Do you want your people to take notice of you as a leader? Nothing goes further or speaks more to your people than how generous you are toward them. People think about financial generosity when they hear the word. Yet, generosity goes far beyond giving of your financial resources. Nothing exhilarates a team more than ..read more

In his book The Maxwell Daily Reader, John Maxwell argues that leaders should encourage their people. He starts by stating that many leaders expect people to encourage themselves.  We shouldn’t expect this from the people we lead. Rather, people require a little outside assistance to be encouraged.  Here’s where you can step in and help ..read more

A Reel Leadership Article My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book. Moviegoers were introduced to the world of tornado chasing in the 1996 film Twister. Starring Helen Hunt and the late Bill Paxton, Twister told the story of tornado chasers trying to figure out what makes a tornado work. Almost 30 years later, the world of tornado chasing is back. In a stand-alone sequel (with many nods and throwbacks to the original), Twisters introduces us to a new cast of tornado chasers trying to find a way to stop tornados ..read more

You’ve seen the leaders who are distracted by every shiny object. They chase after anything and everything that catches their eye. These leaders are willing to drop everything to see if the new thing will bring them the success they desire. Yet, each time, they get further and further away from what they long for. They also push away from their team members who are looking for a leader with intentionality. Maybe this leader is even you… Photo by Marissa Grootes on Unsplash People who are considered great leaders know they must be intentional about their actions. They must have a plan, f ..read more

My wife and I recently attended an event held by the Muskegon Area Rental Association (MARA). Ratan Khatri was speaking at the event. We’d connected on Facebook, and when I saw this opportunity, I asked my wife to go. We had been interested in investing in real estate, and we saw this as the perfect opportunity to dip our feet into the waters. At the MARA event, we heard from a long-time real estate investor. He’s invested in multiple real estate deals and knew his stuff. His presentation was geared toward the beginner investor, which was the perfect event for us! Photo by Johannes Plenio on ..read more

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book. Fly Me To The Moon is an inspiring comedy-drama that will warm your heart, inspire you to do incredible things, and bring you the leadership insights you need to continue growing and becoming a better leader. Directed by Greg Berlanti and with writers Keenan Flynn, Bill Kirstein, and Rose Gilroy, the fictional story of how the United States beat Russia to the moon is hilarious yet insightful.  Scarlett Johansson stars as Kelly Jones, a marketing genius who is turni ..read more

There are very few of us who are at the top of an organization. We all find ourselves in various positions of authority. There are people below us. Then, there are people above us. There’s a desire to continue our upward advancement. We want to show the leaders above us that we have what it takes to sit alongside them. We want to be able to lead up. Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash The question becomes: how do we lead those who are leading us? It’s the struggle we all have throughout our careers. I want to let you know there’s good news. We can lead up and not just down. We can impact ..read more

We’ve all heard about the myth of the bull in a China shop. It’s not true (bulls in a China shop are actually very careful not to damage things -check out the video at the end of this article to see a bull in a China shop-type situation), but it provides a great illustration. When you think of a bull in a China shop, you think of chaos, damage, mass destruction. A bull has a lot of force behind it. So do you. As the leader of an organization, you get to point the organization in the right direction. Photo by Marcel Strauß on Unsplash But what happens when you’re new to an organization ..read more

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book. The Bikeriders is a film inspired by real-life events detailed in the book of the same name. A group of motorcycle lovers join together to form the Vandals MC. They’re a fictional characterization of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. This club is the oldest outlaw motorcycle club in the world. Starring Austin Butler as Benny, Jodie Comer as Kathy, Tom Hardy (remember him as Eddie Brock in Venom?) as Johnny, Michael Shannon as Zipco, Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon in Walking Dead ..read more

Our core values matter. They shape or should shape our organizations. They’re the boundary lines for everything we do. They inform us of how we are to act and conduct business. Our last article discusses the dangers of having core values but not living them out in your organization. It’s a true travesty.  In this article, we will examine five questions to ask when defining your core values. Photo by Shaojie on Unsplash 5 Questions To Ask When Creating Core Values The more questions you ask as you begin to seek out core values for your organization, the better. Your core values will defi ..read more