Eighteen months ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a racing heart and shortness of breath. Cash reserves at our company were falling. We’d made large investments to expand our successful business, but they weren’t paying off fast enough. There was no end in sight. The investments we’d made weren’t bad;
When you’re the leader, it’s only natural that all eyes are on you. You’re out in front, setting the direction, and making sure results are achieved. Do you absorb the spotlight or deflect it? Do you step into the spotlight or do you step back so it shines on others? As the daughter of Nordic
What difference do you see between these statements: The traffic was awful vs. I left late My schedule is crazy vs. I’ve agreed to too many things You’re making me angry vs. I’m feeling defensive She didn’t get back to me vs. I need to follow-up with her This job is too difficult vs. I’m not doing what
When you think about risk, your mind might instantly go to the external hazards and potential threats “out there.” But as humble leader Dan Dye, CEO of Ardent Mills, recently reminded me, one the biggest risks you can take is much more personal: It’s the risk to be who you are, no matter what. And
Imagine the pressure of a top technology job at Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, or a fast-growing cloud service platform for over 75,000 retailers in 60 countries. Quality, speed, and innovation are critical. Now imagine the feeling when something goes wrong in those jobs: a missed deadline, a quality issue, upset subscribers. The reputational,
My wife recently confessed that she was feeling like she’d let others down. I was initially quite surprised. She had just hosted approximately 20 women at an impactful work-related event, and after all the time she put in coordinating invitations, seating, and logistics, the event was a huge success. But what was on her mind
Humble leaders are, by definition, modest and self-effacing. In fact, if there’s a common thread across all the interviews I’ve done with humble leaders in this series, it’s that it’s never all about them. They’re just as quick to shine the spotlight on others. Common Thread Among Humble Leaders I thought about this during my
After college, there were two classrooms that changed the trajectory of my life. I could hardly drive to the first course, I was so anxious about taking a public speaking course. But I pored over the material and thought about it between each class. My reaction to the other life-changing class was more like respectful
My friend and I were out for a run. Our conversation along the way began as an information exchange, talking to each other about what we’d done that week. And then it pivoted to his marriage. “It’s not going well,” he told me. “We’ve been fighting a lot.” At that point, my listening changed. I
I sat down to write this, unsure of how to begin. Before I knew it, my mind was off and wandering: Who sings this song playing in this coffee shop. Do I know that person that just walked in? Oh, I need to reschedule my home internet repair – I’ll do that before I start
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