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The first step in finding your personal purpose for work and life is to look back over the experiences of your life thus far. If we rush forward, without time for reflection on what we have learned so far, we miss important lessons. “Life is a succession of lessons which must
A couple of weeks ago I shared with you the importance of knowing why you work and how you can put into words your purpose of leadership. While we’ve tried to make the process simple, knowing where to begin can often be difficult. Over the next eight weeks, I’d like
A couple of weeks ago I shared with you the importance of knowing why you work and how you can put into words your purpose of leadership. While we’ve tried to make the process simple, knowing where to begin can often be difficult. Over the next eight weeks, I’d like
Last week I shared with you the importance of knowing why you work and how you can put into words your purpose of leadership. While we’ve tried to make the process simple, knowing where to begin can often be difficult. Over the next eight weeks, I’d like to share with
Recently, I had the opportunity of attending at the Atlanta Renaissance Dinner at the High Museum featuring wine, music, art, terrific speakers, and over 100 works of art by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The purpose of the dinner was to advance diverse leaders in top leadership across all sectors
In this last blog post discussing the themes of Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick, we are talking about Moral Authority. This topic begs a definition if we are to have a meaningful conversation. My personal favorite is this definition of moral authority:
Systems thinking has been in the leadership conversation for years, probably most notably associated with The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. But, I had not thought of it as a trait of servant leaders until I came across The Systems Pyramid in Seven Pillars Of Servant Leadership by James W.
In American culture, we admire and celebrate individual contributors. We hold up CEOs, celebrities, entrepreneurs, community leaders who have accomplished great things, and we attach those great things to a person, more often than a team. Even in our sporting events, we tend to celebrate the big name player, over the
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of hearing Ken Blanchard, author of many books including the One-Minute Manager, and Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines. The two of them sat on the conference stage in two big comfortable living room chairs and talked to the audience about their
How many places have you worked where they saiud: “we put our people first?” And how many places was it a true statement? Putting people first is an essential pillar of servant leadership based on the writings of Sipe & Frick in the Seven Pillars Of Servant Leadership. But the
Be a person of character is an important trait. There is an initiative being taught in school systems called Character Counts. The curriculum teaches six essential values to being a person with character: responsibility, respect, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Those are all traits I would like my children to
For the next several weeks I will be blogging about the essential traits of servant leaders. The framework for the conversation comes from a book called Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick. For those of you who think the term servant leader is
Here is a question I love to answer. Does servant leadership deliver superior financial performance results? The answer – unequivocally yes. The reason I love this question is that I meet skeptic after skeptic that cannot follow this logic. It is not plausible that you could serve the people you lead and
Visiting restaurants is where I learn the most important leadership lessons. Better than conferences, books, speeches, and blogs. Restaurant leaders don’t complicate leadership. They do leadership. Meet Min Cho, leader of the Popeyes restaurant on Osan Air Force Base in Korea. Min Cho is no ordinary leader. Last year she
Feedback is truly a gift. Last night my daughter said to me, “just what is the point of your blog exactly, Mom?” In case you have the same question, I offer this answer. I want to challenge you to re-think your approach to leadership. Or perhaps, come to a point
I’m intrigued by companies with strong core purpose and principles. Once such company is the advertising agency, GSD&M in Austin, Texas. This agency was founded in 1971 by four graduates of University of Texas at Austin: Steve Gurasich, Roy Spence, Judy Trabulsi, and Tim McClure. While the founders recently retired, this agency remains
It is a rare occasion that a highly visible Fortune 500 CEO puts their personal values out for all to see. One such individual is Bob McDonald, CEO of Procter & Gamble. If you go to the P&G website, and search for his biography, you will also find a section
Several of you have asked me what traits I look for that I believe are essential to servant leadership. One good book on servant leadership, Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, by James Sipe, says there are seven core attributes of a servant leader and 21 behaviors to look for. This
One day I was in a Popeyes restaurant observing a busy lunch hour in a high volume restaurant. Despite the flood of urgent, hungry guests, the crew in this restaurant was getting the food out, on time and with a smile. It was like watching an orchestra perform a great
In April, my husband and I visited Napa Valley, California for the first time and as you would expect, we toured the vineyards and wineries of this region. The first thing you notice in Napa Valley is the beauty of the area – rolling hills covered with grape trellises, classic
The following is an excerpt from Dare To Serve: In developing dare to serve leaders, I have witnessed another stumbling block – the absence of personal responsibility. If one believes they have been a victim in this life or if they have a propensity to blame others for their problems,
The following is an excerpt from Dare To Serve: The stories of prisoners of war are both heart-breaking and inspiring. Our hearts break for the horrible things done to prisoners to defeat their dignity. And then we hear the story of the prisoner who was not defeated. Through intense focus,
Will having a personal purpose change your life? I believe so. But the bigger and more important question is – will your personal purpose change other people’s lives for the better? One of our Popeyes franchisees has a purpose “to make at least 10 restaurant leaders millionaires.” I realize this
A few years ago, I went to see the movie Hugo – the story of a young boy, who loses both parents at a young age, and ends up living with a drunken uncle in the clock tower of the Paris train station. The child, Hugo, is fascinated with the
When I was about nine years old, I begged my parents to let me take a gymnastics class. About halfway through the class, my parents came to observe my prowess as a gymnast. I gave it my best – but struggled through the somersault and couldn’t do a cartwheel. On
A couple of weeks ago my daughter was teaching me how to make a chocolate soufflé. She is amazing in the kitchen – and I am barely functional. As part of my soufflé training, she was explaining to me why you put cream of tartar in the mix instead of
Recently I was asked this question: when did you first know that you were a leader? My answer is too easy. I was the oldest of four children. Babysitting at the tender age of nine is my first memory of leadership responsibility. According to my siblings, I was a bit
Tuesday afternoon, I spent a couple of hours with fourteen emerging leaders at Popeyes. This is a group of young leaders who have organized themselves to connect with each other and grow their leadership capabilities. They are primarily Millennials who have been with Popeyes in office or field positions for
Wallenda does daring tight rope acts – over canyons and cities – while we stand and watch with awe. He is so bold and daring, we watch with terrified anticipation. There is a chance he will fall and die, and there is a chance he will safely make the crossing.
When you search the web for an image representing a big idea, you get a lot of pictures of light bulbs. Why is that? Was the light bulb the last big idea? Is it the only symbol of transformative technology? What is it about the light bulb that makes it
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