In 2008, my good friend Jeff Dykstra* faced significant fear of the unknown. He’d already taken a huge risk leaving the private sector and moving his entire family to Lusaka, Zambia, in 2006 with World Vision. Now, he was only a few months away from finishing his commitment in Africa. His next career move weighed
Complaining reached its peak in our house recently. Kids complaining about food, about homework, and about each other. Us complaining about kids complaining. Us complaining about work, about how busy we are and about something the other did or didn’t do. We have a lot of happiness and love in our family, but we’d slipped
I often wonder what meetings would be like if there were time limits on each person speaking. In professional basketball, for example, they allow each team 24 seconds to take their shot at the net. The clock resets only after a team has attempted their shot or turned the ball over to the other team. Think
Most managers of people think their job is to direct work and drive results. Not my colleague Scotty. Does work get done well under his leadership? Definitely. Does his area of responsibility achieve results? Yes! So, doesn’t that mean he’s doing his job as a manager? He would say no. He says that his job
When a person is guarded, it is almost impossible to have an influence on them. Perhaps you can coerce, control, or manipulate them, but persuade, influence, or gain their cooperation? Not so much. Ask a trained hostage negotiator. Former lead international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI, Chris Voss, says: Though the intensity may differ from
I often overeat when I’m anxious. I admit that I over-lots-of-things when I’m anxious. According to the Harvard Business Review, you probably do too. We over-analyze, over-do, over-use, and over-engineer. And you know what? I’m over it. So, I’m now repeating this word when I’m over-doing it to reduce anxiety: Enough. Recently, I’ve been making
*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
(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
I hope you’ll enjoy this guest post by Isaac Vogel of Roell Painting Company as much as I did. What humble leaders (fictional or real) inspire you? Growing up in central South Dakota, because there’s no real “local team” to speak of, cable television informed my rooting interest as much as anything, and thanks to
My first “real” job was working the floor at our local Musicland store. When the store closed each day, we’d lower the metal gate to the inside of the Eden Prairie shopping mall. One of my managers, Jeff, would always start the store closing rituals the same way: He’d play Van Halen music super loud.
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