What book are you reading? What threads are you following? Which podcast or audio book are you listening to? How many “Self Help”, “Personal Development”, “Leadership”, or other type of educational content sources have you consumed in the past 3 months? If you are the kind of person who opened this article, then you are probably counting them off, naming each of them out loud as you extend another finger.

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Imagine the pilgrims, in 1621, as they gathered at Plymouth Rock to celebrate their life in the new world. They had survived the 66-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, a ferocious first winter, and numerous encounters with wildlife, and natives in the new land. You know that those who were there must have thought back over the previous year, the years and events that led them to leave their homeland, and all that encompassed them ending up living there in this amazing new land with the promise of an amazing future.

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As a leader, how do you get people to do what needs to be done? This is a question I was recently asked, while being interviewed on the “Go Local, Unfiltered” Podcast. I was also asked this question by @mel tempest, on the “Gym Owners Fitness Business” Podcast a couple years ago. If you are in a leadership role, hopefully, this question has already triggered you to start thinking about your own personal strategy for leading teams to success and reflecting on “how” you were able to make that happen.

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It has been a year since the world as we knew it came to a screeching halt. Forced into isolation, virtual meetings and gatherings, physical distancing, face covering, and sickness like most have never seen in their lifetime. It has truly impacted everyone at some level. Unemployment, separation from loved ones, anxiety, depression, and tragically, loss of life. I don’t know that anyone was prepared for the impact this pandemic.

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Think of a time when you lost your “cool”. A time that you let your emotions control you and you somehow reached your boiling point and went off on someone. A co-worker, a subordinate, maybe a family member. Now think about what led to that. Not an excuse, just what led to the unfortunate event. Most times, we do not just snap out of the blue. Especially as leaders or managers. Usually, there is a series of events that lead us to a point where we lose it, and we end up handling situations emotionally instead of professionally.

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Up early and ready to start another week on “Big MO”, Monday! I coined this phrase while leading group fitness workouts several years ago. Participants always seemed to get a kick out of it. It was my way of saying that I was not going to dread Monday, however I was going to face a new week with “MO”tivation… BIG “MO”tivation for the week to come! Hence the term “BIG MO”, “MO”nday!

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I admit, I am quite the consumer of self help or personal development “stuff”. You name it, a book, a podcast, an article, I love it. I am so passionate about learning and growing that I make it a part of my daily routine. If you are reading this, or you are a manager leading your team through this, the odds are that you have some interest in the same topic, so I salute you. Not everyone possesses the humility to seek out personal development and growth.

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Have you ever been inspired by a friend or colleague who just happens to say or do something at just the right time? This morning, while having coffee on the deck of my son’s mountain cabin, I was reviewing some LinkedIn posts and read a great article by Lindsay Rainwater about writing.

While reading Lindsay’s article, I was quickly reminded of a time, just over a year ago, when I was providing some parenting/coaching to my 15-year-old son. He was talking about writing and how he thought that journaling or blogging might be a fun thing to do.

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Here we are in late August. The impact of COVID 19 is evident wherever you may look. Mask mandates, business closures, physical distancing, and the list goes on. How are you doing? How are you holding up? I hope all is well, and I hope that you are safe. As we deal with the impact of this pandemic there have been many who have struggled and are still struggling. Personally, professionally, and financially. It is times like this that we all have a choice. Do we use this as an excuse? Or do we use this as opportunity?

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Here you go again! Alarm going off and out of the bed you go. You grab your coffee and get ready. You rush out the door, hurry to work, crank out your day, come home, eat dinner, and before you know it, you are back in bed. The cycle continues and the days become weeks, the weeks become months, and the months become years. You find yourself waking up one day and wondering where the time has gone. Well, it is gone, and you cannot get it back. Yes, there are many things in this life that we can control, however, unfortunately, we are not able to jump in our DeLorean and take a trip back in time, Marty McFly…

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Here we are, over 16 days of “sheltering in place”, and as local and state governments push the end dates back further and further, we continue to adjust to our new normal. Staying home, virtual work, virtual play, and many hours consumed on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Netflix.

Does this describe you? How are you choosing to spend your time during this pandemic? Have you fallen into the life of pajamas, sweatpants, snacking from boredom, and binge-watching Love is Blind? No judgement here, as I understand there is no textbook for this.

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What a difference a week can make! One week you are working from the office and enjoying Friday Happy Hour gatherings with co-workers at local pubs and the next you are “sheltering in place” and joining “Zoom” meetings for virtual “Happy Hour”. Everything we do, day in and day out, has changed. From work to shopping, to exercise, schooling. You name it, this pandemic has impacted everything.

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Your time has come!  The long days and sleepless nights of planning, designing, and projecting, are about to pay off.  You have finally made it, and today you are making your appearance on the hit tv series “Shark Tank”.  This is your chance to pitch your amazing idea and secure hundreds of thousands of dollars from these experienced and highly successful investors to help you grow your business and create success.  You proceed into the “tank” and make your pitch. 

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So, for Christmas this year, I asked Santa Clause for an Apple Watch, Series 5.  This thing is one of the coolest pieces of gear I have ever owned.  Tracking activity, walkie talkie, ECG, blue tooth control, route tracking, and immediate notification of text or email…  Yes, this thing has alerts for the alerts.  It will even call 911 for you if your heart rate drops or increases above or below a certain level.  As with any piece of gear, I am learning that I must use it responsibly.

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And just like that, another year and another decade has come and gone.  Ponder that for a minute…  Another decade!  You are entering the year 2020.  The year that used to seem so far away, it was like another lifetime, yet here she is knocking, and you are about to open that door and look her in the eyes. 

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Another Friday afternoon following an amazing week of corporate strategy meetings, production discussions, and collaborating with peers.  On the flight home, I follow my regular routine of consuming some personal development content.  This week I am deep into the latest gem from author, Simon Sinek, “The Infinite Game”.  This book is extremely well written, and there are so many opportunities to apply “Infinite” vs “Finite” thinking in my day to day.  I have taken several pages of notes and I will surely roll these up into action items for my team, my partners, and myself.  However, my mind keeps wondering to another topic.  Accountability.

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Take a minute right now to reflect on your life. Single? Married? In a relationship? Front line employee? Manager? Director? Executive? Parent? Entrepreneur? What do you do from day to day and who do you do it with? What drives you? What bothers you?

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You were recently promoted to a Regional VP position within your organization.  As part of your new role, you have multiple District Managers as direct reports.  The business is struggling to perform at the levels in years past and you decide to accompany each DM on visits to the locations they oversee.  These visits are done with the purpose of observing the DM and how he or she is approaching each General Manager to learn where you can assist. 

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It is October again and that means it is time for budget meetings.  Time to join other leaders from across our organization for hours of revenue and expense reviews and entering the data for the next year into a spread sheet.  This year we are all meeting in Dallas Texas, so that means a 3-hour flight from Washington-Dulles to DFW for me.  I always look forward to flying because I am able accomplish so much more than I ever seem to be able to accomplish from my office.

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We have all been there.  Whether in a department store looking at clothes, a sporting goods store looking at bikes, or a car dealership looking at cars.  A salesperson approaches you and tells you everything there is to know about that product.  They understand their product and are convinced that by dazzling you with their knowledge, you will most certainly spend your hard-earned money on that product. 

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