High Performance Leadership

  Are you bumping up against tradition? As leaders we are often breaking barriers. We're constantly knocking down walls. Sometimes, we're stepping on toes. We change things because that's what leaders do but it does matter how we change. Are we graceful, or clumsy? Are we considerate, or brutal? Are we deliberate, or chaotic? Change is necessary because it's where growth happens. Doing that change we can forget about or even demolish tradition. "If it mattered we'd keep it," right? It matters. How we handle tradition tells our team how we will eventually handle each and every one of them. What has been placed there before us has been trusted to us. We can improve it, always. Must we ever destroy it? Seldom. As I write this, I can practically hear my friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel singing "Tradition!" from "Fiddler On The Roof." It has honor. It has value. It has multiple meanings. Ignore tradition and you'll lose stabil...

This is a guest entry from my good friend and fraternity brother, David Spiegel. Dave runs, co-runs, and helps keep going some great businesses. He also is a kind soul with a dry sense of humor. Here's Dave: Common Ground There can be no doubt that we are living in highly polarized times. Passions, feelings, and tempers can be inflamed in an instant. This diversity is increasing on a daily basis. Still, I believe when we act as mature rational individuals, we can and will be able to find common ground. Take the relationship between my good friend and fraternity brother Doug and myself. One of us is true blue. The other one's blood runs as red as the stripes on the flag. We never argue about it. In fact, I can't ever remember it ever being an issue. Of course when we meet at our frat's yearly get together and one of us is wearing a red hat the other one naturally tends to bristle a bit. Still, we respect each other and value each other's opinion, no matter how misgui...

Here's another guest entry from my friend and fraternity brother, David Spiegel.  Late yesterday afternoon, as I was finishing my last run of the day, my daughter Becca called me. She was having one of those "I think you need a Snickers" days. Without rehashing each and everyone one of the multitude of things that were annoying her, suffice it to say she was less than a happy camper. As she ranted on and on, barking about the challenges of the day, each description ended with her saying "what does it matter?" She was not questioning the event itself. She was questioning why she bothers to make the choices she does, trying to create the life that she wants. What does it matter if I watch what I eat....the scale doesn't move! What does it matter if I workout as much as I do? The damn scale still doesn't move. What does it matter that I get blood work done? The doctor doesn't care to understand my lifestyle. He has pre-f...

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Joseph Campbell Responding to my email from yesterday, I heard from a dear friend. She commented "Loved this thought for the day!". It made me smile. It also gave me pause to remember how and when she and I first met. We were freshmen together entering college, away from the comfort and safety of our parents homes. We had the same major at the time, music. It was during those early days of being on my own, that I chose to pledge a fraternity. I truly believe this experience was a significant part of me becoming the person I am and not the wuss that I could have been. This was not what anyone would consider the party animal or jock mentality frat that you often see portrayed in movies. It was however a place where the notion that you stand up to a challenge, rather than run away from one became part of who I am. It would have been easy to spend my college days anonymously,gett...

I’m numb to judgement — even my own judgement of myself. I know I’m doing the best I can. Judging yourself is a huge vulnerability because everyone else is already doing it for you. And if you’re not in that place, you’ve got no shot. Everybody else sucks at stuff too.    ~ Gary Vaynerchuck I'm sure that if I took a look back at my writings from this time of year for the last few years, my messaging to myself would be pretty much the same.  New Year's day is just one more day on the calendar. January 1st does not bring new a new beginning to my life. The idea that this upcoming year will some how magically be better than the last one is silly to me. Simply put, I wake up each day with the knowledge that I will work hard at being better today than I was yesterday. Just that simple. Every day is an opportunity to create a better version of me than I was the day before. Therefore, it is only logical that by doing this, this year will se...

This is a guest entry from my friend and fraternity brother, David Spiegel. He's a hard-working, deep-loving family and business person who shares his insights on a daily (almost!) basis. I like the positive nature of this entry and I have some leadership questions for you to contemplate after reading... Today is one of the days of the year that I truly enjoy. As the rest of the world seems to be shutting down from the mundane and gearing up for the upcoming holiday,we are busy doing business! When I arrived at The Grooming Shoppe this morning, Becca had already opened, brought in our first client, put on the Christmas music and straightened and cleaned up the front end. We were ready for action on what should be one of our busiest days of the year. Truth be told, we were actually busier on the Saturday before Christmas last year. It was the single busiest day we ever had. It's not that we have any less business. On the contrary. Becca has done a marvelous ...

