I sincerely believe that the uppermost thought in our mind as we approach any task, position, or responsibility should be “How can I add value.” I think this applies to every part of life.

Benjamin Franklin said, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” Proverbs 22:1 states, “Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.”
We all have a reputation. These two statements merely reinforce that fact and the importance of being aware of your personal reputation in the various areas of your life.

Personal reflection is the path toward becoming fully self aware and able to have good self-management, core factors in emotional intelligence. There is no time like the present, why not start today?

If you had to reduce leadership to one word, what would it be? I have heard many different answers to that question, some of the most popular are: influence, innovation, domination, manipulation, persuasion, problem-solver, integrity, character, visionary, communicator, etc. For me, I would have to say that leadership, in one word, is initiative.

Multitasking is commonly understood as attempting to do two or more things at the same time. For example, watching television while reading a book or playing a video game, or listening to a lecture while also checking your text message. A LOT of people swear that when they do this they are able to concentrate better, learn more, and are more productive. However, studies have shown that when you attempt to multitask, both activities suffer.

Leaders pull together information from a variety of sources and, based on their experience and education, they make a decision. Sometimes the decisions made are good ones. . . and other times, not so good. Typically, if your good decisions outweigh your not-so-good decisions you are going the right direction and develop a reputation for making good choices.

You can lose a little blood and still be fine. If you lose more blood, you will be weak. If you lose too much blood, you will be dead.

Leaders are learners, at least good leaders are. I mean this in the sense that Leaders never stop actively learning. They are always growing, always eager to pick some bit of information that will help them do a better job in leading their team and achieving their goals.

Let me share with you one of my pet peeves. It annoys me when anyone uses the excuse of being too busy to do something that is asked of them. Now let me share with you WHY this is a pet peeve. Everybody has the same amount of hours in the day.

Let’s take a look at the phrase: “Whose Fault is it?” From one perspective, when something goes awry, finding out who was responsible seems obvious. Ostensibly, that should be motivated by the desire to figure out what happened so that the problem won’t be repeated. Practically, identifying the responsible party is often the opportunity for blame and shame; for finger pointing and scape-goating.