“I have a dream!” Now that’s big vision!  That declaration is probably one of the clearest and most widely acknowledged vision statements of the 20th century.  What was Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision? Equality and freedom! “I have a dream that one day my four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the …

A story is told of 3 stone masons working on St. Paul’s Cathedral sometime between 1675-1710… They were all asked the same question, “What are you doing?” The first man answered, “I’m mixing mortar.” The second man replied, “I’m helping to build the south wall.” The third man declared, “I’m working to build the most glorious cathedral the world has …

One in 10.  That was the average. I was really discouraged.  I had been working incredibly hard to get this business off the ground.  We had 2 toddlers and no income other than what I hoped to generate with a start-up sports marketing agency. MacLean Sports Marketing was a complete unknown in the world of professional sports.  The promotions I …

“HELP!  SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!” The desperation of the woman immediately caught my attention.  Seeking out the source of the panicked outcries my buddy and I found a very distraught woman frantically waving her arms at us in the middle of the alley.  Sensing the urgency of her need we sprinted toward her. The emergency she found herself in was …

“The 17th caller now wins.” Should I call?  I’ve never won anything before.  But maybe this time I’ll win… Do you remember radio stations?  Ok, I know, radio stations aren’t dead.  However, the golden age of radio stations is past.  With the plethora of media options available to people now a days, and the variety of ways we can choose …

Do you know what kind of leader you are?  Do you know the difference between how you are naturally wired to lead and how you choose to lead? There are myriad models explaining the various kinds of leadership styles, management roles, and types of leaders there are.  Many of these reflect your natural propensity, wiring, or gifting as it pertains …

Who was the best boss you ever worked for?  Why? I was recently leading a retreat with a number of executives: Presidents, VPs, GMs, Directors, and Managers of a wide range of companies.  The leaders ranged in age from 30 something to 60 something, with everything in between. Our speaker, Drew Bird, was leading us in a session about the …

What’s the key to success? Talk to 100 people and you may get 100 answers.  How would you answer that question?  It may depend on your definition of success. How would you define success? This week I heard 2 different perspectives on the key to success.  I was in a meeting with a handful of leaders in Vancouver.  The one …

Workplace conflict.  It happens all too often. Things are said that shouldn’t be said.  Things are done that shouldn’t be done.   Perhaps it’s things that really should’ve been said that weren’t, or things that should’ve been done that weren’t. Regardless, when you put people together there’s going to be conflict.  Oftentimes, the “conflict” looks more like a gradual withdrawing to …

“Sorry Dave, we’re outta here!” And with that, I was alone. But I was not really alone.  I was bereft of allies, but I was quickly going to be surrounded by my enemies.  And this enemy was focused on killing me.  I had to move or I would be dead. I surveyed my surroundings, gauged how much time I had …