My friend and fraternity brother David Spiegal operates a variety of businesses, models success in many ways, helps people become healthier and happier, and more -- all while being a loving family figure and man of faith. Occasionally, I'll like one of his daily emails so much that I publish it here, word for word. I'm doing that today because, well, it's thought-provoking AND he refers to me in it. (My humble response follows his article as a comment.) Here's Dave... "Leadership is not a license to do less; it is a responsibility to do more." -Simon Sinek-Leaders Eat Last  September Word of the Month: ACCOUNTABILITY Yesterday was a really great day. The weather was pleasant and I found myself in a really fantastic mood. At one point I was singing along with one of my favorite songs on the radio. I don't mean singing like following a long. I mean belting it out as if I were a finalist on America's Got Talent. I made some long over due phone...

I'm happy to share this guest appearance from my good friend and fraternity brother, David Spiegel because it's a great article and well, he mentions me.  "Life is like a roll of toilet paper.The closer you get to the end,the faster it seems to go." -John Maxwell I love my song choice for my Sunday Song of the Day today, Corner of the Sky from Pippin .The song transports me back in time. Pippin may very well have been the first show I saw on Broadway.I had become involved in musical theater when I went to college. Growing up a stones throw away from the Big Apple, it seems strange that I had never seen a Broadway show until then.We had just struck set on our latest stage triumph, Celebration , a musical by the same gentlemen who brought us The Fantastiks . For a college fraternity, we did an amazing job, assembling a cast and crew that to this day still fascinates me.The show has a magical quality about it. Those of us involved in this production all ...

We are the giants that are so dependable. We have risen from the ground,weathered the seasons and the storms. We stand tall against all skies, the bright blue ones and the ones that are grey and daunting.  Yes my friend,we are as the mighty oaks. Beautiful and majestic and vital in a very special way.  -- David Spiegel Do you have a mentor? Is there an older person in your life you trust who can guide you and coach you as you work on your goals? I've been fortunate enough to have worked with some strong and bold mentors. They haven't always been older than me. Sometimes a great mentor is younger than you, and when you get to be my age, it's highly likely than many younger people can provide expert advice, guidance, and coaching. In fact, most of the best coaching I receive now comes from people younger than me. Here's my point. Whether the guidance and feedback comes from someone older, younger, or the same point, don't disregard it. Think it over. Evaluate i...

Today I'm adding a bonus entry from my friend, David Spiegel. So many of my own clients complain about being overwhelmed by stress. Dave discovered a big point in his stress, and how to deal with it. He still does just as much work -- just with a bit less stress. And just in case you think you can't -- pay attention to where he mentions 50,000 text messages!  Doug by David Spiegel In May I began coaching with a weight loss company. Every morning texts would come in  and my job was to respond to them. In the early days, it was exciting as my client base grew from a handful to eventually a few hundred . After a short while the texts were rolling in at a pretty steady clip.It did not take long before it became an avalanche of messages.I couldn't answer them fast enough. I would open my phone and it would show 75 unanswered messages. As I set about answering a few dozen more and more came ringing in. Each time my phone would chime telling me I had received a new text. A...

My good friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel shared this quote in his daily newsletter: "Accept what is.Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be  " - Sign on church around the corner ...and my first reaction was "easier said than done." I've been taking a long walk thru a dark tunnel since April and some of what I see is obscured in the shadows. This quote, though, is a ray of sunlight. Accept what is. We don't have to like it. We don't have to judge it. We don't have to cover it with sticky notes and foil. But it is. The sooner we (I) can accept this, the better positioned I'll be to move forward. Let go of what was. Geez, that one's hard. I teach people to let go, especially of limiting beliefs or poor habits. But I've had a habit that's hard to lose - a habit of loving someone so much I couldn't imagine life without her. And now, here I am, living without her in my life. Let go of what was? You've got...

