A common theme we’ve noticed in our leadership and business coaching practice over the last year is the many variations of the title phrase becoming a more and more frequent response to workplace requests for assistance, coordination, or action. Unfortunately, it yields more frustration than not which is why we see an opportunity to dig in behind the expression and see what is really being said.The first thing we need to agree on is that it is a meaningless statement. Basically, it is a stall or an excuse to not engage. We equate it to the common expression that sounds like, “I didn’t have time to do, act, respond, etc.” In truth, the correct response is that they did not make the time to do, act, respond, etc. because they had other priorities, whether correctly or incorrectly created, that they attended to. In truth. everyone has the same 24 hours in...

...More Revelations for Making Leadership a Way of Life!We are proud to announce the availability of our sixth book, “I’m Still Sayin’…More Revelations for Making Leadership a Way of Life”. It is a follow-up to our most popular seller, “I’m Just Sayin’…Revelations for Making Leadership a Way of Life”. In this recent release we once again draw upon the best ideas and articles we’ve published over the last five years organized by their relevance to Individual Leadership, Leadership Relationships and Organization Leadership. Along with the ideas and articles in the book based on reader input, we also included five never-before published articles to continue fueling the conversation around being a successful lifelong leader!Enjoy the Book!

…through Rigor.”January is that time of year where many organizational and individual leaders trot out new goals to advance their businesses and themselves. Their process of setting these goals can be simplified down to basically two steps. Step one: identify the goal itself. Step two: identify the action steps to accomplish the goal. If there were a third step it would most likely look like: hope it works! Sad, but true, in far too many cases.Rarely do I ask a prospect or new client what their goals are first. What I ask first is what their goal planning process is to achieve their goals. This question, which rarely gets a confident and definitive answer, is much more foundational to success than what the actual goals are. Without a process, the goals themselves mean nothing!Because goals are top-of-mind this time of year, I would propose components of a goal planning process that...

…To attain Wisdom, remove things every day.”No matter how much leaders intellectually know about the folly of trying to fit ten pounds of stuff in a five-pound bag, they seem to always go down that path, ultimately leading to frustration and stress. Of the many conversations with speaking engagement audiences, prospects and clients around how they manage their time, we will invariably get to the question, “What are you going to stop doing so you can do these other new things you need to do?” Unfortunately, the most common response, either verbally or non-verbally is, “What do you mean?” This month’s conversation will discuss “What I mean!”I had the opportunity recently to visit Gettysburg National Park with my wife. Being a Civil War enthusiast, we were excited to visit the site of the pivotal turning point in the War. In one of the exhibits, painted on the wall in large letters...

…was also the invention of the shipwreck!Effective Leadership involves among other things a sound decision making process. As it is a process it involves looking at not only the decisions immediate impact but the longer-term effects as well. As this quote from French Philosopher, Urbanist and Cultural Theorist Paul Virilio suggests, there is casualty in every leadership decision. For context, the decisions discussed here are primarily focused on the ones with the broadest impact to the organization and the strategy. Understanding the impact the decisions have in a broader sense is the challenge every leader faces multiple times a day!There are always Pros and Cons – The first thing to understand is that every decision has pros and cons. Seems obvious, yet I routinely see leaders making decisions only based on the upside of their decision and falling victim to their own confirmation biases. A common occurrence is a case study...

…There are only Priority Management problemsIt seems we hear people lament their latest time management problems no matter where we are.  Typical fare like “I didn’t have time to…” or “I ran out of time to…” packs the airwaves with just enough conviction to get the rest of us to buy-in to their dilemma and potentially offer some level of sympathy to their plight.  Those that know me well will actually refrain from saying these statements or will catch themselves mid-stream, because they know I will challenge them to restate the truth, “I did not make time to…”  The issue here is not about having time because everyone has the same 24 hours to invest, spend, waste or otherwise use to their choosing.  And therein lies the real issue; choosing what to do with our time!How does a leader make these choices and still keep up with the demands of the...

…but always enough time to do it again! During my corporate career, we used to joke that anything that began with “re…” was a bad thing.  Specifically, we were referring to re-engineering, re-work, re-bid etc.  The premise was to keep our focus on doing what we needed to do the right way from the beginning.  While the concept seems so obvious, it amazes me how leaders continue to struggle to avoid the re-peat performance! Based on my own experience with leaders across many different types of organizations, there are three key ideas to address this challenge of getting it right the first time.  They are Dealing with Time Pressures, Making Good B+ Decisions and Understanding the Context of the Business.  Let’s take a deeper look at how dealing with each one helps optimize doing it right the first time. Time pressures are very real!  Gone are the days when we might...