, consider the outcome of their ways, and imitate their faith as you go.
Take pains with these things, be absorbed in them, so that your progress is evident to all.
In thinking about the lives of great leaders, we see three distinct passages on their journey to being included as a member of "A Tradition of Winners."
Someone once wisely stated, "To whom much is given, much is required."
Each milestone, when completed, positions you to become a member of the distinct group; "A Tradition of Winners."
1. Fervent Start
2. Focused Heart
3. Faithful Completion
The Fervent Start passage begins when we think about our vision and purpose in life. Remember when you started your first new job and your excitement and exuberance over being selected.
Most of us can remember the location and what we were doing when we received the good news. We then begin developing the conquest mindset. Our vision is clear, and our goals are in place. We have a sense of purpose that empowers us to start.
The vision of becoming heightens our senses and builds our conviction, courage, and confidence. The three C's are empowering.
Are you still passionately committed to your vision and impact in life and this business?
Consider reflecting on your first love and assessing your passion level. Listen, envision, and move forward in faith for outcomes that seem impossible. Think big and act! "All things are possible to the one who believes."
Our thinking determines our attitude, perspective, and success in life. As a man or woman thinks in their heart, so they are.
Stir up the fire within you until your heart burns again if you need to.
You are where you are right now because of your thinking. Renew your mind and transform your leadership with fresh insights, envisioned success, and focused faith.
Be confident! Be bold! The excellent work started in you will be faithfully completed!
Take courage and work! In all labor, there is profit!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Rejoice! Rejoice on this day because you can impact someone's life and career journey.
One of the most potent experiences is having someone care about us. Someone expressing their love and watching through actions and words is even more powerful.
Think about that person who encourages you and inspires you to keep moving forward despite the unknowns, doubts, heartaches, and challenges to be an overcomer. They are like a healing balm!
It is a beautiful blessing to have a friend who sticks closer than a brother or sister when facing a new challenge or opportunity.
This week a group of new seller leaders came together for training and preparation for new roles in IBM. Their spirit of cooperation, caring, and collaboration is a crucial indicator of their success in the days ahead.
"If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish." Sam Walton
Someone once said, “We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow.”
Great leaders from long ago understood the importance of relationships!
Focus on relationships with your family, colleagues, friends, and clients in life or career.
People buy from those they trust and like more often than we know.
Becoming a person of trust and likeability is developed in three ways.
Our words.
"One kind word can warm three winter months." Japanese Proverb
Words dramatically affect what we know, how we interact with people, and our decisions. Words can influence us, inspire us or just as quickly bring us to tears. Words change our relationships, demeanor, an entire system of beliefs, and even our businesses.
Someone once said, "People are happy when they give a good answer. And there is nothing better than the right word at the right time."
Our actions.
"Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; write them upon the tablet of thy heart."
How do you describe kindness? A text message to a friend going through a challenging season.
A phone call; to a friend letting them know you are thinking of them and praying for them.
You can send a recognition card to a colleague expressing your appreciation.
Our responses.
People observe our responses to our circumstances. We can inspire, encourage and motivate others with our proper responses to our challenges in life and career. When you respond in faith, optimism, believing for the best and having a positive attitude, others may take notice and ask what the reason for your hope is? When they do, be ready to give them an encouraging word.
"Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They are absolutely free - and worth a fortune."
Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart
Let's make it our goal to be this kind of leader on our journey in life and career!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
Be encouraged today that you are part of a winning team!
It can be the most outstanding team of all time. It depends on you!
John Wooden is considered by many to be one of the best coaches. From 1964-to 1975, John Wooden led UCLA to nine national championships, including seven straight and three undefeated seasons (1966-67, 1971-72, 1972-73).
"Much can be accomplished by teamwork when no one is concerned about who gets the credit. The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team. A player who makes the team great is better than a great player. The best way to improve the team is to improve yourself." John Wooden
I once heard a great leader say, "Look your best. Do your best. Be your best."
This week, I am blessed to work with Cohort 10, an IBM New Seller Leaders group. As we travel together on their first weeks in IBM, it's incredible to see the teamwork and spirit of cooperation within them.
They recognize that they are not here by accident. The New Seller Leaders decided to be here and eagerly prepare for their opportunity.
I love their enthusiasm and conviction that they can make an impact.
Great teams are more than just a group of personalities; but a group of talented and gifted individuals who decide to be their best for the team's good. The team spirit is what I sense throughout a winning organization. How can two walk together unless they agree?
The alignment of vision and purpose creates a multiplier effect. We are excited and focused on the opportunity ahead.
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that they may run that read it. Great teams and leaders have a dream. Even though there may be delays and challenges, keep moving forward in faith. Patience, Perseverance, and Practice are invaluable on the journey of life and career. Knowing you are surrounded by caring and gifted people creates confidence and competence.
Let's create! We believe that we can! Our theme is "The Launching!" into the deep for the great catch and adventure. Collectively, great teams intuitively understand that their success depends on each other's commitment to "personal excellence" and the spirit of cooperation. One mind, one voice, and one vision!
One great leader said, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for us to dwell together in unity! How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!
Teamwork!
What an excellent time to be a member of the winning team!
Rejoice and enjoy the process and the journey! The best is yet to be.
"Believe you can!"
We do!
Victory!
Greetings, Leaders.
"Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice." is a quote from a great leader in encouraging those he loved. It's springtime! Encourage someone today on your journey!
I am thankful to be part of a great team and, together, accomplishing something great!
This week, an IBM New Seller Leader shared her gratitude for her journey on her IBM path. "It is amazing the growth I am seeing in myself. I remember my first days in training and how hard I worked but did not get the results I wanted. But I keep a quote on a post-it note that I see every day - "In all labor, there is profit."
This Leader embodies three attributes repeatedly seen in "great leaders."
Perseverance:
"Since college, I have always put my whole heart effort into everything I do."
New Seller Leader
Perseverance is the ability to keep going when things are complex, challenging, and demanding. I observed the results of the IBM Leader's perseverance and hard work. She was always prepared, knew the assignments, and her preparation drew her colleagues to her for clarification when they were unclear.
"I like helping people and explaining things that I learn. It helps me when I share with others." New Seller Leader
Motivation: "I like helping people." Great leaders care for people. They are authentic in their desire to serve others. Think about a great leader. Do you see in their life story the desire to serve and help others?
Seek to emulate this attribute by asking yourself this question before undertaking any action or assignment.
"What is my motive for doing this?" The answer can help us move forward in confidence or allow us to adjust our thinking and mindset.
"Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Faith, hope, and love are some of the greatest attributes in a leader. The greatest of these is love. It is an attribute that involves unselfish service to others; to show it gives evidence that you care.
Be encouraged that you are part of something new! "Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not see it?"
Keep singing your victory song as you go about the routines and seemingly insignificant acts in your day. "Do not despise the day of small beginnings." Remain faithful, persevere, practice, and have patience.
Patience. "Run with patience the race set before you." I learned a new term several months ago in a conversation with a New Seller Leader. He calls his approach to his journey a "sprint marathon."
There are times when we sprint, and other times we pace ourselves for the long run.
Enthusiasm. An intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.
The New Seller Leaders display energy and enthusiasm for life and career." Enthusiasm is contagious! Every great team needs spirit!
Everyone benefits; you, your family, friends, clients, and the nation.
Sing your victory song as you go!
Victory.
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Each of us will face many decisions on our journey in life and career.
When standing at the crossroads and seeking which direction, we can find the confidence to make the best choice.
You may be facing what seems impossible. You may feel weary, and the prospects seem dim.
Be encouraged because we can walk by faith and not by sight.
Someone asks, "Is there a process for choosing the right way?"
Yes, by asking ourselves four key questions while waiting, reflecting on past victories in similar situations until we sense direction within our heart, saying, "this is the way; walk in it."
Stop at the crossroads, look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and you will find rest for yourself.
The key questions are:
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Does this pathway align with my purpose in life and career?
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Does this choice I am making support my vision and purpose as a leader?
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Will the path challenge me to exercise my faith?
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Will this road help me grow as a leader?
Today, let's focus on the benefits of the process.
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Discernment on the right path. We gain a fresh perspective by taking time to seek wisdom and insight.
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Conviction. We receive assurance that the road we are choosing is the right one.
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Courage. We gain new strength and boldness to take the next step forward to victory.
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Confidence. Our mind envisions the possibilities and outcomes ahead. We experience enthusiasm and resolve to do what's right. Remember the runner. You now see the end from the beginning.
Now we are positioned to lead others with optimism, energy, and power gained through our process.
We affect those around us positively through our speech, conduct, and attitude. We empower our family, friends, colleagues, clients, and all we serve.
We use our gifts, talents, and abilities to their maximum capacity and impact the world.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost
Be encouraged, my friends. You are applying your mind to think the right way about your future. You will profit from the combination of correct thinking, motives, and actions.
Great victories are ahead for you. Do you believe it?
Discernment allows us to gain the proper perspective surrounding our decision. With understanding, we obtain the insight needed to choose the right pathway.
Someone once said, "Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment."
At that very moment, something happens inside our hearts! A spark ignites to light our way. We see the path we should choose and the best step to take!
My friends, I believe you will choose the right path. You can expect, anticipate, and prepare for victory!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"Together, we are better." Unity in purpose is a beautiful blessing in knowing that you are never alone on your life and career journey.
What makes where we are right now special is our perspective. When we see ourselves serving others along the way, our purpose in life and career begins to focus.
You are a leader with purpose. Do not let kindness and truth leave you. Write them on the tablet of your heart as reminders of how to serve. As we practice this habit, we find favor.
One small act of kindness can change your day.
Choose joy on your journey and share it as you go today.
Your influence can move ordinary people to extraordinary leaders.
Today is an excellent time for us! The best is yet to be.
What makes for a great place and time?
People! I see Summit leaders focusing on five key attributes that impact performance outlined in the book -
Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership
How to Make a Difference Regardless of Your Title, Role, or Authority
James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
- Model the way by their faithful walk.
- Inspire others through a shared vision for a brighter future.
- Challenge the familiar - seeking a better way.
- Enable others through collaboration.
- Encourage the heart through believing in each other.
"Positive expectations create positive images in the mind, where positive futures for yourself and others are first constructed." Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership
I like "encouraging the heart" and "inspiring others through a shared vision." People strengthened me with their words, acts of kindness, and affirming feedback throughout my career. They modeled leadership that is part of who we are as a company.
"When people believe that you have their interest at heart— that you care about them — they are more likely to be open to your influence." Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership
Joining a group with a purpose triggers my thinking about my purpose in life and career. Discovering purpose for life and career starts with a vision. Who am I, and what will I become?
Seeking and finding the answers to these questions is an adventure that makes life and career fulfilling.
What I love about being here in IBM is seeing the joy occurring in many people's lives when they connect with purpose.
Outstanding leadership is a lifelong process.
Be intentional and start now. Make service to others part of your growth plan.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap is we do not lose heart.
Prioritize continuous learning and developing new skills.
Identity and engage the conscientious leaders around you for insight and help.
Together, we are better!
Until the next time!
Victory! Victory! Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
As a person thinks in their heart, so they are. This ancient quote packs truth that impacts every dimension of a leader's life. "Guard your heart above all else, for from it come the issues of life."
From early childhood, the people caring for your development share affirming observations of us that begin building our self-image. We build upon the foundation as we grow.
Outstanding leadership requires an ongoing becoming the person we are born to be until we reach the full measure of maturity.
On our life and career journey, we experience victories and setbacks. How we see ourselves will affect our response and the impact of achievement and delays.
Someone once said, "Knowledge is power!"
Knowing who you are-
Knowing to whom you belong-
Knowing what we possess -
Knowing the purpose and plan and will for us-
The answers to these questions build confidence! Confidence is the one attribute essential to every great accomplishment and fundamental to the success of every great leader.
We encounter circumstances that challenge our confidence. The strongest leaders are most aware of who they are.
How do we obtain this knowledge? Wisdom! We ask, seek, knock, expecting to receive our answers.
As young children, we were naturally curious and asked for answers. It seems we lose this childlike curiosity as we experience life and the demands of daily living.
It is said,
"Great leaders have curiosity, a commitment to continuous learning, and
the conviction that failure breeds knowledge and fortitude."
How to Lead
Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers
David Rubenstein
Great leaders intentionally seek to know all the days of their lives—this quest for Wisdom and knowledge fuels a passion for life and work.
Wisdom calls out,
"I love them that love me, and those who seek me will find me."
Thomas J. Watson Sr. shared his leadership insight to a group of new sales leaders on July 12, 1932.
"Wisdom is the power that enables us to make practical use of our knowledge."
Someone suggested,
"Begin today with pen and paper to invest time to reflect on your vision
and the awareness of your identity as a person and leader."
I took time this week to reflect, write down and rehearse my answers to the "Knowing" questions.
I noticed a boost of confidence, enthusiasm, and new strength in my spirit for the future.
All of us benefit from remembering who we are.
As leaders, we need Wisdom and knowledge to serve the best and make the most significant impact on our life and career journey!
Be encouraging and know that you are here for a purpose.
Get the most out of it. The best is yet to be!
Believe it!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
One of the most distinctive qualities great leaders develop is perspective. They can see beyond the obvious to discern possibilities for doing something new when others see only the challenge.
Great leaders ask for help, ask questions for clarification, and gain sharper perspectives and insights through the process.
The temptation is to listen to the internal voices, saying, "You should know this?" "You will look silly if you ask for help on this." So, we find ourselves going in circles, becoming frustrated, anxious, and losing time which only adds to our frustration.
Instead, begin thinking of ways of serving with excellence during the process.
Three questions came to my mind.
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How could I add value?
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What might they be thinking after two weeks in their roles?
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Where can I make the most significant impact?
The shift in my thinking to serving others best motivates me to answer the small questions that weigh me down after repeated attempts to figure them out.
Collaboration and caring became the two words that resonated during a challenging week. Many people I never met provided the answers to questions and help at just the right time.
The help you need will appear at just the right time. Recognize the service and be grateful for the person who gave you just what you needed to keep making progress. Remember to do the same when you are the person providing the service. As a person sows, they will reap—more than they sow and later than they sow. We reap what we sow.
"In Service" is the term a Summit Leader shared with me during a conversation last week. He said, "All of my lasting relationships with clients came from me helping them with acts of service in something important to them." Summit Leader
His willingness to serve in small ways opens the door for more significant opportunities. He talks about the vision he shared with me almost five years ago to become the youngest person to reach the top of his career path.
His goal is within reach, and service to others is a contributing factor.
"In times of uncertainty, the best leaders create stability for their team by absorbing ambiguity. They need to be comfortable with uncertainty - so much that they can sit in its company long enough to transform the unknowns into opportunities. This comfort with uncertainty (and its close cousin adversity) is one of the hallmarks of the Impact Players" Liz Wiseman, IMPACT PLAYERS - How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact.
"You put yourself out there. The more you are willing to be uncomfortable, the more you will grow." Summit Leader
Summit leaders are Impact Players!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
One of the wisest things we can do when facing a battle or new challenge is recall the past victories in our lives. Every day we face struggles in life and careers.
Our enemies of doubt, fear, anxiety, and unbelief constantly tempt us to turn back quickly, give up, and become discouraged.
The good news is that we are not the first leaders to experience these enemies to our success in life and career.
I love to study the lives of great leaders to see how they respond to life and career challenges.
Three leaders that come to my mind are Winston Churchill, Helen Keller, and King David. I see three common attributes that we can claim in our battles.
The three attributes that are empowering are conviction, courage, and confidence.
Conviction is vitally essential in every battle we face.
Conviction says, "I am committed to my pathway and will not retreat, give up or turn around. I believe I am in the right place at the proper time.
Consider Winston Churchill, an obscure, moderately known man who took a step of faith on May 10, 1940, becoming the Prime Minister of Great Britain during the looming and seeming unstoppable advances of Hitler's forces during World War II. He proclaimed victory in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
What should our response be when facing any battle in life and career?
Make a bold declaration of faith. All three leaders activated their faith before they engaged their will.
"I felt that my past life had been but the preparation for this hour and this trial." Prime Minister Churchill
"Never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense." Winston Churchill
Commitment precedes courage, and courage empowers confidence. When we commit to winning the battles in life and career, we position ourselves for victory and a more significant impact on the lives of our families, colleagues, clients, and communities we serve.
Confidence is the fruit of conviction and courage.
Helen Keller is an inspiration to us all. She became deaf and blind when she was just a baby of 19 months. Her winning the battles has been told in books and film and has inspired millions. Be inspired and encouraged by her words of wisdom.
"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."
Helen Keller
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Today I observed an outstanding group of Summit Leaders showcase their skills, growth, and insight during a capstone exercise. Capstone is a culmination event and launching at the same time.
I asked them to reflect on where they started, how they felt then, and how they feel now. I see in these Summit Leaders the manifestation of what it means to get the most out of your work!
As I watched them, I recall how grateful they were when each of them started their training.
Work is a gift. Through work, we practice and benefit in three distinct areas.
Through work, I discover my gifts, talents, and abilities. In serving, we become more in touch with ourselves and find our value and purpose in life.
My work does not define me, but I add meaning through my attitude, beliefs, and heart set.
Each of the Summit Leaders talks about growth in their life and career. I wonder if they know their impact on others as they journey.
Well, I know that each of the senior managers who witnessed them today was impressed, inspired, and stirred up by their performance. We are together. Iron sharpens iron.
So, our first word is gratitude for your work. Remembering your work is a gift and how we use it determines much more than a paycheck.
I am thankful to be working and never see work as just a day in and day out routine. No! Work is a blessing and produces multiplied rewards when approached with a blessed mindset.
The Capstone Project is the evitable outworking of a job. Having skills refined day in and day out is valuable time and presents the opportunity to excel.
The second reward is fulfillment in a job well done. When we look, do, and be our best, we stand taller, engage authentically, and learn to serve others confidently. You feel good about yourself when you know you gave your best at work.
We see more clearly new ways to serve others when we view ourselves as servant leaders. Now you are gaining a paycheck and honing skills, character development, a sense of self-worth, rewarding relationships, a sense of accomplishment, and the ability to contribute to the lives of others.
So, as we consider our work, let's see it as one of life's highest callings; serving others. Someone once said, "If anyone among you wants to be great, let that person become a servant to all."
"Do your work. Not just your work, do a little more, but that little is worth more than all the rest. And if you suffer, as you must, and if you doubt, as you must, do your work. Put your heart into it, and the sky will clear. Then out of your doubt and suffering will be born the supreme joy of life." Dean Briggs
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Where are you on your journey in life and career right now?
I heard someone say that we are either in a storm, coming out, or going into a storm. On our journey, we can expect storms in our life and career. Adversity, trials, and storms are inevitable and, with the proper response, can be the catalyst to a new level of growth and development as a leader.
How should we respond?
Patience, perseverance, and practice are three key steps we are encouraged to take when navigating storms.
Patience is our ability to wait quietly and think calmly. When tempted to run off in all directions, a leader with patience conquers their emotions by calling to mind, either in their lives or the lives of great leaders, the best response.
They wait, ponder, and discern the best next step and the timing. So, when in a storm, don't rush to find the exit. Instead, ask yourself, what can I learn from this storm, and how should I respond?
Our perspective makes a difference during a storm. Great leaders see these challenges as tests and seek to pass the exam.
Someone once said, "Don't run from tests and hardships as difficult as they are. You will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing."
I like that idea! Great leaders persevere and don't quit. Even now if you are facing a storm, don't quit, but persevere. Keep walking by faith. The focus of faith frees us from fear.
Practice what you know to be the disciplines for growth and success. Focus on what you know to be true. Stick to your convictions. They are your root system that goes deeper into the ground during the storms.
Palm trees are often subject to the driving forces of hurricanes. You see them bending and still standing after the storm. When the wind blows hard against palm trees, it strengthens their roots! Meaning that they come out of a storm even stronger than before.
That is the primary purpose of the storms. They strengthen those that they test. Keep on asking, seeking, and knocking to discover and learn how to respond to your storms—knowing that these challenging times will only last long enough to accomplish their purpose in your life. Then you will hear, "Peace! Be still!" and you are still standing.
"You will not be the same after the storms of life; you will be stronger, wiser, and more alive than ever before." Bryant McGill
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Where are you now? Are you in a valley, on a mountain top, or at a crossroad deciding which way to go?
Please know that there is value in believing that you are here for such a time as this. Your future is open wide, and there are plans for you.
Our most significant opportunities are today. Please make the most of it and be thankful for the moments. If we believe and do what we know to do, walking in the light we have for the next step; our tomorrow will take care of itself.
I observed and listened to several Summit Leaders yesterday as they shared their journey with a group of new Summits ready to graduate from their Summit Training.
"I knew what I wanted and worked through several rotations, talked with people, gained the skills, learned the tools, and now I support clients with our IoT (Internet of Things) solution." Summit Leader cohort 2018.
It is fantastic to see her poise, professionalism, confidence, and credibility in her journey of three years at IBM.
Next, I listened to a Summit Leader describe her role in IBM Global Financing with a joyful heart. "Dream and not be limited by constraints."
"We want our clients to dream without constraints."
She shares, "Be kind and rewind." Summit Leader, cohort 2016
Each week, she takes time at the end of the week to reflect on her days, the steps she took, the people she met, and her current position on her journey.
I received a note from another Summit Leader sharing the good news about her new assignment as Technical Client Leader for one of our Fortune top fifteen clients. Again, Summit hearts are filled with joy to see leaders like these grow and flourish.
"Such a great and important topic!! 'Joy is contagious!'" Summit Leader, Cohort 2016
What distinguishing attributes do they share? They believe, act on their belief, and are grateful.
Wherever you are right now, the message for you is "Keep believing!"
Do the work assigned for you today. Someone once said, "We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned to us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work."
Our most significant victories over fear, doubt, unbelief are the bridges to more fantastic works than these you will do.
Believe and take action. Expectation, anticipation, and preparation position us for the best.
Be encouraged, Summit Leaders! You are among a group of believers!
Someone once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed. It is the only thing that ever has."
Regardless of your circumstances today, believe. You will hear the encouraging voice, "This is the road! Now follow it."
Every day we write our life stories through our responses to the opportunities given us this day.
"Live a good story!" Josh Neuman
"Be grateful is the theme!" Summit Leader, cohort 2022
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Joy. This one emotion has an enormous impact on a person's ability to endure, gain new strength, and develop the power to overcome all life's challenges.
Can you recall a time when you experience joy?
This emotion makes life worth living in the moment because it resonates with our core identity. It is associated with feelings of ease, appreciation, gratitude, and meaning.
A group of Summit Leaders meets on "Victory Day by Day - Joyful Friday!"
The group shares one thing they are grateful for that day and shouts of appreciation to their teammates for an action, comment, or success. They look and listen as their teammates share their joyful moments.
"To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with." Mark Twain
Their sharing lifts their mood, boosts their energy, and brings smiles to their faces! Neuroscience calls this the Dopamine effect, known as the feel-good neurotransmitter, a chemical that ferries information between neurons. The brain releases it when we experience joy. Sharing joy helps regulate movement, learning, and emotional responses to life's challenges.
"I always feel good after our Joyful Fridays!" Summit Leader
The connective power of joy is visible in sports. When a team performs at its best, overcoming its challenges, every player — indeed, the entire arena — experiences an overflow of joy that lifts the team even higher.
Joy is a multiplier in our ability to endure and the strength to perform. I recall two quotes highlighting the effects of joy "... for the joy set before him he endured," and "joy... is your strength."
Gratitude can ignite our joy. Being grateful creates a mindset for resiliency, strength, and victory. Counting our blessings cultivates, stirs our emotions, and positions us to win the battles of life and career.
"The king rejoices in Your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give!" King David
Everyone in every walk of life can be a force for good through their response of gratitude with joy!
How can we cultivate the emotion of joy for life and career and experience endurance, strength, and victories?
Start each day by writing down several things you are most grateful for in your life and career. Think about them for a few minutes. Let your mind replay them throughout the day and replenish your joy.
Keep asking for joy, seeking it, knocking on the door, and you will find it!
Research indicates that cultivating this habit of dispositional gratitude
increases our state of joy over time.
Please remember to share your joy with others. Joy is contagious.
"Got joy?" Be glad and enjoy your days and your work. "A joyful heart is good medicine."
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Everyone desires a measure of greatness in their life and career journey. Many accomplish a position of great distinction and honor.
Each of us has a unique pathway that, when followed, can lead to Eminence and outstanding outcomes.
The lives of great leaders before us provide indicators and attributes we can apply and expect similar results. No two pathways are alike for a leader.
Each leader can discover their pathway and then experience the joy of a fulfilling life and career journey through focus, faithfulness, and providential favor.
"If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable."
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Someone once said, "If any among wishes to be great, let them become servants to all." Serving. How we see ourselves as servant-leaders will influence how we respond to our opportunities in the days and months ahead.
In the lives of great leaders, you see a theme combined in three key attributes. They focus on seeking first what's most important for themselves as leaders.
Focus: They seek to find purpose and vision for their lives and careers. They have a laser-like focus on their pathway. One wise leader shares "stay the course in serving on the way to eminence by setting our gaze on the path for us with fixed purpose, looking straight ahead, ignoring life's distractions, watching where you are going, and sticking to the pathway of truth and the road will be safe and smooth before you."
The focus of faith frees us from being sidetracked for even a moment
or taking the detour that leads to nowhere.
Faithfulness: Consistently working toward personal excellence in every area of life helps develop disciplines that keep us physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally alert and prepared for the opportunities ahead for each of us. Great leaders live and work with the expectation that the results will be good. An ancient saying "Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown."
Favor: Defined as a gracious, kind, and friendly attitude is desirable to all.
Focusing on serving others, meeting needs, and winning hearts and minds can accomplish much. Kindness and truth are attributes written in the hearts of great leaders that lead to great victories and more abundant opportunities to serve and grow. " Ask, and favor will be given you. Seek, and you will find favor. Knock and favor opens to you."
The 3 F's to Eminence: focus, faithfulness, and favor can work for you in the days ahead.
Please apply the principle and expect the results!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
What is your dream? Dreams are our ability to envision something and experience the outcomes. They are gifts available to all.
Wherever we are on our life and career journeys, we are encouraged to dream, have a purpose and vision for our lives, and why created.
We learn insights for living by observing and reflecting on lives and the impact of great leaders.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life manifests five vital qualities every great leader needs.
Many know about his life's purpose, vision, service, courage, and faith.
We see several qualities that may help us do even greater works in our life and career journey.
Faith: Faith is seeing the invisible, believing what seems impossible, and taking action. What step of faith should I make to realize your purpose and vision is the question I ask myself?
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Are you starting a new career, assignment, working with new clients? Have faith!
Purpose: Dr. King discovered his purpose by serving others, and so can we in our life and career journey. What an empowering discovery when we find our purpose.
"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why." Mark Twain
Vision: What's your dream? It will keep you producing all the days of your life and help you make the best choices on your life and career journey.
"Without vision, people lack discipline." "Without vision, people perish."
"Dream to persist and persist in dreaming."
This day, take time to reflect on your vision, attributes, and actions.
Are they aligned? Think your vision through. Could you write it down? Speak it out!
Service: Summit Leaders share a passion for serving. Wholeheartedly serving is a distinctive quality for greatness.
"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We reap what we sow, more than and later than we sow. Keep serving your family, company, clients, colleagues, and community.
Courage: Taking the first step will often require courage. The power of the dream, faith, vision, purpose combines to provide the "on-time" resources we need to fulfill the dream. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today, I still have a dream." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What actions can we take to overcome fear and walk in victory?
- Recognize your fear.
- Challenge it. “The focus of faith frees us from fear."
- Encourage yourself with self-talk and rehearse the truth of your identity.
- Embrace being comfortable with being uncomfortable. We are in a battle for our minds.
- Make the focus of faith and being brave a habit.
- Guard your thoughts and mind and practice mindfulness.
- Seek a mentor for life and career.
Let’s get started today!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
This year can be one of the most fantastic opportunities for you!
Much of our success will depend on our response to the new challenge before us.
Many great leaders respond to life based on how they see themselves first and taking the initiative based on their beliefs.
Someone once said, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."
Our ability to experience victory and life abundantly more rests on our willingness to go where we have not gone before, accomplish more and become you.
Our Identity and how we think about ourselves impact our leadership.
You may recall the encouraging words from a loved one, parent, or grandparent saying, "Remember who you are and to whom you belong."
They were affirming you.
We act according to what we believe. Neuroscience shows us that we can change our thinking and therefore change our responses by repeatedly affirming who we are, our purpose, vision, attributes and "fixing our minds" on those qualities we envision in our lives.
This repeated affirmation begins building a thought pattern in your mind at an early age and one that continues to affect how you view life, challenges, and opportunities.
Knowing and affirming who you are as a leader will affect every area of your growth in life; vocational, spiritual, social/recreational, and family.