Photo by Brian Miller How do you handle setbacks? I've had some big setbacks lately, mainly on the interpersonal side of my life, and I'm rolling with them. Evolving. Growing. But growing can hurt, and before you get to the top of the soil the garden looks really dark. Keep growing. Challenges I've never expected have emerged, pushing and shoving me around like some stranger in a subway. The tunnel is long and dark and cold. Keep growing. Work waits to keep some level of focus. Friends call and help. Crap keeps flying and even Facebook feels like a persecution chamber when things have turned against me. But I remember... Keep growing. Life's most difficult moments are not requested. We don't savor them. We don't celebrate them. But given the awareness to discover what led us to this point and what we can learn, we can grow. Keep growing. I'm hoping you are having a great week my friend. I'm hoping that you are learning and achievi...

This is from my good friend and brother David Spiegel. I like how he's able to find a new perspective in surprising places. He's done much to turn his life into a model of his values, and I truly admire that. Here's Dave: In his daily blog my friend and mentor wrote the following the other day: "It's as important to be clear about what you won't do as it is about what you will do." He was discussing the need to prioritize. We can't accomplish every single task every single day. We must therefore prioritize. Ultimately there are those things we accomplish and then there are those that we just will not do. ..."what I will not do!"  I kept staring at this line. I had a completely different PERSPECTIVE on the words he used. To me they struck a chord not based on priorities but on values. Often times I find myself staring at a moral line in the sand that I just will not cross. It always comes down to what are my core values an...

Here is another entry from my friend David Spiegel. He mentioned me in his daily inspirational email so I couldn't help sharing it here today. Thanks again, Dave! "As long as you believe it is impossible,  you will actually never find out if it is possible or not." - John Seymour: English author The Universe is sending me messages once again! After receiving today's quote of the day, I received my daily insights from my mentor and friend Doug Smith at Front Range Leadership:  Every problem is an invitation to get more creative. They seem to go hand in hand. If you believe a thing to be impossible then it absolutely will be. Change the word "problem" to read opportunity the outcome is inevitable. Change! And with each new opportunity the creative waters flow. First they trickle and after some time and with repeated use they become like flood waters,unstoppable. 20 years ago I told a vendor I was working with that I had made the decision to sell ...

Here's another guest entry from my good friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel. If you know anything about the East Coast you'll get a sense for how his day went. If you ever struggle with managing time, some of this may sound familiar. As Dave says, we can't really manage time -- it's what we do with it that matters. Now, let's hear what Dave has to share: In a week where I have dedicated myself to regaining control over my time , I have come to realize that I am trying to accomplish something impossible. Time is time. Every day has exactly 1440 minutes to it and no matter what we do,we can not create any more of it. So instead of creating more time we spend our energy trying to make better use of those precious minutes each day.We attempt to manage time.  Well guess what. We have no control over time. Time itself can not be managed. We can not speed it up or slow it down.  Do you know why a watched pot never boils? It's a time thing...

Here's another guest entry from my good friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel. He's knows I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan, so it won't surprise him that his fine email today caught my attention. Oh yeah, and the message is a winner, too! " A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be" - Bruce Springsteen I was asked "do you regret giving up on music?" The question momentarily caught me off guard. Regrets? Unlike in the song, I really don't know that I have any. I try to never live in the woulda coulda shoulda world that comes when I buy into regrets. When I snapped back to the question my answer was a resounding no, not at all. I shared with my friend my thoughts and feelings and then we moved on. Since then I have revisited the question.  Why didn't I regret it? I was a good musician. No I was a very good musician. I was accomplished,dynamic and one might...

This is another guest entry from my friend and fraternity brother David Spiegel. He's got a lot of great ideas and every once in a while he hits one out of the park and it compels me to share what he has to say. Today's one of those times. Here's David: Once again on this "How Am I Doin'  Friday " I am writing later in the day. And once again the day has influenced what I am writing about. My day started out with a gift of some extra time. My new smart phone allows me to check my emails and bank balances from bed as I drink my first morning coffee! Cool beans! I accidentally scheduled my training for 7 instead of  7:30 today  so I was not able to work with Kieth when I showed up at  7:30 . No big.....I still got in a decent workout. On my way home,about a block from my house, I saw a young man laying half on the curb and half on the road,his friend standing helplessly over him.. I pulled over to see if I could be of assistance.Cars continue...