“Begin with the end in mind,” encourages Stephen Covey. When you look at your life, there are so many goals you could pursue. But before you can set meaningful goals for yourself, you need to know where you want to go. If you clearly understand where you want to be, you can make sure your actions bring you closer to that place each and every day. Corporations spend billions every year on strategic planning. They align their...

Do you have clearly defined written goals? Or are they just in your head? Research shows that those people who actually sit down and write out their goals not only end up achieving them, but have higher incomes and ratings for overall success and life satisfaction.According to Brian Tracy in his book Goals!, there is a study that reveals just how effective written goals can be. Here is what Tracy reports: Mark McCormack, in...

Relax, Don’t WorryEveryone you meet these days is overworked and out of time. In our tech-enhanced world, we have more timesaving helpers and systems than ever before. So, why isn’t there enough time to juggle our work, home and health responsibilities? We have an enhanced quality of life, but we’re also adding to our stress levels by taking on more tasks than we have resources to handle.Most people are stressed — out of pa...

Why do so many companies have uninspiring leaders and uninspired employees who plod along with little — or the wrong — motivation? Why are corporate decisions still being made for the short term, undermining morale and jeopardizing business success? The worst cases make headlines for their ethical misdeeds and corruption, and the damage is much greater than economic: There’s also a significant loss of public trust in both t...

CEO turnover has increased sharply in recent years. CEOs are failing sooner and falling harder, leaving companies in turmoil. At all levels, companies are short on quantity and quality of potential leaders.There’s something wrong with leadership development practices. Organizations are facing unprecedented challenges in finding successors for top jobs — and worse, so many leaders fail shortly after landing their positions.L...

Younger generations — the so-called Gen Xers and New Millennials — comprise half the U.S. work force. The other half consists of 45% Baby Boomers and 5% veterans, many of whom are charged with motivating newer employees.But what happens when generations don’t share the same values and beliefs about workplace success?Business consultant Cam Marston presents new insights into managing across the generational divide in Motivat...

Management is out of date. The principles upon which we run companies haven’t evolved to keep pace with the rapid changes of 21st-century business needs.Most companies continue to operate on management principles formulated in the last century and based on manufacturing needs. Like the combustion engine, it’s a technology that has stopped evolving. This isn’t good because management — the capacity to marshal resources, lay...

What is the fundamental essence of leadership? Is it the ability to make consistently good judgment calls?Realistically, leaders are remembered for their best and worst judgment calls, especially when the stakes are high, information is limited and the correct call is far from obvious.In the face of ambiguity, uncertainty and conflicting demands, the quality of a leader’s judgment determines the entire organization’s fate.T...

Mindset shapes our mental world, influences our outlook, determines the scope of our goals, and ultimately sets us on a path of growth and fulfillment—or one of stagnation.Executive suites are filled with high achievers who boast high IQs and stellar accomplishments. Still, some stagnate, while others thrive and continue to shine.The mindset we develop over the years (heavily influenced by our parents and teachers) can exer...

“To be fully engaged in our lives, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest.” — Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, The Power of Full Engagement (2003)Most of us respond to workplace demands by putting in longer hours.But it’s fundamentally flawed to assume that investing time in the things we care about will generate results...