Challenges, change, and circumstances are seen as opportunities for growth when our minds focus by faith on what is ahead for us. The focus of faith frees us from fear. Take the initiative and step forward, expecting, anticipating, and preparing for the best.
This year, day by day, let's focus our minds, thought patterns, self-talks, and initiatives with a "More Abundantly 2022!" mindset.
Three steps to get started are:
- Recall: "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope." Think about your growth and the victories you won when you stepped out in faith.
- Remember: Think about the process and experience you gained. Be faithful in practicing being your best, doing, and looking your best.
- Resolve: Envision the vision. See it as done! Are you becoming the person, leader and doing the things you know to do based on the truth of who you are?
Yes. Stay faithful, move forward, and believe. Someone once said, "No life grows great until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined."
We can experience "abundantly more" than all you can ask or imagine in the year ahead! Believe!
Make your plans. Be ready to do and experience even greater works than these in 2022.
Be intentional in all your actions and encourage someone as you continue your journey in 2022. "Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!"
"Good success" is always better together!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
This year, someone challenged me to experience "more abundantly in 2022!"
As you reflect on your victories in 2021, what's one insight you learned in the process?
Think it through. Take time to write it down. Speak aloud what you learned. Please share it with someone. It then becomes yours forever!
Perhaps you can celebrate a year crowned with goodness and your cart overflowing with abundance.
Accomplishments are important. The essential thing in life and career is personal growth.
In every conversation with Summit Leaders who reflect on their journeys, they mention "I have grown." as one of the rewarding outcomes.
One Summit Leader shared an insight he wrote in his journal. "I continue to see myself growing. I see things like this contributing to my growth. I will continue to do it as a best practice." Summit Leader
Someone once said, "Growth is the only evidence of life. Growth is never by chance; it results from forces working together. Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes, it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth. Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all."
What lies ahead for great leaders in 2022 is the open door of "More abundantly 2022!
How do we best prepare?
- Conviction: Believe that you are here for such a time as this and that you can do all the things providentially assigned for you to accomplish.
- Courage: Take the initiative and make the first step of faith toward more wondrous works than you can imagine. Envision the victory already won! "It's done!" "Well done, good and faithful servant."
- Confidence: When we encounter and open the door to "More abundantly 2022!" we can walk through with confidence, knowing that we have the assurance of victory. "I will give you victory!" We fight from victory, not for victory.
What is your priority in 2022? Take time to write it down on paper. All faithful leaders have opened the door to "More abundantly 2022!"
Focusing on growth affects every area of our lives. Trust that the doors placed before you may not be what you expect; they are the test of your faith.
"To be successful, we must learn to become consistent. You must figure out what works best for you." John Maxwell
John shares his approach. "Instead of being goal conscious, I focus on being growth conscious. The benefits are:
- It focuses on the journey.
- It matures you and others.
- It is lifelong.
- It changes you.
- It keeps you going beyond the goal.
"If you can believe in yourself and the potential in you and then focus on growth instead of goals, there's no telling how far you can grow. You just need to consistently put in the work as you keep believing in yourself." John Maxwell. The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.
"More abundantly 2022!" Anything is possible if a person believes!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!
Your life and leadership are making an impact!
This week a Summit Leader inspired me in sharing how a group of new Summit Leaders rallied together to provide socks and clothing for a mission center in the city where they live.
"Socks are the number one item that a homeless person needs." Summit Leader
She and her colleagues exhibit the distinguishing attribute of every great leader - hope!
"It was amazing to see the entire HUB contribute. I never imagined it would be like this. I am honored to be part of it. The experience is humbling and fulfilling." Summit Leader
Someone once said, "Giving gifts is more satisfying than receiving them."
"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." Desmond Tutu
Her motivation is to "help others in my new city." I am living here now. This city is my new home. If I can help one person, let alone 113. We can give people hope in the future and a way out."
"When I delivered the new clothing, the director shared a vision statement that resonated with me."
Your help is the "Catalysts of hope for everyone in the shelters."
Everyone everywhere needs hope, and the Summit Leaders are letting their light shine in being "brokers in hope."
"Leaders are brokers in hope." Napoleon
Someone once asked what can we do with so little, and there are so many? Believing in hope is the excellent multiplier.
"In hope against hope, Abraham believed and so became..."
One Summit Leader believed and became the rally for her colleagues with like minds.
"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." Dale Carnegie
Someone once said, "Do not despise the day of small beginnings."
Consider this. Somewhere in a city mission shelter this holiday season, someone put on hope in the form of one of the following gifts.
Summit HUB clothing drive:
⁃ 3 sweatshirts
⁃ 3 sweaters
⁃ 3 jackets
⁃ 4 shirts
⁃ 9 t-shirts
⁃ 3 dress shirts
⁃ 3 sweatpants
⁃ 2 pants
⁃ 2 shorts
⁃ 1 dress
⁃ 1 skirt
⁃ 5 bras
⁃ 113 pairs of new socks
⁃ 20 pairs of gloves
⁃ 3 hats
⁃ 1 scarf
Summit Leaders inspire me to keep giving my best because they have hope.
Hope is the catalyst for a great awakening and renewal of the thinking to accomplish the impossible. No longer conform to the old thinking patterns but be transformed by renewing the mind.
It starts in us!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
This week a Summit Leader encouraged me with a quote that points to the key for growth in a leader.
"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."
She goes on to share with me three steps that resonated with me.
- Priorities.
- Principles.
- Practices.
Priorities: She emphasizes putting others first and volunteering to go and speak to a group of ninth-grade students about what's possible in their future. Her motivation is to serve others, and she is sowing in the very act of serving.
As I listened to her, I asked myself into whose lives am I sowing today, and is this a priority?
Someone once asked, "What has this to do with success in life and career?" The answer is, "Everything!"
Everything in our life and career is connected. One action affects the outcomes in other areas.
"If you don't give anything, don't expect anything. Success is not coming to you. You must come to it." - Marva Collins.
Principles: Showing up at the high school and helping others enabled the Summit Leader to practice leadership skills and principles to accelerate her growth.
Older leaders from ancient times often encourage those they led to follow this tested and proven principle in their lives. Reflection and application are essential.
"And what you have learned and have received and have heard and have seen in me, practice these things."
They encourage growth-minded leadership with this statement. "Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress."
That’s personal growth!
Practices: Each day, this Summit Leader writes three things she is grateful for at the beginning of the day. "I start each day with what I am thankful for today. It grounds me and prepares me for that day." Summit Leader
Someone once said, "You will never change your life until you change something you do daily."
Her "attitude of gratitude" positioned her for growth and inoculated her from becoming prideful.
My friends, as we reflect with an attitude of gratitude during the coming weeks, let's make it our priority to find a need in someone's life and fill it.
Make it a priority regardless of your schedule. Make it a principle you believe in and practice on your life and career journey.
If you do, a bountiful harvest awaits you!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
The coming weeks present a fantastic opportunity to remember the goodness you enjoyed along the way this far on your life and career journey.
Consider the glorious victories you are enjoying now. Get ready for the good things ahead with planning. Make time to reflect and plan.
Great leaders give us examples we can follow as we think about our journey, setting our minds for even greater works ahead of us.
It is excellent to follow tested, proven leadership that encourages us to go deeper and summit greater heights by their example.
The Future Leader by Jacob Morgan highlights nine skills to succeed in the next decade. Two mindsets that resonate with me are "Explorer" and "Servant." Great leaders anticipate the future with curiosity and a willingness to take risks when the encounters ahead are unknown.
They move forward in faith. They gain new strength as they pause, remember past victories, reflect on how they came to pass, look for insights to carry along with them.
A Servant mindset focuses on using their gifts and talents in creative ways. Their serving lifts the level of the team and overflows in the community, clients, company, and the nations.
Take one action during this time of resting and waiting.
- Remember your victories.
- Reflect on your success.
- Rehearse the outcomes of work.
- Resolve to extend your reach and expand your vision.
- Record your progress.
Review your vision and begin a new chapter for the journey ahead.
Move forward with confidence into the coming stages of your journey. Continue keeping a record of plans for victory and the accomplishments this far. "Moses kept a written record of their progress and the stages of their journey." These are the stages of their march, identified by the different places where they stopped along the way.
As you plan, hear the encouraging word; "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
Great leaders are curious, present with those they lead and help those they lead to grow, develop and become conquerors as they go.
"Greatness is not where we stand, but in what direction we are moving."
Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Have faith that all you need will be available to you when you need it.
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." Henry David Thoreau
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
What do you believe for your future?
Be encouraged and believe "the best is yet to be."
Bo Swilley, my friend and a great encourager whispered a word of encouragement to me, "the best is yet to be," during a time of serving together on August 20, 2017.
The timing of Bo's words was perfect and boosted my confidence.
Bo's words gave me a quote that came to mind this morning that I underlined and dated from the book he shared with me. Someone once said, "Truthful lips stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed, and all things are possible to those who believe."
What we believe matters. Our belief system drives our thinking, affecting our hearts and actions. What we believe affects everything about our lives.
Our beliefs generate optimism for the journey ahead.
What vision do you believe will come to pass?
Someone once said, "Now faith is being sure of what you hope for, and certain of what you do not see.
Are you expecting, anticipating, and preparing for it? Keep working, watching, and waiting because faith without works is dead.
"In hope against hope, he believed and became..." is a great quote describing one man's response to what appeared to be an impossible set of circumstances. How can we respond when changes come? Don't stop believing!
A Summit alum shared his experience in a Harvard University class focusing on leadership in sales. "My takeaway was that sellers who are optimistic are more productive than those who are not."
He shares insights from the book, Learned Optimism, How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Martin E. P. Seligman.
Optimists are realistic; they contemplate the facts and do not deny that the circumstances are challenging, and the road to victory can be months or even years ahead.
Optimists protect their thinking against every negative thought not aligned with their vision and purpose. The key is our perspective. How are we interpreting and explaining our life and career moments?
During the challenging days, months, and years ahead, resolve to be faithful in your responsibilities to others and do your work. Expectation, anticipation, and preparation describe the mindset of great leaders.
Remember your purpose, vision, goals, and victories.
Ask, "What steps can I take to increase how optimism is a dominant attribute in me as a leader?"
- Reflect on your journey and the insights you gained.
- Please note events, circumstances, and how someone inspired you with their optimism in your journal.
- Be the optimist for someone each day.
- Practice.
Someone shared this quote that I recite to help me maintain my optimism. "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
Optimism outwardly expressed in our words, actions, and body language is essential and contagious when working with colleagues, clients, family, and friends.
Choose today to be an optimist!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"I am grateful and optimistic about where I am and my future. I am wondering how I get there from here?" Summit Leader
We discussed how values precede priorities and how to get started.
Journaling your journey is a discipline that will help you gain clarity, discover insights about yourself, and make the trip an exciting experience.
Someone once said, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
I once heard a great leader say, "Keep a journal!" In a conversation with a new Summit Leader, the phrase we shared was "Journaling the Journey!" "Write it down so that you will never forget the process."
Journals are a physical representation of the life story you are writing at this moment. Also, they can be a way to discover patterns from past experiences and outcomes that will help you more clearly navigate your journey ahead and reach your goals in life.
"Journaling is one of the most overlooked and under-appreciated spiritual disciplines. Journaling is the difference between learning and remembering. It's also the difference between forgetting and fulfilling our goals." Mark Batterson
You remember circumstances, feelings, emotions, and people who impacted you with their help and encouragement. Most importantly, you prepare yourself for helping those you love and serve while moving forward in life and your career.
Here are some steps to begin the discipline of journaling.
- Purchase a notebook and pen for writing down your vision, goals, insights. Write "Volume 1 and a title on the outside cover." On page number one, write the month, day, and year. Write down your vision, purpose, goals, and thoughts for your life and career.
- Find a time during the day when you are at your best.
- Find a quiet place where you can read (inspirational content), reflect, and plan.
- Make time to practice the discipline each day.
- Take pleasure in the fact that you are writing your story.
- Ask a friend to join you in practicing the discipline.
One of the best outcomes of disciplined journaling is the habit of "intentional stillness." We are so focused on many activities that we miss the connection with our vision and purpose. "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."
People who devote time alone with a sense of purpose and value find a renewed reservoir of personal strength and quiet confidence.
When insights from your quiet time are in your mind through journaling, you will find opportunities to use them in encouraging others on their journey.
"I am going to begin today. I am going out and buying myself a notebook today. Please keep me accountable. The next time we meet, I will show you my journal and my plans." Summit Leader
Be encouraged and begin today!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
I am thankful for you and your "attitude of gratitude."
This mindset gives you the edge as a leader. You can go further and accomplish more.
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you." - Charles Swindoll.
What are you most thankful for as you reflect on your life and career journey today?
Take time to get alone with pen and paper and write down seven attributes about who you are. Thanksgiving for being born who you are and who you are becoming is a great place to start.
For example, "I am confident." "I have conviction." "I am courageous."
"I am loved unconditionally." "I am victorious."
When you do this exercise, you will discover a reoccurring process in making you the person you are now.
Thanksgiving
By Ralph Waldo Emerson
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
The attitude of gratitude gives us perspective in living and leading. Being thankful helps us see life and events more clearly and respond to challenges, opportunities, and outcomes.
The attitude of gratitude prepares us for promotion in living and leading. Combining our responses, remembering the turning points, reflecting on the process, and experiencing our transformation while adapting prepares us for more significant influence and leadership levels.
This Thanksgiving Day, let us reflect on how far we have come and how blessed we are to experience this day and continue to give thanks for all the good things in our lives.
Thanksgiving positions us for transformation in renewing our thinking, perspective, and outlook for our future.
"Stay the course!" Summit Leader
Be thankful and believe that the best is yet to come!
The just shall live by faith!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"The height of your success is determined by the depth of your belief."
Zig Ziglar
We see the impact of leaders who believe in their mission, purpose, vision, and actions. They are motivating, inspiring, and live and lead by their faith, character, and conviction.
Belief is an empowering emotion that keeps us excited, enthusiastic and moving forward in confidence toward our purpose, vision, and goals.
Someone once said, "All things are possible to the one who believes."
Leaders fortify their beliefs by practicing doing one thing during their journey in life and career.
Think about one thing you believe about your vision and purpose.
Do your actions show that you think it's possible? Our belief drives our willingness to go, do and become.
Great leaders recall to memory their progress to date. Take time to go back in your mind to when you first believed, and the victories won. Reflection is an excellent way of fortifying your belief in your future.
Neuroscience describes it as creating new neural pathways in our brain. Repetitively thinking about our journey and recalling key milestones, experiences, and affirming outcomes boost our faith, confidence, and desire to achieve more significant accomplishments.
Consider taking steps right now to strengthen your belief?
- Do you have a written vision and purpose for your life and career?
If you do, take time to pull it out of the desk drawer or notebook and read it aloud. Keep it visible. Does it still stir you with the excitement of seeing your vision not only on paper but envisioning it in your mind? Most importantly, can you see growth within yourself as you reflect? Keep a journal of your progress.
- Is your vision focused on serving or getting?
Great leaders seek to serve and impact as many lives as possible to accomplish their vision, purpose, and goals.
- Do I have a like-minded person to share my vision, my success so far, and planned next steps
Having someone who believes and has a similar desire to live and lead with purpose and vision is a confidence booster.
Become an encourager of at least one person's vision and purpose.
Outstanding leaders seek to encourage others on their journey. They make this a habit. I know of several Summit Leaders who intentionally come together to motivate, inspire and lift each other. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Finally, practicing gratitude together as you recall past victories builds your faith.
Believing is the first step in "It's possible!"
Keep on believing!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Everyone seeks a measure of greatness, impact, and fulfillment on their journey in life and career. They focus on building skills, dedicate themselves to their craft, and practice discipline in refining their talents, gifts, and abilities. Competency and hard work alone may bring recognition and even promotion.
These accomplishments, victories, new skills, recognition, and rewards are some of the most fulfilling times in the heart of a leader!
Someone once said, "See a person skilled in their work. They shall stand before kings and not obscure people." Our focus, dedication, and discipline will elevate us and increase our capacity to accomplish much as leaders.
Being alert and aware of enemies to every great leader can be our protection. What would you say causes leaders to stumble and even fall on their life and career journey?
One word that comes to me is pride. There is a form of pride that seeps into the heart of a leader if they are not diligent, discerning, and deliberate about building defenses against this enemy.
This week, one Summit shared experiencing an attack in his thinking, where the enemy strikes; that helped him see the need to be alert to our thoughts and how we view others.
"Having overcome feelings of inadequacy, rejection, and poor self-identity enables me to live in victory." Summit Leader
He shares a strategy to create reminders and triggers that help him recall the principles of living a life of victory in life and career.
- Write down quotes that remind you of a meaningful life and career principle.
- Keep mementos from victories visible in your daily routines.
- Practice gratitude and remember grace.
"Here is one quote that I wrote and keep on my desk."
"Pride comes before destruction, haughty spirit before the fall, and before honor is humility." Summit Leader
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." C.S. Lewis
Someone once said, "Nothing is as disarming to pride as a life filled with gratitude and grace."
Graceful and humble leaders enjoy sustained growth and expanded influence. They understand their purpose, vision and practice authenticity in their life and career journey.
This leadership practice enables us to connect with others with compassion, love, and authenticity.
"Grace is the key to sustained happiness, more fulfilling work, and performance that impacts the world." Alexis Thomas. The Power of a Graceful Leader.
Growth is the quest of every leader. Great leaders make bringing others along with them their top priority and connect with people deeper because they care.
Someone once said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
Engaging people from the heart is the answer for high-performing teams. Someone shared this insight. "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember, humility and grace will protect and promote you.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Setting goals is essential in accomplishing your purpose, vision, and results on your life and career journey.
Great leaders set goals that challenge their faith and grow them as leaders as they go. The beauty of leadership is that all receive the call to serve and lead. The key is accepting the call and setting your goals and living by faith. Think about great leaders. Who comes to your mind?
Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Thomas J. Watson, Sr., and Joshua are a few that come to me. Their goals are "Big Hairy Audacious Goals."
In their book, Built to Last Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Jerry I Porras and Jim Collins believe that visionary companies commit to "Big Hairy Audacious Goals," while others resist. These goals provide the catalyst for innovative companies, and I will add leaders to move forward.
Identity matters when setting goals. Great leaders discover that believing and faith are the critical first steps. Commitment precedes power. Someone once said regarding leadership, "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world." These are growth mindset affirmations that impact and extend the reach of servant leadership. The real evidence of great leaders is the way they act.
In Saltwater Leadership, Second Edition - A Primer on Leadership for the Sea Services, Second Edition, the authors point out that fully 97% of leadership is a growth mindset. They point to height, intelligence measured by IQ account for 3%.
The 97% includes attributes we can learn and develop - character, empathy, integrity, communications ability, hard work, bravery, compassion, competence, and resilience - through study, discernment, and practice. Patience, perseverance, and training are essential in becoming a great leader.
This week a Summit Leader shared his desire to find his calling and make an impact by focusing his passion on the right thing. Discernment and sound judgment are required.
"Goals are a great way of thinking long. Goals are well-defined dreams that are measurable." "Goals are dreams with deadlines. If you don't give your dream a deadline, it will be dead before you know it. Deadlines keep dreams alive. Deadlines bring dreams back to life." Mark Batterson
Saltwater Leadership, Second Edition gives some practical advice for leaders.
- Learn by reading books.
- Observe others.
- Take courses.
- Practice leadership principles.
- Seek growth experiences.
- Find a mentor or coach.
- Embrace the acronym "SPOM: Study, Practice, Observe and Mentor."
Someone once said about leaders who set goals and live by faith, "For indeed we have the good news shared with us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard."
Take time to listen and set your goals by faith. Be bold, brave, and believe. Be strong and courageous.
Where are you now? Begin with your vision. What is your dream?
"Write down the vision, make it plain on the tablets, so that the reader may run with it.
Keep it within your sight, for the vision points ahead to an appointed time.
Even if there is a delay, wait for it. It is coming and will come without delay.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Each of us will face many decisions on our journey in life and career.
Someone asks, "Is there a process for choosing the right way?"
Yes, by asking ourselves four key questions while taking the time to wait, reflecting on past victories in similar situations until we sense something within our heart saying, "this is the way; walk in it."
The key questions are:
-
Does this pathway align with my purpose in life and career?
-
Does this choice I am making support my vision of myself as a leader?
-
Will the path challenge me to exercise my faith?
-
Will this road help me grow as a leader?
Today, let's focus on the benefits of the process.
-
Discernment on the right path. We gain a fresh perspective by taking time to seek wisdom and insight.
-
Conviction. We receive assurance that the road we are choosing is the right one.
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Courage. We gain new strength and boldness to take the next step forward to victory.
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Confidence. Our mind envisions the possibilities and outcomes ahead. We experience enthusiasm and resolve to do what's right. Remember the runner. You now see the end from the beginning.
Now we are positioned to lead others with optimism, energy, and power gained through our process.
We affect those around us positively through our speech, conduct, and attitude. We empower our family, friends, colleagues, clients, and all we serve.
We use our gifts, talents, and abilities to their maximum capacity and impact the world.
Be encouraged, my friends. We are applying our minds to think the right way about our future. We will profit from the combination of correct thinking, motives, and actions.
Great victories are ahead for you. Do you believe it? I know you do!
Over the past two decades, in studying the lives of great leaders, we see a pattern for us to consider and follow.
When standing at the crossroads, look and ask for the ancient paths, ask where the right way is, walk in it, and we will experience the victory that is ours.
Here is a way to test the process:
- Study the lives of great leaders you admire to see how they responded at the crossroads.
- Evaluate the outcome of their way of life to determine if their approach will benefit you.
- Ask for discernment.
Discernment allows us to gain the proper perspective surrounding our decision. With understanding, we obtain the insight needed to choose the right pathway.
Someone once said, "Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment."
At that very moment, something happens inside our hearts! A spark ignites to light our way. We see the path we should choose and the best step to take!
Let me encourage you to try the procedure. I believe you will enjoy the benefits.
Until then, my friends, choose the right path and expect victory!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
I love Summit Leaders!
They are focused, dedicated, and disciplined in their life and career journey.
Great leaders are continually growing in their knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, as well as sound judgment. They remember their battles against fear, doubt, unbelief, and pride. They are intentionally alert to other enemies seeking to derail them on their life and career journey.
Two strong enemies are complacency and presumption. Everyone who has a leadership capacity is under continual attack by the enemy. Great leaders from long ago remind us to stay alert, for our enemy roams about like a lion seeking someone to devour. They overcame the enemy's tactics because they were steadfast in their faith.
In starting our life and career journey, we tend to be on "high alert," giving our best, doing our best, and being our best. However, victory day by day can lull us into a sense of "I know the way." "I already know what to expect; therefore, I do not need as much preparation, insight, and wisdom." Thinking like this is deceiving—one of the tactics of our enemy.
The truth learned by every great leader is every day is a battle I have not experienced before and must meet with practiced disciplines, reflection, and discernment. They seek the truth about every circumstance. Someone once said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Great leaders are thankful for their victories and often reflect on their progress, and the accomplishments won. They develop competency, character, empathy, gratitude, humility, and thanksgiving in the process.
"Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself."
Thomas J. Watson
- What did I learn during that battle fought and won years ago?
- How did I respond when the odds were against us?
- What was my thinking like then and now?
- How do I best prepare for what I will face today?
- What am I most grateful for in my life and career journey?
- Who am I, and what will I become?
- What impact am I having in the lives of others?
The answers cause new pathways of thinking to be developed.
Neuroscience says we build a new neuro pathway that leads to transformative thinking when we repeat a thought process enough times.
"Neurons that fire together wire together." As a person thinks in their heart, so they are.
Out of gratitude, we seek to help and serve others with kindness, love, gentleness, and not just to get ahead by ourselves. A clean heart, clear conscience, and confident mind are qualities in every great leader.
The future of a leader who practices the disciplines for leadership growth is one of the more remarkable things yet to come!
The outcome of a focused, dedicated, and disciplined life is an expanded capacity to serve and influence others.
"Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown."
Great leaders expect, anticipate, and prepare for their future and those they serve.
Thank you for being that type of leader!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
This week I talked with a Summit Leader who pointed to a colleague who encourages the team at just the right time.
Everyone needs encouragement to keep fighting, not give up, and move forward for victory. Today, someone spoke an encouraging word for us. "But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is a reward for your work."
Circumstances can be misleading if we allow them to shift our focus from our vision and victory as leaders. Great leaders glance at the events but focus on the mission. The focus of faith frees us from fear.
Nothing is more empowering than the quality of courage and the impact of an encourager.
"Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities… because it is the quality which guarantees others." Winston Churchill
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou
Your courageous response to challenges can impact a person, family, team, company, clients, and nation.
Every great leader must go through testing times as they go on their life and career journey.
How do we fight the negative thoughts that attack our minds?
Predetermine you will be ready with a heart of conviction and resolve.
Say to yourself, "I will be patient, persevere and practice being steadfast, immovable, always abounding with the assurance that I am victorious."
You envision your vision.
In his book, Make Your BED - Little Things that can Change your life... and Maybe the World, Admiral William H. McRaven shares the story of being in Navy SEAL training.
He recalls a Wednesday night of "Hell Week" during SEAL training. The purpose of Hell Week was to eliminate the weak, those not tough enough to be SEALS.
During this time, more people quit, and a test called the mudflats usually overcomes trainees. Bone-chilling cold in the evening winds, up to their chests in mud, hands, and feet that are swollen from non-stop use and skin so tender even the slightest movement brought discomfort.
At just the right time, one encourager began to sing!
"One voice became two, and two became three, and then before long, everyone was singing."
Even those tempted to quit and give up gained new strength, courage, and confidence to complete the training.
He recalls a key lesson learned and shares an insight.
"The power of one person can inspire those around him, to give them hope. If that person could sing while neck-deep in mud, then so could we. If that person could endure the cold, then so could we. If that person could hold on, then so could we."
Admiral William H. McRaven
Through your attitude and response, become an encourager, leading others from strength to strength, empowering them to become stronger and stronger.
You are strengthened and encouraged in the process. We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Make it your mindset to encourage one another moment by moment and every day.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
This week I had the opportunity to join over 700 leaders across the Americas with a common goal of becoming great leaders.
It is one of the most impactful events, focusing on the tremendous opportunity to serve others for breakthrough growth personally, professionally, and in business.
During challenging times, the factor that makes the most significant impact is leadership. Your leadership matters to your family, friends, colleagues, clients, community, and the world.
We must believe and act now that we are here with the open door of incredible opportunity.
Wherever you are and whatever the opportunity ahead, you will face opposition.
There is opposition we encounter with every opportunity on our life and career journey. An expanded new territory is demanding and requires wisdom to know when to wait, rest, renew and continue moving forward. They shall mount up with wings like eagles!
Someone once said, "In return and rest, you will be saved. In quietness and trust will be your strength." Great leaders take time to refresh themselves, check their moral compass, and gain insight, wisdom, and sound judgment for the best decisions. This discipline is essential to ongoing success and sustained growth.
Going through your open door requires commitment, unity, and belief. It is belief and faith in action.
Here are three great leaders who went through the door of opportunity.
Commitment:
A football team named the Green Bay Packers with a leader named Vince Lombardi in the 1960s became the standard for greatness.
His coaching greatness is unquestioned. At the end of every NFL Super Bowl, "The Lombardi Trophy" is raised in victory by the winning team.
"Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. – Vince Lombardi
Unity:
"My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other's kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That's how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person; they're done by a team of people." Steve Jobs
Belief:
"I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next." Steve Jobs
Vince Lombardi believed in his team, and their commitment to excellence resulted in five championships.
The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling but in rising again after you fall. – Vince Lombardi
What is your open door of opportunity?
Do not allow fear, doubt, and unbelief to cause you to hesitate when you know how to walk by faith and not by sight.
"I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial... I thought I knew a good deal about it all. I was sure I should not fail."
― Winston Churchill, The Second World War.
Victory!
"Finding your pathway as a leader."
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Wherever you are on your journey in career and life, we need a way of determining if we are on the right pathway.
Having a written purpose/vision statement for yourself is critical.
First, a vision statement requires thoughtful reflection on where I am, what I have experienced, and where I desire to land when I reach the desired destination. What impact will I have on others?
You can protect yourself from unnecessary delays, setbacks, and losses associated with moving from your pathway in career and life. Without vision, people perish, dreams deferred, and opportunities bypass us. What are some of the things we can do to ensure we discover our true north?
A proven approach to finding true north is with a Global Positioning System (GPS). A GPS recognizes your location by compiling the location information provided by multiple satellites that orbit the earth.
If you have one, you can select a 'true north' setting on your GPS, enter your destination, and it will take care of the rest.
Here are some things you can be aware of and do to protect yourself on your life and career journey from getting off course.
Someone once said, "Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you."
Here is an action plan.
Review, Reflect, Resolve.
- Review: Take time each day to focus on your purpose, vision, and goals for your life. It can be refreshing to rehearse your mission and envision your success.
