"That which is rewarded gets repeated."

It is a proven science if you give positive feedback you will get more of the attribute you rewarded.

I have recently seen a slew of leadership articles and quotes focused on how to be a better leader, what type of leader keeps people highly engaged, what type of leader millennials like, what a leader has to practice everyday to be kind the individual others will follow, etc.

It turns out I know many of these kinds of leaders who are thoughtful and skilled in their approach. I have the good fortune to work with them. These leaders are always focused on the kinds of skills, techniques, attributes, behaviors and tools necessary to create a vibrant workforce, team, and/or community. They understand the power of positive feedback, they are constantly mentoring to build greatness in team players, and they have clear focus and consistent communication of a bold vision.

What I don't see are any articles on giving leaders who are exhibiting the rig...

"It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready.

I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything.

There is almost no such thing as ready.

There is only now.

And you may as well do it now.

Generally speaking, now is as good as any."

Hugh Laurie

At the end of the day leaders are measured by their actions. The type of actions that create good positive momentum, forward movement, new possibilities, or new roads are that actions the wake others up to follow.

All the training you have received to be a good manager and build strong relationships become the life blood and essential muscles to move into unknown territories. If you are to lead you must go to a place that builds a bolder, better vision of tomorrow that inspires others to go.

Related: Create a Vision

This vision and dream starts with you. By taking bold action today you are creating a more vibrant tomorrow.

• What is the vision you have of yourself and your profession
...

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated.
We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The hardest thing to do in business (and personally) is to stay connected when you are not in agreement with another or out of your own personal integrity. The human desire to fight or flight gets kicked in to gear with both of these scenarios. Do not get seduced into thinking it wise to disconnect to "think about it some more" or "come up with a better way".

To lead you often have to do what is counter-intuitive or uncomfortable in relationships. As a leader if you don't work to build bridges while others are abandoning them then who will?

When you are not in agreement with another, focus on the following:

• What elements are most important to both of you in the discussion? Validate them with the other.

• Share your truth -- this is easy to sa...

“There is only one boss: the customer.” -- Sam Walton

A successful business should be honest to its customers, good to its employees, and well-organized in its management. And when I say this, I mean that a successful business has to be all three of these things. I have seen too many businesses focus on one too much and insist that it is the most important part of their business model. No matter how good your model is, if you do not take steps to balance these three areas of required excellence, then you are not maximizing your potential.

In this post, however, I am going to focus on the customer. The customer has more power than any single person in the company. It is the customer alone that has the ability to put everybody in the company out of a job, from the janitor to the CEO. Business originated from the demands of customers, and a good business should always go back to the demands of its customers. Whether you have a few or a few thousand different customers, the same princ...

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” -- Louis Pasteur

A fairly large number of people that I have met and talked to seem to have this mindset that luck is what makes somebody successful. That no matter how much effort you put in, in the end, if you aren’t lucky, you aren’t going to succeed. Although it cannot be denied that luck plays a role in success, this kind of mindset is detrimental, and if you do think like this, then it will be even harder to succeed.

Related: Do's & Don'ts to improve work commitment

People love to place blame. If you ever ask somebody why they were late to work, they will come up with a million excuses, but very rarely will they just say “I slept in”. It is hard to accept responsibility, especially when there are consequences involved. And just as people with jobs will blame anything but themselves when something goes wrong, it is also a common practice for slow growth business-owners to find a scapegoat when success is still out of their grasp. Very often,...

In the book "Playing to Win" by Larry and Hersch Wilson they define the journey of growth as playing to win. To grow requires you to challenge your core maps and redefine them to align with your values and true sense of self.

This is the epitaph they share:

"I took the risk.
I discovered who I was.
I changed.
I grew.
I learned.
I was an adventurer."

Related: How Leaders Make Decisions

To choose growth is to choose risk.

What risk are you holding back from that is in alignment with your true self?
What conversation do you need to have with yourself that you have been holding back on?
What would you do if you accepted this premise "I cannot fail, I can only learn and grow"?
Why should you choose growth which will stretch you and make you uncomfortable?
Why would you choose a path that is not comfortable or convenient?

Share your thoughts when you are ready.

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Pablo Picasso

Risk is inherent in any endeavor. Leaders know the more time they spend not taking risk the slower they grow. Risk is simply growth, taking on new skills or opportunities you have yet to learn about. By limiting risk, you limit learning, and if you are not learning, you are not growing .... you are shrinking.

Warren Bennis noticed leaders who take risks make one or two big mistakes a year and leaders who don't take risks make one or two big mistakes a year. Leaders get mistakes will happen and remain open to learning from mistakes to improve. When we limit our growth, we stagnate and so to do others around us.

"Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking." Tim McMahon

If you are always focused on getting it right you are losing the opportunity to see new possibilities. It is through trial and error that growth happens.

Related: Creatin...

"A wonderful emotion to get things moving when one is stuck is anger. It was anger more than anything else that had set me off, roused me into productivity and creativity."
Mary Garden

After working with a vast diversity of leaders from around the world it is clear the most successful leaders seek out new possibilities and are extremely creative. Creative leaders understand that the conduit to creativity is through emotion. The emotion could be passion, love, anger, playful, sadness, happiness, laughter, joy, frustration, irritation, surprise, etc. but the key to creation comes through emotion.

Creativity cannot be made to happen, you have to let it come through you.

Leaders who want to inspire others and find new ways are comfortable with allowing their emotions to flow through. They take the time to notice and understand what is at the core of the emotion. In this understanding new possibilities and growth emerges ....also known as new creative options and possibilities.

"Creat...

"In dreams begins responsibility." - William Butler Yeats

The ability to dream is one of the great responsibilities of leadership.

Everyday the noise of the world is wanting to engage you in the short term focus of the day. Yet the work, the real work is to hear the vision of the dream. Once you hear and see the dream you can help others focus the conversations, behaviors and actions to bring the vision to life.

Building the vision of the dream...the Longview ...is for the courageous few. Leaders are not rewarded for having a Longview. Today they are rewarded for the smart ideas they have to show short term growth.

Yet the truth of the future is held in nature. The strongest trees glow slow, steady and thick, fields produce more when they lay fallow one year, it takes years to raise a child, and the examples go on. To engage in growing good ideas, teams, businesses, etc takes the ability to see the Longview and it takes tenacity.

Having the Longview requires:

The ability to make ...

"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live." Goethe

There is no word that creates more energy and discussion than this word. In leadership, so many passionate discussions are based around this word:

Do I trust this new hire?
Do I trust this salesperson?
Do I trust this business deal?
Do I trust my colleague?
Do I trust my new manager?
Do I trust this decision?
Do I trust the economy?
Do I trust the politicians?
Do I trust the media?
Do I trust the mail?

I am sure you could add a few.

Related: Leadership Requires Bravery

The list goes on and on... and if you listen closely and look you can see behind the questions is ....doubt. Doubt and uncertainty, are two words that have more energy than trust.

Leaders are dealing with these doubts, fears, and uncertainty of emotions every day. In a time of great unrest and change the core skills you need to be prepared with the shifting tides of doubt which erodes the trust you have built over time are as follows:

"When I’m trusting and...