There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak. The seasons dictate when to plant the crops, tend them, and harvests them. To fulfill our life’s purpose and use our time wisely, we all need to tune in to the various seasons and work within the seasons. What this means is that we must set aside all the sources of negativity, including friends, family members, and business associates who will kill and diminish our hope, ambition, and enthusiasm through their negative attitudes. We need to “weed out” the garden of our lives; clear the pipeline, tune in to possibilities, be ready to change if we need to so that we finish well and strong. Let us learn from the seasons so that we finish well and strong.

Every year organizations implement change. The question is how well do leaders implement change. For whatever reason, with the millions of books written, blogs, and articles on change, the various podcast on change and transformation, the needle has not moved that much for successful change. Successful change is contingent on how we manage people ecosystems. The secret to successful change is about people; helping people through change, supporting them, preparing them, creating an enabling environment, and doing what is necessary for people to succeed with change. Leaders play a critical role and this podcast provides suggestions on what leaders should do for successful change.

Today Matters – Master Key to Phenomenal Results

Your future will not change much if you continue the same way and expecting a different result. When you focus all your time on what is going wrong with the economy, rather than focusing on what’s going right, you are wasting valuable time. Every single day you waste on what could have been, what might have been, what should have been; what you missed, focusing on the past, talking about your past, living in regret, spending time with those going nowhere, you are throwing away your tomorrow? Every single day provides the opportunity to explore your possibilities and start afresh. Use each day to build your dream on the lot you were given. Every single day you are headed somewhere. Is your destination by choice or by default? All achievers and successful people intentionally choose their destination, work intentionally towards their destination, make sacrifices by selecting what they do daily; they are very conscious of who they spend time with and are purposeful in their actions. YOUR SUCCESS IS HIDDEN IN WHAT YOU DO DAILY. Each day contributes to a favorable tomorrow. Do not squander the day.

Please Help Me

As a leader, you have been entrusted with the lives of people looking for avenues to develop, contribute, share their expertise, and make our world or organizations, businesses, a better place to be and work. Have you consistently abused that trust by stopping your team, direct reports, and whoever is under your leadership from growing, progressing, and fulfilling their potential? Recently, I was conducting a seminar for a hotel group. One of the leaders took me aside and said until such and such a person leaves the room, the rest will not be free to speak freely. When your people cannot speak freely to their leaders about what is going right or wrong and had to look for the opportunity through a workshop to speak up, it speaks to the culture of the organization. Leaders, your people are sounding the clarion call for help. Will you listen and do something about it. Are you satisfied with the way you are treating the people under your leadership? My question to you is If you could do better, should you? If you could be the voice of reason in your organization, helping all those placed under your leadership, would you?

Do I really have a future? Is the future I imagine just a figment of my imagination? Should I surrender my future to the dictates of life’s pressures? Is all the talk about a great tomorrow just another hope and inspiration stuff? As a young kid, you dreamt of becoming this and that. You had people you greatly admired and wanted to be like them when you grow up. You had certain professions you liked and promised yourself you will pursue those professions when the time comes. You then went to school, got a few certificates under your belt, started working, got married, had children, traveled the world, did several things, and here you are. For whatever reason, you have taken some detours, changed your mind regarding the direction you wanted to follow and now you are wondering, is the future I envisaged going to come to be realized? You are not alone. Here is what I know, if you want to know about your future, you must create it and you have to fight for it.

Any business, institution, leader, an entrepreneur that taps into the creative abilities of a diverse workforce, and practices authentic inclusion is positioned to do well in the marketplace. The challenges, issues, and benefits of inclusion, diversity, and equity continue to be the talk of government and the corporate world. Josh Bersin, calls diversity and inclusion one of the hottest topics of these few years. Leaders are realizing that it’s high time, they begin to leverage the advantages that accrue when they begin to see inclusion, diversity, and equity as a strategic imperative. Bersin wrote “Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business statistically outperform their peers” Doing the right thing always pays in the end. Why recruit great talent and then end up “sitting on their necks” Organizations that avoid inclusive practices, suffocates diversity, and flouts equitable practices impart the performance and productivity of their people. Why spend millions of dollars on building your company brand when your people are the real brand to leverage. In the war on talent, the organizations that will weather the storms of adversity, competition, disruption, economic downturn, and recession are those with strategies, principles, practices, and values reflecting inclusion, diversity, and equity.

A high-performance team goes through challenges during times of change, adversity, crisis, and disruption. Turf wars escalate, team leaders begin to look inward thereby protecting their positions. Political infighting emerges while some leaders promote their personal brand to make a case and statement to be kept on the team. You will assume that during challenging times teams will work more collaboratively to ensure that they sail through the crisis with very few casualties or none. This is not what happens though. With so many years of working with teams across various industries, different countries, different organizational types, sizes, and cultures some leaders do the contrary. Leaders need to fire up their teams for peak performance and productivity during times of crisis and adversity. They also need to renew the accountability, collaboration, and initiative that will make their businesses ready for life after the crisis. It is important that leaders build their teams to take advantage of crisis and disruption to collaborate, recalibrate, re-energize, refocus, and rebuild the team for greater works. Don't underestimate the power of a high-performing team.

The Gift of a New Day

Each new day presents us with the opportunity to resolve a business problem, create an enabling environment for our team members to flourish, be creative and innovate for the company’s growth. Each new day gives us a reason to forgive, make amends, grow the relationship, explore new business opportunities, and get going on things we have planned. You should begin to look out for surprises that each new day holds, be excited about your abilities, thank God you are able to see, plan, think, read, and hear each new day. You should be excited about the hours, minutes that each new day holds. Your most important resource is not money but the gift of a new day. Every new day is a special gift and should not be squandered on the challenges of yesterday. With the gift of a new day, you have the opportunity to laugh, to love, to talk, to pray, to meditate, to achieve, grow and give yourself to people who cross your path today.

Remember that today is the tomorrow you dreamt about yesterday. It has arrived with possibilities. Pause and make the best of this new day. Make each new day count.

The Essence of Trust

Trust is very important in every relationship. The most successful organizations are those that place an emphasis on leading with trust. I was speaking to a group of managers and I asked them what is the most important behavior they would like to see in their leader? They said he/she must be trustworthy. Trust is about having confidence in the honesty, integrity, and reliability of another person, firmly believing that they will act in accordance with what they say. Trust is built over time through specific behaviors repeated over time. Trust is developed when leaders walk the talk, keep promises, not telling lies or stretching the truth, treating people fairly and equitably, showing care and concern for people.

Trust is very important in leadership, in the workplace, and in developing long-lasting relationships. When people trust us, we will get more achieved in our teams and the organization. When people trust you, they will go beyond the call of duty to help you succeed in your leadership ambitions. Trust is not demanded, trust is earned over time through authentic leadership. Spend time making deposits in your trust bank account.

Personal branding is a very big thing these days. Your brand is what you stand for; a uniform perception or impression others have of you emanating from your experience, expertise, competencies, actions, or achievements within your center of influence, industry, or the marketplace. As a leader, would you work for you? Or would you keep looking for the right leader to work for? Would you buy your leadership brand or would you buy from somebody else? Your leadership brand is always projecting itself and like all brands, your leadership brand is under constant scrutiny by your direct reports, your leadership team, peers, and all others interested in your work. Your leadership track record, your leadership brand will greatly affect your relationships, your results, career progression, and opportunities. Take a critical look at your leadership style. You might need a branding makeover.