- Reflect: Take the time to think through your experiences so far, what you have accomplished, and insights you are gaining. Often we discover new things about the value we are creating and a process for replicating this in new ways. Also, we become aware of skills, talents, gifts that may not have been apparent. It is in serving that we gain these insights.
- Resolve: Be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in your work and your vision. Be aware of distractions that lure you away from your calling, pathway, and purpose.
"Faster does not always mean better." Summit Leader
Secondly, there is safety in the multitude of counselors (your GPS); people with discernment are willing to point out the need to adjust your thinking and attitude and recommend needed course corrections.
Make it a goal to include accountability partners for your life and career. These are the wise people you walk, stand, and sit with during your journey.
Finally, we become aware of our thinking. Take captive every thought, not in alignment with your vision, purpose, and goals. Avoid listening to the wrong voices.
Practice by thinking and rehearsing the right thoughts. Be transformed by changing what you allow to dominate your thinking.
"Sow a thought reap an action. Sow an action reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character, sow a character, reap a destiny." Ralph Waldo Emerson
As a person thinks in their heart, so they are.
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, ... the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." Henry David Thoreau
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! This day is a new day for us. "One we have never seen before and will never see again." How can we make the most of this day and impact others as we go?
Many people we meet have visions and goals for themselves and need encouragement now and then during the rough times and those seasons of life and career when challenges beset us. The greatest asset a leader can possess is one of perseverance; not giving up or giving in nor turning back!
Perseverance is the faith, action, desire, determination, persistence, and belief that you will gain victory day by day and overcome challenges on your life and career journey.
"I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance...Unless you have a lot of passion about this, you're not going to survive. You're going to give it up." Steve Jobs
The experience, insight, wisdom, and grace they experience make them impactful as leaders. Endurance provides the opportunity to share and help others at just the right time.
When we do, we ignite a process in the lives of all we encounter on our journey. I call it the great adventure. As we pursue more outstanding works, we find opportunities to help others along the way. Our influence and impact of our lives grow as we remain faithful in doing what’s right.
"Perseverance is a positive, active characteristic. It is not idly, passively waiting and hoping for some good thing to happen. It gives us hope by helping us realize that the righteous suffer no failure except in giving up and no longer trying. We must never give up, regardless of temptations, frustrations, disappointments, or discouragements." Joseph P. Wirthlin
Small acts of kindness kindle a sense of purpose and fulfillment in living and working.
Our level of perseverance affects the impact of our testimony. Our stories often lift people. Persistence enables us to write our stories and positions us to help others we meet on our life and career journeys.
"I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living." King David
Who will I encourage to finish and not quit or give up today?
How can I make an impact? Lead by intentionally making your goal to take many with you toward the "greater works" together.
"I do not think there is any other quality so essential to the success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature." John D. Rockefeller
Someone once said, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
“Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you're signed up for a season, see it through. You don't have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through.”
Jim Rohn
Summit Leaders, let's Persevere! It's harvest time!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
We are ready for a breakthrough in our lives and business!
Unity is a powerful attribute that makes a difference in life and business.
Someone said, "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."
Every great team, leader, company, or family has unity as a core attribute. Great leaders understand their opportunity to create an environment where everyone can flourish and "make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace; each person is working together to make the whole successful."
Summit Leaders are experiencing the value of working together as a team, enabling them to learn from one another. Their teamwork encourages creativity and learning through their shared knowledge and expanding new skill sets while working together. They see that working towards a common goal creates enthusiasm for learning and fosters growth. Leadership includes awareness, being alert, and being diligent in our conversations, actions, and attitude.
Two questions every great leader asks; "Am I impacting my team, clients, company, family for good by the words of my mouth, actions, and attitude?"
"Am I using my gifts, talents, skills, and abilities to serve as best I know how?" The alignment of the two is the first step to eminence.
The SELDI podcast "The 3 F's for eminence" shares three attributes (Focus, Faithfulness, Favor) and benefits to consider.
I invite you to listen and reflect on the big ideas and apply them as leaders.
Principle 7: The 3 F's for Eminence - Focus, Faithfulness, Favor
Podcast Link
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/seldi/episodes/2018-03-14T18_45_58-07_00
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
I am encouraged by my conversations with Summit Leaders who describe themselves as "servant leaders." They are intentional in their thinking about their vision to have a positive impact on people.
One Summit Leader shares how she coached a group of high school lacrosse players following a career-ending injury. I asked her to recall someone from years ago who experienced a positive transformation during their time together. Immediately, with a big smile, she remembered that one person whose life is now different because of her influence.
The potential of our impact by our life and actions is immeasurable. People observe us, see qualities and perspectives, and attributes that resonate with them.
Today, you will engage with people who will benefit from your leadership. Caring for others with authenticity connects with people at a deeper level.
Another Summit shared how a colleague said several words that encouraged and inspired her during a stressful moment at work.
She did not know that her words inspired and motivated her colleague.
Attitude matters in life and business.
"You never know what a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life." Zig Ziglar
Your optimism, affirmation, faith, and presence can be a bright light in the lives of so many people. It has been said, "you are the salt of earth and light of the world." So, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."
I admire Summit Leaders who decide to become a strong influence for good and purposefully lead their lives with the motivation of helping others. A "caring" heart helps us connect with family, friends, colleagues, clients, and everyone we meet.
Great leaders focus on caring about the one person in front of them. The willingness to care for one multiplies our capacity to influence many. "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." Nelson Mandela
This week, a Summit Leader shared his vision. "My career vision for IBM is to gain an understanding of IBM systems and culture to provide exceptional value to all my clients and colleagues. As a future manager, I plan to support and encourage the next generation to become the best that they can be." Summit Leader
He shares the impact that one IBM Manager had on him during an IBM internship. "He was the biggest influence in making me feel more confident in my ability. I said to myself, "Wow! That's someone I want to emulate. I want to help people understand their value."
A person does not care how much you know until they know how much you care for them. "Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another." -George Eliot.
Summit Leaders are asking how I can help others? They seek opportunities to encourage their colleagues. They are impacting the culture through their influence.
Every great leader has one person whose influence that they will never forget. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."
Jackie Robinson
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice!
We have a great opportunity before us to experience what great leaders enjoy every day. They lead themselves in intentionally living purposeful lives.
A Summit Leader shared this quote, "Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself."
Thomas J. Watson
We are together on this journey in life and career. If you are starting this month or have many years of your life and career journey, the exciting truth is that you can always be fruitful and productive.
See a person diligent in their business. They will stand before kings and not obscure people.
Early career professionals and experienced career leaders coming together with a common objective is a powerful combination. Each one profoundly respects the other, and as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
Someone once said, "Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors, they succeed."
Today, an IBM sales veteran shared this insight with a new Summit leader during this week's training conversation.
"You know what you are going to do. You don't know who you will meet. People will propel your career. Know who you are and why you are doing your work. That person you meet may touch your life and make a difference in your life journey."
Think about someone who touched your life and made an impact for your good. Seek to be that person now in another's life.
At the start of your journey, there is a great promise; "you will be like a tree planted by rivers of water; yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither and whatever you do it will prosper."
Understanding and embracing the promise gives the courage to start, perseverance to keep moving forward, and strengthens you for continuing the race before us.
Those ahead of you have their promise, too; they will be fruitful and still green with vigor and life even in the coming seasons.
Someone once said,
"They will still produce fruit in old age and will stay fresh and green."
Who can you team with on your journey in life and career, knowing that a productive and fruitful life awaits you?
Think about the impact of pouring yourself into another and that person. Life and career grow sweeter, more fulfilling, and adventurous when we work together.
There is power in caring for each other, and that's the culture and attitude Summit Leaders worldwide are embracing.
What are we building when we exercise caring for one another? When we love our neighbor, as we do ourselves, we create impact and legacy.
What is your impact as a caring leader?
•Culture: Who we desire to be.
•Attitude: A mindset of optimism.
•Reimagine: Innovation, Envision the vision.
•Engage: Collaborate for action.
•Skills: Commit to growth for all.
Summit Leaders care!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Change is inevitable and is the friend of great leaders.
Great leaders understand that change is necessary for growth.
They embrace change as being part of something new! "I am so grateful to be a part of 'I am doing something new. Now it springs forth. Do you not see it."
Perspective on change is vitally important. The mindset of gratitude dominates the thinking of great leaders during change.
They see change as transformational for them personally and professionally. The results are a more significant impact on their journey in life and career while influencing others for good as they go.
Thinking the right thoughts is their focus in leadership and living.
Someone once said, "As a man or woman thinks in their heart, so they are."
Change requires the correct thought patterns because the enemies of every great leader are always lurking. "I wrestled with the imposter syndrome but overcame it." Summit Leader.
How can we become the leaders we envision, have the impact we desire, and the success we are working to achieve? Guard our thinking.
Be alert! Take captive every thought not in alignment with your purpose and vision. Build a grid system to protect your thinking and exercise it with patience, perseverance, and practice.
Let these virtues become part of your cerebral defense system. "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Great leaders understand it takes practice to develop disciplined thinking for everything. They focus on the results and outcomes - transformational leadership starts with one. Sometimes it appears they are the "wild duck." They do not allow this world to mold them in its image. Instead, they are transformed from the inside out by renewing their mind.
I love to observe beautiful butterflies. They remind me of the process great leaders undergo. Their growth requires effort to work their way through their journey from a caterpillar to a cocooned pupa and pressing outward until a breakthrough to become what providence built in them.
Please remember that your growth is determined by how you treat people, respond to circumstances, and what we allow to dominate our thinking.
Outstanding accomplishments begin with one, then a few people who believe it is possible.
One person with faith can be the catalyst that changes a family, company, community, and nation. She does not despise the day of small beginnings. They know the one who is faithful over little will receive the opportunity to be a good steward over much.
Summit Leaders stay the course, keep the faith, guard their thinking and keep fighting. The victory is assured. Let me hear you say, "I will give you victory!" So, the pupa hears the appeal and perseveres, emerging victorious.
Your transformational leadership is needed to acquire new customers, delight the current ones, and together grow worldwide!
Someone once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed. It is the only thing that ever has."
According to your faith, be it done unto you.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Congratulations on the position you hold and the service you are providing!
This week, I asked a new group of IBM Garage leaders to answer these two questions.
- Do you believe you are supposed to be here in your role?
- Do you think it is an accident that you are here?
Unanimously they all believe that they are supposed to be here.
They are correct in their belief, and so are all the Summit Leaders believing that they are here for such a time as this.
Believers move at a different pace than others. Because they understand and discern their life and career journey have purpose and meaning, they do not make hasty decisions. The one who believes will not make haste.
The frenzy of activity and rush to get as much done as possible in the shortest amount of time is not the pathway to "success." It often leads to desperation, confusion and anxiety, and a sense of being overwhelmed.
Someone once said, "You do not save any time by working too fast; hurrying will cause you to make mistakes, and you will have to take extra time to do the job over again."
There is a better way. Whoever believes will not make haste.
It requires patience, discernment, and wisdom to determine which opportunities are yours and those that are not.
Taking time to pause and reflect for further instruction helps us see more clearly. There is protection available in this approach.
Great leaders do not rush ahead because of the perils of losing time, more significant opportunities, and blessings. Experience is teaching them when they move too quickly; they can experience pain and loss. "Returning and resting is what will save you; calmness and confidence will make you strong."
Great leaders learn the principle of actively waiting. They have a sense of being guided by providence and move forward believing when the time is right. All things are possible to those who believe and act at the right time.
The focus of faith frees us from fear. Their hearts are clean, conscience is clear, and mind is confident. Their belief encourages others along the path chosen for them. At just the right time, opportunity, place, and circumstance, their presence, influence, and words of hope and encouragement impact people, places, events, and outcomes.
Someone once encouraged many in sharing their experience; "When you walk, your steps are firm. When you run, you will not stumble. I will instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths."
The results of waiting, gaining insight, discernment, and instruction are excellent.
You are here for such a time as this! If you are changing assignments, jobs, positions, or locations, see the purpose in your situation, understand, and be in your place to help when the need arises.
Wisdom, strength, favor, grace, and help you need to complete your assignment come at just the right time.
Be encouraged! "Behold, I am doing something new."
Now is the time!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice in the new opportunities in front of us as leaders!
Our response is to be one of faith and boldness with confidence to move forward to more incredible accomplishments.
Some of our most significant accomplishments and impact can be inside the little opportunities. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. Be faithful to take the steps required of us.
Today, I heard a new Summit Leader say, "the success we see today in IBM's 100+ year story is the result of the accumulation of good decisions."
Wisdom, discernment, knowledge, and understanding are vitally important in the lives of great leaders for deciding, who to hire, when to call, what steps to take, and knowing when it's wise to wait.
Today, great leaders are essential during times of change, uncertainty, and challenges.
One attribute that we see in the lives of great leaders is integrity.
"Integrity is the seed for achievement. It is the principle that never fails." Earl Nightingale.
How do great leaders make their calling and election as leaders sure?
"Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become." James Clear Atomic Habits
Integrity! This mindset dominates the thinking of great leaders. It is one of the most empowering attributes in the heart of a leader.
Great leaders operate from a position of a clean heart, a clear conscience, and a confident mind. Their success in impacting the lives of those they lead and the outcome of their decisions abides in integrity.
David, an ancient warrior and a king of Israel, demonstrates integrity during his leadership of the nation of Israel.
His vision to be a leader who impacts the lives of others is seen in his prayer.
"Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you." King David.
His leadership qualities and wisdom are seen in many great leaders today.
"So, he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands."
Summit Leaders are grateful for their calling as leaders!
They are practicing gratitude for their opportunity to lead. Great leaders understand that their effectiveness is in how they connect with people.
Others follow them because they see the light and value in their leadership.
Someone encourages us with this quote. "Therefore, my friends, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall."
"A life lived with integrity – even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune is a shining star in whose light others may follow in the years to come."
— Denis Waitley
Someone once said, "No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a bowl; instead, it is placed on the lampstand so that people may see the light as they come in."
Summit Leaders are letting their light shine for our colleagues and the ever-growing number of clients in this generation and the future generations to follow. They are finding favor in their sight!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders!
I love Summit Leaders!
They are some of the most dedicated, committed, and confident people I know.
Why is this possible? They have vision! Most of them have a written vision statement to keep focused on what matters most!
Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain about what you cannot see. We see our vision through the miracle of our minds and our faith.
When we believe, we act. We begin to work in a focused, dedicated, and disciplined way, moving toward the vision we envision.
When preparation meets opportunity, there is a starburst effect for even greater works.
Recently, a group of leaders sent me copies of their vision statements.
They show their purpose for living and direction for how they plan on developing and preparing for their future.
We should remember that every vision has enemies to derail us from our pathway. The enemies are fear, doubt, unbelief, and many others.
Understanding the nature of the battle is the first step to victory. The battlefield is in our mind, our thinking! The greater our potential and responsibilities, the stronger the attacks are from the enemies.
Every day, we enter the battlefield for our minds.
Someone once said, "Your life will always move in the direction of your strongest thoughts." Great leaders focus their thinking.
What we allow to dominate our thinking will affect us as leaders.
When we believe, our thought process is expectation, anticipation, and preparation.
"I will prepare, and someday my chance will come." Abraham Lincoln
Great leaders examine their thought patterns to see if they are believing or held captive by fears, doubts, and unbelief.
The one who believes makes plans for the vision. They work with an expectant attitude which gives them hope even when the way is hard.
Daily they practice the disciplines on their life and career journey while anticipating the results of their labor.
They work to prepare themselves for the arrival of what they envision.
Wherever you are on your journey, be alert! The enemy prowls like a roaring lion, seeking to destroy. Resist by being immovable in your faith.
Remember Career Principle # 3. The Three C's are Empowering.
- Conviction: Knowing that I am in the right place and the right time.
- Courage: Someone said, "Courage is the fearless calmness, quality of mind and spirit enabling us to meet danger, opposition or the challenges of life with fearless, calmness and firmness."
- Confidence: We have a mindset of victory, conquest, and resolve that it will happen.
Summit Leader, be strong and courageous.
One great leader shared this insight. "Always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right, and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things."
A friend wrote an encouraging note to me, "Do what you have done - "take every thought captive" continue to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind."
My friends, I share this encouragement with you for your life and career journey!
Let us hear the encouraging word, "I will give you victory!"
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice.
Think about your gifts, talents, abilities, and skills.
Think about the opportunities you have now to exercise them in serving and impacting others on your life and career journey.
We are here for such a time as this!
After the victory, when we experience success, we tend to drift in practicing the disciplines that positioned us for more excellent works.
Someone shared this quote with me today. "If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success."
How can we keep "The Edge" as leaders?
Associate with the wise and be wise. Encourage each other and challenge one another to remain steadfast and faithful in pursuing excellence in everything we do.
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax."
― Abraham Lincoln
Someone once said, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."
Skills, talents, gifts, and abilities are exercised like a muscle to build and grow and get stronger as we go.
Great leaders are responsible. They believe in personal responsibility in all their relationships.
They guard themselves against the enemy of complacency, doubt, and fear.
They understand "To whom much given much is required."
I heard of three servants called before a great king.
He was going on a trip and turned his money over to them. He gave five talents to one man, another two, and another one, based on their ability. Then he went on his trip.
The first two servants worked right away, invested the money, and received double returns on their investments.
But the one who received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and buried his Master's money.
After a long time, the Master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The first two gave excellent accounts on how they doubled the money entrusted to them. 'Well done, good and trustworthy servants! Since you've been trustworthy with a small amount, I'll put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your Master's joy!'
The third servant gave an account of his fear preventing him from acting wisely.
"Since I was afraid, I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here, take what's yours!'
His Master answered him, 'You evil and lazy servant! You know I expected more. You should have invested, and at least I would receive interest on my money.
Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside!
Take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the ten.
The faithful one receives more and will have more than enough."
Then the king shared the secret for keeping "The Edge" as a leader.
The final advice from the king; "Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write this truth deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation."
The king gives great insight from an ancient story for today's leaders wherever we are on our journey in life and career.
Keep "The Edge" Summit Leaders!
You are giving your best today! It yields the best for days ahead of you!
Believe it!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Congratulations!
You are emerging from some of the most challenging times in our lifetime. Your perseverance, patience, and faith all contributed to your ability to navigate the storm.
You persevered and adapted. You believed and encouraged others along the way.
Someone once said, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen."
We are at the edge of breakthrough growth in every area of our lives. How should we think about navigating the events and making the decisions in our daily lives?
Great leaders seek wisdom to lead well.
Someone asks, "What does wisdom look like?" and received this response. "Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere."
Now is our time to continue practicing the disciplines so vital for every leader. Perhaps none is as important as seeking and acquiring wisdom.
I remember reading a quote that said, "The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with your possessions acquire understanding."
Many great leaders who have lived before us discovered the value of wisdom in their lives and careers. For example, Thomas J. Watson, Sr. emphasized the vital quality of wisdom in our career success.
"In these times... all businesses are looking for something that will aid them. You will have to explain more things to more people, but that is all to your advantage because, in that way, you obtain more training. In connection with that point, do not forget that you will need something in addition to knowledge. You must have wisdom. Without wisdom, knowledge is useless. Wisdom is the power that enables us to make practical use of our knowledge." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
Continuous learning and growth are essential in every leader's life. The distinctive quality of wisdom is what helps our leadership and success endure in all circumstances.
Our families, colleagues, clients, and communities are the beneficiaries of the benefits of our wisdom.
Wisdom gives us the ability to discern the right decision and timing even though it may seem counterintuitive.
Someone once said, "before you accept an invitation, implement a plan, sign your name to anything, agree to participate in any venture, ask yourself three questions.
- What is the wise thing to do based on my previous experience?
- What is the wise thing to do in light of my present state of mind?
- What is the wise thing to do in light of my future vision, goals, and dreams?"
The benefits of wisdom in our business help us acquire new clients, serve existing ones, grow as leaders, and impact everyone we meet.
Someone once said, "Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And with your wisdom, develop common sense and good judgment. The one who walks with the wise will become wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm."
The best future awaits those who practice wisdom!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders!
I admire greatly the leaders who understand their calling and surrender to it. Great leaders focus on serving others and step forward in faith. In the development of their vision, the opportunities for more excellent works emerge.
Here is one vision statement I received last week for a member of "The Accelerate 150." They are a group of leaders in colleges across America.
"After thinking deeply about my vision, I couldn't help feeling scared.
I thought that this is it; growing up is inevitable, and the world, at least my world, is in my very hands. I have spent so much time worrying and thinking and planning to find out that life never really has a strict plan. There are ways to go about things and a deeper meaning to life than that. It is so important to realize why you are here and who you are.
My vision does not have a strict plan, but rather just a little list of lessons I have learned growing up in this fast-paced world. These lessons range from many different things, but most importantly, a few.
1) Always remember your loved ones and always treat those who care about you with love and respect always. Please do it for them while also doing it for yourself.
2) Change for the better is always okay. Never feel as if you do not need to change. Each day you can get better, whether physically or mentally, so push yourself.
3) If life hits you, do not feel guilty. Things happen, and although you may want to push and push, things happen constantly!
Thank you for reading and taking the time to see my little vision I have right now. I am currently and always trying to get better. Thank you again, Tony!"
Who are you serving? Getting this question right is the indispensable first step to extraordinary, transformational leadership and lifetime impact.
How can great leaders endure the tests and challenges that come on their life and career journey?
"I will prepare, and someday my chance will come." Abraham Lincoln
Mr. Lincoln is a model example of outstanding leadership. In studying his life, you discern a process that most great leaders experience.
Great leaders act and have a sense of purpose for their lives.
Someone once said:
"Don't lose a minute in building on the opportunities given, complementing your essential faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love.
Each dimension fits into and develops the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, you grow and are fruitful in all seasons of life."
"Adhere to your purpose, and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution and will regret it all your life." Abraham Lincoln
Like other great leaders, make your calling and election sure.
"I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me, and I didn't have the heart to let him down." Abraham Lincoln
Be faithful to your calling as a leader because the one who calls you is faithful. Be strong and courageous!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Congratulations! You are on your way toward your vision.
Discover and experience the "The Power of a Vision."
Finding our purpose in life begins with "vision"!
SELDI Career Principle # 1 "Vision is essential."
Definition" "How one sees or conceives of something. Showing competence in discernment or perception; and intelligent foresight."
Please take time to review your vision or create one.
We want to encourage you to take time in your busy schedule to reflect for a few minutes. It's easy to get engaged in a frenzy of activity and somehow overlook your purpose for living and work.
On April 5, 2017, we published the first SELDI blog, named "Time Out Wednesday!"
You notice in competition teams take "time outs." Many people practice "quiet time."
It's a time of reflection, refreshment, and resolving to go forward.
Principle #1: Vision is essential.
Action: What's your vision? Write down your vision for yourself. It can be brief, but try to capture your purpose on paper and in your mind.
Purchase for yourself a notebook to record the stages of your journey.
It will become a source of personal inspiration as you move ahead and provide insights to share with others as you lead in life and your career.
Vision starts in the heart and mind. Therefore guard your heart above all things because out of it come the issues of life.
As a man or woman thinketh in their heart, so they are.
Principle Application:
- Practice your vision.
- Think it through.: (What impact do I want to have with my colleagues, clients, family, community, and the world?)
- Please write it down. : (The mechanics of writing make a more profound impression in our minds than just typing.)
- Speak it out!: (Rehearse aloud your vision statement until you memorize it.)
- Guard against the derailment of your vision.
. Avoid misplaced priorities and motivations.
Would you please reflect on these three empowering words to add to your thinking about your vision? Attitude, Believe, Conviction.
"Sow a thought, and you reap an action; sow an action, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny." Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I went back to my first steps in experiencing "The Power of a Vision" in Volume 1 on my life and career journal.
"Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so they may run who reads it."
We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow.
Summit Leaders, let's keep moving forward.
The best is yet to be!
Believe it!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
This week I spoke with several Summit Leaders regarding their journey thus far in IBM and life. Two quotes came from them that I believe represent the mindset of Summit Leaders everywhere.
"I think it is going to be a fun adventure!" Summit Leader
As he reflected on the challenges he overcame, the perseverance to keep going when things were tough. He asked "deeper" questions about, "How can we do this better?"
His leadership team liked his thinking and ideas and placed him in a new role that delights him about the future.
He is excited about a new role in Kyndryl.
"Change is coming, and going through it taught me some valuable lessons." - Summit Leader.
Another Summit Leader shared, "I believe that all I desire in a career is available to me here at IBM. I have to decide and go after what I want."
Any new assignment can be challenging for anyone. The key is how we respond. Be bold and courageous on your life and career journey.
The great adventure seeks our purpose and begins to discover who we are, our skills, talents, gifts, and capacity to serve others.
The most incredible adventure in life and career is rooted in serving others. If anyone among you wishes to be great, let that person become a servant to all.
When using our gifts, talents, and skills in this way, we sharpen them and multiply our capacity for effectiveness and impact in creating value as a leader.
We connect with people in our family, company, and clients, and community more deeply. In the process, we are transforming by renewing our minds to think like servant leaders. We radiate, "I care more about you."
We begin to care deeply about those we serve. We distinguish ourselves as leaders in the eyes of our family, colleagues, clients, and the community.
"We care more about you." is our motivation. With the right motives, a clean heart, clear conscience, and confident mind, we serve at a higher level.
Our clients tell our story, and our report will spread around the world.
Think about a time when you made a significant purchase through someone. What qualities did that person display that won your trust and confidence? They cared more about you.
Summit Leaders embody this attitude of caring more about you. That's why the most fantastic surprise will be the outcome of the most incredible adventure. The latter glory will be greater than the former glory for you, our colleagues, our company's culture, our clients, and our communities worldwide.
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care" ― Theodore Roosevelt.
"As a leader, your goal is to create and nurture a relationship by focusing on how you can best serve." James Strock Serve to Lead 2.0 21st Century Leaders Manual.
As we focus on "We care more about you." Others will tell our story. Everyone likes a good story!
Summit Leaders are writing this story everywhere they go!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Today is the day of opportunity for us! We have the gifts, skills, talents, abilities, and know-how to become everything we envision for ourselves, IBM, and new customers! The timing is now.
Be joyful that you are here for such a time as this! Take every opportunity before us. We must not delay, slow down, or back off.
Great leaders hear the encouraging words of the battle-tested who trained them so well for this day of opportunity; "we have not received the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind."
Think about all the resources, innovations, growing numbers of new clients, and opportunities before you. Boldly seize each one for you are more than able to take full advantage of each opportunity, big and small.
Someone once said, "For those to whom much is given, much is required."
Remain faithful to your vision through preparation, patience, and practice. All these things are working together for your good.
A Summit Leader I admire celebrates her fifth anniversary with IBM in just a few weeks. She is faithful to her vision and committed to the journey. She embodies the spirit of all the Summit Leaders! Her success is having an impact on IBM, our clients, and her community!
"Going above and beyond each day while positively impacting other IBMers through synergistic collaboration; helping as many people as possible with projects, participating actively and with a positive attitude, and leaving a lasting impact on those around me through my actions." 2016 Summit Leader's vision statement.
It's summer! This week marks the new season for everything! Seize the opportunity and the time for you as a leader in IBM, your family, clients, community, and beyond.
I once heard someone sing, "It's a new season, and it's a new day. A fresh anointing is flowing our way. It's a season of power and prosperity; it's a new season, and it's coming to me."
Before achieving his victory, one great leader stated, "For a great door is opened to me, filled with opportunities and many opponents."
How do great leaders prevail and win every opportunity! They have conviction, belief, and take action in faith. They hear, "Be strong and courageous."
Summit Leaders are like them. They are strong and do great exploits!
If you have a growing list of opportunities, see them not as tasks but impact choices you will make each day!
Together, these are the days for us to be bold, brave, and confident.
It's our privilege to build each other up with our gifts, talents, and abilities.
When you stir up your gift within you, it ignites a flame that's almost out and becomes a consuming fire.
When you do, all that is needed is yours to accomplish more wondrous works and tremendous success for all we serve.
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Henry David Thoreau
Our 5th year Summit Leader proves that all things are possible to the person who believes.
Summit Leaders shout, "We believe!"
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Be encouraged today if you are facing the impossible!
Count it all joy when you face various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing in life and career journey.
Recall a situation that "impossible" is the only word to describe it. How did you make it through? Reflect on the events and the insights you gained.
Great leaders experience the impossible on their life and career journey. Yet, the common theme for victory is their faith in believing they can overcome. All things are possible to the one who believes.
Kober is a friend and IBM sales colleague. I recall one year when I asked him how his sales performance was going. "It looks terrible. In all my years of selling, I can’t recall something worse. It doesn't look like I am going to make my numbers." The time was around October in the sales year. December 31 was his deadline which was impossible at the time.
My best encouragement to him was to keep the faith and pray.
Fast forward, to December of that year, Kober won one of the most significant sales opportunities in his career and achieved over 200% of his sales objective. We rejoiced over his victory!
