It’s getting to be about that time when people talk about New Year’s resolutions. What do you want to do differently in 2011? What would you like to be different in your life a year from now? Just a couple of suggestions on New Year’s Resolutions: Don’t make too many of them. I’ve known some […]
Create Autonomy Through Boundaries
One of the key steps to empowering people is to create autonomy through boundaries. A problem in the past was the assumption that empowered people could do anything they wanted; they were in charge. That theory just doesn’t make sense. A river without banks is just a large puddle—what permits a river to flow is […]
Saying “No”
One of the most difficult things I have had to do over the years is to learn to say no. As a people-oriented person, it is very difficult for me to say no to anyone—I don’t want to hurt their feelings or make them feel unimportant. As a result, ever since I was a teenager […]
Transferring Training to the Workplace
I’m constantly amazed at how employees and managers seem to consider training for themselves and their people not as an important opportunity but as a fringe benefit, reward, or social occasion, with little if any plan or expectation on the part of attendees or their managers to maximize the investment. This is a shame. I […]
Dos and Don’ts of Reprimanding
When reprimanding, what you do is often not as important as what you don’t do. Since no one really enjoys a reprimand, it’s easy for people to be put on the defensive when receiving criticism. I suggest remembering these “don’ts” when you must reprimand an individual. If you don’t observe these points, you may find […]
If I Had My Life to Live Over
I recently saw a wonderful piece about “If I Had My Life to Live Over.” I thought it was worth sharing with you. It’s from the late Nadine Stair of Louisville, Kentucky, who wrote it when she was 85 years old: If I had my life to live over again, I’d dare to make more […]
Season of Service
In San Diego we’re in the middle of a six-month “Season of Service” movement with businesses, civic agencies, and churches all pitching in with community volunteers to serve others. For years I’ve been dreaming about how we can make San Diego a servant leadership town – how in the near future people will come here […]
Love to Learn
Not too long ago I was an emcee at a conference in Florida and it was great. There were three interesting speakers—Craig Groeschel, who founded Lifechurch.tv, Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church near Atlanta, and then we had the famous author Patrick Lencioni. I learned a lot from these guys. It was so […]
See the Outcome!
I recently heard a wonderful speaker named David Cook, who is one of the great sports mental coaches in the country. He had a really interesting theory about goal setting that I thought was worth sharing with you. He said when you go to set up a goal, whatever it is, you should try to […]
March Madness
Last week and this week we are having a “Blanchard March Madness” tournament here at the corporate office. Last week we had some individual competitions including HORSE and a Sharpshooter tournament, and this week we are having 3-on-3 games. Well, on Thursday we had the finals of the individual competitions, and do you know who […]