Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Whats-Your-Compelling-Purpose.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Whats-Your-Compelling-Purpose.html All of us are in search of a clear and driving purpose for our lives; we want to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. The world of work offers a great opportunity for people to connect with a purpose. The reality is that people care less about working for a company and much more about working for a compelling cause. Without a purpose, our teams are just putting in time. Their minds might be engaged, but their hearts will not be. A team without a purpose is a team without passion. They might achieve short-term results, but they won’t have the heart to go the distance. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/The-Need-to-Achieve.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/The-Need-to-Achieve.html The need to achieve is one of the more visible needs in our society. It fuels performance in the worlds of sports (Gold Medal anyone?), music, politics, media and certainly, business. We all have a need to achieve. At one level or another, everyone wants to succeed at something. An unfulfilled need for achievement leads to frustration, disappointment and a decreased sense of self-worth. Just think of a simple goal of getting to work on time and the silly red traffic light that prevents you from achieving that goal. Yep, you know the feeling, but these are not feelings we want our team (or ourselves!) to have. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Who-Cares.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Who-Cares.html People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. This applies to employees, children, students, a volunteer committee – whoever sees you as a leader. Caring meets one of six fundamental human needs, that when fulfilled, are teams can achieve Passionate Performance. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/A-Moment-to-Change.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/A-Moment-to-Change.html Trees grow up through their branches, down through their roots and grow wider with each passing year. As growth occurs, trees eventually shed their protective bark to make way for growth. Humans are the same way. Just as trees need bark as a protective shield while growth occurs, we as humans need boundaries to defend our vulnerabilities as our potential unfolds… but our ongoing growth depends on our ability to shed this “bark” of protection when it is no longer needed. In some cases, an inability to shed this bark will constrict our ability to realize our full potential. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Cultivate-Your-Network.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Cultivate-Your-Network.html In today’s mobile world, our relationships are often the only constant. Excellent leaders are also resourceful people – they know how to access their network to quickly get stuff done. Any decent contact management system can help store and update contact information, track interactions and enter other helpful data (birthdays, special skills, personal hobbies, spouse’s name, etc.). http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Think-BIG--A-Lesson-from-a-Little-One.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Think-BIG--A-Lesson-from-a-Little-One.html Like most of us, I learned about the mechanics of goal setting early in my career. Although I learned the theory of goal setting in graduate school, it wasn’t until later in my career that I learned about the powerful psychology goal setting and how imbedding goals into the walls of our mind unleashes the real power. But it was only a few years ago that I experienced first-hand the power of thinking big… and it came at the hands of someone quite small. My oldest daughter was seven at the time. She loved to play catch with Dad. The object we threw - a tennis balls, football, one of those squishy balls - mattered little, but the challenge of consecutive catches matter very much to her. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/100-Commitment.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/100-Commitment.html Andrew Carnegie said, “The average person puts only 25 percent of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50 percent of their capacity and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100 percent.” We compete against our own potential every day. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/I-Quit-But-Didnt-Tell-You.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/I-Quit-But-Didnt-Tell-You.html Most people initially begin their work tenures as engaged employees. They come to work, wanting to give 110 percent. They’re passionate about what they’re doing and want to become a significant part of the organization. But effectively selecting engaged employees is necessary but not sufficient to achieve Passionate Performance. Even the most engaged employee can have his passion for work diffused if his leader doesn’t know how to ignite Passionate Performance. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Control-Your-Inputs.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/Control-Your-Inputs.html Your mind is your ultimate personal computer. Like your laptop at home, sometimes you might forget to turn on your mental virus protection program allowing negative thoughts to invade your mind - without even realizing it. So, the computer adage "Garbage in, garbage out" as it applies to your mind should really be "Garbage in, garbage stays." http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/The-Power-of-a-Quotation.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2061/The-Power-of-a-Quotation.html Last month I shared some of my favorite quotations from The Nature of Excellence gift book and asked you to share some of your personal favorites… and you sure did! There were so many of them, I could not include them all. I did want to share a sampling of some of YOUR favorite quotations. Some were home grown expressions, others were attributed to famous people in history and one was even found on the back of sugar packet! Enjoy…