Here are some of mine: Running the half marathon in April, even though I almost didn’t at the last minute Cutting our company’s expenses to maintain the health of the business Having eight of the top ten books on the November Christian bestsellers list Getting my oldest daughter married and seeing their relationship grow What do you feel you should have been acknowledged for but weren’t? … Here are some of mine: Laying off so many of our employees, including some very dear friends Failing to articulate the vision and be a better source of encouragement to my team Not really unplugging from my vacation in October like I had planned Losing focus on my exercise regimen and having to keep re-starting it What was missing from last year as you look back?

General McClellan had significant character flaws that I believe serve as a warning signs to anyone in leadership. Ultimately, these cost him dearly: He lost Lincoln’s confidence, his job, and a run for the White House (against Lincoln). Worse, they prolonged the Civil War and cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

This recession has been a tough ride for most organizations. Many leaders I have met with in the last few months have grown weary of trying to keep things moving forward with fewer resources. They keep thinking things will improve, but “flat” seems to be the new “up.” In times like these, it is tempting for all of us to stay in our offices and become introspective. But we absolutely cannot do that. Our people need us now—more than ever.

When I was about three or four, I distinctly remember my Mom saying to me, “Mike, you don’t need to walk with a limp. … Regardless of her admonition, I still walked with a limp for another year or so, simply because I wanted to be like my dad.

Being great at what you do is about more than being a competent professional or a skilled craftsman. It’s not enough to deliver a great product or service. It is about the total customer experience, from the first encounter until the last—and everything in between.

Perhaps you’ve noticed: customer service has deteriorated noticeably since the recession began. Fewer waiters in restaurants. Slower room service in hotels. Longer wait times for support. This is hardly surprising. With significant layoffs in almost every industry, fewer people are available to provide the level of service you have come to expect. Here are four strategies for responding to poor customer service.

Most people believe that somehow, if they can just find the right system, they can get everything done. I think this is a myth bordering on an outright lie. You can’t do it all. Time is a limited resource. In my experience, the key to work/life balance begins by getting crystal clear on your priorities.

Everything important requires work. Hard work. And sometimes there is a long arc between the dream and it’s realization. That’s when we want to quit, but that is also where the work and the transformation occur.

In summary, the greatest obstacle you face could be your greatest opportunity. It really comes down to your response to it.

The one thing that will keep you from settling is courage. This is the only thing that gives life to the dream once the initial magic wears off. In my experience, there are six ways to find the courage you need to swim against the tide and stand for wow.

Our interaction with the Web and the expectations it creates have shaped what we expect from our leaders. Therefore, if leaders are going to be effective with the current generation of Internet-savvy followers, they must adapt their leadership style. I call this Leadership 2.0.

Saturday night, Gail and I went to the Nashville Symphony with our daughter, Mary, and her husband, Chris. Mary had bought tickets for Gail’s birthday. It was a magnificent evening. Toward the end of the evening, it occurred to me that conducting and leading have a lot in common.

As I got up this morning, I realized how very similar worry and imagination
really are. Both of them involve visualizing the future. In a sense, worry is
simply an unproductive use of imagination.

There are numerous things you have zero control over. You can’t control the weather, the economy, or the actions of others. Many of us spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about these things. It’s a complete waste of time. Worry does nothing to change them. It only makes us miserable. It also turns us into victims.

Everything you say has an effect. Even the things you don’t say—your attitude, your facial expressions, and your body language. All. Have. An. Effect.

Rather than reviewing one book this week, I thought I would share my favorite business books. I get asked this question regularly, most recently when I was lecturing at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Business School earlier this week.

As long as you have to have meetings, you might as well do them well. Before you plan another meeting (and suffer the rest of us to sit through them), make a commitment to do the following:

Last week, in honor of our new dress code, I wore jeans every single day. I loved how much more productive I felt. I don’t know if it was the jeans per say or just the change of pace. Regardless, I like it.

But I am noticing that that a new model of leadership is taking root in many organizations, including our own here at Thomas Nelson. In this model, the leader’s primary role is to initiate conversations that bring out the best thinking of the tribe and direct those conversations toward a positive outcome.

In the Western literary tradition, the silver bullet was the only weapon that could destroy certain types of monsters. As a result, it became a metaphor for a singular solution that solves a giant problem.

Twenty years ago, Robert Wolgemuth and I started a publishing company. We had a dream to publish books that truly made a difference, in people’s lives and in the overall culture. The only problem was that we didn’t have much money. Our competitors had seemingly every advantage, including piles of working capital (or so we […]

You can live your life on purpose. It begins by creating a “Life Plan.” This won’t insulate you from life’s many adversities and unexpected twists and turns, but it will help you become an active participant in your life, intentionally shaping your own future.

You don’t have to make every experience in life a WOW. If everything is a WOW, then pretty soon, nothing is a WOW. But you must be able to identify which experiences you want to make a WOW, and then have a process—or a “technology”—for creating that outcome. I call this “the how of WOW.” It involves asking five questions.

The most important thing you can do as a leader is to keep your heart open.

…Maintaining an open heart—pumping possibility through your organization—is the most important thing you can do as a leader.