Momentum Builds Into an “Overnight Success”

If Cindy and I had only been measuring our accomplishments by reviewing our bank statements and retirement account balances, making some of the decisions we’ve been faced with over the last fifteen years would have been substantially harder. Reflecting on even the smallest personal or business victo...

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Sustaining the Harder Right Requires Reflection

I opened Leading With A Clear Purpose with a story detailing the conversation I had with a lifelong friend who shared how one of his businesses no longer provided him with fulfillment while his other, albeit much more physically demanding, kept his heart full all the time. The business that was fill...

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Rallying Your Community Around Your Values

As I mentioned before, a lot of people being familiar with your company’s name and building a great reach that makes a positive impact on everyone around you are two very different things. Whether you prefer God’s chicken sandwich or two all beef patties (although I’m not so sure about that part any...

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Not Just Broken Milkshake Machines…

While I was intentional about not mentioning either organization’s name before, I have no doubt that you had a very clear picture of the one with broken milkshake machines and the one serving God’s chicken sandwich. And you certainly weren’t alone! In cxtoday.com article called “McDonald’s Is Failin...

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Can You Build a Great Reach Without Values?

Having referenced my last experience attempting to find some type of sustenance from the building beside those large golden arches, I’ll challenge you to think back a few decades for what you could expect. When I was a kid, it was such a treat! For years, there was only one location in our area - an...

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How Values Impact “Know, Like, & Trust” Relationships

Let’s set any leadership responsibility we hold to the side briefly and think about how much an organization’s values - specifically, how each team member does or does not uphold those values - impacts our desire to do business with them. As regular Joe’s, clients or even just members of the communi...

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Who Else Cares About Your Values?

A great team will definitely care about the core values we exemplify as we build the foundation for our organization, but that’s not where the importance of those values stops. How leaders, as well as each team member in an organization, live out those values will impact business relationships with ...

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Great Values Show Up in Everything We Do

Throughout Leading With A Clear Purpose, I emphasized how important it is for everyone in a leadership role to understand exactly why they do what they do, to share a message with our teams detailing why our organization exists, and to help each team member understand their own purpose while connect...

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The Best Talent Doesn’t Equal the Best Team

Whether it’s because we’ve compromised our values, losing credibility with some of the best folks who had previously carried our team, or we simply didn’t put enough intentional effort into rallying everyone around a clearly articulated set of core values, the highest performers in our organizations...

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No Good Reason for Compromising Our Values

I’ll say it again: even the most talented individuals rarely form a great team without clear values serving as the foundation. For more than two decades, I’ve heard John Maxwell emphasize how “everything rises and falls on leadership.” When it comes to building a foundation on those values, those of...

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Can You Build a Great Team Without Values?

As I opened the second section of Leading With A Clear Purpose, I shared the story of my fondest Major League Baseball memory, the 2004 American League Championship Series where the Boston Red Sox narrowly avoided being swept and came back to win four straight games against the New York Yankees befo...

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If We Fail to Lead by Example…

As I shared what I’ve observed personally over the last several years for what I believe is a textbook example of using core values as a foundation for an organization, I mentioned how I’ve seen Craig and Kim work to ensure every member of their team understands exactly what each value looks like in...

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