*Spoiler alert: this post contains part of the plot to the “Avengers: Endgame” movie. It came as a surprise when I received one of the best leadership insights of the week from Thor, the Asgardian god of thunder. Actually, it was from his mother Frigga. During a time-travel back to Asgard in the latest Marvel
Every day, retired U.S. Army general Stanley McChrystal wakes up at 4 a.m., shaves, exercises for 90 minutes, takes a five-minute shower and then goes to the office. He doesn’t eat anything until dinner because, “It just makes me feel better,” he says. “My body has gotten used to it, and so if I eat
(Guest post from my good friend Isaac Vogel) Do you ever find yourself wanting to find personal freedom from the pressures and challenges of life but don’t know where to go? This past fall, our family made the pilgrimage west to South Dakota, aptly dubbed a state of “Great Faces, Great Places” in homage, of
My dear grandfather Morris Norman passed away last month. He loved golf. And he would have loved to have seen Tiger Woods win the 2019 Masters tournament. I loved sitting next to my grandfather on the couch as a child, watching golf on television. He’d often comment about the character of the players. “That guy
Once upon a time, there was a guy who would find any excuse to hang out in our office. It wasn’t creepy hanging out. He always had a legitimate reason for being there, despite not working for the company. Perhaps he’d be dropping off a book for someone, or coming in for a meeting, or
Around age six, Tommy Caldwell’s father determined to make his son tough. So he started him rock climbing. Sure enough, Tommy became one of the best climbers in the world. But at age 22, while in Kyrgyzstan for an expedition, he was held hostage by rebels — and he ultimately had to kill his captor
This winter my son and one of his friends entered the school Imagination Fair. It’s an annual opportunity for students to display their STEM creativity. My son picked a committed partner with strong technical skills, and they had a compelling idea: create a machine that dispenses gumballs if you choose the correct track to roll
A good friend of mine recently offered an interesting perspective from the top of the organization he leads. He remarked that leaders (of any organization, team, community, or family) should expect to continuously have to make complex and ambiguous decisions. After all, if they weren’t complex or ambiguous, they would have been decided at lower
Recently in a coaching conversation, I asked a client what he wanted in life right now. Initially, the response was somewhat obvious: happy family, health, work success… Then he paused to reflect more deeply. “I want to know I’m doing a good job,” he said. “Actually, you know what I really want?… I just don’t
There I was in a hotel on a business trip. My mind was racing. The trip packed my agenda with meetings and dinners. Always on, constantly prepping for the next thing. Meanwhile, my to-do list was growing with other work and personal needs. On top of it all, I had been fitting in podcasts and
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE