vision

October 3, 2015 by David Leave a Comment

Vision is a wonderful thing

I recently spoke as part of a panel on Values-Based Leadership at the Royal Roads University Leadership Conference in Victoria BC. There was vigorous discussion following the presentation and one delegate asked a question that led me to discover a fresh vision for what I do!

In my words, he basically waved his hands about the room and stated that there had been many great concepts introduced to the room, but that he was a bit overwhelmed as to how to implement these great concepts in a smaller organization. “Could the same principles that helped to save Ford Motor Company be applicable to his small team of 30?” I could have exploded as the answer hit me instantly with a firm conviction: Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: accountability, engagement, grace, principles, team, vision

June 11, 2014 by David Leave a Comment

The Uncertainty Principle; Practical advice for embracing mystery

Search “uncertain future” in Google and you will receive 56,000,000 results in .04 seconds. If you are feeling the negative affects of uncertainty in your emotions, take heart – others who also are feeling it surround you!

Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with many people experiencing the effects of uncertainty, and the price they (we) have been paying emotionally, mentally and even physically is significant. Some of these people are going through work-related uncertainty due to role changes and/or the possibility of dismissal because of corporate downsizing. Others are going through health-related uncertainty, such as the second round of cancer therapy or a battery of tests to determine the unknown cause of symptoms they are experiencing.

As I reflect on our collective wrestle with uncertainty, I find myself wondering: Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Courage Tagged With: Anxiety, character, encouragement, hope, peace, Purpose, resilience, vision

May 6, 2014 by David 6 Comments

Be Unstoppable: The Brilliance of Singles

I love baseball. I am not the kind of fan that follows all the trades and statistics, engaging in vigorous debate. In truth, I often don’t even know the names on the full roster of my favorite team.

I know where I was when Joe Carter hit his walk off home run to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a come from behind victory in the over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies in the 1993 world series, and I know that Jackie Robinson was the first colored ball player and wore number 42 (thanks to the movie), but I couldn’t tell you much more for dates and big events. I just love the game. Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Culture, Team Tagged With: character, confidence, Purpose, resilience, strategy, success, vision

April 22, 2014 by David Leave a Comment

3 Questions to Break Decision-Making Paralysis

Personal and business leadership requires the ability to make decisions. But decisions can be difficult to make. Some of them so much so that they keep us awake at night, limit our ability to concentrate (or even notice) other issues/people around us, and in more severe cases, the whole process can lead to declining health.

Theodore Roosevelt suggested that, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

Being paralyzed at the crossroads of decision is a difficult place to be – the place of having options, but not being sure how they will work out. Possibly more difficult is the place of misguided thinking – where the options we think we have are not real. What a relief when we come to a place of clarity, even when that clarity is death to a dream. “Yes” and “no” are both clear – it is “maybe” that causes us the most grief.

During one of my posts as a turnaround CEO, I remember being in such a situation. I had worked through Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: alignment, confidence, decisions, peace, resilience, vision

January 18, 2014 by David

Warm Memories: Your living epitaph

My father was just 42 when he was permanently disabled and institutionalized. My mother was just 37 when she died. These two events have forced me to take the pursuit of the meaning of life seriously.

Some have suggested that when we think about the meaning of my life, we should think about what we want our eulogy to be, or what we would want to have on our headstone. While these may be valid, I think there is an additional way. Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Culture, Other Tagged With: alignment, encouragement, fulfillment, hope, joy, meaning, peace, Purpose, resilience, vision

January 1, 2014 by David

“You can be anything…” Hogwash!

We’re coming around the corner on yet another calendar year, and many will be setting goals for the next. This is a great time of year to reflect on where we are in relation to where we would like to be in life, and adjustments are important calibrations in the journey.

Photo credit: Doug Bisson – doug.bisson@icloud.com

“You can be anything you want to be in life if you want it bad enough and work hard enough”.

