Positive leaders, at every level and age, have at least one thing in common. It doesn't matter if they’re leading in a mailroom, boardroom, classroom, or living room. They measure their success not only by what they accomplish, but by how well they serve others. In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf introduced the modern concept of servant leadership in his groundbreaking essay, The Servant as Leader. He challenged the traditional belief that leadership was primarily about power and

Will Our Most Important Relationships Be Stronger at the End of the Year? As we enter the fourth quarter, the pressure to hit numbers, close deals, meet deadlines, and finish the year strong is real. Achieving results is an important priority for every leader. However, too often, we treat the fourth quarter like an excuse to neglect our most important relationships, promising ourselves we'll reconnect when things slow down. We all believe relationships matter. Yet when our sc

On December 19, 1918, Robert Ripley was a sports journalist working for the New York Globe. It was a slow sports day, so he created an illustrated newspaper feature highlighting nine athletic accomplishments that seemed almost impossible to believe, but all of them were true. The unusual stories attracted a remarkable amount of attention. Ten months later, Ripley turned the Believe It or Not idea into a weekly column. What started as filler on a slow sports day became an inte

Today we are faced with an overwhelming number of challenges and choices that need to be addressed while we’re being constantly bombarded with emails, phone calls, texts, and tweets. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to make meaningful progress on important goals because we are spending so much time fighting fires and dealing with distractions. Urgent and Important In 1954, former General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated that he had two kinds of problems. One he c

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring simple ideas that can help us reduce unhealthy conflict in our workplaces, families, and communities. Here’s one more: Slow down today. There are times when we need to move quickly. Emergencies, deadlines, unexpected problems, and crises sometimes require us to act fast. But if we honestly look at our day, how much of our hurry is essential? We change lanes trying to get somewhere a few minutes faster. We check our phones while wa