Wise Words – 106 Maxims
The Scottish writer and historian Thomas Carlyle once said, “Every man I meet is my superior in that I may learn from him.” This has always been a thought-provoking quote for me because every day I make it a point to keep an open mind and to learn as much as I can. Having been in so many roles and leadership positions throughout my life, I can’t help but be amazed at how much I’ve yet to learn and how much I’m still learning every single day. Do you ever find times when you realize you have a lot to learn?
Here are some maxims, messages and quotes that I’ve heard over the years that have helped me to grow as a leader, as a friend and as a person. They are not my sayings but words that I’ve come to appreciate and take to heart. Many of them are by that infamous author known only by the name “anonymous”. These have helped me to better understand and enjoy life, as well as enjoy the company of others more fully. My hope here is that you find some of these helpful to you: Read more
Beware of the Chameleon Effect
You know what’s amazing? It’s the ability we all have to change our environment based upon our view of it. I’m not talking about any mysticism or hocus pocus, but a proven psychological ability that we as human beings have. This ability is known as the “Chameleon Effect”, also known as the “Pygmalion Effect” in some circles, it has to do with our natural sense of value attribution and how it changes life around us. Value attribution or the inclination for people to superimpose or imbue a thing with certain characteristics or qualities based upon our initial perception. The initial impression we have of something or someone will cause us to view that very same thing in such a way that’s consistent with our initial impression. When Joshua Bell (a Grammy Award-winning violinist who plays to sold-out crowds in symphony halls around the world) dressed in jeans, a baseball cap and sneakers pulled out his $3.5 million dollar Stradivarius violin on a crowded subway platform in Washington D.C. during morning rush hour and Read more
Leadership Traps: Communication Without Communicating
Depending upon where you’re from, or what generation you are part of, your view of what a leader should and should not be will vary. There are those who say changing times call for changes in leadership styles. While that may be true for some areas of leadership, many basic characteristics of leadership still hold true today as they did back with previous generations.
A crucial area that has not changed is the ability to communicate. Communication has added new tools to its repertoire over the last couple of decades (such as email and instant messaging), but time tested communication methods are still needed today. To substitute these time tested communication methods with email and/or instant messaging would be to ask your team and peers to begin alienating themselves from you. Why Read more
A Story of Influence
When it comes to influence one thing is certain. One’s ability to create and maintain a positive relationship is a must have skill. Without the ability to have a relationship with someone, there is absolutely no way to have influence. 
One can argue that power (through the manipulation of money and/or violence) can allow a person to have influence. I say that is simply not true influence but more so an investment and use of fear. If given the choice, a large number of leaders would prefer to use the power of influence over the power of fear in order to get things done.
It All Started with a Visit
A few years back I was visiting the headquarters of a very well-known international computer consulting firm. This particular firm serviced my company on many occasions and I was always happy with how their consultants handled my company’s requests. An acquaintance of mine, Larry, was one of the company’s management. While I was there, I noticed that many of the members of his team Read more
Aligning Actions with Values: Set the Example
Yesterday, I was reading an article about the sentencing of a beloved New England city mayor for receiving a bribe while he was in office. The incident in question was committed about three to four years ago by way of him accepting work to be done on his home at a greatly reduced price in exchange for favoritism on contractual bidding for work needing to be done for the city he governed. I say this mayor was beloved because even while he was being tried, hundreds of city residents flocked to the courthouse where the trial was occurring in order to show their support for him. During this mayor’s time in office, he cleaned up much of the city he governed. Re-allocating funds for education, cleaning community neighborhoods by giving police more resources to do their job, challenging processes that were (in his eye) not working and making changes in key government offices and positions in order to help save the city from unnecessary expenses and to Read more