I did not hear this statement from my parents, but it seems to be a popular expression for parents of this generation. There are two major flaws with this statement, which warrant consideration as we make adjustments in our journey, and speak into the lives of others. First, it is not true. Second, it may be counterproductive. Though it may be expressed as pure loving sentiment, it holds the potential to lead us away from success and happiness. Let me explain. Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: belief, goalsetting, mentoring, positive thinking, Purpose, resolutions, the secret, vision

December 2, 2013 by David Leave a Comment

Courage — to serve?

Ever reach out to connect or collaborate with someone, thinking it was all about a “project” to find yourself trying to comprehend the quality of the person you were reaching out to; how separate from convention, how extra-ordinary they truly were? I did, and I am still processing it.

As many of you will know, I have recently completed the draft writing of a new book: Resilience; How culture enabled the rebirth of Ford Motor Company (iBooks). Writing a book is the easy part, I hear, and promoting it is where the real work begins. So I have committed to engaging the process, so as to be true to the message. I thought it would be helpful to get an endorsement from Ford, and so I set out to see if this was possible. In the end, I did get the endorsement, but the experience of encountering Alan Mulally (President and CEO of Ford Motor Company) in the process of achieving it, was a greater gift; far more moving than Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: character, confidence, courage, culture, engagement, Purpose, resilience, values, vision

September 23, 2013 by David 2 Comments

Enabling Joy Through Alignment

I have been training for a back country hike in Yoho. I am not concerned that I will not do well on the hike, but I know that the better prepared I am physically, the more likely I will be to en-ABLED to en-JOY the whole experience, physically, mentally and spiritually as well.

The picture above was taken during this past summer’s hike to Siyeh Pass in Glacier National park. I have vision, and am well motivated for my upcoming trip!

As I have been training, I have been carrying a pack on my back, and gradually increasing the weight of it as I also increase the length and elevations of my routes. One thing I note in doing this is the importance of alignment. There are many adjustments Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: alignment, measurement, pain, resilience, team, values, vision

January 3, 2013 by David 1 Comment

Positive Thinking

Another year rolls in, and with it a barrage of commercials promoting the latest diet programs! New Years is the customary time to reflect and adjust…but for those of us calibrating life, this is a regular habit throughout the year…right?! 🙂 Along with the diet programs, you will be inundated with self-help advice in the area of achieving the “good life”, “fulfillment”…and the good old standby: “success”.

Be honest now…we are not so stupid as to belief that simply thinking about something will make it happen. As much as I enjoyed playing baseball (a true lifeline as a kid)…I can think I will pitch in the major leagues of baseball all I want…it is not going to happen! This is not just due to my age…it was not going to happen when I was younger either!

Most often inserted somewhere in the list of self-help advice is the concept of “visualization” (remember “The Secret”). While I do not have a problem with the concept of visualization, I do have a slightly different angle Please Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: attitude, fulfillment, negative, positive, success, vision

June 17, 2012 by David 2 Comments

Vision: Fuel for Passion

Seasons come and go, and in them we ebb and flow…and that’s the end of poetry for this blog article. 🙂

I had a friend recently describe how she was lacking passion for anything of late. She described a season of “going through the motions” with little motivation. I found myself instantly pointing to vision as the culprit.

Vision leads to passion…or not. It depends on what we see. If we go to our work with a (even subconscious) view of having little change through our efforts, then why would we need passion?However, if we see great things happening as a result of our involvement, passion flows powerfully.

Let me mix in a metaphor: Boxing. Apparently if a boxer is to be successful, he/she must punch “through” the target…not simply hit it. They must see past the surface, and punch through for power and impact.

Maybe this is where we get hung up with passion. We see the surface of what we are dealing with, and it looks like not much changes. We need eyes to see past the surface to the depth of the change that could be…and aim for that. If we can get a glimpse of that level of impact, we can sense achievement (in boxing: victory!)…which lifts our passion to engage!

This principle does not just end with us as individuals. As we lead others, we must also be aware of opportunities to help them see the impact of what they are doing…the change that is happening below the surface, otherwise they suffer as we do in depleting passion.

What would it take to discover what you do not presently see? How might it feel to live with greater passion for your day?

Filed Under: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Team Tagged With: boxing, leading, passion, vision