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Learners and Knowers

I read recently that legendary basketball star, Michael Jordan, once said, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted with the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

When we fail we have two choices,

  1. We can complain about how unfair the world is and play the role of victim, or
  2. We can ask, “What am I meant to learn from this? What is the message? How can I use this to help me grow?

When someone presents us with an opinion with which we disagree, or judges us harshly, we have the same two choices: complain and play the hurt victim (our wounded ego speaking), or pause and seek the hidden insight behind the remarks.

Carl Jung once said, “Thinking is difficult.  That’s why people judge.”

Do you choose to learn from your failures? Or do you choose to judge yourself for failing? When you are criticized or faced with an opinion with which you disagree, does your ego cause you to push back and defend your position, or do you say, “Tell me more, I want to learn”? The difference is between an open mindset and a closed one; between being a “knower” versus a “learner”.

Are you a knower or a learner?

Thoughts to Guide You in 2013

Thoughts to Guide You in 2013

 As we settle comfortably into 2013, I combed through my last ten books to find 13 quotes which I hope will provide inspiration to you this year - may it be your best year ever.  BONUS: If you can guess the correct source for each of all of these quotes, I will send...

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Leadership: The Morning After

Leadership: The Morning After

So now comes the real test of leadership. We have had months of nasty, bitter, mudslinging, character-bashing campaigning between the Hatfields and McCoy's. And now it is the morning after. It is time for healing, reconciliation, innovation and hope.  More than...

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Let’s Hold Judgment on Election Day

Tuesday is election day in America – perhaps one of the most significant decisions in a decade. In my work with leaders I've learned that there are two major blocks to progress, innovation and breakthrough, which lead to dysfunctionality:  Blind Addiction: to a...

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New Web Site and iPhone App

New Web Site and iPhone App

The techno elves have been busy! What I have loved about Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, among many things, is the company's courage in design. Most people would agree that previous iterations of Windows Phone were a disaster. But Microsoft did a very smart thing –...

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Let’s Abolish Buzzwords

Let’s Abolish Buzzwords

All of us share the ideal of creating inspiring organizations. But as I travel globally working with corporations, healthcare, academia, politics and not-for-profits I often find myself lost in a sea of jargon and buzzwords. Here is my Top Ten list of most...

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Announcing Our New iPhone App

Announcing Our New iPhone App

Dear Friends, When I was working in the Czech Republic last year, I met a young team of application developers who loved our Spirit@Work® Cards so much they offered to develop an app for the iPhone and the iPad. It has just been released and is available in the iTunes...

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Fixing Healthcare

Fixing Healthcare

This week I was a surgeon's patient in the hospital (great job, mending well, nothing serious). Usually, I am advising hospital CEOs and leaders how to transform their cultures, create inspiring systems, identify and realize strategies and build efficient...

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Inspiration and Leadership in a Jail

Inspiration and Leadership in a Jail

America has become the world's largest steward of felons with 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's jailed prisoners - some 6 million people under "correctional supervision".  According to Fareed Zakaria in his article in Time Magazine, "In 2011,...

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The Growing Challenge in Corporate America

The Growing Challenge in Corporate America

During a conversation today with senior leaders of one of America's once great companies, I learned of their plans to cut costs during the next fiscal year. After several years of budget cuts, sales declines, sinking employee morale, stress and burnout, and the theft...

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Inspire Someone Today

Inspire Someone Today

Here is a simple idea: If each of us commits to being more inspiring, and we invite all our friends to do the same, and millions do it, we will change the world.  Simple, right? Will you make a commitment today to be more inspiring in your meetings, your e-mails and...

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