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, a leading general in WWII, encouraged his troops to prepare for victory in the D-day invasion of June 6, 1944.
"You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you." Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Pray = Power, Resolve, Awakening You."
Facing the impossible tests a leader's faith, resolve, courage, and conviction. Their faith reminds them that all things are possible to you who believe. They ask for victory, seek it in their preparation and planning, and knock against the impossible by taking action.
Understanding the true nature of the battle in life and career helps us develop the right mindset for victory.
Recalling past victories strengthens our faith, resolve, and courage.
Believing that we are in the right place at the right time, doing the right things with the right motivation brings the conviction to pray and not quit,
Great leaders move forward with confidence toward the impossible, believing that they will experience the fulfillment of their beliefs.
They are engaged in the battle with you! One great leader encouraged those following him to "Fear not for I am with you!"
A clean heart. A clear conscience. A confident mind.
This mindset ignites bravery and action in others by what they see in you.
"We become what we think about most of the time." Earl Nightingale
We see victory and refuse to quit or turn back and encourage others as we move forward.
Someone wisely said, "According to your faith be it done unto you."
When facing the impossible, remembering your faith, prayer, and past victories will give us the confidence we need to win!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Each of us has a pathway for our life and career journey. The exciting part of life is an awareness that there is a pathway for us as leaders.
Life presents challenges, tests, and trials that often keep us from discovering our pathway.
Every new job is a challenge - even for the most experienced leaders. Faith ignites the conviction, courage, and confidence needed to make it a great adventure.
It takes perseverance to keep going with the expectation that we will find our path, purpose, and plan for ourselves as leaders. Someone once encouraged us to keep on asking, seeking and knocking.
Persistence; not giving up matters. Believe it will open for us; if we don't quit.
Great leaders throughout history applied the principles they observed in the leaders in front of them. Today, a Summit Leader shared her faith in believing that she is here for a purpose and saw the challenges, doubts, and tests as opportunities to build her confidence and prepare her for more excellent leadership.
Leaders before us can provide the principles, show the evidence, and model responses that help us accelerate our growth and train us in rightly responding. Moses was considered one of the most outstanding leaders in ancient times; he modeled bold and courageous leadership for his assistant, Joshua.
He advised those he led to be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your hearts as long as you live. Great leaders throughout history are eager to teach others and help them go further and accomplish even greater works.
A great leader's pathway is narrow. Her belief, conviction, character, integrity, and determination enable her to keep going, from victory to victory.
With each victory, she grows and gains strength for the vital, the more significant challenges ahead. She understands that her life's purpose is not comfort but preparing for the maximum impact on those she meets on her path.
Whatever your opportunities, big and small, don't shrink back in unbelief but boldly and joyfully enter into each of them! Work heartily. There is a great reward when we stay on the path. It is far more than we can ask or imagine according to the power at work in us.
"Not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path."
It's a new season! It's a new day! As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.
Trust that staying true to your path will surely bring you a harvest.
Envision your path leading to an open door of great opportunity to impact IBM, new customers in new ways, your family, communities, and all those you serve on your journey. Our new territory is in front of us. One brave leader said, "Let us go up at once and take possession of it, for we will certainly conquer it."
Summit Leaders believe it!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! There is hope for all who aspire to do more outstanding works of service. Hope for the future is one of the most empowering attributes great leaders exercise in their lives.
"A leader is a dealer in hope." Napoleon Bonaparte
There are several critical benefits of hope in our thinking.
A leader's mental health matters immensely.
Life events, disappointments, the delayed realization of our vision become the "slow leaks" in our emotions.
The gradual effect is unnoticed until we recognize we are living a less than abundant life. Hope ignites our passion for the gift of life and career.
"Where there is hope... there is life." Anne Frank
When you summon hope, it helps your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. You then are most effective in the good works you are engaging.
Here are some of the health benefits of hope.
• Hope can reduce physical pain.
• Hope may boost circulation and respiration.
• Hope, optimism and a positive outlook help protect against chronic illnesses.
Psychology Today - The Health Benefits of Hope" by Andrea Bonior, Ph.D.
Great leaders throughout time discovered the impact of hope in their lives and leadership. Their example inspires those they meet and serve on their journey. People begin to see life with a fresh perspective through meeting them- they become the catalyst for a new vision.
With vision, people have discipline, focus, and meaning for every activity.
A new image of the future is an adventure to go where you have never gone before, do what you have not done before and attempt to accomplish the impossible.
In the process, a leader is transformed from fearful to brave, doubting to believing, wavering to decisive, stalled to activated by faith.
A great leader's optimism helps them see more positive potential outcomes and not overgeneralize the negative. Someone once said of Abraham, a great leader from ancient times, as someone who "In hope against hope he believed" so that he could become a transformational leader and accomplish great things.
Your life as a leader is having a ripple effect as you engage people with a clean heart, clear conscience, and confident mind.
Every family member, each new client, a friend, and someone you meet as you go is a "ripple effect opportunity."
The impact of great leaders' lives exponentially grows as they remain faithful in the small beginnings. Our words can be encouraging "I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you hope and a future."
As you go, "make new" becomes the new story you write. "Behold, I am doing something new. Now it springs forth, do you not see it."
Recently, I heard someone say, "I see it! I see it now!"
They were awakened to the new chapter and resolving to write their story with a new theme.
So it is with us, my friends. Wherever we find ourselves on the journey of life and career, we see it as the new season for impact, joy, and growth.
You are in the right place at the right time, doing the right things.
You are here for such a time as this! What story are you writing?
Great leaders are bold, strong, and carry out great exploits!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Be encouraged, my friends, because you are preparing now for the best!
I am always inspired when I speak with Summit Leaders and recently a group of IBM Summit Interns by their optimism about the future.
As I listen to their stories and journey thus far, it is impressive to see the leadership attributes they developed during times of challenge and testing. Qualities such as perseverance, persistence, practice, honesty, and vision are their leadership attributes.
Every great leader develops distinctive qualities by responding appropriately to their challenges on their life and career journeys.
Now, today is the day to prepare for the best in your life and career!
There is an excellent opportunity for significant and growing work that is open to us now. And there are many adversaries. Great leaders exercise their faith and step into the possibility.
Every time we receive a new opportunity, one of the wisest things we can do is think back on our journey and the faithfulness we experienced in gaining victory over fear, "imposter syndrome," doubt, and unbelief.
Remember, Reflect and Resolve.
Remember the victories won thus far. How did you respond then, and what is your best response now?
Reflect on the insights you gained along the way as you persevered, persisted, and practiced disciplines to win. One leader described being homeless for a while but persevered, kept her faith, completed school, and is now thriving as a college student and IBM intern.
Resolve to keep going and not quit. Never give up! is the attitude I repeatedly hear in the stories of Summit Leaders.
The opportunity is tremendous, and to whom much is given, much is required—faithfulness matters on the journey. One Summit Leader speaks of the disciplined practices that help him perform at his best and be adaptable to changing circumstances.
Preparing for the vision you have for the future is a step in faith great leaders take and encourage us to do the same.
"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" - Anne Frank.
Great leaders believe and are optimistic about the future. They envision their vision even during the most challenging of times. They have a confident assurance, and they encourage others as they go.
The open door ahead of us requires we step through by faith. It requires study to show ourselves approved—expecting, anticipating, and preparing for the best!
All the Summit Leaders I know are:
• Hard workers.
• Strive toward the extraordinary.
• Creative.
• Building skills and confidence to prepare for the best for themselves.
• The new clients they will serve.
• The communities where they live.
• Their families.
"The future is going to demand more of us than the past has demanded, and it is going to give us more in return. If we measure up to our job, if we give to this world everything that is in us, we shall get more in return in the future than we ever did in the past." - Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
"Foreseeing a Century of IBM Progress" Closing Address, 1932 One Hundred Percent Club. January 25, 1933, New York, NY.
Be encouraged, Summit Leaders! The best is coming. Let's get ready!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Many people seek the experience of a lifetime. Advertising attempts to portray it in ads and campaigns and catchy slogans.
Businesses promote the unique experience customers, and clients enjoy if they select their offerings and implement their solutions. The company that creates the "distinct experience" becomes the winner in the race for mindshare and market share.
Great companies seek to see what they do best from the perspective of those they serve. Great leaders seek to do the same thing.
The beauty of great leaders is their willingness to be a channel for others to learn from their failures and discoveries. Wise leaders seek to understand how experienced leaders accomplish great works.
Studying the principles of outstanding leadership requires patience and perseverance. It takes great effort. Someone once said, "Ask, and you receive what you need. Seek, and you will find what you are looking for and Knock, and it will be open to you."
How then can we create a distinctive experience? We first must experience it for ourselves to truly understand what is required.
Someone once said it is like finding a gold mine and deciding to devote yourself to this endeavor. Or like a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Think about the distinctive experience in your life and career journey.
What were the attributes that made it unique for you, your family, or customers?
Great leaders frequently take time to reflect on the distinctive experience.
We can discover, understand, and help others experience their "distinctive experience." Once we master this lifelong skill, our worth and impact become invaluable.
We see the lives of great leaders and great companies on display because others testify and promote the value of their service. Now is your time!
You will receive the favor and grace to co-create with our clients, friends, colleagues, and all you meet along our journey.
Our vision is to be the light of the world for all we serve. To be a group of leaders like a town built on a hill which all will see worldwide.
First, we examine our lives for the "distinct experience" characteristics, what causes them and how to recognize the opportunities for them on our life and career journey.
Everyone has a purpose for being born and our place of service where we are right now!
Here are some observations from great leaders seeking and finding "the distinct experience" in life and career.
- Visualize your purpose and vision. Picture it in your thinking. If you were watching yourself in a movie, what would you see?
- Mull it over. Think deeply about it. Why does it matter? As a man or woman thinks in the heart, so they are. Our brains have a default mode. When we don't focus our minds, our thinking wanders.
- Try it on! Picture yourself in the moment of your exceptional experience. You wear it like a custom-made garment, just for you.
- Pray over it. What actions do I need to take to make this my everyday experience?
- Rehearse it. Repeatedly thinking through your life, purpose, vision makes it stick.
Believe it! The best is yet to be!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
When we want to experience growth, obtain a higher goal, find purpose in life, and fulfillment, we look for leadership to help us on our way.
People observe your leadership every day.
Compassion, courage, and consistency are three qualities we see in leaders.
Compassion is a quality that enables a leader to see with their heart and respond to another's circumstances in the right way. Leadership sees, feels, and considers the best action to take on behalf of those they serve.
Most importantly, leadership intercedes on another's behalf.
Here's a quote describing one leader who acted in a crisis on behalf of others. "But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague stopped. So, he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time."
People remember your actions and appreciate you long after your acts of compassion, courage, and intercession in their lives.
Great leaders show compassion and act courageously on behalf of those they lead and serve. They have influence.
Each of us in our daily walk has influence and impacts the lives of many people. The big difference is that some are intentional, and others are unaware of the impact opportunity they have.
Wherever we engage with people is the opportunity window to influence them for good. How we show up as leaders matters.
People sense when someone is seeking to impact them for their benefit.
We remember these people many years after the kindness they gave us. We honor them in our character, conversation, and conduct by thinking of their examples.
We are encouraged to be mindful of those leading us—those who speak to you the word of encouragement, insight, and truth. Consider the outcomes of their leadership and way of life and imitate their faithful walk.
Great leaders exhibit consistency in their responses to daily challenges, opportunities, and how they engage with those they serve. When their answer is not their best, they seek to correct it and move forward. They take the initiative and desire to act in the best interest of all they serve.
Leaders who lead by example and impact see purpose and a calling to something greater. They engage you as a person. They communicate with passion, purpose, and meaning because they believe in you.
Change the climate and create an inspirational culture among those you work, live, and serve.
This journey will not be an easy one because of life's challenges, distractions, and unforeseen events.
Nevertheless, be committed to maintaining consistency in your quest to become the leader who desires and makes an impact by living a purposeful life.
I recall the quote of Gideon; a farmer turned war commander. He gained respect and influence with his army because of his calling and leadership. His army was willing to follow his example.
Then he said to them, "Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do." As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
They won a great victory that day and impacted a nation for forty years!
That is the impact you can have, "mighty warrior!"
"The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example." John Wooden.
Begin today! Many will benefit from your leadership!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice as you continue your career journey.
I recall a conversation with a Summit Leader in 2015. He said, "I want to be at IBM a long time!" He is now in a sales leadership role and committed to the career journey in IBM.
He is like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, yielding fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither, and all he does will prosper.
As I observed his growth over the years, I think we see three key attributes vital for a successful career journey—Conviction, Courage, and Confidence. We see these qualities in the lives of great leaders throughout history and business.
First, conviction is rooted in the belief that you are here for such a time as this, and being where you are is not an accident. In discussion with a new group of new IBM leaders, I asked the questions, "How many believe that you are supposed to be here?" "How many believe it is a coincidence that you are here?"
All of them believed that they were supposed to be here. Conviction is essential in accomplishing any significant work in life and business. It promotes perseverance during the difficulties and storms encountered on the journey and resiliency not to give up and not to quit.
Commitment is the "all-in" decision from a heart that believes. Commitment precedes power. With it, we move forward with Courage despite uncertainty and not fully knowing how it will come to pass.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear." - Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The focus of faith frees us from fear. Great leaders believe that the vision and purpose for their lives will produce more excellent works and outcomes. Their motivation is serving and helping others; family, clients, colleagues, community, the nation.
They have a conqueror's mindset. They are improving their skills, getting stronger and stronger as they move forward in faith. I'm not there yet, nor have I become perfect, but I am charging on to gain anything and everything in store for me.
Confidence builds as great leaders respond by faith and act day by day, decision by decision.
https://w3.ibm.com/careers/about-your-career-at-ibm/career
Here are some observations regarding the benefits of a career.
1. The conviction that you belong calms a restless spirit.
2. The commitment to keep going unifies a divided mind.
3. Protects us from premature actions when times get tough.
4. It enables us to focus on building and overcome distractions.
5. It empowers us to see the latter glory being more significant than the former glory.
6. It gives us opportunities to build the skills needed for expanded responsibilities in the future.
7. Experience greatness in serving others first and having proper priorities.
8. See and experience great victories with our colleagues, clients, and company.
9. Enjoy the rewards from your investment.
10. Fulfillment.
Great leaders develop a singleness of heart and action to seek first things first. They know that all these added benefits will surely come.
Someone once said, "No life grows great until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined."
Be encouraged! Your career matters for you and those you serve!
The best is yet to come! Though it tarries, please wait for it will surely come!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
In part 1, we heard from a Summit Leader enjoying his first ten years at IBM and his vision for the next ten years.
What's your strategy for resiliency? Great leaders focus on building a system in preparation for the inevitable challenges they know will come on their journey.
"Yes, I know. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I remember coming into IBM and sticking close to the adults in the room/mentors to learn enough to survive. Now when things get crazy, I look around and think, "I am the adult in the room." which is terrifying Ha-ha."
"Things are going well, though. IBM has been pretty good to me, and I'm looking forward to the next ten years!" Summit Leader.
It's beautiful to see leaders growing in their life and career. What will we all need to do to ensure the next ten years are more fruitful and prosperous?
How can we ensure we are building resiliency in our lives and business?
- Wisely choose where and how you will build your life, career, and business.
- Select your advisors and accountability partners wisely. Someone once said, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." "Walk with the wise and become wise, associate with fools, and get into trouble."
- Inspect your foundation regularly for structural integrity.
- Continue practicing the disciplines daily for successful building. Consistency in doing the right things has a compounding effect.
- Keep your vision and seek your purpose. "If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you." - Steve Jobs.
- Practice mindfulness. We use our five senses, Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch, to control our thinking. Being present, focused on the here and now, keeps us alert and allows us to concentrate on who we are - our identity.
- Volunteer in serving. In the process, we gain a sense of belonging, community, and connection.
Building delays are part of the process. Sometimes, things outside of the control of the builder require a pause. Weather conditions may cause delays.
Wise builders understand that delays are not denials.
Waiting is one of the hardest things to do when our vision for the building is in place, and the work is underway.
Why wait? Timing and perspective are vital in life, career, and business.
During the time of waiting, continue practicing what you know to do now.
Our inclement conditions are tests to strengthen our resiliency for the journey ahead when building resumes. Many believe that waiting tests our character.
"None of us can ever hope to get anywhere, to be of real use to ourselves, to our community or our country, unless we have the character, the moral courage, and the spiritual strength to accept responsibility. Strength of character is the one basic trait that will be found in all people who achieve greatness." - Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
Believe that the best is yet to be. Keep your vision. Expect, anticipate, and prepare for the realization of the dream.
It will surely come!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! Again I say rejoice.
Each of us has an opportunity to become master builders.
We are in the process of building lives, careers, and business.
One of the essential things needed is a strategy for building resilience for our life and career journey.
We will face challenges and storms in life and careers requiring us to have a solid approach to weather the conditions and emerge victoriously.
What's your strategy for resiliency? Great leaders focus on building the system in preparation for the inevitable challenges they know will come on their journey.
This week, I heard from a Summit leader who is celebrating ten years with IBM!
"Yes, I know. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I remember coming into IBM and sticking close to the adults in the room/mentors to learn enough to survive. Now when things get crazy, I look around and think, ‘I am the adult in the room.’ which is terrifying, Ha Ha.”
Things are going well, though. IBM has been pretty good to me, and I'm looking forward to the next ten years!" Summit Leader.
It's beautiful to see leaders growing in their life and career. What will we all need to do to ensure the next ten years are more fruitful and prosperous?
We will need to build a system and mindset through patience, perseverance, and practice.
Think about times when the challenges kept coming and seemed like they would not end, but they finished, and you were still standing strong and moving forward.
That's perseverance. The heart to keep going even when the way is hard.
Now, we are experiencing the challenge of COVID-19. Many are persevering and gaining strength as they go from others who have like mindsets.
Patience is another foundation stone needed in building resiliency for life and business.
Our Summit Leader reached the ten-year milestone by exercising patience.
Our vision for life sometimes takes twists and turns in ways we don't expect. Take courage and keep going forward.
Someone once said, "Though your vision tarries, wait for it will surely come."
Successful builders understand and employ principles in building structures, life, and business.
All of us are builders.
The most important part is the foundation. They take pains in ensuring that they build on a solid foundation.
Like our Summit Leader, a wise builder seeks wisdom from successful builders.
Someone shared an account of two types of builders.
"Anyone who listens and follows the principles given is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise, and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because the builder builds on bedrock.
Another builder does not apply the principles he hears and unknowingly builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods came, and the winds beat against that house, it collapses with a mighty crash."
Great leaders plan for resiliency on their life and career journey.
Next week we will look at some of the principles they followed in building successful lives, careers, and business.
Believe the best is yet to be!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Today, in business, we see leadership displayed through genuine caring for each other. Our emotions are significant drivers in our life and career success. Someone once said that "faith, hope, and love will remain, but the greatest of these is love."
Love is caring for another person. It is one of the most distinctive qualities of a leader. I am encouraged with Summit Leaders' expressing this type of heartfelt desire to see their colleagues, and ultimately our clients succeed.
It's fantastic to see love become part of our culture of caring for each other. The practice is not new. "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
The opportunity is ours when we begin building this mindset into everything we do. With practice, the response of love, doing things for others with the right motivation becomes hard-wired in our brains.
Love moves us to action and builds resiliency. When we love what we do, choose to express love for those we serve, work with and lead, transformation occurs.
Think of someone who demonstrates love through genuinely caring about you and your best interest. Seek to be that kind of person. Love is a character quality we admire and remember.
"Strength of character is the one basic trait, which will be found in people who achieve greatness." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
There is something about this type of leadership that changes the atmosphere wherever they go. People feel empowered by them and willing to give their best to the mission, the company, the family, and friendship. Love is a difference-maker in employee engagement and client satisfaction in the business.
People working in cultures where they feel free to express compassion and care for each other were more satisfied in their roles, committed to the organization, and accountable for performing with excellence.
Great leaders and growing leadership understand the impact of love in empowering people to overcome obstacles; "perfect love casts out fear" and enables one to perform at their best.
"Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love." –
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Great leaders practice the little actions of love. They give a warm smile, a kind note of appreciation, have a sympathetic ear. They persistently practice these habits daily and help create a culture of love, high employee engagement, productivity, and the leap in client satisfaction that comes with it.
Love is not a substitute for competency, hard work, discipline, and dedication. Love is a multiplier of these qualities in leadership.
Relationships are essential in business and life. Love is the highest level of a leadership relationship. From ancient times we are encouraged to "pursue love."
Love never fails. Be persistent.
So, how do we begin showing acts of caring motivated by love?
- Think about the other person first. How can I add value to their lives today? Sometimes, it can be in the tone of voice when we leave a voice message during a cold call campaign.
- Patience: Love is patient.
- Be honest, especially if there is a problem.
- Listen.
- Recognize love in others and seek to emulate it.
Be courageous and bold. Perfect love casts out fear!
Victory!
References:
1. "Employees Who Feel Love Perform Better" by Sigal Barsade and Olivia A. O'Neill, Harvard Business Review
2. SELDI PODCAST: "The 3 P's are invaluable. - Overcoming Worry."
a. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-3-ps-are-invaluable-overcoming-worry/id1339827812?i=1000436376408
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Congratulations on the skills and competencies you are developing in your life and career journey.
Great leaders seek to develop new skills and talents to better equip them for serving in a more impactful way.
One quality found in outstanding leadership is kindness.
What does this quality look like in leadership?
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can see." Mark Twain
Think about a time in your life when you experienced kindness from someone.
I recently talked with a service representative whose tone of voice, word choice, and presence echoed "kindness" to me at the end of our conversation.
Each of us recognizes kindness when we see it in others and when we receive it.
Kindness is a distinctive quality that favors those who exercise it in their relationships and contact with others.
Kindness enriches our conversations, voice messages, and engagement with everyone. It is a strong, vibrant, distinctive trait that we see modeled in great leaders.
It starts with an attitude of thoughtfulness because our minds are set on others, not on ourselves. We are sensitive to the needs of those around us and ready to offer help with our words or actions.
"Kind words don't cost much. Yet they accomplish much."
Henry James.
Early in my career, while my skills were developing, I recall relying on the characteristic of kindness I observed in my uncle. I called him "Dad" because he became a father figure to me after my father's passing in my early teenage years.
I attempted to emulate this with every encounter during my door-to-door selling for IBM in a remote territory. Eventually, I was promoted and continued the practice, even though I felt my skills were pretty good.
Kindness is sincere caring for the person and desiring their best interest. It is not a pushover or soft; instead, it seems to manifest itself as a strength in the person who practices showing kindness.
"Carry out a random act of kindness with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you." Princess Diana.
As we focus on skill-building and competency in our assignments, consider practicing kindness and compassion to one another.
Kindness is one of the best qualities we can have in life and business.
It can change everything. We are the channels.
Kindness can change the atmosphere where you live, work, and serve!
People always remember kindness.
Kindness is something we need, along with competency and sincerity.
People tend to trust, feel more comfortable, and are prone to listen when they detect kindness overflowing from a heart to serve.
Someone once said, "Don't ever forget kindness and truth. Wear these qualities like a necklace and inscribe them on your heart."
We reap what we sow. More than we sow. Later than we sow!
"Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out. It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away."
Abraham Lincoln
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
I love leaders who lead from the heart, challenge me to be my best, and live an example for me to follow.
Think of a leader who inspired you with just the right words, empathy and challenged you to accomplish the impossible! These are the women and men who impact the company, clients, families, and the world!
Each morning, I have a quiet time to reflect and prepare for the day ahead of me. As I refreshed my coffee, now lukewarm; by the way, I wouldn't say I like lukewarm coffee. Someone once said, "I wish you were either hot or cold."
To me, this speaks of passion for life and career. Passion shows!
Well, as I refreshed my cup of coffee, now really hot, this thought came to me. "Remember the truths and practice them even though they seem familiar and old."
I have kept a journal of my life and career journey since 1993. I write things in it so that I will not forget them. They are "Reminders that keep us strong."
I encourage you to start a journal. Write your thoughts with a pen on paper.
"Thoughts disentangle themselves over the lips... and through the fingertips. How true! The old gray matter increases its creases when you put it down on paper. A journal isn't a diary. It's more. A journal doesn't record what you do - it records what you think. It spells out your ideas, your feelings, your struggles, your discoveries, your dreams. In short, it helps articulate who you are."
Charles Swindoll
I remember talking with Chase, a Summit Leader who shared how his coach drilled certain truths about the game of football that he still remembers.
I remember my basketball coach who did the same thing for me.
Great leaders have a gift to say the right something at the right time that penetrates our souls during the heat of the battle. "Peace be to you."
I love this time of year; "March Madness" is closing in on the championship night. Notice when the coaches call time out.
They remind the players of "truths"; approaches to the game they have practiced repeatedly during practice sessions leading up to this game.
Our work today is the battle we face in winning against competition and taking share.
Our work is serving clients and gaining new customers through personal excellence and unity.
I recall the huddles during a time-out. Kelsey, a Summit Leader, describes it as "our group together even though there are sixty thousand watching."
Even the best players need reminding.
The best sellers, leaders; all of us benefit from the reminders of things we know but may not be applying to the best of our abilities.
One great leader said, "Therefore, I will always remind you of these things, even though you already know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have."
"A daily practice plan should be prepared and followed. If you fail to follow the program on one thing, it may affect others. If you planned poorly, make the corrections for the following day.”
John Wooden
So, here is our challenge to stay strong this year and beyond.
- Remember the truths you know for life and career.
- Write them down so you will not forget.
- Make them visible in your work environment as a reminder. "Post It" is your friend.
- Execute them daily and consistently.
Now that we know this truth, how happy we will be if we put it into practice.
We don't rise to our goals, but fall to the level of our disciplines practiced consistently.
Summit Leaders, be strong therefore and of good courage, and do it.
For your work shall be rewarded!
Your outcome will be victorious.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
I am so grateful to be associated with a group of leaders who exhibit conviction, courage, and confidence.
Great leaders overcome the enemies of fear, doubt, and unbelief continually on their daily life journey and career.
A Summit Leader inspired me with his recounting of daily victories he enjoys. The renewing of his mind is transforming him into his vision of becoming "the best version of myself."
He smiles, and his countenance shines as he recalls the tough challenges he overcame, such as doubting his ability to create value and make an impact with our customers and clients.
He is taking the time to journal and document his progress. He shows me his journal entitled "Look, Do, and Be your best."
He impacts his team and clients through his skills and continues practicing to get better and stronger.
I love his can-do attitude, which is symbolic of all Summit Leaders!
He, like all of us, believes that we are here for such a time as this.
He understands that there is a process to follow, and perseverance, patience, and practice are essential in accomplishing the "good things" ahead.
In the last decade of life, John Wooden, considered to be one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, was asked what he missed most about coaching. His one-word answer? "Practice."
In his book, Win Day By Day, Mark Batterson shares insight into the focus of practice by the late Kobe Bryant. During an interview, someone questioned Kobe about what they believed to be a fundamental, very dull workout. Kobe said, "Why do you think I'm best in the world? I don't get bored with the basics." Page 116
Excellent skills and abilities occur through consistency in practicing the disciplines necessary for success.
Our Summit Leader summarized his mindset with the 3 R's: Reflect, Rewards, Routines.
Reflect: "I appreciate the work I have put into my growth."
Rewards: "I allow myself space and time to enjoy my little victories" - For example, he takes a nice walk alone and does a little painting or other low-intensity activities.
Routines: "When I select specific habits and do them, I feel in tune with my purpose. I enjoy the small wins each day. I feel like a champ!
Now that he is enjoying success, I admire his humility.
He is thinking about serving others more than himself.
Someone wisely said, "Pride comes before destruction. Humility comes before honor."
He is focusing on the need he sees for maintaining balance and setting proper priorities. He is enjoying harmony and peace.
From ancient times, great leaders practiced essential disciplines and principles and accomplished great works in serving others.
In leading, don't let kindness and truth leave you; bind them on your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart. Somehow, this approach wins.
David, a king during ancient times, is a great example. He is known as a great leader. Someone said,
"He cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands. He is a man after my own heart."
You are victorious!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Mentors.
Thank you for being a mentor!
How great it is to see that you are giving yourselves away for the good of others.
Whenever you invest your time, talent, experiences, insights, and gifts for others' good, you are positioning yourself for reward in return.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is the golden rule for lasting relationships.
Everyone remembers the people who mentored them on their life and career journey. It could be a sports coach, a colleague at work, a friend, or a relative.
We are incredibly thankful to you as a mentor. You touch new leaders' future and influence our company, family, and clients' outcomes when engaging in growing new talent.
You can anticipate and expect a return on your investment in ways that may not appear immediately, but the return is sure to come.
"We reap what we sow—more than we sow. Later than we sow." is called the Law of the Harvest.
Think about the people who came into your life at just the right time. They believe in you and envision the impact you will have on others as you go.
