During a recent shopping trip, I witnessed a car accident. It was almost surreal how it played out. When I pulled into the parking spot, a woman in the car in front of me was preparing to back out. I noticed there was a car stopped behind her. As I got out of my car, the woman began backing out. The stopped car began honking. The woman who was backing out seemed to be looking straight ahead, instead of in the rearview mirror. The other car continued honking as I yelled the only thing I could think of: “Hey, lady!” She didn’t stop until she hit the other car. Continue reading
Author: Jana
Even the Little People
I was watching the latest Winnie the Pooh movie with my daughter. Being too lazy to get up and turn the movie off, I watched the credits. I loved when I saw an entry for the person with the role “caffeination.” Movies do a great job of giving each and every person credit for the work they did on the movie.
The person on Winnie the Pooh ensured coffee was readily available when needed. This allowed each member on the set to focus on their roles and not have their time taken away by making their own coffee or even leaving to get coffee. Continue reading
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Roadkill
Yes, that’s right, I’m writing a leadership lesson about roadkill. As I was driving to an event last night, I was very inspired by the poor animal who died prematurely. Projects are often killed prematurely, leaving quite a mess. Needless project death could be avoided by watching for a few warning signs. Continue reading
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Video Blog: Motivate to Engage
Jana Axline is president and leadership coach at Axline Solutions. Through her leadership musings she hopes to inspire audiences to grow as leaders and ultimately achieve who they were created to be. For more information visit Axline Solutions.
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Take That Back!
I have to admit, I’m a closet Glee fan. Often, I wish my life was Glee. Oh, to be singing and dancing my way through life! But then a scene with the antagonist, Coach Sylvester, comes on, and I’m thankful that I don’t know a soul like her. But I digress. There is an episode where Coach Sylvester tells a kid to take a tube of toothpaste and squirt it into his hand. After a nice blob has formed she tells him, “Now put it back.” Her point is that once news is out, no matter if it’s true or not, it can’t be erased. Continue reading
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True Leader
The leader is the one who provides the team direction.
And when others are pointing fingers, the leader provides protection.
A leader is like an archaeologist, digging for what’s true,
opening people’s eyes to things they never knew. Continue reading
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Following the Leader
I am the oldest child, and I remember having my brothers and sisters follow me around, and we sang, “Following the leader, the leader, the leader, we’re following the leader wherever (s)he may go.” If you remember, in Disney’s Peter Pan the kids would do whatever the leader did.
This is true within our companies as well. While it might not be a one-for-one monkey see, monkey do, leaders have a profound impact on their employees. I’d like to address just a few. Continue reading
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Video Blog: Enhancing Your Team through Diversity
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Catch You When You Fall
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Research is proving what King Solomon knew centuries ago; there is value in teamwork. Teams allow you to harness the diversity of strengths. As a leader, you should be watching for individuals who complement each others’ weaknesses. Continue reading
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Guest Post: Life-Long Learning
Chris Mortenson is a leadership consultant for a Canadian oil and gas company, a retired Air Force officer, and an experienced Toastmaster who lives in Colorado Springs and is pursuing a PhD in Education.
“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
Author Eric Hoffer is credited with this quote, and although he passed away in 1983, this statement is probably more true today than it was in his lifetime. It wasn’t so long ago that people would get a job and could expect to do basically the same work using only those skiils for the rest of their working lives. Although it still happens occasionally (my father has worked for the same government agency doing basically the same kind of job for well over 40 years), it is very rare and is getting rarer. Even if we stay in the same job, most of us (including my Dad) will need to learn new skills, adapting to the latest software upgrades for word processing, email, and other functions. In our personal lives we are being offered new service capabilities to figure out, from banking to television to how to make the next phone you buy do at least of few of those “bells and whistles” features you’re paying for. Continue reading
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