Relevant Leadership Blog

If You Don’t Express It, You Can’t Expect It

Last week I was helping my friend Sydne Jacques prepare her speech that she is giving this week. One of the lines in her speech that stuck out to me was, “If you don’t express it, you can’t expect it” I love the way Sydne explained it. She said: “Often in our lives both at home and at work expectations change and we don’t talk about it. We need to learn to talk about expectations because I’m convinced 98% of the time that you are sad, mad or frustrated it’s because you expected somebody to do something but they either

Read More »

What Is Your Floor Goal?

  Have you hear of floor/ceiling goals? Most people set ceiling goals. It is the pinnacle of what you want to achieve (the ceiling). The problem is we swing for the fences but often strike out. Goals should be about progress (base hits to carry on the analogy) and so I’ve started setting floor goals as well as ceiling goals. The floor goal is the minimum I’m committing to that still creates progress. As an example – one year ago today, after being inspired by my friend, Jim Cathcart, I committed to doing 100 pushups every day. That is my

Read More »

Do You Know Your Value?

I love the lesson this little story teaches A father said to his daughter “You graduated with honors, here is a car I acquired many years ago. It is several years old. But before I give it to you, take it to the used car lot downtown and tell them I want to sell it and see how much they offer you. The daughter went to the used car lot, returned to her father and said, “They offered me $1,000 because it looks very worn out.” The father said, ”Take him to the pawnshop.” The daughter went to the pawnshop,

Read More »

Inspire

Each year I choose a word for the year. My word for 2020 is INSPIRE.   The word inspire means to breathe life into someone. That’s what inspiration feels like. It brings you energy, passion, excitement – it breathes life into you.   Part of my focus this year is identifying the people, activities, places, topics, etc… that breathes life into me. I realize that I can’t inspire others unless I’m inspired myself.

Read More »

All Excuses Are Equal

Nearly 14 years ago we were a couple weeks away from our first child being born. I was busy growing our business and Sarah was getting everything ready at home. I started the process of recruiting a new sales rep. We had a great discussion and he seemed like this could be a good fit. The next day Sarah went into labor early and our daughter was born. The whirlwind of our first baby took over. We were at the hospital making sure mother and baby were great. Then we brought her home and were trying to figure out what

Read More »

What are your values?

Last week in my blog I mentioned my list of values and I received a lot of comments and questions about it. I have a list of values and understand their priority in order in my life. Why is it important? Because when your values are clear to you then making decisions becomes easy. Simply put – your values make you valuable. I don’t believe my values are important for everyone, they are simply important to me. I would encourage you to spend some time identifying what you value & why. It’s a very clarifying process. My values are: Faith

Read More »

It’s You Vs You Not You Vs Them

On Monday I shared the stage with Rachel Hollis (author of Girl, Wash Your Face & Girl, Stop Apologizing) speaking to a group of entrepreneurs in Michigan. If you don’t know Rachel Hollis, you have probably been living under a rock, but you should check her out.   On Monday she opened the conference and shared some thoughts that I think are worth passing along.   Rachel started by saying “what got you here, will not get you there.”   You have probably heard that saying before but, because it is a trite phrase, I wonder if you have considered

Read More »

3 Questions to Ask Yourself

  New York Times bestselling author Brendan Burchard proposed three questions we should ask ourselves. As you finish a project, contribute to the team or look for ways to add value as a partner leader, I want you to ask yourself these three questions on a regular basis. I personally put them on a sticky note on my to look at as I sit down to create. Answering all three in the affirmative will accomplish that goal. Question 1: Is what I am creating/contributing distinct? Is your contribution different in a significant way? Is it adding value in a way

Read More »

Do You Love Reading?

Statistically very few Americans will read any books after High School, but I personally didn’t discover a love of reading until after High School. I had mentors that promoted reading for personal & professional development & I took it to heart. I have read thousands of books. Usually a couple a week on leadership, communication, relationships, high performance, parenting, psychology, history, etc… Reading has enriched my life & continues to make me better. I want my kids to establish this habit earlier than I did. They actually love to read & I want to encourage that but also add some

Read More »

Will 2019 Be Your Best Year Yet?

As of today, one third of the year is over. There are eight months left of 2019 and if we are going to make it our best year yet then let’s stop & take assessment. As of right now are you on track to hit your goals? Physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally Are you growing as a person? If you have built great momentum in the first four months, what do you need to do to maintain it? If you are struggling, what needs to change? What are your two biggest priorities in the remaining eight months of the year?

Read More »