“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”  Mark Twain

Both of these great literary figures have put the key to success into one step- take action.  It is simple, yet complex at the same time.  It is easy to be overwhelmed when we assume action has to be a huge step, but it really doesn’t have to be so complicated.  Sometimes, a simple identification of the true problem is the hardest step, but once the problem is known, the solution comes easily.

Breaking down the big steps into smaller portion that you can tackle daily will help you realize the goals, projects, aspirations, and changes you want to see in your life.  One day at a time, one step at a time, you will achieve your goals before you even know it!

What do you do to help break down the big picture into smaller steps?  Please share your tips with us!

by where you start as by whether you start.”

-John C. Maxwell in “Talent is Never Enough”

It’s the new year, and it’s time to start something new.  Start making strides towards those goals you have set for yourself, for your family, for your business.  How did you get started on a task that seemed overwhelming? 

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.”~General George Patton

“The study of leadership is a fundamental aspect of a leader’s duty.” ~ General George C. Marshall

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”  ~Elmer Davis

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Do you have a story about veteran leadership you’d like to share?

Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood. – Freeman Teague, Jr.

The CEO of The Leadership Trust has a severe hearing loss.  Talk about opportunities for miscommunication!  How about the time in a noisy room when someone said, “Wouldn’t it be nice,” and she exclaimed, “And then we’ll become mice!”  Although this is indeed an extreme example, do count your blessings you have normal hearing, yet Teague tells us that there is nonetheless still a lot of room for misinterpretations.  Read on.

This website offers some guidance on how to help increase effective communication.  The most effective things we can do to improve our communication is to understand how others are perceiving us.  In short, we are the creation of someone else’s mind.  Perceptions create reality, and everyone’s perceptions can be very different.  Anybody can improve his or her communications skills.  It is not about vocabulary, syntax, or semantics.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you’re saying.”  Therefore, consider it is all about to what degree you come across as a real live human being with a heart beat, which is all about authentic leadership.  Tough decisions still must be made regardless of style, but if Person A is to be fired, it is preferable that you carry out this assignment as a humanistic leader rather than a tough-nosed autocrat.  Communication skills training provides a natural ascension from your current communication style to one known to retain and profitably engage your best human talent, all the while avoiding the unnecessary repercussions when a firing can not be avoided.

Learn more about how our Personalized Leadership Development Program can help you develop a natural sense of social knowingness as a by-product of optimizing your communication skills.  It’s an exhilarating journey withing, because you just can’t go to the next higher level until you’ve traveled to the next deeper level.

www.leadershiptrust.org

“First you will have to understand yourself, because the hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself.  Second, to be an effective leader, you must take responsibility for your own development.” True North, by Bill George (Buy it here)

How else can you learn about others if you don’t first know your self?  Of course, hightened knowledge of self comes from experiencing Self-Awareness.  Our signature Personalized Leadership Development Program embraces this Self-Awareness element by subsuming within it a 2 and 1/2 day Self-Awareness Workshop.  Our graduates will tell you that this is the piece that really helps them grasp their own leadership styles and really make that permanent positive change.  Read testimonials here.

Read more about Self-Awareness here and give us a call to learn more about how we can help you go to that next higher level by going to the next deeper level!

www.leadershiptrust.org

Leadership is not magnetic personality; that can just as well be a glib tongue.  It is not making friends and influencing people; that is flattery.  Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”

Peter F. Drucker, author of The Effective Executive

www.leadershiptrust.org

What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are.

 Epictetus (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135)

www.leadershiptrust.org