Manage to Engage

This is the second part of a three-part series on maturity. In this episode, we take a look at happiness and the lies we tell ourselves to protect our need to be comfortable. Then we dig deeper to discover different ways in which we are all immature and what you can do change it. This is a must-listen episode full of tons of information, truth bombs, and discomfort. You’ll definitely want to liste...

This is the start of a three part series on maturity—or, in some cases, the lack thereof. Just like the words integrity and responsibility, the term maturity is thrown around quite a bit. Over the next few episodes, we are going to look deeper and discover that the whole concept is about a willingness and ability to live in reality and accept the consequences that happen when you don’t. Keep liste...

This is the finale of the Trying vs. Doing series and we’re going to get real. If you’re trying at something and failing, getting real means honestly considering that maybe you just don’t care. Many people waste a ton of time and energy pretending that they care about something. Often we unconsciously deceive ourselves and others with “good intentions” that won’t ever pan out because fundamentally...

This episode is part three of the spontaneous discussion that erupted when a handful of my members showed up late to a webcast and I decided to make a teaching out of it. Timeliness is usually about everything except timeliness. It’s about all the choices you made up to the point where you’re suddenly running late. People who are willing to examine those choices that get to excellence. Are you one...

The episode continues using the tardiness of my leader group as a way to explore the paradigmatic difference between trying and doing. Most people “try” and create “less bad” results. If you want great results, trying doesn’t cut it. It’s not semantics, it’s about attitude. Are you ready to get yours adjusted? Listen to find out more. This episode is from a recent weekly member webcast. For more i...

Want to hear me hold my leader group accountable for showing up late and make them squirm? Here’s your chance! Oh, and you can learn something critical about how to change anything as well. As Yoda said, “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” He was right and people love to quote him. Want to actually learn to embody that jedi wisdom? Or do you just want to watch movies about other people doing...

Let’s face it, most people spend most of their time at work. And this includes both managers and employees. When you experience the paradigm shift that the things you do throughout your day are designed to help you improve, you realize that getting up and going to the office isn’t just about collecting a paycheck. It’s really allowing you to go to a place where every day you get to work on becomin...

Who are you wanting to become as a person and how are you using your job to become that? In this episode, we are going to explore how you relate to your job and why this matters in terms of healthy self-interest. We are also going to take this thought process one step further by exploring why meaning trumps money for your younger employees and what you can do to help them become fully engaged in w...

Contrary to popular belief, the younger generation of employees isn’t necessarily worse or as different as you might think they are. Instead, they an enviable sense of self-interest. In this episode, we will discuss why there’s no such thing as a selfless act and the distinctions between serving needs in a healthy way and greed. This is a game-changing way of looking at the world that will affect...

One of the reasons excellence is so rare and elusive in our world is because it’s so deeply misunderstood. Consider that you don’t create excellence any more than you grow a plant. If that were so, then where is your power and influence over excellence? What orientation toward excellence is best to precipitate it?   I’m very excited to announce the release of my ebook, “Cut the Bullshit: Solve You...

This is part three of our four part series taken from a member webcast where I was teaching the live version of the Open to Excellence course. Production is currently underway to turn this into an online course in near future.   What does sacrifice mean to you? Are you sacrificing something to get something else? Is that really a sacrifice, or a means to an end? And what about accountability? Do y...

What is excellence, anyway? We have beliefs and ideas about it, but are they true? Are they productive? We all want the rewards of excellence, but what about the willingness to do the work? What if your picture of what excellence looks and feels like is actually in your way of embodying it?   This episode is from a member webcast where I was teaching the live version of the Open to Excellence cour...

Your conditioning about responsibility is inextricably intertwined with your ability to be excellent, because it’s in the critical moments where radical responsibility is called for, that we either rise to excellence or not. How do you muster the strength you need in those moments?   I’m very excited to announce the release of my ebook, “Cut the Bullshit: Solve Your Problems By Getting Real.” It’s...

Talking about one’s weaknesses is uncomfortable, right? But why? Is it inherently uncomfortable? What if that’s a belief that could change? What if we’re actually making it difficult in a way it doesn’t have to be? What would your life look like then? What would be possible that isn’t now? I’m very excited to announce the release of my ebook, “Cut the Bullshit: Solve Your Problems By Getting Real....

In this episode, I tell the story of the most embarrassing moment of my teenage years and how I survived to learn from the experience. And if that isn’t reason enough to listen, we explore the power of turning toward discomfort and being strong enough to undergo and overcome shame. What if the feeling of shame was actually a reason to engage in something, not avoid it? What if subjecting yourself...

Change sometimes is hard. Maybe you’ve noticed. What if how you relate to shame is part of what makes it difficult? You can’t turn toward a weakness and address it if you can’t bear the shame that comes up when you try. But shame is a deeply personal issue, maybe the deepest. So how can it be responsibly and appropriately addressed in a workplace? Keep listening to find out more. Today’s podcast i...

What is the most upstream root of all forms of incompetence? If you’re into excellence, and especially if you manage people, this may be the most important question of your life. The answer is what silently and secretly runs most people’s lives until they realize it, and it’s probably running your life too, cutting you off at the knees whenever you get close to deep fulfillment. What on earth am I...

Most people spend an inordinate amount of energy avoiding being wrong. Lying, arguing, excuse-making, etc. The irony is that being wrong is one of the best things that can happen to you, because it’s the moment you learn something totally new. What if after listening to this podcast, you could celebrate every time you discover you’re wrong? It takes some practice, but it could change your life, an...

The most common root business problem is missing accountability. There is no single more misunderstood and underused tool in small and medium sized businesses than accountability. And in large businesses, it’s used in ways that generally ignore the self-interest of the individual, rendering it impotent. In short, accountability is always part of the answer to any problem, because it’s about facing...

This episode continues our four-part series on departing from reality with part two. Here we address something you might be a little familiar with: stress. What if stress were an illusion and an entirely optional experience? The idea should excite you, because it means you could be liberated from stress forever. How could that be? Listen to find out more.   This episode is from a recent weekly mem...

This episode begins a four-part series about our relationship to reality. It’s easy to see that we humans have a push-pull relationship with reality. In each of us is a deep desire to know the truth, and in many moments we run from it. Your life, your work, and ideally your dreams happen in reality. What if being able to track when and how you depart from reality was key to your fulfillment?   Thi...

Businesses grow when people do. And one of the most important predictors of your ability to grow as a person is your relationship to pain. What is your relationship to pain? Do you have the strength to embrace it? To investigate it? What if your ability to learn from life’s lessons is entirely dependent on your relationship with pain?   This episode is from a recent weekly member webcast. For more...

Think your people don’t listen to you? Think again. There’s no power in whining about people not listening. There is power in working to improve your communication so that people are more likely to hear you. This is the second and final part on the Buddha’s four principles of right speech, and it is universal to serve anyone, but especially managers.   This episode is from a recent weekly member w...

Leaders and managers I talk to constantly complain their people don’t listen to them. But paradoxically often the case is they’re listening quite carefully, and it’s the manager who’s not communicating well. Your people hang on your every word, whether you realize it or not, so choosing those words carefully is critical. What if you have more power than you realize to get your people to listen? Ma...

This episode is the fourth and final part of our series on being bigger than your shadow. You’ve probably had the experience that someone knew you better than you knew yourself, yet taking in feedback from others can be difficult, especially when it doesn’t fit with your self-image or your conscious intentions. How do you take advantage of the wisdom that others can offer you without selling out o...