Summits are grateful for their mentors. Not only are you shaping new leaders, but you are also giving of yourself in kindness to someone new to the family.
Mentorship is occurring all across our company.
We are learning new insights from those whose experience enlightens us and prepares us for business and life success.
What are the Proteges saying?
"Maggie and I have been connecting weekly, and I have made a lot of progress towards the goals we detailed in the beginning. She is a very trusted mentor to me! I look forward to continuing my relationship with her throughout my career." - Summit Leader.
"This has been a great relationship all the way around. I have learned so much about our business, our goals, and the general challenges of being a seller. Betty has been wonderful." - Summit Leader.
"My mentor is great. He is smart. He knows IBM well. He is dedicated and there when I need to ask him something." - Summit Leader.
Good mentors are "difference makers." That's why our best is yet to be!
Here are some of the characteristics we see in Summit Mentors.
• "A good mentor is a worthy example."
• "A good mentor is available."
• "A good mentor has proven experience."
• "A good mentor possesses wisdom."
• "A good mentor provides friendship and support."
John C. Maxwell, The 15 INVALUABLE LAWS OF GROWTH.
Our growth plan is coming to pass this year and beyond!
Someone once said, "Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back - given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity."
Thank you for everything you do as a mentor.
You are an encouragement and inspiration to those you mentor. Your "good works" could have taken place years ago, this week, or will occur in the future.
Start expecting and anticipating the outcome of your service to others.
Your reward will appear at just the right time!
We appreciate you!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! Again, I say rejoice. You are moving in the right direction.
Someone once stated, "Guard your heart about all else, for it determines the course of your life."
This year can be our best year! We are working with all our heart, with the right motives and balanced priorities.
Our heart includes our thinking, will, and emotions. Balance is essential.
Every day we are being pulled in too many directions to count. We are trying to get more done in a fixed amount of time. All this requires us to prioritize what is of most importance to us a leader.
Leadership requires that we are intentional about what we allow to dominate our thinking.
"We become what we think about most of the time." Earl Nightingale
Studying the lives of great leaders reveals that they first cultivated themselves in light of service to others. The overflow produces favor, success, and acclaim.
Great leaders seek first to know who they are, have a purpose and vision for the impact they desire to have on their life and career journey.
What we seek first tends to dominate our responses to life and opportunities.
When a great leader's vision and purpose center on serving others, it is called "servant leadership."
Martin Luther King, Jr., Sam Walton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nelson Mandela, and Maya Angelou are examples.
As we build skills, invest time and money to support our life and career journey, focus on who we are serving and why.
• What will be the outcome for them when we are successful?
• Will their success have a ripple impact on the lives of others?
• How can I build up those I serve and lead for sustained growth and renewable results?
It's "The never-ending quest; to serve more people at a deeper level."
• page 140, Serve to Lead 2.0, 21st Century Leaders Manual - James Strock
Great leaders seek to live balanced lives through a heart motivated by the right reasons. A balanced and integrated life can lead to sustainability and longevity of service.
Competency grows when we focus our time, energy, gifts, and talents for the benefit of our family, clients, friends, and community.
Consider the outcomes of great leaders. Their legacy is rooted in the relationships they built and the connections they made with people.
"Everybody can be great because Everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Leaders demonstrate conviction, courage, and confidence in serving others. They are empowered because they believe in their heart, and out of the abundance of the heart, they speak.
Leaders seek first to prepare their hearts for the mission and strive to live balanced, fruitful lives.
Great leaders seek first to serve, and the overflow affects every area of their lives.
Choose whom you will serve. The people who know who they serve will display strength and take action!
If anyone wishes to be great, let them become servants to all.
Growth for ourselves, clients, and our company are our goals.
Greatness is our mission!
Victory!
Reference:
"Plan for Victory 2021!":
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/seldi/episodes/2020-12-30T16_06_25-08_00
"Preparing for service - Plan for Victory 2021!" - Part 2
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/seldi/episodes/2021-01-06T16_02_43-08_00
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
I am grateful to be associated with a team that promotes trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships.
Many benefits come through trust.
"People buy from people they like, respect, and trust." Summit Leader
Trust is necessary to influence and credibility, which empowers companies, industry, and relationships.
One of our core value statements is "Trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships."
Steven Covey highlights practical steps in building trust and seeing the impact on outcomes.
"Contrary to what most people believe, trust is not some soft, illusive quality that you either have or you don't; rather, trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create - much faster than you probably think." - Steven Covey The Speed of Trust - The One Thing That Changes Everything.
Trust is a distinctive quality of every great leader.
Great leaders build trust with all they serve and lead. It's been said, "By yourself, you're unprotected. With a friend, you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped."
- Trust in themselves and others.
To be trusted, we first had to trust in ourselves. Our credibility grows as we believe in our ability to impact results and that our motivation is sincere.
"When trust is high, the dividend you receive is like a performance multiplier, elevating and improving every dimension of your organization and your life." Steven Covey The Speed of Trust - The One Thing That Changes Everything.
Character and competence are foundational. Our character includes integrity and motivation. Covey suggests a proven approach to testing our cause by asking ourselves why we want or don't want to do something and then ask why that is our answer. Making our motives and intent known builds trust.
- Trust in others and earn influence.
Leaders extend trust and build trust in their relationships. Trust sows trust and reaps trust in return.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States and our country's leader during a moral and political crisis, embodies the trusted quality. He worked to earn the trust of those he served.
"If you trust, you will be disappointed occasionally, but if you mistrust, you will be miserable all the time."
— Abraham Lincoln
- Trust in providence and impact the world.
One person can be the catalyst for trust in a nation, company, and relationships.
The culture becomes one of high-trust, sharing information, collaboration, and a spirit of cooperation in accomplishing our mission - making IBM the most trusted technology partner of the 21st century.
The value is recognized by clients worldwide. The growth is part of the overflow.
So, what should be our next steps?
"Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then you grab the initiative and do it for them."
It is required [as essential and demanded] of stewards that one be found faithful and trustworthy. Time and providence take care of the rest!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
If anyone leads, let them do so with diligence.
Leaders that connect, uplift, engage and make an impact always have four key attributes.
They are diligent.
They lead.
They care.
They win.
In his book, Lead. Care. Win. - How to Become a Leader Who Matters
Dan Pontefract points out that successful leaders make themselves relatable, practice humility, and show care and respect for the people they lead and serve.
Here are some insights that he emphasizes. They describe some of the best leaders I know and the ones who made the most impact on my life and career.
Leaders who are transparent, honest, and caring inspire collaboration and teamwork.
Pontefract encourages us to embrace transparency and honesty in all our relationships and extend empathy to those we lead and serve.
A Summit Leader shared with me his observations over the last eighteen months on his journey. He is engaging clients with this mindset and gaining momentum for the outcomes we want together with our clients.
He is diligent in showing himself approved by clients through study, knowledge, wisdom, and grace. He is confidently focusing on meeting the desires of his clients.
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. you fall to the level of your systems." page 27, Atomic Habits - James Clear
"You have a responsibility to think about and define what you are working toward and the impact you might make." - Dan Pontefract.
Our belief that clients will enjoy freedom and security from IBM’s approach allows us to embrace change as the constant.
"Your capacity for growth and role success is commensurate with your willingness to embrace change because, within change, there is the opportunity." Dan Pontefract
We look not only at our interests but also the interests and outcomes of others. The win is the outcome.
Caring for others is a vital part of flourishing during change.
• Conviction is a reminder that we are here for such a time as this.
We can keep going when the battle is hard and challenging.
• Authenticity allows us to be transparent. We are not afraid to admit our failures, not knowing all the answers but are still committed to the best outcomes.
• Responsibility helps us see that our success means freedom and security for those we are helping.
• Enthusiasm empowers us to keep believing and lifting others as we go. We believe that our work matters to those we serve. The outcomes are well worth the effort required to finish what we start.
Keep on asking. Keep on believing. Keep on seeking the best.
Leaders sacrifice selfish ambitions by lifting others, sharing their knowledge, and collaborating for the best results.
"Sharing is at the very heart of leading." Dan Pontefract.
A great benefit is you feel good! Giving away information and knowledge to help others will release the hormones dopamine and oxytocin. (They're the kind of hormones that make you feel good.) p. 118 Lead Care Win by Dan Pontefract
We will reap what you sow, more than you sow and later than you sow.
"We're all working together; that's the secret." - Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
We are climbing to reach our summit as leaders in business and life. There are parallels to the actual climb in our lives and on Mt Everest.
Recently, I listened to Alison Levine, the author of On the Edge - Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments
share insights that helped her lead a team in reaching the summit of Mt. Everest.
Your vision, our company's vision, and our clients' needs call us to the climb. The attributes of teamwork, flexibility, humility, agility, trust, and commitment are essential to a successful ascent.
Their commitment empowers great leaders.
Why? They understand that their success will impact themselves and others who are watching and following them.
Teamwork can blend hard work, individual skills, talents, and gifts to pursue and attain the goal. Their care for each other enables them to become like-minded, love each other, being in one accord and one mind in sharing the same vision.
Acclimatization, as we climb, is essential. It requires you to go backward before you climb higher. Here is how the process works.
Climbing Mt. Everest involves going back to prepare to go higher. You start the climb from base camp to Camp 1, which is around 19,500 feet. The team spends the night at this elevation and descends back to base camp.
The next stage requires climbing to Camp 2, which is around 21,000 feet, staying there for a while, and then returning to base camp.
This process of staggering your ascent is preparing your body to climb higher by gradually acclimatize to lower oxygen levels at these elevations.
Practiced patience and perseverance enable us to keep going when we cannot see the summit. We lift our eyes to the hills - from where does our help come?
Perhaps our first attempt is not yielding the results we hoped for; we are still moving forward.
"Leadership involves compensating for your weakness and helping other people do the same for themselves." Alison Levine, ON THE EDGE
We use this time of acclimating to review our steps, practice for the next ascent, collaborate to build our knowledge and wisdom, which prepare us to go higher.
The practiced patience is similar to a top-performing team repeating the fundamentals of their sport.
Here are three contributors to a successful climb.
1. Perspective: A victory mindset understands when it is wise to wait. Think about who we are and what we will become. Envision the vision!
2. Purpose: The reason for the climb is the fulfillment of the call. Many benefit from your success and growth.
3. Passion: Revival occurs when we ignite the right motivation and gain new strength for going higher.
Commitment is empowering. Being committed activates all the resources you will need for the journey. What's needed will come to us at just the right time.
Our job is to stay in step with the process.
Keep the faith.
Summit Leaders - Let's keep climbing!
We will experience the glory of the summit!
Victory!
Reference:
SELDI Career Principle 2: The 3 P’s are invaluable. – Patience, Perseverance, Practice.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-3-ps-are-invaluable-overcoming-worry/id1339827812?i=1000436376408
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
In 1999 I received a memento during a meeting recognizing a group of people for their volunteering efforts. I did not realize the magnetic keepsake held advice that would change my life and business career. I placed it on my refrigerator.
Now, over twenty years later, I see it as one of the most valuable insights in my career. The quote on the refrigerator was there for years before I began to see the highlighted value of wisdom. "I love those who love me, and those who seek me early will find me."
In my early career as a seller, I felt the need to rush to action. My zeal was an attribute that needed the knowledge to help. However, I could not create value and lasting partnerships in business with my clients even with this combination.
In 2001, I began intentionally asking myself this question; "What is the wisest thing to do at this time?"
Asking this question became a habit in my business and life. I wish I could say I consistently practiced this discipline in every circumstance. But I began noticing my decision making and timing associated with winning were improving.
There is an enormous opportunity for focused, dedicated, and disciplined leaders. Wisdom and timing are game changers.
Wisdom is the principal thing. Please make acquiring it a priority on your journey.
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. encouraged a group of leaders during a pivotal point in our history with this statement on July 12, 1932.
"In these times, all businesses are looking for something that will aid them. Do not forget that you will need something in addition to knowledge. You must have wisdom.
Without wisdom, knowledge is useless. Wisdom is the power that enables us to make practical use of our knowledge." p. 34 The World's Greatest Salesman.
Here are several observations that may help us apply the wisdom so vital in winning the battles of life and business.
Develop a habit of asking yourself, "What is the wise thing to do now?" - Become thoughtful in consideration of the timing and desired outcome.
"Whenever you face a problem repeatedly, your brain begins to automate the process of solving it. Your habits are just a series of automatic solutions that solve the problems and stresses you face regularly. Clear, James Atomic Habits (p. 45).
Discipline your thinking by applying knowledge and wisdom in building value and a differentiated client experience.
The process will allow us to decide based on the combination of knowledge, experience, and intuitive understanding.
Wisdom is for big things and little things. Wisdom is for every part of life. All the little things and habits add up to make our life what it is.
So, I encourage you today, seek out the truths that wisdom offers and apply them to your business and life. Put wisdom to work in your heart, thinking, home, family, and serving clients in a distinctive fresh way. Exalt wisdom, and it will promote you and bring you favor.
Try it! Your outcomes will be long-lasting.
Victory!
Reference:
“Timing in Life and Business”
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/seldi/episodes/2020-10-21T18_48_07-07_00
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"They were all gathered together in one accord." Suddenly, like a rushing wind, something happened.
They are empowered to accomplish the extraordinary.
Seven thousand three hundred ninety gathered together virtually on Monday, February 1, 2021, to hear from executive sales leaders share the plan for victory in 2021.
What a glorious day and a new beginning!
Unity starts in one person who believes. They are single-minded and stable in all their ways. They set their face like flint on the objective.
Others join the quest and become one in vision, purpose, one message, and one mind - they are in accord.
"I have unwavering confidence in our strategy." Arvind Krishna, IBM CEO
Then someone responded, "Thank you for your leadership and unwavering confidence in our strategy! We believe and will act."
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Our mission is to become "the undisputed leader in Hybrid Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI)."
"I believe we can make IBM the most trusted technology partner of the 21st century." Arvind Krishna, IBM CEO.
Belief is a powerful principle! When we believe, we take action.
Faith without works is dead. But with faith, all things are possible to those who believe!
Reaching our clients is essential to their success and prosperity in the days ahead.
Just before Normandy's invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944, World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower's determination that operation OVERLORD (the invasion of France) would bring success is evident in this message to the Allied Expeditionary Forces troops.
"I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!" - General Dwight Eisenhower.
"Order of the Day" - statement as issued to the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force on June 6, 1944 [Museum Manuscripts transferred to the Library FY69, Box 1; NAID #12000995]
You make progress with every action you take. Keep engaging your clients. "Calls plus demos equal sales." Take action every day. Believe you will win day by day. Faith sees the end from the beginning. We fight from Victory, Not for Victory.
"True behavior change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you'll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity. Anyone can convince themselves to visit the gym or eat healthy once or twice, but if you don't shift the belief behind the behavior, then it is hard to stick with long-term changes. Improvements are only temporary until they become part of who you are."
Clear, James. Atomic Habits (p. 34). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Who are we?
We are skilled, devoted, and courageous.
You are victorious!
"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
What you think about and consistently act on matters because it forms the basis of whom you will become.
Victory!
Reference:
Principle 7: The 3 F's for Eminence - Focus, Faithfulness, Favor
Podcast Link
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/seldi/episodes/2018-03-14T18_45_58-07_00
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
When you are encouraged, strengthen those you serve.
Desire and seek the best for others: colleagues, clients, family, community, and nations.
Why do this?
Yesterday, a senior sales executive encouraged me with this statement. "Do the right thing, and the right things will happen. We have been here before; stay together. First, and most importantly, we will look out for each other."
Someone wisely stated a principle that came to my mind as he spoke.
"Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full -- pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."
Encouragers are vital to the growth of any enterprise and family. Behind every great accomplishment, some are encouraged and empower others to be the same. Encouragement is atomic and eternal.
In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear speaks of repeatedly doing the little things until they become habits that transform us.
"An atomic habit refers to a tiny change, a marginal gain, a 1 percent improvement."... — a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do but also the source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth."
Yesterday, during a conversation with a Summit Leader, we discussed daily disciplines that are atomic and eternal. The benefits start now and keep going and going.
"Remember… start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never, ever give up—if you do these things, then you can change your life for the better… and maybe the world!" William McRaven's book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World
Encouragers create a legacy that reproduces and impacts others throughout all generations.
You are where you are to be an encourager for such a time as this.
An encourager brings hope, confidence, and assurance to others that they can make it.
"A leader is a dealer in hope." Napoleon Bonaparte
"Hope is the most powerful force in the universe. With hope, you can inspire nations to greatness. With hope, you can raise up the downtrodden. With hope, you can ease the pain of unbearable loss. Sometimes all it takes is one person to make a difference."
William McRaven's book Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World
One thing we learn as leaders is this; everybody needs hope and encouragement.
You endure hardships. After all, we know that our perseverance will impact many because we look beyond what they can see now to the more extraordinary things that are still to come. "Take courage it is I. Do not be afraid." are encouraging words. Our words matter.
In the process, we grow, and our capacity to lead fulfilling and fruitful lives expands exponentially. It is atomic and eternal!
I invite you to encourage someone daily!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Every day is a battle for leaders who wish to reach their maximum potential. When we understand the nature of the battle, we can win day by day. The battlefield is our thinking and what we believe.
Faith is a distinguishing attribute that enables ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary works as we serve our clients, families, communities, and nations.
What happens when we believe?
Those leaders who believe can set examples for others to follow.
"One person with belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interest."
How can we ignite our faith and win the struggles we face daily as leaders?
Remember when you believed. : Recall a circumstance that appeared impossible, yet the results worked out for good. We win the daily battles in our thinking and a "Victory Mindset."
Consider keeping a journal of your life and career journey and victories. Review them regularly. Your review of past accomplishments will bolster your confidence.
Here is a personal one I want to share with you.
"It's impossible to win this opportunity." My colleague shared his perspective following our meeting with the VP of Global Supply Chain outside my client's global headquarters. "You will have to do something crazy to overcome the competition and win this."
So, I prayed. "I've sold my house, moved to this city to take this assignment and this account. Please help me."
Within months, our company acquired the leading firm. We won the largest contract in my twenty-eight years of serving our clients.
We fulfilled our client commitments, and the delivery team earned the "Service Excellence Award" for exemplary customer service!
Believing emboldens us to set more significant goals to impact those we serve more confidently. Our energy and enthusiasm are kindled.
Think about the life of one person whose faith inspires you to believe. Remember your leaders, those who spoke words of truth to you, consider the outcomes of their lives and imitate their faith.
"Believe. No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."
- Helen Keller
Resolve: Be determined to keep going and fight for the best interests of those you lead and serve. Be strong and persevere, for your work will be rewarded.
Leaders understand that the enemy is in our thinking. They seek to influence others for the right motives. They care for the good of those they serve.
Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, an anti-Apartheid icon, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is an example of the power of selflessness, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and serving others.
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
Victory is won first in the heart and then our mind. As a man or woman thinks in their heart, so they are.
You are victorious!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice, my friends. Again, I say, rejoice!
You completed a challenging year, and now you stand on the edge of a promising journey ahead. Someone once said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I kept the faith." All of this is true for you!
Now, in 2021 we are ready to do and see more wondrous works than ever before.
"We can find a way to win." is the exhortation given by an IBM executive to a group of Summit Leaders on their graduation day from Global Sales School last week.
Yesterday, I listened while these Summit Leaders reflected on what they learned about themselves as leaders in 2020.
"It didn't click the first day, but I developed good friends, who became great partners over time, and we created a positive environment that allowed us to grow, even in a virtual circumstance." Summit Leader
"Attitude. 90% was how we reacted to our circumstances by creating an environment of caring for each other." Summit Leader
Great leaders are ordinary people who discover their pathway and purpose and walk by faith in their life and career journey. They believe that they can accomplish more excellent works. Through perseverance, patience, and practicing discipline, they build resilience and the ability to adapt.
Here are some observations we see in great leaders we can employ to set goals and live by faith in 2021.
1. Be bold, be strong, and take action. Set goals that will stretch you beyond your capacity. It will help you do the best you can and rely on providence to fulfill the plan.
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Extend your reach. Plan to affect more impact through the goals you set. Ask; "What is the priority of my life, and how should I invest my talents, gifts and skills, and resources?Ask, and it will be given to you.
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Expand your vision and exercise your faith. Seek new ways to accomplish the greater good for others first. Believe that all things are possible, and you can find a way to win.
Think about your victories last year, reflect on the conviction, courage, and confidence you now have.
Commit to your plan and take the first step. Commitment precedes power. Walk by faith and not by sight.
Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain in the 1940's, understood that each of us has a unique contribution to make.
From the beginning, his vision focused on one outcome against the enemy: Victory! This "Victory Mindset" is renewed thinking with power, love, and a sound mind to take action.
The "Victory mindset" is the attitude of Summit Leaders for the months and years ahead.
"What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; without victory, there is no survival." Winston Churchill
And so, it is with us in 2021 and beyond.
Be strong and courageous! For those with us are greater than those who are with them!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
You are encouraging and inspire others by your commitment to growth.
"You are ready for the next phase. There are still some things you have to work on, but you are ready." I heard yesterday as a senior sales advisor provided feedback to a group of Summit Leaders.
They have focused, dedicated, and disciplined themselves for over 148 days of intense training and preparation for their assignments.
A growth mindset is one they adopted months and even years ago.
Now, more than ever, leadership requires that we embrace this way of thinking.
Do not be conformed to old patterns of thinking.
Become a transformed leader by renewing your mind; how we think.
Prepared for service includes three fundamental mindset principles.
Clean heart: The heart or the core of our being will affect how we see and respond to opportunities. What is motivating me to want to grow?
Why am I planning to take these actions? These are essential questions to answer.
They will energize us for the hard work ahead.
Clear Conscience: Knowing your motives are pure and your intentions are right enables us to envision as we plan. Also, ensuring that all our relationships are as much as depends on us, without contention. The higher we climb, the lighter our load needs to be.
Confident mind: Freedom in our heart and thinking empowers us to be bold, brave, and courageous to accomplish even greater works.
This winning way of thinking recognizes the reality of the challenges ahead and chooses to believe all things are possible.
Great leaders believe their abilities grow through dedication, focus, and disciplined hard work, and that your mind and talents are just the starting point.
This thinking looks to the ant as a parallel to their journey.
Someone wisely suggested; "go to the ant, consider its ways and be wise! Though it has no ruler or commander or overseers, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest."
"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be." — Admiral James Stockdale.
We know that progress will not come easy in the months and years ahead. Yet, choose to practice disciplines that make you stronger and stronger as you go. Commitment precedes power.
Please take this perspective.
1) Recognize progress over time means noticing how you or others have improved versus evaluating how you performed at a single point in time. It offers a new way of thinking, encourages a positive and constructive way of examining setbacks.
2) Encourage others in their going forward ensures that they will reach out when they need help, without the fear of looking incompetent.
3) Experiment with new approaches by observing habits in great leaders and adopting them in your growth plans in the coming months.
Now is the best time to start!
Victory
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning." Thomas Edison
On December 27, 2001, I began intentionally setting time over several days to plan for the next year. Throughout my career, I observed and even participated in the process of planning in our company. However, around the twenty-five-year milestone of my career, I began to apply the discipline to my life and career journey.
This week of planning for 2021 has insights I would like to share with you.
“Plan for Victory 2021!” is a two-step process.
This week I set aside several days with a pen and notebook dedicated to journaling.
My objective included time for reflection, renewal, and resolve.
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Reflect: We live in one of the busiest times in history. We have to take time to get by ourselves and think through our life and career journey thus far. For example, recalling this past year's events that resulted in a personal victory for you can help turn what appeared to be random occurrences into insights as you "connect the dots" during this planning time. The insights are valuable affirmations that we are moving in the right direction despite the circumstances.
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Renew: They that take the time to wait are refreshed and gain new strength like an eagle. They can run as needed and not get weary. They can walk as required and not grow faint. Why? There is something about rehearsing our accomplishments that invigorate our minds and bodies for the journey ahead. We gain hope and confidence for the future.
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Resolve: Conviction; knowing that you are in the right place, at the right time, and doing the right things empowers leaders to withstand the challenges and delays in the fulfillment of their vision. Remember, delays are not denials. The valley experiences are development opportunities. When you plan, you are saying, "I will make the most out of this valley experience and gain the necessary skills needed to go onward on my life and career journey." These leaders think about those around them, such as family, colleagues, and clients.
They ask, how can I become a refreshing spring to those whom I encounter on my pathway? They seek to encourage on their quest.
Great leaders are intentional in impacting the lives of everyone they meet on their journey. When they walk through the valley of weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains clothe it with blessings.
Take time during your planning to review your written vision statement, and the leadership attributes you are employing to serve others, and those aspirational qualities you are developing.
You may sense it necessary to refine your vision. Take action.
"Write the vision, make it plain on paper so that the one who reads it may run." Writing to run is preparing for victory!
"Make time for planning: Wars are won in the general's tent." Stephen R. Covey
The best is yet to come! Believe it!
Victory
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"In hope against hope, he believed." is a great quote describing one man's response to what appeared to be an impossible set of circumstances. How can we respond when bad times come? Don't stop believing!
Keep your perspective that the best is yet to come.
The dark moments in our life and career journey only last long enough to accomplish our preparation to serve and lead.
Ask yourself, what can I learn from this refining experience; COVID-19 pandemic, virtual work and training, quarantine, and the list goes on?
Recently, a Summit alum shared his experience in a Harvard class focusing on leadership in sales. "My takeaway was that sellers who are optimistic are more productive than those who are not."
He shares insights from the book, Learned Optimism, How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, by Martin E. P. Seligman.
An optimist believes that permanent conditions cause good events and that bad events result from temporary factions.
Optimists are realistic; they contemplate the facts and do not deny that the circumstances are challenging, and the road to victory can be months or even years ahead.
They have "self-talks" that affirm their growth and overcoming. Optimists go on the attack in their thinking against every negative thought not aligned with their vision and purpose.
During the challenging days, months, and years ahead, resolve to be faithful in your responsibilities to others and loyal to your company.
Remember the story of the ruler who gave talents to three servants. To one, he gave five. To another, he gave two, and to another, he gave one talent.
He then went on a long journey.
While he was away, the first two servants went to work immediately and doubled their talents.
Upon his return, they gave the ruler an excellent report on how they each doubled their talents.
The ruler's response, "Well done, good and faithful servants, You have been faithful over little, now I will make you ruler over much. Celebrate with me."
Finally, the servant with one talent gave this account. "I was afraid, so I buried your talent in the ground, and here it is."
The ruler was furious and ordered the servant cast out of his kingdom.
One of the story's messages is to stay loyal and faithful to the company you serve.
Use your talents for their benefit and their growth.
Your reward will be great.
Here are three quotes on hope for the optimistic.
"A leader is a dealer in hope." - Napoleon Bonaparte.
"In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice...the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man." - Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you! - Charles Swindoll.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Yesterday, groups of Summit leaders participated in Capstone Projects event. Their Capstone presentation is a significant milestone on their journey in preparing for their new roles. They were remarkable in displaying creativity, collaboration, innovation, and applying the skills learned during their Summit training.
What makes this even more remarkable is they accomplished this during one of the most challenging times in our lifetime with the COVID-19 pandemic and all virtual training and learning.
They turned their obstacles into opportunities!
How did they do it?
They did it through patience, perseverance, and practice while acquiring a more incredible skill of resiliency.
I recall meeting with many of them months ago as they began preparing for their journey.
Now, as they look back on their accomplishments, they hear, "What are you, O mighty mountain?" Before those who prepare, "you will become a level plain." They bring out the capstone!
Their pathway forward is similar to that of great leaders before them. In the process of exercising the disciplines and habits for greatness, they are transforming. They are developing a system of practices. Someone once said, "the art of living is spending our time wisely."
I spoke with one Summit leader who is practicing a new set of disciplines that are becoming habits. She shares some insights from one of her favorite books, Atomic Habits by James Clear.
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Your habits affect who you are and become. Habits are like wind. You don't see it, but you see its effects.
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A habit is a reoccurring, repetitive behavior you perform so often that it becomes automatic.
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Align your habits with your vision and long term goals.
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The impact of small things done well over time can have a significant effect.
Patience, perseverance, and practice are invaluable. Michael Jordan, considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time, highlights his maniacal focus on practicing being his secret to incredible performances.
"Every day in practice was like a competition, so when the game comes, there is nothing that I have not already practiced... it's a routine. Whatever happens in the game now, okay, I have done this before." Michael Jordan
I encourage you to begin developing your atomic habits in creating your growth plan. As you go, count it all joy in knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and in your perseverance, you are growing.
Some of the results are a glad heart, cheerful countenance, optimism, and prepared for what lies ahead. You are ready to serve. Go forward in faith.
The wise are hungry for knowledge. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. They will have honor and influence.
We are like those great leaders before us in that we believe the best is yet to come!
We are expecting, anticipating, and preparing now!
