Let's set the groundwork for this two part series with a definition of feedback, which is information about reactions to a product, a person’s performance of a task, which is used as a basis for improvement.

Part 1 - Detach from the Outcome

Part 2 - Your Filter and Decisions

What are you in the business of? (HINT: it's probably not the thing you think it is by itself).

It sounds like a simple question, but it's important to know and understand this answer. 

Let's start by saying it doesn't matter the industry or role you have within your company. It doesn’t matter if your leading hundreds or leading five – or even if you technically don’t have anyone who reports to you, but instead you’re over projects or you’re an individual contributor vs a VP of an organization.

It doesn’t matter if you’re in hospitality, healthcare, the military, manufacturing, the government, publishing, or fashion.

It matters that you see yourself as a leader because being a leader means that the real business you're in is the people business.

When you're a leader, you are in the people business because you’re taking care of people.

And when you’re taking care of people, they will take care of your processes, and that...

It seems that we go through various cycles in our life of mastering something and then starting over as the student.

When we start a new job, even if it's with the same company or group of people, or transition from the corporate world and into our own business, there are new responsibilities, processes, and systems for us to learn.

Each time we try something new, we are breaking out of our comfort zones.

Sometimes it's not a matter of trying something new, but rather breaking a system that made sense at one time and now no longer serves us.

At that point, we have a choice – we can choose to view change as positive growth instead of negative or scary.

We can choose to stay where we are or to rise to the next level and allow ourselves to be the student once more. It’s easy to stay where we are because it’s comfortable and known.

Because moving to the next level requires more from us.

So, what can you do to better prepare for the next level?

The first step is to...

It’s the start of another day and you’re thinking about what needs to happen to turn your vision into a reality.

You check out your plan and the specific tasks for today, and you get started.

You feel like you are making progress and after a while, you decide to take a break.

So, you check out the latest post from one of your favorite go-to resources or listen to a podcast that talks about the latest tips to do A, B and C so that your business or team will be able to do X, Y, and Z.

And they make it sound so easy, like it was nothing for them to figure out what was needed to discover some incredible results.

Or maybe you take a few minutes and scroll through your social media feed to find some inspiration. Yet what you notice are how many likes and shares or comments that post has.

And your recent post has none.

Maybe the first few distractions are welcomed and inspiring, and you are encouraged to keep going on your journey. But slowly they start to get to you.

You feel...

When I think of curiosity – I’m looking at it as someone who likes to learn. Someone who actively wants to find out more because they want to grow.

Deepen their practice

Deepen their knowledge

Try something new

As a leader – being curious is a big part of trying out new ideas. You are curious about what will happen. If something doesn’t pan out well, you’re curious as to why and trying something else to see if that creates success.

Being curious is about growth and learning

The inspiration for this post came from an experience when I was traveling home from Boston.

On the first leg of the return flight, I had a wonderful quick chat with a flight attendant. What stood out with this trip was how he engaged with those in first class. He specifically greeted each of them by name, then asked what they wanted to drink.

As I observed from my seat, it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, until I heard what he said. The fact that he greeted each...

Today’s chat was inspired by one of my all time favorite books – The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz.

So my parents gave me this copy when I was in high school, and I’ve re-read it many many times since. It’s about a growth mindset. Having a mindset that says I can figure it out or I am more than capable.

If you haven’t read this book, I hope you’ll check it out, but in the mean time – are you thinking big enough?

Meaning – are you brainstorming and whole heartedly pursuing goals that are exciting, audacious, meaningful and scary at the same time?

Do they push you out of your comfort zone?

Another way to think big is to day dream. What would just be amazing for you if it happened?

Don’t just keep these ideas in your head – write them down.

Take out a piece of paper and for 15 minutes, just brain dump everything that comes to your mind of what would be amazing to accomplish, do, have, or experience.

It...

Regardless if the vision is for a specific situation - like an event or project - or for something larger like your business or organization or company, to be able to effectively drive change and lead, you must buy-in into the vision.

Your team and clients are looking to you to be excited about the vision and help them to understand it and why it's important.

If you're tasking others with projects or responsibilities that are intended to drive the vision forward, but your heart isn't in it, your team will know. Not only will this make it more challenging for your team to effectively do their jobs, it will create pressure on them to help you get on board with the vision, when it's really the other way around. Your job is to remove the barriers for your team, and if you aren't fully bought into the vision, then it's essentially adding a barrier for your team to overcome. It's a barrier you need to remove, but once you do, your team and clients will feel the difference. They may be...

Take a few minutes today and answer the following for yourself:

What part of your job could you do all day?

There must be one part that you absolutely love and could do all day in an ideal world - what is it?

And as you answer that, take it a step further and answer two more questions for yourself:

Why do you feel that way?

and

How can you get to do more of that activity today?

Now - put it into action and bring more joy into your day. Not only will your team, clients, family and friends be excited to see you doing more of what you love, but you'll feel more energized throughout the day while having peace that you were successful at the end of it.

The first time I heard the phrase exploit the constraint was in the corporate world.

My 20 year path included some time in a manufacturing company and specifically with process improvement, turning ideas into executable strategies, and increasing employee engagement. Lean Manufacturing and The Theory of Constraints were big practices at this company. With the theory of constraints you’re figuring out where the bottleneck is, which is not only a constraint, but the most important limiting factor, and from there, figuring how to improving things so that it’s no longer the bottleneck.

You are the most important factor, and the more you’re able to focus your energies, time and attention on things that really need what you can only bring, the more productive you feel and your enthusiasm comes through. Your team will feel the shift and they will be open to following your example.

Understanding where the bottlenecks are, and if they aren't benefiting the organization,...

One of the best ways I know of to process ideas and feelings as well as use for decision making clarity is journaling. Do you journal? Even if you don't think of yourself as a writer, much less write well, you don't have to be. 

The power of journaling enables you to treat your mind as a sponge that needs to be wrung out. When there's so many thoughts running through your mind and processing any one of them feels like a challenge to actually get through, journaling is a way to get those thoughts out of your head and onto paper. It's not about how well you write, if there's errors, or if it's organized. It's not for anyone else, but you. In fact, the more you can silence the inner editor and critic and just allow whatever to come out and get on the paper, you'll feel lighter.

Like a release of sorts.

And if you take some time in between journaling and unloading what was on your mind and allow some space for it to just sit on the page, when you return to it a few hours, a few...