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24 Nov

Are you Reliable? (Read before you answer)

by Lee J. Colan

As I reflected on the life of our family dog, Sparky, I was struck by his gold standard of reliability.

Before Sparky went to doggy Heaven, he greeted me at home every time I walked in the door for 14 years. To put that into perspective, that’s 20,000+ times without failure! The same greeting, the same panting with excitement, the same wagging tail. He was as reliable as, well, a dog.

So, it made me think about my own human reliability:

20 Nov

Family Rituals

by Lee J. Colan and Julie Davis-Colan

Thanksgiving is a time of deeply held family rituals - big meals, family games, football watching.

We had a 22 year annual family ritual of attending the circus each August when it came to town. We actually outlasted the circus!. It was good family entertainment, but for us it is much more. We started when our oldest was just a one-year old baby. Twenty-two years later he still joyfully engaged in this family ritual with us and his two sisters - no doubt, he's a good sport (proof positive in this photo).

17 Nov

Designing Healthy Organizational Cultures

by Lee J. Colan and Julie Davis-Colan

Every organization has a culture by default. Few organizations have a culture by design.

Even when an organization has intentionally integrated its culture as part of its strategy, change naturally forces culture disintegration. The more a changing organization wants to keep its culture the same, the more it must change what it does.

10 Nov

Resilient Leadership

by Lee J. Colan and Julie Davis-Colan

The greatest opportunity for your company to create a sustainable competitive advantage is during a tough economy. However, leading a company during a slowing economy has plenty of challenges. What should you change, stop or continue doing?

Organizational change is just a concept. Organizations do not change—individuals change. If enough individuals change, you start to reap the benefits of organizational change.

Your personal assumptions about change and tough times will dictate how your company will experience the economic roller coaster ride.

06 Nov

3 Levels of Leadership

by Lee J. Colan and Julie Davis-Colan

Leadership is an inside job. We must lead ourselves to a higher level before we can inspire extraordinary results from our team. We cannot lead where we dare not go. We cannot credibly ask others to pursue team excellence if we do not pursue personal excellence.

Great leadership requires skill and character. Our character is, at the core, personal leadership. Personal leadership is awareness and intentional use of our mindset, emotions, priorities, values and self-talk to have a positive impact on others.

03 Nov

TOP 10 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders

by Lee J. Colan and Julie Davis-Colan

A good plan might get you into the game, but sticking with it catapults you into the winner's circle.

Based on 18 years of field research and real-life experiences with the highest-achieving leaders here are the habits they stick with:

30 Oct

Quotes to Inspire Adherence

by Lee J. Colan and Julie Davis-Colan

The Adherence equation has been field-tested for 17 years and is featured in three of our books including the best seller Sticking to It.

Here are a few of our quotes from those books to inspire you to stick to it.

Sharpen Focus

27 Oct

Leading from the Eye of the Storm

by Lee J. Colan and Julie Davis-Colan

Unfortunately, this has been a banner season for hurricane trackers. A hurricane’s outer bands can extend a few hundred miles from the center. Hurricane Andrew's (1992) rainbands reached 100 miles out from the eye, while those in Hurricane Gilbert (1988) stretched over 500 miles.

The hurricane's eye is a relatively calm, clear area usually 20 - 40 miles across. People in the midst of a hurricane are often amazed at how the incredibly fierce winds and rain can suddenly stop and the sky clear when the eye comes over them.

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