Someone wisely said, "Rejoice! Again, I say, rejoice! You are here for such a time as this!"
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
It is possible to finish strong this year!
It is possible to start best for next year!
It all starts within us as leaders. Recently, in a conversation with a Summit Leader, she shared her admiration of the leader from ancient times named Daniel. She admires his courage, conviction, and confidence despite the incredible challenges he faced in his career and life journey.
The essential qualities of leadership were faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.
Daniel proved himself to be more capable, developed extraordinary abilities, and accomplished much during his life and career.
He practices integrity in all his affairs. He received honor and promotion from three different kings.
When you see men and women diligent in their business, you can predict that they will stand before kings; they will not stand before mean men.
In all labor, there is profit. We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow.
When studying the practices of great leaders from the past, we ask three essential questions.
What did it mean during the time of his leadership? What does it mean now, and how can I apply the principles to my career and life journey?
Here are four steps to consider as you think about finishing strong this year and starting best in 2021. They are the four Rs.
Reminded: Everyone needs reminding of critical principles.
- Run the race set before you with patience and endurance. Avoid the distractions of circumstances beyond your control. You were running so well. What caused you to swerve from your path?
Remember: We gain confidence when we remember past victories.
- Remember the past victories this year and how you won. Many times the patterns of the past are the ones we continue practicing for starting best.
Renew: Focus on the things that are transforming you as a leader.
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Continue thinking about new patterns you are developing. Be no longer conformed to the old routines but continue to be transformed by renewing your mind.
Resolve: Commit to your vision, calling, and purpose as a leader. -
Be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in hope, faith, and love, knowing that there is a reward for the excellent work you are doing.
Summit Leaders encourage others to share their desire to "become the best versions" of themselves, and through perseverance, practice, and patience, they are growing as leaders.
Great things are ahead as we finish strong the race this year.
Even greater things are in store for us in 2021!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
It is possible to develop entrepreneurial qualities within ourselves. Great leaders are also great learners. Developing an entrepreneurial mindset is possible through exercising the attributes we observe in entrepreneurs.
Walt Disney is an example of an entrepreneurial mindset. He had a vision, faith to take a risk that he could complete the work set before him, and perseverance to continue moving forward toward his vision even during challenging times. His journey is an example of a vision's power, faith, courage, persistence, passion, and curiosity.
Mr. Disney's faith sustained him during setbacks on his journey.
Following setbacks with his first company, he persevered and came up with the idea of creating a new character named Mickey Mouse and ultimately forming Disney. Mickey Mouse, inspired by a guest rodent in his home, became a worldwide icon.
"People often ask me if I know the secret of success and if I could tell others how to make their dreams come true. "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
Great leaders perceive change as an opportunity and prepare themselves to gain the most from experience. Learning agility is being a life long learner, reflecting on your experiences while developing the ability to know what to do when you don't know what to do.
"First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare." - Walt Disney
Entrepreneurs see life as an adventure and discover solutions to challenges they encounter on their journey.
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Behold, I am doing something new. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? Seek to be part of something new. You can grow in it, and you can support it with your skills, talents, gifts, and unique abilities.
Listen for need and envision the future. Entrepreneurs believe there are solutions to each challenge they face.
Drawing on others' experiences, insights and combining them with their perspectives and ideas create the innovation needed to solve the most complex problems.
The calling to entrepreneurial thinking is one from ancient times. It takes courage, faith, conviction, agility, belief, and persistence.
Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.
"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable." - Walt Disney
You are ready to serve. Think big. Be Bold. Be Brave. Expand your vision. Extend your reach. Exercise your faith.
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started by a mouse." - Walt Disney.
Imagine what you can start. Say to yourself, "It all starts in me!"
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
This year presents us with the opportunity to respond with "An attitude of gratitude."
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you." - Charles Swindoll.
The COVID-19 Pandemic safety measures will affect how we celebrate Thanksgiving Day.
Nevertheless, the day can be a joyous time!
What are you most thankful for as you reflect on your life and career journey today?
Take time to get alone with pen and paper and write down the things, turning points, people, and events that were breakthrough moments in your life.
When you do this exercise, you will discover a reoccurring process that takes place in making you the person you are right now.
Thanksgiving
By Ralph Waldo Emerson
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Success in life and career is never just about us; it is a combination of the people who poured themselves into us, shared our pains and setbacks, and encouraged us to persevere and not give up.
Make it your goal to remember those leaders who spoke truth into your life and give thanks for them.
One Summit Leader said: " Like the pilgrims, we have to adapt to change."
As I listened and observed this leader express her optimism for the future, the phrase "attitude of gratitude" came to me.
Here are some of the benefits.
- The attitude of gratitude protects us from pride. Remembering the people who helped you encouraged you to "stay the course" in adversity. We understood that none of our success would be possible without their support.
For instance, fire tests silver and gold. Also, a person undergoes testing by their responses. Pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall. Humility comes before honor.
- The attitude of gratitude preserves us from falling victim to traps along our journey. Sometimes, the mistaken belief that my destiny is only through my hard work, skills, talents, and abilities. Notice the emphasis is self and not others or recognizing time and circumstances providentially designed for us.
- The attitude of gratitude gives us perspective in living and leading. Being thankful helps us see life and events more clearly and respond to challenges, opportunities, and outcomes.
- The attitude of gratitude prepares us for promotion in living and leading. A combination of our responses, remembering the turning points, reflecting on the process, and experiencing our transformation while adapting to change, prepare us for more significant influence and leadership levels.
This Thanksgiving Day, let us reflect on how far we have come, how blessed we are to experience this day, and continue daily to give thanks for all the right things in our lives.
Thanksgiving positions us for transformation in renewing our thinking, perspective, and outlook for our future.
Be thankful and believe for the best is yet to come.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Life and business require us to make difficult decisions every day.
Our ability to make wise choices has a dramatic victory effect in every area of life and business.
Great leaders instinctively understand that the best choices occur through wisely choosing their responses and actions.
I decided to study the lives of leaders I admired to perhaps glean from them a better way. To my surprise, I discovered a far better approach to life and business decisions. In a word - wisdom.
Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas J. Watson, Sr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Harriet Tubman all manifested the attribute of wisdom.
What was their motivation for seeking wisdom? In times of uncertainty, crisis, change, daily living, and business, they discovered the value of understanding.
Wisdom understands what is true, right, and lasting. Its qualities are pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, and sincere. In ancient times wisdom is personified by the quote, "I love them that love me. Those who seek me early will find me."
The outcomes of wisdom in life and business include good counsel, sound judgment, insight, strength, and fulfillment.
With such great benefits, why didn't I seek wisdom earlier in my career?
I can not recall anyone pointing to wisdom being essential for success in life and business.
Nevertheless, throughout history, you see wisdom in the lives of great leaders.
"In these times, particularly, all businesses are looking for something that will aid them. You will have to explain more things to more people, but that is to your advantage because, in that way, you obtain more training. You are going to need something in addition to knowledge. You must have wisdom. Without wisdom, knowledge is useless. Wisdom is the power that enables us to make practical use of our knowledge." - Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
How do we acquire wisdom? Someone once said, "Ask, and it will be given, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you."
Here are some actions to consider.
- Take time to ask, "What is the wise choice to make in this decision?"
- Look for principles of wisdom in great leaders' lives and how they made decisions when under pressure.
- Begin applying this thinking at every decision point.
- Keep a journal of the process and outcomes.
Over time, we see that our lives and business outcomes can dramatically impact others for good if we apply wisdom principles.
Harriet Tubman was an escaped enslaved woman who became a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, leading many enslaved people to freedom before the Civil War.
"If I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more."
― Harriet Tubman
"Twant me, 'twas the Lord. I always told him, 'I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,' and He always did."
― Harriet Tubman
Be encouraged, my friends. Wisdom is our friend.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Life and career are an adventure of a lifetime.
Having direction and vision are essential in planning with confidence.
Great leaders take the time to get alone, think about their lives and what they desire to accomplish and become.
Being alone to think about your life, writing down, and envisioning what you believe is your life's plan creates excitement for the journey ahead.
Whether you are just starting your career or a well-established leader, taking the time to get alone to think and set your goals is vital.
Wisdom encourages us to stand at the crossroads of life, consider the ancient paths of those before us, learn from them, and choose the best direction forward. The outcome is rest for our souls - mind, will, and emotions.
Conviction comes when we are sure we are moving in the right direction.
Someone asks, "How can I be sure?"
Leaders before us during ancient times believed in providential guidance and sought to hear within them, "this is the way walk in it when you turn to the right or the left." They believed!
Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Thomas J. Watson, Sr are examples of leaders who believed in the calling.
"In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice...the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Believing is the cornerstone of these great leaders' lives and those of us who aspire to do great things in our life and career journey.
We admire people who know where they are going in life.
They have conviction and commit to the calling. When facing challenging times, they are optimistic and courageous. Their faith in the future inspires others to join their cause and builds confidence that the goal is possible.
Someone once said that "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
A vision with the right motivation is empowering for your life and career. Leadership with belief, faith, and vision positions us to accomplish great things through our company and life.
Planning and action are outcomes of believing. When planning for the future, there will be unknowns. Great leaders understand this.
Nevertheless, they continue making their plans even though they do not have all the answers. Providence has a decisive impact on the outcomes of the best-laid strategies.
Humility is a great leader's wise counsel. These leaders account for the possibility that there are circumstances that will be out of their control.
Someone once wisely made this observation about planning and life.
"I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle."
Knowing this, great leaders make their plans with confidence. They believe. Because of their faith, they expect, anticipate, and prepare for the desired outcome.
Here are four steps to consider in "Planning with Confidence."
1. Take time to get alone in quietness to think about your life and career with pen and paper. It can be hours or days.
2. Write down what you sense your life calling to be.
3. What will be the outcome and impact if I choose this pathway?
4. Do you sense, "this is the way, walk in it?" If yes, "Do you believe?"
Summit Leaders are believers. They expect, anticipate, and prepare for their vision and company's vision for the future. I like being around them. They inspire me!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Summit Leaders are some of the most focused, dedicated, and disciplined people I have met. They have a vision for their future and are taking action now, preparing for great things ahead.
They believe that they are here for such a time as this.
I hear the Summit Leaders sharing how they are preparing for future assignments with enthusiasm and expectation.
They are doing it together! In the process, they are multiplying their effectiveness while building essential skills for the future. Iron sharpens iron as one friend sharpens another.
Today, one Summit Leader shared his excitement about a future assignment. I am impressed with his wise and prudent choices to make the most of the opportunity now. He is expecting, anticipating, and preparing for a great future.
Even though COVID - 19 affects how they train, their attitude is still looking forward with hope.
While they wait for their vision's appointed time, they continue training.
"Regardless of the outcome, I will continue practicing personal excellence every day." writes one Summit Leader during our conversation today.
This leader is thinking, building, and honing the skills he will need in the future.
Someone wisely said, "Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed."
The outcome of a focused, dedicated, and disciplined life is an expanded capacity to serve and influence others.
"Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown."
Great leaders expect, anticipate, and prepare for their future and those they serve.
During the Great Depression, many Americans struggled with the prospect of the future. Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) led the nation forward with his "New Deal" vision for America and its future leaders.
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."
FDR, April 13, 1945
FDR believed and wisely took action.
"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."
— Franklin Roosevelt, American President [1936-1945]
Here are some steps Summit Leaders are taking now.
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If they lack skills, they are sharpening them through training and practice.
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Like sharpening the ax, through coaching and feedback, they recognize where weakness exists and then acquire the skills to do the job better.
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They holistically look at their lives to pinpoint where the "ax" is dull and sharpen their skills to be more effective in their future assignments.
"No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined. One of the widest gaps in human experience is the gap between what we say we want to be and our willingness to discipline ourselves to get there."
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Be encouraged, my friends!
Please keep doing what it takes for greatness.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Assignments that are done well equal accomplishments over time, resulting in achievement. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. The one who is faithful over little will be faithful over much.
Achieving balance is a lifetime work for everyone desiring to live a fruitful and prosperous life. It occurs by intentionally focusing on the holistic perspective of our lives.
Early in my career, I felt my life existed in two compartments; work-life and life. I discovered that we are most effective when we understand that experience is not the best when compartmentalizing life.
Life consists of mind, soul, spirit, and body. I worked hard to prolong my life through physical conditioning but did not spend nearly as much time on my spiritual health.
This approach was shortsighted on my part.
Someone wisely stated, "Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind."
The key is to enjoy and work hard but with moderation. Taking time to rest, enjoy the gifts given and recognize that time, circumstances, and rewards are not in my control.
We will work longer, be more effective, and achieve much if we can first seek a balanced life. In the process, we gain new strength to run the race set before each of us with patience and endurance.
How do great leaders achieve balance?
Here are some ideas to consider.
Practicing the "attitude of gratitude."
This week during a conversation with a group of Summit leaders, they shared stories about the "attitude of gratitude" - people, circumstances, experiences that helped them get to where they are on their life journey.
It occurred to me that we are one step closer to our spirits' awakening when we practice the "attitude of gratitude." The practice helps us to see that we never accomplish anything on our own.
One person shared how he writes 100 reasons for his gratitude. The action lifts his spirit. Neuroscience refers to this as the creation of new neural pathways or new ways of thinking.
The discipline of practicing this releases chemicals that calm and elevate our spirit.
Another Summit leader shared the idea of having an "attitude of gratitude" accountability partner for maintaining their focus on this new discipline. Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. If one falls, his friend can help him up.
HALT
A wise leader once said, "never allow yourself to get too Hungry, too Angry, too Lonely or too Tired." Why? Because these are the times, we are most vulnerable to the enemies of every great leader.
Have you ever found yourself in this place?
Providence provides us an antidote.
Take time to rest, sleep, and eat. Given the isolation and pace of life today, we need this more than ever.
All of us go through the ups and downs of life. Often the answer is sleep and eat. Sometimes we need to slow down a little and take a break.
After a period in some cases of just a few days rest, we are ready to journey.
Make your commitment to seeking life balance.
"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing." Abraham Lincoln
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Be encouraged! You are in the right place at the right time.
Please make the most of it.
This week, I listened to an executive who made this comment regarding her successful career. "I was blessed to be in the right place at the right time."
You are here for such a time as this!
Great leaders make the most of their time and understand the importance of timing.
Businesses today, such as Toyota, Apple, and Walmart, employ "just in time" principles to impact their performance. This method reduces costs by minimizing warehouse needs. Companies also spend less money on raw materials by buying just enough resources to make the ordered products.
I received a birthday card with a picture of Peanut comic strip characters named Charlie Brown and Linus.
Charlie says to Linus, "For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. This happens to be your time to feel OLD. Happy Birthday"
There is wisdom in Charlie's statement.
From ancient quotes, we gain insights regarding time and timing as our gift.
"Redeem the time for the days are challenging."
"At the proper time, you will be lifted up."
"We must work the works of him who sent me while it is the day. The night is coming when no one can work."
Abraham Lincoln is an example of a great leader who understood the importance of timing in life.
"Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first two in sharpening the axe." Abraham Lincoln
"Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning." - Winston Churchill
Great leaders are intentional when it comes to redeeming the opportunity or seasons of time given them. Time is a providentially bestowed gift.
We use it to determine our success in fulfilling our vision and goals in life and business.
Each of us is a steward of our time and leadership opportunities given us.
Being intentional requires we make every minute count. We don't need to fill every minute with busyness. We must prioritize our time with agendas for the day, follow-through, pursue essential goals, and finish what we start.
Best-selling books give us tips and techniques for getting the most out of our time. They usually tell us how to get more done in the time we have.
"Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important." - Steven Covey.
We need wisdom and discernment to prioritize, plan, and take action today.
"Look well to this one day, for it and
it alone is life.
In the brief course of
this day lie all the verities and
realities of your existence; the pride of
growth, the glory of action,
the splendor of beauty.
Yesterday is only
a dream and tomorrow is but a
vision.
Yet each day, well-lived,
makes every yesterday a dream of
happiness and each tomorrow,
a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore,
to this one day, for it, and it alone is life." ― Sanskrit.
Let's make this our best day!
Victory!
Part II- Checking our direction."
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Where am I going? Is this the right place?
Am I in step with the timing? What is my motivation?
Empowering is the conviction that you are in the right place, at the right time, heading in the true north direction and with the right motive in your heart.
Last week, in Part I, we talked about having conviction during my most significant sales opportunity. The competition was intense, with three highly recognized firms and ours.
The pursuit went on for nearly a year.
There were times the voice us doubt tempted us to give up, but our leadership decided to continue.
Here are the lessons learned.
Even with the feedback that it was "impossible" to win, I knew I was in the right place, right time with the right motive. Our team needed leadership at that moment.
Then I spoke.
I can't remember the words, but I can remember what I felt in my heart—conviction, courage, and confidence.
How was this possible? During the weeks before, I intentionally took time alone to assess our purpose for being there.
I validated in my mind that I was in step, and our timing was right in line with where we needed to be.
Finally, after months of traveling to the client's headquarters and meetings with hundreds of their employees, I knew that our motive was right in believing we can deliver excellence in helping the client.
That night I prayed for wisdom on what to say the next day. Morning came, and our team gathered in a room filled with stakeholders from various departments and began to communicate.
I shared what we believed as a team and the opportunity for us to partner with the client.
Our team unanimously won the voting and selection as the partner by our new client.
I want to share with you the lessons I learned.
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Assess the direction of your life and career regularly.
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Affirm that you are in the right place in light of your life and career vision.
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Seek wise counsel as you go.
Stand beside the roads and watch. Ask for the ancient paths, where the right way is. Walk in it and find rest for yourself. -
Be strong and courageous, neither terrified nor dismayed. Don't be turned off your pathway by fear when you know this is the way; walk in it.
"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious than to be able to decide."
― Napoleon Bonaparte
"Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in."
― Napoleon Bonaparte
Knowing that you are here for such a time as this positions you on the right path.
Let's keep our focus and faith fixed on the pathway!
Victory is on the way!
Victory!
"Checking our direction."
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Where am I going? Is this the right place?
Am I in step with the timing? What is my motivation?
Our journey as leaders requires we take time to answer these questions.
Why is it important? Our journey as leaders allows us to create a vision for our life and career. We think the dream through in our minds, write the concept down with pen and paper. We speak it out by rehearsing.
Rehearsing is our approach as we envision our vision.
Each day is an encounter with the unknown, so we need instruction, teaching, guiding, and counseling to engage each day successfully.
Great leaders take time to check their direction. Why is this important?
Life and leadership are demanding and filled with decisions. Include the pace of life, frenzy of emails, texts, meetings, required training, and business objectives; it is apparent how these things can distract us from our journey's real purpose.
We are in a battle. We recognize our enemies. Busyness, confusion, doubt, feelings of inadequacies, and delays all await us to derail us from our pathway to victory.
Armed with the understanding that we are in a daily battle gives us the right perspective regarding the fight's true nature and enemy tactics.
It took over two decades to realize that my life and sales journey would consist of battles to stay true to my vision, purpose, and goals. Once this occurred, my mindset for competition and strategy for winning became a new way of thinking and responding.
So, how do great leaders respond?
1. They take time to be alone and think about the real purpose of the engagement. It's in these tranquil moments, away from the busyness and clamor, they hear and see more clearly.
Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and where the best road is. Walk in it, and you will live in peace. This pause for thoughtful consideration often gives us clarity and affirms; this is the way walk in it.
Empowering is the conviction that you are in the right place, heading in the true north direction and with the right motive in your heart.
I recall that my most significant sales opportunity came during the third decade of my selling career. The competition was intense, with three highly recognized firms and ours. The pursuit went on for nearly a year.
There were times the voice us doubt tempted us to give up, but our leadership decided to continue.
Remembering the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end, it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Finally, after numerous meetings, presentations, and discussions, the final oral presentations were due the next day. That evening around 8:00 PM, our team is huddling to determine our best strategy for winning and rehearsing. During our preparation, we receive news that our chances of winning were "impossible." You could feel the enemy in the room—silence and then clamor about what to do.
Then I spoke.
Next week we will share the rest of the story and the lessons learned.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
An ancient law of the harvest states, "we reap what we sow, more than we sow and later than we sow." Farmers understand this principle and live by it. Great leaders; understand the code and intentionally apply it in their lives.
Each of us can envision our lives as a plot of ground entrusted to us to produce something of value. Great leaders practice disciplines similar to that of the farmer. They assess the land, imagine how to use it to its maximum potential, develop and plan the steps required to transform the land into an abundant resource.
They cultivate the soil, plant the desired seeds with an expectation that harvest comes over time.
Farming requires faith to begin, persevere, and harvest the benefits.
Becoming a great leader requires a similar mindset. The seeds we plant determine the harvest we expect. If we work with clients, lead teams, serve people in the communities or nations, we can apply the harvest principle's law.
How do we begin? First, we envision the harvest we desire. Second, we plan the required actions to prepare our plot of land. In our case, it is a set of clients to serve, a team to lead, or family and community we want to impact.
Third, we determine the seeds for planting. Seeds of greatness come in four classes that affect people and relationships.
They are kindness, truth, love, and serving.
Here are some examples of how these seeds of greatness are recognized.
1. Kindness. The people we meet and serve are opportunities to extend our reach and plant seeds of empathy—an encouraging word spoken during a challenging season or a note of appreciation are examples of seeds of greatness.
2. Truth. Authenticity and trust in relationships involve caring for those you serve. I recall hearing sellers saying, "I love my clients." People know when you care about them and reciprocate the action.
3. Love. Selfless caring for the interests of others by placing their needs above your own. Love is the way of Excellence. "Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think safe. Dreaming more than others think practical and expecting more than others think possible."
4. Serving. Placing myself in a position to create value in helping others reach their visions and goals.
I met a salesperson named Staley Bryant years ago who awakened me to the principle. Staley's clients loved him. I was astonished by the warm reception and respected position his clients gave him. He was very successful—over 30 years of reaching his sales goals and recognized as a consummate professional salesperson.
I emulated his approach and began seeing the results. Gradually my clients began responding to the seeds sown months earlier. I decided to adopt the attitude I saw in Staley and the mindset of the farmer.
Here is something I learned that I want to share with you.
1. The farmer and Staley exercise faith that their work will produce a harvest. They understood from life experiences and others who preceded them to plant and let the natural laws work for them.
As long as the world exists, there will always be a time for planting and harvest time.
They did not allow circumstances to discourage them. Staley encouraged me with his optimism, hospitality, and determination.
Someone once said, "Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest."
A Summit leader shared his favorite quote from his fifth-grade teacher; "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you." He says that this quote has proved itself to be a powerful enabler to his success.
Today, a Summit Leader shared how she is serving in a community project as a "Pen Pal" to Janice, a woman who is 102 years old and living in a nursing home.
I asked her why she does this? "Janice has stories she likes to tell, and I want to be there to listen to them. I want to keep the relationship going."
Janice and the Summit leader are planting seeds of greatness.
So, wherever we find ourselves, each of us has a place where we can begin planting seeds of greatness. The sooner we start, the sooner we can expect the harvest.
The timeless principle and law will work on our behalf.
Someone has said, "We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow."
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Be encouraged, my friends. Your commitment to transformation positions you for greatness as a leader. Your capacity to make an impact is enlarging.
I am encouraged by Summit Leaders who commit. Several groups signed a contract with themselves to pursue this goal.
"Great leaders do not set out to be a leader. They set out to make a difference. It's never about the role - always about the goal." Napoleon Bonaparte
image
Leaders are stewards of transformation. They strengthen, encourage, and comfort with hope those they influence and lead.
They are willing to endure the hardship of testing because they see the rewards awaiting them in the end. They have more to offer those they lead.
Great leaders do not despise the day of small beginnings.
They desire to help others. It can be one person or a family, client, team, or enterprise.
These leaders attract people to their team and company. They are authentic.
Here are four observations in the life of a leader transformed from within.
One: They are Servant-leaders who cast a short and long term vision, including human values.
"Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame but greatness, because greatness is determined by service." ― Martin Luther King Jr.
Two: They are coaches who engage, motivate, inspire, and teach principles for victory.
"Peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable." John Wooden, UCLA Basketball Coach
Three: They empower others by helping them awaken to a higher purpose through listening, communicating, aligning personal vision, and attributes with those of the team and enterprise.
"There is no passion for being found playing small in settling for a life that is less than you are capable of living." Nelson Mandela
"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."
Four: They are warriors against any thinking that distracts, neutralizes, or weakens resolve to obtain the envisioned victory.
A leader transformed is an ultimate role model. They are transparent, empathetic, challenging, and encouraging by their consistent responses to life and challenging others to reach Excellence.
One Summit Leader shares one of their favorite quotes during a cohort discussion on leader development and growth.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit" - Aristotle.
"Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill
The summit leadership level is a blend of extreme personal humility with an intense personal will and fierce resolve to do whatever is needed to make a company great. In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins calls them "Level 5" leaders.
A leader transformed perspective is one of belief in leading and engaging others. They intentionally think about how they can motivate and inspire others. They believe the best for those they lead.
Their thinking is dominated by whatever things are trustworthy, noble, right, lovely, pure, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.
They continually think on this level and empower others to do the same.
The rewards and benefits multiply to your account as a leader. The result is release and liberty from the old and the joy of experiencing the new you.
Let's make it our goal and vision to no longer conform to old patterns of thinking and leading, but transformed by renewing our minds for the leadership required in the 21st Century.
The breakthrough will affect all those you meet on your journey. You can help your team, company, clients, and others along the way.
"Action without vision is only passing the time, vision without action is merely daydreaming, but vision with action can change the world." Nelson Mandela.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
The mind is the most potent creation known to man. How we think determines the leader we are the one we need to become for leading in the 21st century.
Are we capable of transforming into leaders needed in times of uncertainty, rapid change, pandemics, and national crisis?
"As a man or woman thinks in their heart, they are." This insight is centuries old, but recently, neuroscience affirms the truth.
Our thinking will influence how we see ourselves, others, and the success we accomplish or miss in life.
Early in my career, my thinking about what I desired to accomplish and how I thought of myself was not aligned.
Consequently, I struggled with self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy, and fears of failure.
My performance seemed to be superb on the outside, but within, I was divided in my thinking, doubting I could accomplish much or compete with so many seemingly more talented people than me. In a sense, I was masquerading. I was not authentic.
"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." Polonius in Hamlet, Act I, scene iii, lines 78–80.
Not being true to whom we are places extra burdens on us, and we are not as effective as leaders.
Our best interest is in the renewing of our thinking. Changing and rewiring how we view ourselves, perceptions, and attitudes. Neuroscience shows us that our minds are programmed to think in specific ways from childhood based on our life experiences. Today, we hear terms such as biases and preconditioned behaviors.
Someone refers to becoming the man or woman created and envisioning becoming "The miracle of the breakthrough." It is the intentional development of new ways of thinking about ourselves that align with the vision of who we are and what we envision becoming.
Being transformed by the renewing of your mind became my new mission in life around my career's quarter-century mark. During the process of becoming authentic, the first place was changing my thought patterns. I wrote on paper the person I envisioned becoming, the qualities I desired, and the impact I want my life to make.
I was blessed to be associated with leaders who saw potential in me and nurtured my new leader's vision. The process is ongoing. These are the benefits I noticed.
- Personal trust and responsibility in my relationships with my clients became enriching. My clients responded differently to my leadership and suggestions. I began to experience the meaning of "trusted advisor."
Can I be trusted?
Someone once said, "People buy from people they like, admire, trust and respect."
I think this statement applies to leaders on every level. "People will follow a leader that they like, admire, respect, and trust."
According to the Center for Creative Leadership, Trust = Ability + Loyalty + Integrity.
Authenticity in a leader is an outcome of renewing our minds.
"Authenticity is the alignment of head, mouth, heart, and feet — thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing — consistently.
This builds trust, and followers love leaders they can trust." Lance Secretan, author
Transformation occurs as we are intentional about reprograming our minds with truth. We are taking control of our thought life in every area of our lives.
Neuroscience shows us that repeated thought patterns create new neural pathways in our brains. Over time, the old ways of thinking diminish in their power to influence our behaviors. We have become new!
A Summit leader who was terrified of public speaking becomes an accomplished speaker, seller, and writer. How did she do this? She intentionally developed a strategy to change her thinking and executed her plan.
Transformation and authenticity complement and multiply the impact and effectiveness of a leader in sales, technical, family, and everyday lives.
Here are four outcomes.
- We lead with purpose and meaning, and never compromise ourselves.
- We are consistent in our responses to circumstances.
- We give honest and caring feedback.
- We lead with the integrity of the heart.
"All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think.
The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work." Thomas J. Watson. Sr.
When we elevate our thinking with more noble dreams, we grow and rise as leaders!
Let's make it our goal experience, "Leader Transformation. - An inside job."
The rewards and benefits multiply to your account as a leader. The result is release and liberty from the old and the joy of experiencing the new you.
Next week we will share some suggested strategies that we can use in transforming ourselves and our leadership in a time of crisis, uncertainty, change, and new norms.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
The capacity to enjoy the process of your life and career journey is a gift.
The great leaders discover early in life that the moment is more important than a distant dream.
Someone once asked this question,
"What is most fulfilling and satisfying for you now that you reached this position of influence and acclaim, the journey or the destination?
The person thought for a moment and said, "The journey!" with a big smile.
All of us can remember lamenting our age, limiting our ability to enjoy life. "I can't wait until I am old enough to..."
The secret of many great leaders is their ability to live in the moment. They can focus on their surroundings, emotions, and get the most out of their time now.
This perspective enables them to enjoy what they have while working for something they envision. They have the right mindset regarding their current lot and are happy in their work.
Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, was a model for living in the moment.
Each day mattered, and every conversation was meaningful. He was an encourager.
"Behave as a servant leader." Sam Walton
Sam is known for his entrepreneurial, pioneering, and visionary spirit.
He modeled the importance of enjoying the process of the journey.
Sam was passionate about being present and being enthusiastic.
"Pretty soon, everybody will catch the passion from you – like a fever."
Sam Walton
Enjoy the process.
Someone once said, "He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because he keeps occupied with gladness of heart."
In a moment of reflection, Mr. Walton responds to a question: "How do you want to be regarded?"
"I would just like to be regarded as a good friend to most everyone whose life I've touched—as their friend, as someone who has maybe meant something to them and has helped them in some way.
That, I guess, is important. I have such a strong feeling for the folks in our company; they have meant so much to me.
I know they respect me. They have affection for me. I appreciate that, and I don't know that I deserve it. I don't think that I really deserve it, but it's a tremendous feeling to know that you have that relationship with people throughout the company.”
Sam Walton
President George Bush presented Sam Walton with the highest honor a U.S. president can bestow upon a U.S. civilian: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his concern for his employees, community, and entrepreneurial spirit.
We can emulate the character qualities found in great leaders.
As we go on our life and career journey, remember; Enjoy the Process.
Get the most out of every day. Make it count!
To become a fulfilled leader, consider these five steps.
- Faithfully serve where you are.
- Be courageous when facing trials. See them as opportunities.
- Be long-term committed. Life is not a sprint.
- Be ready to pay the price to become a leader like Sam Walton.
- Please write it down. Moments of deep appreciation can be forgotten.
Let's make it our goal to enjoy the process.
The journey will be the best part of our destination.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
What type of leader do you want to become?
Usually, we think about the people who made the most significant impact on our lives. They are the ones who believed in us, encouraged us, and inspired us to seek to do more extraordinary things with our lives.
I remember the leaders who encouraged me when feelings of insecurity and inadequacy attacked my thinking.
Our conversations left me feeling like I could accomplish more and that I was capable of more than I believed possible.
The beautiful thing about abundant life leadership is the emphasis on the value of a person.
Have you encountered someone on your journey who made you feel valued as a person? Seek to become a leader with compassion, empathy, understanding, and caring for those you lead.
Remember, leadership is not merely a title but a place of influence that someone can positively impact others' lives.
You are a valuable member of a team. Great leaders inspire loyalty because of their commitment to the people they serve and lead. Everyone knows when you are committed to their success. It's intuitive.
Great leaders emerge at just the right time and place to impact and lift a person, company, family, and nation. Through their enthusiasm, commitment, and optimism, they motivate us to do better.
Think about the leader who inspires you the most. The first thought is one of trust. Trust is so hard to gain and so easily lost. We emphasize trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships as a practice to follow.
Someone once said that leaders are brokers of hope. They are optimistic about the outcomes and outlook for the future.
Their optimism encourages us to believe that all things are possible. Every organization and family needs abundant life leadership.
Lead by example, emulate the qualities you see in others, affirm them, and practice them with sincerity.
Wherever you find yourself, you can become the caliber of leader that people trust and admire because you see them and desire the best for them.
People are attracted to companies, teams, and families when abundant life leadership is the emphasis. It creates a culture for winning in life and career.
"To succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand and master three mighty forces - desire, belief, and expectation. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam
"If you want a successful business, your people must feel that you are working for them, not that they are working for you." Sam Walton
Let's make it our focus to be abundant life leaders!
Victory!
"Legacy. - Past, Present, Possibility"
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Legacy is a word I repeatedly hear as I listen to new Summit leaders describe their vision and journey.
"I think about my legacy all the time." Summit Leader
"Work harder, smarter, and with more purpose than that person, I was yesterday. Live so that my legacy is qualified not by tangibles but by how many people, communities, and organizations I positively impact."
Summit Leader
Legacy building is an intentional and mindful focus on the opportunity and the responsibility you have to serve clients, family, colleagues, and community. In the process, growth and advancement occur by helping others.
Serving is the motivation of great leaders.
It is inspiring to see a generation of leaders focusing on discovering
new ways of serving others. They start with small acts of kindness done well and without expectation of reward or recognition.
It is always a good time to become a thoughtful legacy builder. The focus is on people and impact. A person may look back and say, "I have a terrible past of thinking only about myself and very little about serving."
Our past is not a judge of our present or a predictor of our future impact.
Remembering our origin, where we came from, reviewing our past helps us understand how to improve our behavior.
The process shows us the pattern of our personal growth. We then learn from our past to become the kind of great leader we desire to become.
"We are not satisfied simply with a review of the past. We add to it our vision of the future." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
"There's nothing you can do about the past. But you can do a great deal about your future. You don't have to be the same person you were yesterday. You can make changes in your life -- absolutely startling changes in a fairly short time. You can make changes you can't even conceive of now if you give yourself a chance." Jim Rohn
Be strong and do not lose courage for there is a reward for your work.
I am motivated by new Summits to become a legacy builder. They encourage me to believe because they refer to our company's culture and its' people. For them, like their forerunners, culture is everything.
"I started building my legacy when I was sixteen years old. My goal was to become an IBMer. I plan on being here a long time." New Summit Leader.
The Summit Leaders help me see that our legacy is not bound by age or time served. Our body of work with clients, community, colleagues, and family best represents a legacy.
Legacy building and vision create a possibility for greatness in all leaders.
"The greatest satisfaction and pleasure that I have in this business is sending you out to all corners of the world, taking with you The IBM Company, because I know that you are going to represent it in the way we want it represented. I appreciate that more than anything else in connection with our institution." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
"They judge our company and our ideals by you." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
Now is the opportunity to build. Each day, we ask ourselves, "Did I help someone today? Did I make my time count?"
Great leaders of all ages, make it their goal, to answer these questions with "Yes!"
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Following a long session of work and navigating new pathways in life and career, everyone needs an intentional time to renew the body, mind, and spirit.
Life and career happen rapidly, and great leaders understand the importance of rest.
As we read accounts of great leaders following significant work and battles won, they insisted on resting. They recognized that doing good work is essential but understood to do it effectively rest and renewal are needed.
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." A caring leader’s words to his followers.
Why is rest so vital, and how can we enter into proper rest for the body and mind?
There are four actions and four benefits.
1. Remember: Taking time out to remember allows us to relish the journey, the challenges overcome, and accomplishments.
2. Reflect: Time spent thinking about events and steps to victory are invaluable because they produce insight. Great leaders take time to reflect on their actions and assess the critical steps along the way. These insights make leaders more prepared to face future challenges.
3. Review: Great leaders focus on the campaign of conquest. They not only have a vision of where they are going and leading others, but also a keen awareness of where they have come. It is helpful to recall our beginnings and what we endured to appreciate where we are today. Think back on your life and career journey. Think about what you have overcome these past months and years. You have something to celebrate, my friend. Usually, an attitude of gratitude arises in the heart during the process.
4. Resolve: Neuroscience shows that a peaceful state of remembering and celebrating past victories create chemicals in the body that calm our nerves and restore our vitality. Following the period of resting and waiting, we gain new strength to run if needed and not get weary or walk on the journey and not faint. We can keep the pace required and go greater distances than we thought possible.
"Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work." Ralph Marston
" True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment, and refreshment." — William Penn
Waiting and resting are refreshing for the soul of a leader. We gain confidence that we can victoriously overcome what is ahead of us. Our minds are free to soar on wings like eagles. We have fresh perspectives and clear thinking.
I recently read about a group of leaders who overcame considerable opposition and achieved tremendous results. The leader of leaders gave these instructions.
“Celebrate! Be joyous and send gifts to others and rejoice in your accomplishments.”
A celebration is not only for the leader but also for encouraging others.
Often when we celebrate and give to others, such as family, colleagues, and friends or people in the community, we are strengthened and filled with joy. We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow. It is more blessed to give than receive.
Take the time to schedule your celebration.
Remembering your accomplishments creates a sense of gratitude. In the process, we gain the resolve to pursue victory in the months ahead of us!
The best is yet to come, and the biggest is yet to be.
Rest for a while. Then return to your work.
A time of refreshing renews, restores, and revitalizes us.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Someone once noted that "Where there is unity, there is always victory."
Every great team has a group of leaders that is a unifying agent for their team's mission. They become leaders by their commitment, enthusiasm, dedication, work ethic, and willingness to help others perform at peak levels.
They are like-minded people who share common beliefs and commit to accomplishing something more magnificent than could ever do alone!
Each of us can recall a peak performance from our favorite person and team. Even when the odds seem against them, the group finds a way to rally and win.
The team wins because they collectively believe and decide to take charge.
That's how great teams operate. A threefold cord is hard to break. If one falls, there is someone to lift them. No one is left to make it on their own.
We achieve the most when we unite our efforts, skills, and talents to reach a goal and obtain a shared vision.
When teams are united, focused, dedicated, and disciplined, they are almost unbeatable.
Great teams' accomplishments occur when the leader sets the vision, and others embrace the opportunity as their own.
People who accomplish great things in life understand that they must be single-minded. See a person skilled in their work. They will stand before kings and not serve obscure people.
A double-minded person is unstable in all their ways. The eye is the lamp of your body. When your vision is clear, your whole body is full of light. But when it is weak, the entire body is full of darkness.
Being a unifying force multiplies your impact. We can affect the lives and outcomes of our family, friends, colleagues, clients, and the nation.
Leaders with unifying gifts CARE in four ways.
1. Cast the vision.
2. Affirms the team. Individually and collectively.
3. Rejoice in the individual and team victories.
4. Engage in the battle and leads by example.
Unity begins with an attitude of the being of one mind and purpose with a singular focus. As a man or woman thinks in their heart, so they are.
When teams operate as one in mind, spirit, and vision, a dynamic occurs, which creates the power to overcome and win.
Wherever you find unity, you will see the following dynamics.
They were all in one accord.
All the people came together with a unified purpose.
* All those who believed were together and continuing day by day with one mind.
Great leaders are intentional in modeling, motivating, stimulating, and encouraging others to give their best.
Take time to write down two actions you will take in becoming a unifying force where you are.
Someone wisely stated, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
You are here for such a time as this.
Take the first step in faith!
Your family, friends, colleagues, clients, company, and the nations are depending on you.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Do you wonder why you are here and what your purpose is as a leader?
People become great leaders as they intentionally seek to find the answers to these two questions.
When studying great leaders' lives, we see that they develop a sense of being called to impact people or a vision for themselves. Usually, the most inspiring leaders seek to improve the lives of others through their gifts, talents, and abilities.
Here are some describing statements about leaders with determination.
Ezra was a great leader of ancient times who set his heart to study, practice and teach others the fundamental principles that show how to create fruitful lives and enjoy abundant living.
Daniel purposed in his heart not to pursue customs counter to his vision for his life.
He set his face like flint to continue on his mission.
Deborah is one of the most influential women in history. She is known for her wisdom, courage, and determination to do right. She was resolute in her faith and action when others hesitated and changed the course of a nation.
A sense of destiny and calling empowered these people on their journey as leaders. They made up their minds. They felt compelled to a critical mission in their hearts, so they worked diligently to bring about the results they envisioned.
Their lives have a definite purpose, so they set priorities that help them fulfill their calling.
They understand the need to be intentional with their lives. A determined leader inspires confidence and strengthens those around them.
Others will rely on the leader's will in times of struggle to gain confidence and courage to keep going forward.
Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, is an excellent example of determined leadership. He started with just one store, which grew into over 11,000 stores worldwide and is the second-largest retailer in America.
"Each Wal-Mart store should reflect its customers' values and support the vision they hold for their community."
"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel.
"I have always been driven to buck the system, innovate, and take things beyond where they've been."
Sam's belief in people, humility, and determination are three qualities of all great leaders.
"If you take someone who lacks the experience and the know-how but has the real desire and the willingness to work his tail off to get the job done, he'll make up for what he lacks. And that proved true nine times out of ten." Sam Walton
Wealth was an overflow from a passion for pursuing his calling in the face of many challenges.
"Where many see challenges, others see opportunity." Summit Leader
Sam Walton is an excellent example of what happens when we have the right motives and belief that we have a purpose and calling in life.
"It is a story about entrepreneurship, and risk, and hard work, and knowing where you want to go and being willing to do what it takes to get there. And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other folks don't, and about sticking to your guns." Sam Walton
Are you determined, purposed in your heart, made up in your mind, and set your face like flint for your life and career?
You are an example for others to follow!
Lead the way!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Here are three steps in discovering how to build endurance to go higher in your career.
This week we will share steps two and three. Last week we shared step one.
1. Overwhelming gratitude.
2. Optimistic desire and passion.
3. One vision.
- Step two: Optimistic Desire and Passion.
Lhakpa Sherpa holds the women's world record for ascending Mount Everest nine times.
After seven trips, she expressed sincere gratitude for her accomplishments and said, "I am still not tired. I want to climb Everest a few more times. I want to climb it ten times."
Lhakpa's passion and desire to keep climbing and growing produce endurance.
Do you know what your potential is as a leader?
Your purpose is to achieve high and mighty things in your life and career journey.
Keep the vision in front of you as you climb. Every summiteer has an image of the summit in their hearts. Lhakpa says she climbs for others; her family, supporters, and her nation.
She stands at the peak of Mt. Everest; 29,029 feet above the global mean sea level with pictures of her two daughters held high above her head. "They are now higher than me." In another photo, she holds up the flag of the United States.
- Step three: One vision.
Sometimes during the ascent, our view of the summit may be blocked by thick clouds. When we can not see the peak with our eyes, we visualize it in our hearts and climb by faith and not by sight. We endure as though seeing the one who is invisible.
When standing on the summit, remember those who came before you and encourage others just as you were inspired.
"I am standing here because of Tenzing and Hillary. They brought me up here and which I never forget." Sherpa
One beautiful outcome of endurance is when we encourage others, in the same manner we were encouraged.
Let endurance make up complete, lacking nothing as leaders!
"Our aim is higher every year, and we always reach the mark. I base that prediction on faith and on what we have done in the past."
Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
It is the mark of a higher calling!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Endurance is the capacity of our character that makes it possible for us to face things without losing hope, patience while steadfast, bearing up under, and accomplishing the mission laid out for us.
How do great leaders gain the endurance needed?
The answer is they see the purpose of the testing as preparation for enjoying and helping others on the other side. "Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while."
We are living and working in new ways that are challenging and testing our endurance. Some examples of the trials we now face are COVID-19, isolation, and seeing injustice in the world.
One of the best ways to fuel endurance is through reflection on past victories on your journey. When we stop to reflect, we gain insights.
Often, the insight continues to help others years later.
The process builds our faith, confidence, and resolve to keep going higher.
In a conversation with a Summit leader,
I recently shared an experience that was very hard and difficult for me to endure.
Now, twenty years later, the insight I shared prompted this response. "This is just what I needed."
Every great leader is a climber. The Summit Leaders are climbers!
Why is this important? Someone stated, "We can lead people no higher than the point we are willing to pay the price to reach."
Endurance energizes us to go higher!
Here are three steps I am discovering to build endurance to go higher.
In part two next week, we will share steps two and three.
1. Overwhelming gratitude.
2. Optimistic desire and passion.
3. One vision.
* Step One: Overwhelming gratitude.
I wrote in Volume 14 of my journals on August 7, 2012, "Today (my manager) informally suggested that I begin looking for another job in IBM." "Seeking new IBM assignment 8/17/12."
His suggestion was not planned but overflowed from a conversation focusing on a variety of business topics.
In reflecting on the time between August 2012 and April 2013, I see an example of endurance development that all leaders will experience on their journey to the summit.
Over the preceding year, I faced difficult business challenges but felt compelled to fulfill my client commitments. I could not give up. At the time, it was not clear to me what was happening.
Looking back, I see it was the testing of my endurance and belief that something beautiful was ahead for me.
On April 13, 2013, my new Summit manager said, "Welcome to the team!" I received a new assignment as IBM Summit Program Manager! I danced in the victory that morning following our conversation!
On July 22, 2020, seven years later, I am in Volume 36 of my journey. I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I write notes during a time of reflection. I am sharing and encouraging others during their climb.
We are experiencing a time of testing and building endurance. When you are wondering if you can endure the trial, take courage because you certainly will last and make it to the summit.
Let endurance make us complete, lacking nothing as leaders!
Victory!
“A Servant Leader’s Adventure.”
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice! Again I say rejoice! We are doing something new!
Be encouraged that people are changing and growing because of your Servant leadership.
"I think the simplest way to explain it would be to say that servant leaders focus on identifying and meeting others' needs rather than trying to acquire power, wealth, and fame for themselves." Kent Keith, CEO of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership.
Everyone can participate in becoming a Servant leader and begin a new chapter of their life and career journey. The benefits are new strength, joy, fulfillment, higher impact, and expanded vision.
I love the fact that I have the opportunity to engage leaders in different stages of their journey. Some are starting their first day in a few weeks. Other Summit leaders celebrate their fourth and fifth year at IBM, and others are in their third decade.
They all have this unifying quality of "servant leader." A Servant Leader is more interested in the value they bring to people while delivering lasting change and results. They serve from a mindset of transformation linked to principles, values, and beliefs.
Gratitude is often a word I hear when talking with someone who has a Servant Leader mindset. This "attitude of gratitude" is their motivation in reaching people and creating value.
Whether it is serving a set of new clients, a volunteer community assignment, leading a group of senior sales leaders, an enterprise or a nation, the emphasis is always first on the people's best interest.
When experiencing business pressures, promoting new norms, or the opportunity to chart a new course for the good of the people and the enterprise, Servant leaders remain committed and steadfast.
Servant Leaders believe that they are in their roles for the benefit of those they serve, support, and lead.
Early in my career, this principle of Servant Leadership was unknown to me.
I focused on being better than everyone instead of seeking to serve.
My focus was not singular but divided by looking around to see who may appear to be ahead of me.
The quote, "If anyone among you wishes to be great, let them become servants to all." became my new roadmap to "good success."
Some examples of great leaders who embraced the principle of Servant Leadership are Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, and Sam Walton, and T.J. Watson, Sr.
I asked a Summit Leader to share his perspective. "Servant Leadership defines a great leader. They show up and work hard every day for their employees while leading by example." Summit Leader
"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish." Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart and Sam's Club.
"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." – Mother Teresa
A Servant leader's motivation comes from the heart. Someone wisely said, "Before people will give you their hand, you must first win their hearts."
Our challenge is to guard our hearts because out of them flows everything we do in life. Your heart overflows into thoughts, words, and actions.
When our hearts are made new, our motivations and actions affect people to favor our leadership and us.
"If a man is loyal to himself, doing what his heart tells him is just; he is headed in the right direction and will always do what is best for his assistants, superior officers in the company and customers.
Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Everyone enjoys seeing themselves growing as a person. Think about a time when you experienced growth in your life. It makes us glad when we see ourselves becoming the person we envision becoming.
Keeping our focus is essential in continually moving forward and growing.
Many distractions are clamoring for our attention. How are we to avoid being taken off our pathway?
Focus on your vision and envision you are becoming the leader you see. Be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in enthusiasm as you do your work and live your life.
Great leaders prepare and shape themselves by the thinking of whom they can become.
They don't copy the behavior and customs of the world that are counter to their vision. They are transforming into a new person by changing the way they think.
The transformation of a leader begins with the renewal of our thinking and our actions.
Great leaders see themselves continually preparing for the expected fulfillment of their vision.
They expect it, anticipate, and prepare for it—their faith-energized mindset fuels personal growth.
What quality is found repeatedly in the lives of successful leaders? The answer is faithfulness.
"I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come." Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States from March 1861 - April 1865,
Mr. Lincoln committed to staying the course and growing by doing what is necessary as a leader.
"I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."
Abraham Lincoln.
President Lincoln persevered in his leadership and commitment during some very challenging and difficult times in our nation.
He was steadfast and determined to stay the course. He understood the responsibilities entrusted to him were the ones he prepared for most of his life.
When we are faith-energized, as Lincoln demonstrates in his personal growth, we expect, anticipate, and prepare for our transformation into the person who impacts their family, business, clients, community, and the nations.
Stay the course!
At the right time, the vision will come.
Abraham Lincoln and all great leaders with vision discover that delays are not denials. Though the vision tarries, please wait for it, for it will undoubtedly come.
Here are four actions we can take from President Lincoln's growth plan.
1. Always give yourself entirely to your work.
2. Persevere when facing obstacles.
3. See yourself as a steward of a vision and purpose. Remember that the responsibility of stewards is that one be found trustworthy.
4. Become transformed by renewing our minds.
“We can succeed only by concert. It is not "can any of us imagine better?" but, "can we all do better?" The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.
The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise — with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
—Abraham Lincoln, Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 1, 1862, in Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, pp. 414-15 (Library of America ed. 1989)
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Be encouraged, for you are here for such a time as this!
Through personal discovery, every great leader understands that the place and time they live is not an accident.
They believe that each opportunity, regardless of its packaging, is designed to prepare them for a more significant impact.
"Stewardship is what a man does after he says, "I believe." W. H. Greaves
The packaging and timing of a lifetime opportunity may come as a challenge that seems impossible to conquer.
During the time of the pandemic, many are choosing to respond through serving.
Recently, a new Summit Leader shared how he continues during his Summit training to serve others through mentoring, coaching
students, and teaching opportunities.
He is involved in P-Tech as a mentor to new leaders starting their career journey.
He teaches students programming skills , serves as the focal point in identifying mentors for IBM interns in his work
location, and leading in the Hispanic Business Resource Group within IBM.
What's his motivation?
"I want to make a difference in positively affecting others as much as possible."
He is getting the most of this opportunity in IBM and honing his leadership skills.
He expresses gratitude for the opportunity and demonstrates loyalty to his belief that he is here for such a time as this.
He is a talented, thoughtful, and transformative leader.
His opportunities will grow and sometimes multiply because he is faithful in doing the little things.
Whoever is faithful over a little will be faithful over much.
There are three questions for identifying the opportunity of a lifetime.
- Does it seem too big or complicated to solve alone?
- Do you believe that your skills, gifts, talents, and abilities matter?
- Are you grateful for the opportunity to be part of the solution?
If the answers are "yes,” you could be right in the middle of the opportunity of a lifetime.
Here are three responses to keep you going.
1. I will commit to doing what I can do.
2. I will engage other believers to join me in the challenge.
3. I will attack the problem and never the people associated with the challenge.
"Remember that opportunity is of no value unless used to advantage.
Someone can show you an opportunity, but you must make use of it, whether it is a way to make money or a way to distinguish yourself.
The quality of an individual is in the little things he does, not the big things." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
Great leaders are serious stewards. To whom much is given, much is required.
"Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his king will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?
Blessed is that servant whom his king will find doing so when he comes. Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has."
That's who we are, my friends.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Be encouraged today because all the power you need is available to you for doing right.
The opportunity of a lifetime is in front of you. Indeed, you are here for such a time as this!
What must we do to ensure we are in step and taking the actions required to change the course of a life, a business, a nation, and shape history?
There are three distinct steps and one essential life and career principle we need to follow.
First, understand the nature of the battle. We are struggling every day choosing to do right and growing or being complacent and not embracing our appointed time to make an impact. Great leaders see and believe that they must act in the challenge facing those they lead and their responsibilities. They have conviction. They know that they must take action.
Our enemy, to doing right, is fear. We often know what is right but do not act because of feelings of inadequacy, not wanting to get involved and being lazy.
Seven years ago, I was facing a lifetime opportunity to grow as a leader and make a positive impact on many lives. I felt inadequate and fearful of the challenges I faced.
One morning, during my quiet time of mediation on quotes affecting leadership, insight flashed in my mind like lightning. I would either step out in faith or forever wonder what I could have done if I held to the conviction that I am here for such a time as this.
This is my time to lead. The focus of faith frees us from fear. I stepped out in faith, believing that everything I needed would come when I committed to taking the first step. Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
The principle I learned that year is that when we take the first step of faith, all the power we need is available before our foot touches the ground! Commitment always precedes empowerment! A clean heart and a steadfast spirit create the right motivation for doing right.
Once we experience the empowerment of the first step, our courage begins to grow, and we start a transformation process to becoming a great leader.
An awakening occurs in our hearts! Our thinking about doing right becomes a guiding truth in our hearts.
Our empowerment to act on what we know is right comes into our thinking. We are no longer conforming to old thought patterns.
We are transforming through our thinking. We take action needed to correct the situation.
What leadership challenge are you facing or seeing right now?
Is it COVID 19, racial injustice, or something else?
First, have the conviction that you are the leader and faith that you can do what is right.
Secondly, take courage in the truth that all the power you need is available for each step you take in doing what is right. Be bold and lionhearted.
Thirdly, be confident that your actions will make an impact, and lives will be changed.
Exercise your leadership position and power. You will become more influential and more impactful as a leader.
When you give to others in need of what only you can provide, you ignite a process of rewards that great leaders began experiencing centuries ago.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Take courage, my friend, and act now.
You know what is needed! If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Envision the impact you can make now as a leader.
Commit and take the first step to do right!
Providence ensures the power is there when you need it.
Victory!
"Steps to Eminence."
What can we do to gain eminence?
We invest time, money, and thought into increasing our visibility, distinguishing our brand, and winning lucrative market share.
Eminence is fame or recognized superiority, especially within a particular sphere, and profession.
In 2020, U.S. advertising spend is expected to reach close to 246 billion dollars.
Great leaders and enterprises rarely start with the goal of being eminent.
Eminence is an outcome of serving.
Focus, Faithfulness, and Favor appear as attributes in both great leaders and companies.
1. Focus: Great leaders focus and discover the answers to three critical questions.
1. Why was I born?
2. Why am I here in this place and time?
3. What am I to become and accomplish?
2. Faithfulness: Great leaders and companies commit to doing what is right at all times.
3. Favor: The reward of providence.
Focusing on serving as the motivation positions leaders on the path of discovery. Helping others holds the answers to all the questions.
Why? From ancient times, we have a wise quote; "If anyone among you wishes to be great, let them first become a servant to all." Serving others is an opportunity and requirement for eminence.
Our resolve to do what is right is tested first in little ways and grows as we faithfully respond at each decision point to do what is right.
A leader and a company's growth and progress continue as long as they seek and do what is right.
Our growth and ability to lead depend on our commitment. How we respond when the right decision may meet with resistance is critical.
A great leader asks herself the question, "What is the right thing to do in light of my influence and authority?" "It is wisely stated, "to whom much is given, much is required."
"Moral courage impels a man to do the right thing when it should be done." Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
The test of a leader's trustworthiness is how they respond to the current circumstances they face. During challenging times is when a leader can accelerate their way to eminence and the organizations they lead.
People watch great leaders' actions and the responses they make that impact the lives of people they influence. Trust in the leader and the organization develops with each step.
Faithfulness is consistently adhering to a code of conduct and behavior that aligns with your mission.
Repeatedly acting with the right motives for the good of others builds a reservoir of goodwill.
"We reap what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow."
Our responses today can impact outcomes over the next decade and century.
Take the long view when faced with doing right now or doing nothing.
He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.
Great leaders make it their life calling to finish well. "You were running well! Who cut in on you so that the truth no longer persuades you?"
We become distracted. The pull of other things, seemingly good things, keeps us from becoming our best. Sometimes we may become fearful.
One great leader stated, "I have laid down a pattern for you. What I have done, you do."
Favor is the distinction bestowed by providence. It is seen as approval, support, or liking for someone or something.
It can be affected by the accumulation of decisions and actions as a leader, a company, or a family.
How is it that one company endures for 100 years, while others languish and disappear?
How can one person accomplish so much, even with lesser talent, skills, and experiences?
Favor. "Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned."
Let's be focused and faithful during this season of challenge. Then favor will follow!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
How do we see ourselves as leaders?
How will we be remembered as leaders in the eyes of our nephews, nieces, children, and generations yet unborn?
Every leader desires three things in their lives—impact, a measure of greatness, and a sense of fulfillment.
Our responses to challenges represent opportunities for "Lionheart Leadership." Lionheart Leadership is the display of courage, justice, power, wisdom, strength, dignity and boldness when facing
the enemy of injustice.
We are grateful for men and women who lead with a lion's heart. When you see leadership like this, you recall the bravery, valor, and strength we see in the lives of great leaders.
This week, in response to the national crisis of racism, we witnessed what "Lionheart Leadership" looks like in action. Our CEO cried out because of the racial injustices we see in our nation and sounded a call for action to our elected officials.
We are blessed when we are associated with "Lionheart Leadership." I desire to emulate it, applaud it, and point it out as an example for new leaders to take notice and learn.
I remember reading a story of the young leader named David, who, as a shepherd boy who stepped forward to face the seemingly unbeatable giant named Goliath.
His motivation was from the heart of doing the right things when others did nothing.
The short story is that empowered with an attitude of justice, his response is seen centuries later as "Lionheart Leadership" in action. While others saw only the giant, David saw the real nature of the battle.
"Lionheart Leadership sees. He first looks, and then he sees. My grandson, Michael, and my wife were walking into a local drug store one day and passed a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk beside the building.
Michael, holding his grandmother's hand, looks the man in his eyes and says, "Hello, how are you?" The man replied, "I am fine young man. How are you?"
Michael, only five years old, not only looks but he sees the man!
That day, Michael displayed Lionheart Leadership.
He is willing to see a man as a human at five years of age and engage him with a pure heart.
My wife shared her embarrassment in looking past the man as if not to see him.
Michael's action empowers her to see.
David prepared to face the giant Goliath by listening. He did not rush to action but first gained insight, followed by a deliberate, intentional plan to defeat the giant.
Now he is empowered by seeing the true nature of the battle, listening to gain insight, and preparing to take action.
David believed in the cause of fighting Goliath because of the challenge to the nation and his values.
How is it possible for a young teenage shepherd to win against a nine-foot giant, trained from his youth to be a warrior?
Attitude, Belief, and Conviction lead to victory. David acted with conviction. Goliath fell that day by the hand of a "Lionheart Leader," resulting in a great victory!
How do we build "Lionheart Leadership" into ourselves as leaders?
1. Look: Intentionally look to see the nature of the battle. Discernment will follow. Actively seek to understand by seeing through the lens of those who need your leadership.
2. Listen: Listening empowers us with insight and ignites neurons in our brains to think about the actions that follow.
3. Lead: Thoughtful, bold, courageous, deliberate action focusing on accomplishing the mission.
Never doubt that you are here for such a time as this.
Believe it is your calling to Lionheart Leadership.
Every great leader meets their opportunity to act boldly, courageously, and with conviction on their journey in life and career.
When others may choose silence, great leaders understand that bad things happen when good people do nothing. It is wisely stated, "everything rises and falls on leadership."
Now is the time for "Lionheart Leadership"!
Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
This is our calling!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Many of us are experiencing struggles in life.
Wisdom can be our greatest asset when life feels like a struggle.
Wisdom is the ability to gain a new perspective, make the right choices in trying, and painful circumstances.
How do we acquire wisdom and experience its benefits?
One great leader wrote centuries ago; "If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously."
How will we know wisdom when we receive it?
"Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere."
Recognize that storms of life will come, and our responsibility is in how we respond.
Our view of the circumstances will affect our responses. When we face the battles of life on your journey, consider it all joy, knowing that the challenges are testing your faith.
As I processed all the events in our nation, I remember Matt. Matt was an IBM intern who shared his favorite.
"Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."
Be encouraged because there is good news for us today!
Imagine how you would feel if you were sure of a pathway forward.
We can emerge victoriously from the struggles if we rely on the unshakable hope and practice these steps invaluable in life and career.
Patience.
Exercising patience helps us understand that the struggles will not last forever.
Storms only last long enough to accomplish their purpose in refining our character and preparing us for greater things ahead.
Many times people search just for the reasons why they are experiencing the challenges which can yield valuable insights.
When we act on the insights that point out needed change with resolve in exhibiting the proper response, the results can be transforming.
Don't dwell on the struggle. It only magnifies the problem and diminishes your impact as a leader.
Embrace a mindset attitude and resolve to respond in a manner that is in keeping with the leader you envision becoming.
Study the lives of great leaders who adopted this way of thinking and emulate their way of life during their struggles.
Recognize that you are not alone in your struggle.
Think of several people who endured hardship, persecution, insults but responded with a seemingly supernatural calmness.
Examine the outcome of their lives and emulate their way of living, learning, and leading.
Be strong and courageous!
You are not alone. We find personal encouragement and strength when we look at the lives of other leaders.
Recognize that quitting in the middle of the challenge only postpones the battle that will reemerge later.
Now is the time to persevere and lead in faith.
Others will benefit from your example and leadership.
"Do not grow weary in doing what is right."
"Never, never give up."
"Leaders are brokers in hope."
Perseverance.
The ability to keep going despite circumstances and outlook. Great leaders embrace endurance so that when they emerge from the struggle they can claim a threefold victory.
1. Personal fulfillment.
2. Increased capacity to serve and the ability to lead positively.
3. More significant influence and credibility as a leader.
Practice.
Each of us understands the value of training when we see people performing at a high level.
These leaders recognize that they need to prepare themselves even during the times of setbacks, changes, delays, and defeat because their opportunity will eventually appear.
They continue to practice and sharpen their skills. When the time is right, they are prepared and ready.
Leaders take hold of the mindset that they will endure hardship but will not stop preparing for their future.
Your motivation is not selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourself. Each of us should look not only to our interests but also to the interests of others.
In a race, everyone runs, but only one receives the prize. Run in this way so that you will be the one who wins.
Winning is not just about you. It is for all those people you will impact on your journey.
Remember, you are here for such a time as this!
Embrace your opportunity with integrity and faith.
Victory!
SELDI Principle 1: Vision is Essential
SELDI Principle 2: The 3 P's are Invaluable.
Greetings Summit Leaders,
Many are experiencing the victory in unity, harmony, and love today.
It can happen in an individual, family, community, company, team, and enterprise. "Behold how good and pleasant it is for us to dwell together in unity!" Working together in harmony and unity with love creates a threefold cord that does not easily break.
The test of this threefold cord's strength comes in victory and adversity. Great leadership guides, models and reflects the qualities that pull people together, forming a powerful team.
Members use their gifts and talents with grateful and joyful hearts.
Their motivation is seeing the advancement of the larger purpose and those working together.
I remember seeing this up close during a career assignment, which placed me on a competitive account. Our company did not have favorable standing with this client.
Nevertheless, we won a very complicated business transformation engagement. Our team came together in unity, harmony, and love. In an environment resistant to change, we united around the leadership of someone we trusted. I learned a great deal in my association with this leader. The project encountered great resistance. At one point, the agreement was at risk of being canceled due to opposition. The team's response was driven first through their deep respect for each other and caring.
Great leaders understand the power of love, which is caring for those you lead. Over five years, the team continued to work together in harmony, unity, and love in serving the client. The project grew and flourished. The results were a highly functioning team, a successful engagement with a satisfied client, and one of the highest awards given for service excellence.
How can we create this environment?
1. Unity. Become a unifying influence through an undivided mind which is singular in focus. Develop the mindset of others first, the bigger purpose, and the advancement of your teammates. "The star of the team is the team. "We" supersedes "me." John Wooden
2. Harmony: Focus on encouragement, affirmation, and communication. Lead by example and endurance. Let us run with endurance the race set before us. We need each other to move forward by faith for the good of many on our journey as leaders.
3. Love: Care for each other on your journey in victory and adversity. Always share a kind word. Everyone enjoys a fitting reply. It is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time. Let no unwholesome word proceed out of our mouth, but only such a word that is good for edification according to the need of the moment.
The approach of unity, harmony, and love is a well-documented strategy for success in our lives and careers. Each of us benefits from this proven principle of life and leadership. I am grateful to discover its benefits.
"We reap what we sow. More than we sow. Later than we sow."
Love never fails!
Victory!
Greetings Summit Leaders,
The eagle is my favorite creature. I love the majestic view of soaring high, the ability to focus on its target, and the bravery and precision shown in the storms they encounter.
Great leaders for centuries, looked to the eagle for inspiration.
There are several natural qualities that we see in the eagle. Here are three that align with the SELDI Career Principle # 6 "The A B C to Victory. - Attitude, Belief, and Conviction."
Dusty is a story of an eagle that started in the barnyard with chickens. He was an experiment to test the theory of imprinting. A belief that chicks will form a natural attachment to their caregiver and mimic their behaviors.
From birth, all Dusty knew was the life of chickens. They waited for the feed given them each day, confined in a wired chicken cage with a daily routine of scratching in the dry, dusty soil.
Dusty's life was challenging because he was bigger than his siblings, and when he attempted to run like a chicken, he stumbled and fell into the dust. Big Red was a beautiful rooster who taunted Dusty continually, "Look at Big Dusty! He so bad at running and look at his crazy looking feet!"
Every morning, Big Red would crow to let Dusty know how insignificant his life was.
One day, Dusty looked up from the barnyard and saw this majestic view of a bird soaring in the sky. He thought to himself, "if only I could fly."
That afternoon, Dusty caught a vision of what he desired to become. It seemed impossible, each attempt to fly ended in disappointment and more laughter from Big Red Rooster.
Nevertheless, Dusty continued trying to burst through the chicken wire and the old way of seeing himself.
One day, providence aided him in his discovery. A great storm of rain and wind began. Big Red screamed, "Run for cover!" The mighty winds blew the top from the chicken cage. Dusty saw this as his opportunity!
He never seemed fearful of wind and storms. Instead, they stirred him to action. He runs into the wind, extends his wings, and winds lift him from the barnyard floor to the heights he could only imagine until now. Higher and higher until he was above the storm. Soaring and discovering the gifts that were his from birth. Now, Dusty knows who he is. An eagle!
His attitude helped transform his thinking. He no longer thinks like a chicken. He believes that he can soar on eagle's wings to heights as high as 10,000 feet. He acts like an eagle. He envisions the mountain tops, takes the initiative and makes his nest in the high places.
From his new perspective, Dusty sees life as his opportunity to grow his skills and enjoy the thrill of using his talents and gifts. Conviction moves him to focus and dive on a target the size of a fish from almost a mile away. "I can do this!" he says to himself. And with the scream of confidence, Dusty begins his dive.
Big Red observes these newly discovered gifts. He is amazed as Dusty, with his focus on fresh salmon, descends at nearly 100 miles an hour and, at just the right time, precisely adjusts his wings and talons to seize the fresh food catch of the day.
What can we learn from Dusty the Eagle?
1. Attitude: The 90/10 rule prevails. Life is 10% circumstances, and 90% is our response.
2. Belief: The winner is not always the fastest, seemingly most gifted but the one who believes he can.
3. Conviction: The inner affirmation that I am here for a purpose and qualified to fulfill it.
When we face challenges and adversity, remember Dusty's story. Believe it, and it is your story. We can gain new strength, soar on wings like eagles, run and not get tired, walk, and not lag on our journey as leaders. Take each step in faith, believe you are on the right path and know you are becoming a great leader who can impact the world.
I think of a quote describing Dusty's journey as he perches in victory with other eagles on their mountain. "He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor."
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Preparation always shows. Most people undergo a season of preparation and testing before they are ready for the new opportunities ahead for them.
I believe this is a providentially ordered approach that helps us grow in wisdom and insight.
We tend to want too much as soon as possible. It takes maturity to understand that new skills and insights require time to develop.
Leadership requires determination, patience, and commitment despite the circumstances at hand.
How should we view our current circumstances when they seem to be working against our goals and vision? See your events in light of your dream.
The power of the imagination sustains us in difficult times.
We are envisioning the accomplishment of the desired goal or vision, and it fuels within us a passion for continuing moving forward during hardships.
We learn more in our valley experiences than we do on our mountain top encounters. During the highs, we tend to relax and become complacent.
Complacency is a dream killer. Adversities stir us to refocus on the disciplines that enable our success. These times of testing reveal hidden character
weaknesses that need correction before further progress is possible.
Great leaders go through testings of their character and emerge stronger. Their experiences and responses prepare them for leadership.
They allow their vision to help transform them as leaders.
When we are honestly assessing our progress, we see disciplines that we once were diligent about practicing becoming less of a priority.
We allow distractions to pull us off our pathway. Drifting is another dream killer.
Again, our adversities and trials serve as lessons in the school of experience and preparation.
Seeing trials with the proper perspective can sometimes become our greatest time of growth and development as a leader.
Someone once said, "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be complete, lacking nothing."
We need to examine ourselves to ensure our motivations are pure.
It is always helpful to have accountability partners. Accountability partners are protection in the life of a leader.
They help you accurately assess your motives, actions, and behaviors.
We will always experience times of testing during our life and career journey.
So, if you are undergoing a season of testing, see it as an opportunity that will build your confidence, trust, and courage.
Keep looking to the future.
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. wisely shared this insight in 1930 in his message called "Have Faith in the Future!"
" You are going out to build a future for yourselves.
Take it seriously; you should feel that this business is the very best place for you to be. Then you can go on and do the things you are
told to do and, in addition, suggest other things for us to do that will improve the business. Then there will be no doubt as to your future success."
It has been wisely said that we reap what we sow, more than we sow, and later than we sow.
Keep preparing.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Be an encourager. You can impact lives through your words.
Great leaders use words wisely and selectively in their conversations with others.
They understand the impact words have on the mental outlook and confidence of those they meet.
"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
Great leaders use the tongue to build others up, keep them looking forward and gain their confidence.
How is it possible for us to emulate the great leaders who, through their speech, encourage people and nations?
Can you recall a situation when someone came alongside you on your journey for the sole purpose of lifting your spirits?
Think about the words they used in your conversations together. Sometimes it takes only one word, a kind comment of affirmation to hearten someone who is going through a rough time and gain new strength to keep going forward.
That person connects with us because we sense their heart along with the words they use. Great leaders lead from the heart and mind, and the words from their lips encourage us!
Winston Churchill used words as weapons during the early years of World War II. Britain did not have the military arsenal needed to overcome the enemy challenges facing the nation. His speeches, carried on radio waves across Britain, enemy-occupied Europe, and the world provided hope, courage, and inspiration. He was a stone of help in time of need.
A leader's heart develops with time and testing. He is intentional in his choices and his responses to each challenge on the journey. He understands that out of the heart come the issues of life. From what is in the heart, the mouth speaks.
"I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial... I thought I knew a good deal about it all, I was sure I should not fail." Winston Churchill, The Second World War
Have you ever spoken words of encouragement to someone who needed a lift in their spirits? How did you feel? That feeling of fulfillment creates enthusiasm for the works that are yours alone to do.
Leaders are intentional and transformed as they think of ways to help others on their journey. A profile of their thinking could say, "They fix their thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right and pure, and lovely, and admirable. They look for and think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
Great leaders are keenly aware of the challenges they are facing. Their perspective is distinctive. They help us see our circumstances differently.
A great king and leader named David understood the importance of his speech and his thinking. He focused on his heart and words in his leadership. "May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable."
Let's help others view their circumstances with a perspective of hope, endurance, and enthusiasm. Your encouraging leadership is indispensable to you, your family, clients, and those you serve and lead.
That's who you are!
Victory!
"Advancing in Uncertain Times!"
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"The best is yet to come!."
A wise leader shared his optimism for the future that encouraged me to look to the future with confidence.
Great leaders from ancient times until now inspire us to look forward with optimism regardless of the circumstances.
I think of Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII.
His leadership, optimism, courage, conviction, and faith rallied his nation and other nations—the outcome; victory!
Be encouraged because greater things are still to come for you as a leader.
We are required to do our part. Here are three actions great leaders employ in advancing in uncertain times.
The three-fold strategy includes these three words. Mindfulness, Rehearse, and Focus.
1. Mindfulness. Great leaders use their minds to envision outcomes. Their attitude of optimism and courage lifts those around them. During the war, Winston Churchill made time to speak of hope for the future with a group of grade school students as well as the nation. Begin each day with an attitude of thanksgiving by calling to mind the faithful acts along your pathway this far. Take time to review and see the accomplishments and breakthrough events on your journey. You will discover a pattern that affirms your perseverance and faith. "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease." These words encourage us to think of the possibilities as you work through this time to testing. One writer described it this way. "When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings." These leaders will continue to grow stronger and stronger until they reach their destination.
2. Rehearse the disciplines. Each leader understands the importance of training. They are committed and disciplined all the time. "Train like there is no tomorrow." is their attitude because they believe tomorrow is coming, and they are preparing. Sometimes, all of us move off our pathway and take our eyes off our visions. I recall one Summit Leader saying, "I needed to change some things." We instinctively understand when we are off our disciplines and what's required. One great leader summarizes it in the statement, "In returning and rest, is deliverance and in quietness and trust shall be your strength." She refocuses her mind and begins again.
3. Focus and faith. In ancient times, sailors relied on the winds to move their vessels around the globe. They knew the importance of hope that the wind will blow. Their faith moved them to action in setting their sails designed to receive and redirect the wind in preparation for the fresh winds on the way. Great leaders think this way and inspire others to continue preparing even in the absence of evidence. They know where they are going. They never stop thinking about their vision. The prudent know where they are going. "One ship sails East, And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow, 'Tis the set of the sails And not the gales, That tells the way we go. Ella Wheeler Wilcox
"We believe like the great leaders before us that the best is yet to come. The winds will blow again. Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you a Word of encouragement. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their perseverance, focus, and faith.
The winds will blow again.
We are preparing and listening to the sound of a mighty wind!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Humility is a virtue that helps leaders empower others in becoming the best they can be.
Humility is essential because it enables a leader to build bridges to people, sustain teamwork, and create an environment where others can thrive and flourish.
C.S. Lewis put it this way: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.”
Early in my life and career journey, I thought of humility as a weakness instead of quality for greatness in a leader. "Humility comes before honor." and "If anyone among you wishes to be great. Let him become a servant to all." are two quotes that highlight two proven principles in leadership.
Through our selfless actions, we inspire others to be part of our team, produce our best work as a team, and stay engaged because they have a sense of belonging and growth.
Think of someone you know who exhibits the quality of humility in their leadership. Ask yourself, "What impact has this person made in my life and career?"
The Havard Business Organization published several articles on leadership that highlight the impact of humility in a leader.
1. "Six Principles for Developing Humility as a Leader" by John Dame and Jeffrey Gedmin
2. "How Humble Leadership Really Works" by Dan Cable
3. "Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve" by Jim Collins.
Being mindful that humility is a vital virtue helps us to focus our minds on cultivating this quality in our lives.
Over time, we become a leader who has expanded influence and receives honor by how they perform in addition to the results they achieve. Also, we build a hedge of protection against pride or thinking more of ourselves than we should. "Before his downfall, a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor." is an ancient quote that points to the value of humility.
“Humility will open more doors than arrogance ever will.” Zig Ziglar
A Summit Leader shared with me an update on his progress. He works hard, builds his skills, and focuses on his vision. He describes the advancement in reaching some of his career goals is like "becoming a celebrity overnight." Here are four suggestions he makes.
1. Train every day like there is no tomorrow.
2. Give it 100% 100% of the time.
3. Train with others who are seeking excellence.
4. Focus on being the best you can become.
He rates his humility between 6 to 7 on a scale of 10.
He encourages me because of his focus on developing this quality.
Many Summit Leaders are focusing on the attribute of "humility." A recent cohort of 32 Summit Leaders highlighted "humility" as one of their top five characteristics.
Summit Leaders are thinking, acting, and developing habits leading to greatness as leaders.
"Sow a thought. Reap an action. Sow an action. Reap a habit. Sow a habit. Reap a character. Sow a character. Reap a destiny." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Rejoice today that you are here for such a time as this.
Wherever you are and whatever work you are doing, see it as a gift.
Early in my life journey, I felt work was hard labor to avoid. I remember in my first years as a salesperson being in a remote little town named Red Lion. It was far away from our home office and yet my territory. At the time, I sold typewriters door to door.
This morning, I rewalked in my mind a sales call I made in 1975 on a flour mill. I recall thinking, "What good can come from this?" It was a hot summer day, maybe 80 degrees, high humidity, and I wore a suit, white shirt, tie, and carried the typewriter under my arm. Our slogan then was, "Calls plus demos equals sales." To my surprise, the flour mill owner in his bib overalls asked his assistant, following my demonstration, "What do you think?" She said, "I like it!" He smiled and said, "We will buy one." Looking back on this, I am discovering that through work, there is always a more significant play operating in our lives than we can see at the time.
Now, I understand, some four decades later, that those times were testing and preparation for me as a leader. The work was a blessing to me. That experience taught me three lessons that come to me today.
1. Do not despise the day of small beginnings. Our attitude toward our work will determine the results we gain. Often the results are more character, faith-building, perseverance development, and preparation for more excellent work. "Take pains in these things, be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all."
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Having a purpose for working gives us discernment to see the bigger plan at work in our lives. My selling typewriters door to door, while hard physically, planted seeds of humility and learning how to engage with people. It's always about the people we meet on our life journey. What impact can we have on the people we meet and serve? Great leaders are motivated by helping and not merely to make money. This principle took time for me to understand. "Don't wear yourself out to get rich; stop giving your attention to it. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off like an eagle."
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Work hard and become a leader. Be lazy and become a slave. Work is a gift given for our enjoyment and blessing. When I understood that whatever the job, we are to do it heartily with our whole heart, knowing that there is a reward and in all labor there is profit; all things began working together for good.
The pursuit of worthy goals takes energy. The building of relationships takes perseverance and discipline. Now, I am beginning to see the typewriter sales were the bridge of faith to something more significant that I could not even imagine.
So, be encouraged, my friends. Wherever you are and whatever work you are assigned, do it heartily. Never be lazy in your work but fervent in spirit. Remember whom you serve. Knowing there is a sure reward.
Keep the faith!
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
How joyful it is to see Summit Leaders thriving on their life and career journey!
This week a Summit Leader shared her recent sales victory on the last day of the quarter!
Her client adopted a proposed solution that will benefit many thousands of people.
Her team's success keeps our company at the forefront of innovation and contributes to our growth.
Her story is significant because I recall receiving this note from her in response to the blog post on
January 3, 2018 "Commitment. - Accomplishing more excellent works in 2018 and beyond."
"Thank you, Tony! Great timing as I am setting my 2018 goals!"
The timing is perfect for us being here for such a time as this! How should we set our goals and lead by faith during new work routines, working remotely, and wondering when things will change?
Here are four suggestions to consider applying to our lives.
Practice "personal excellence."
Remember when you experienced a breakthrough. You danced for joy! I remember how I danced when I received the news that I was selected to be a member of the Summit team. That was seven years ago. All the emotions I felt then are still on fire within me now. I pray to get stronger and better for my team and those I serve.
Think about the joyful goal you reached that comes to your mind now?
Reflect on the process. How you worked and waited in faith for the goal's accomplishment. What motivated you to keep going. You believed!
"Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Today, I spoke with a Summit Leader who shared his "personal excellence" during a challenging year in 2018. He continued to work hard even though nothing happened in the first half of the year. Then it happened! New sales opportunities occurred in the second half, and he finished the half-year at 200%.
He is now in a new managerial role and "focusing on mindfulness; being present during WebEx meetings and not multitasking. I am planning out my day and staying prepared. Nothing bad will come out of practicing "personal excellence."
Resolve to practice "personal excellence" in everything your hands find to do. The time for preparation is now.
Review your goals and envision your opportunity to shine on the path ahead of you. Looking your best, being, and doing your best are essential. How you show up matters every day.
Goal setting is essential in life. We are motivated and inspired by going through the process and protected from our enemy of complacency.
Without goals, we drift in life. The ancient saying is "be lazy and become slaves. Work hard and become leaders.
Be fruitful and purposeful. Prepare for the good works ahead for you.
I am discovering that thinking long about my goals, writing them down, and speaking them aloud affects my spirit and thinking.
Neuroscience research shows that connecting a small physical gesture or word helps trigger commitment to our goals when circumstances are tough. SMARTER goal setting helps our goals to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely, possible to evaluate, and reevaluate.
In February, I thought long about six goals, wrote them down, recited them in prayer, with my hands raised high, shouted my adoration!
Get ready, my friends. Greater things are still to come.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
I am encouraged and inspired by the conversations with over thirty Summit leaders this week. Their optimism, attitude, and words describing how they are adapting during this time of crisis motivate me.
I call it "personal excellence."
Reflecting on the responses of great leaders in times of sudden change highlights three insights leading to "good success."
Discipline is required.
These leaders understand that these times are opportunities for growth.
For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. I am impressed with their level of determination in becoming the leaders they envision. They are building their character.
"Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny. ― Stephen Covey,
At the thirty-year mark of my career journey, I discovered that we live a speedy life in history. Everything is moving so quickly, including myself. I noticed something would happen to stop me from moving forward.
Usually, I would get sick. During the recovery, I began to reflect and listen. I call it "course correction." So, I used the time to ask myself three questions regarding my quest for success.
1. Am I going in the right direction?
2. Are my motives pure?
3. What changes do I need to make when I am up and going again?
Success means different things to people, and each person has to discover what it looks like for themselves.
The second discovery is what I call "Affirmation." After some time of soul searching, I could get a sense of direction. If there were changes I needed to make, I would write them down. Maybe, I was moving too fast and out of step with my vision, or perhaps my desire shifted to focusing on what I could gain instead of what I could give by serving others.
The process reminds me that my focus is to first sow good things in the lives of those I serve. A leader who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
The third phase is what I call "Revitalization." A "soul check" is like a check-up that produces a good report from your doctor. It gives you a boost of confidence that you are capable of going forward. The affirmation that you are heading in the right direction gives you hope and renews your dedication to your vision, purpose and calling. One great leader once said;
"Stand beside the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths. Which is the way to what is right? Then take it and find rest for yourselves."
Tomas J. Watson, Sr. the founder of IBM, once shared his vision with a group of IBMers on January 25, 1933. "Tonight marks the beginning of our thoughts along the lines of the "Century of Progress," the century that is to come, and we must lay our plans accordingly.
The future is going to demand more of us than the past has demanded, and it is going to give us more in return."
Another great leader shared his vision of "good success."
"This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua," ForbesQuotes.
Let's join the leaders who employ desire, discipline, and dedication in preparing for the future. One leader stated, "the worse thing we can do is do nothing."
Let's listen and learn all we can from these circumstances and prepare for our chance to lead.
Victory!
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
You are here for such a time as this. Your pathway and the good works are ahead of you.
Think for a moment of the person who loves you unconditionally.
The surge of emotion shows the impact that a person has on your life.
Knowing and being assured that you are loved is an empowering emotion that produces three key growth opportunities for us to focus on during this time.
Prepare.
First, the fact that I am loved unconditionally helps me understand that I have a purpose in the world. It motivates me to focus on "personal excellence." I am aware that there are people in the world who need what is uniquely mine to offer. Those you serve include clients, colleagues, family, community, and the nations.
Therefore, I choose to accept my calling and prepare. "I will study and get ready. Perhaps my chance will come." Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln focused on his character and prepared himself for the opportunity to lead the nation during a time of crisis.
"When your character is built on spiritual and moral foundation, your contagious way of life will influence millions." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Each of us has a pathway to follow throughout life. Our calling as leaders starts early in life through the unconditional love given to us by the parent, guardian, or friend.
The qualities of "personal excellence" are ours to develop and apply as we pursue our life and career journeys.
Could it be that someone you are leading now, an employee, a mentee, a client, or a colleague is part of your assignment as a leader?
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
"Remember how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to Myself." is a quote that comes to mind as I reflected on conversations this week with two Summit Leaders.
They encouraged me with two approaches they take when the pathway appears unreasonable. Also, we share four actions you can take for victory!
Unreasonable: going beyond what is sensible or realistic.
Learning how to move forward is counter-intuitive.
"Appears" is a word that our enemy uses to discourage us from persevering on our unique pathway in life and career.
This week a Summit Leader shared this insight on sustaining your progress in growing.
"I am motivated to keep climbing, getting better to reach my goals, do what I can do, and go wherever my journey takes me."
When the pathway appears unreasonable,
"I pray and hope for the best. I look unto God and trust ultimately.
"Behold, I will do a new thing."
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
There is a beautiful new season happening in your life and career right now!
Now it shall spring forth, shall you not know it? Springtime is an exciting season! I look and expect to see evidence that something new is happening.
Someone once said, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen."
Take time to reflect on your journey and the victories you experienced along the way.
We need times of refreshing, especially during the challenging and stressful times on our journey.
Here are three reminders to us as leaders that will strengthen us and encourage us today to keep growing forward.
Greetings, Summit Leaders.
Now is the perfect time to create or review your brand.
Each of us has a brand to develop, protect, and become intentional in maintaining.
Early in my career, I thought very little about the importance and significance of being thoughtful about the person you are, the one you desire to become, and the one people perceive you as being right now.
How do you want to be perceived?
What steps must you take to position yourself for advancing in life and career?
Why should it matter?
At any age, your brand matters. Many people will benefit from your leadership.
Character is an essential element in branding. Is the person in private when no one seems to be looking the same person we see in the public?
A lifetime commitment is required for the moment by moment selection of choices that build an authentic leader.