Category: Leadership

Number 6 on the best things I learned last year:

Immediate Opportunity – At a tailgater, I was talking college football with a man I hadn’t met before. When I told him what I do, he said, “I have a coach – Marshall Goldsmith.” Wow! That’s the most successful executive coach in the country, and I was curious to find out how he approaches the craft, so I said, “What’s the best question, he ever asked you?” The reply revealed brilliance: “Once he stopped me cold in my tracks by saying, ‘When is the last time you asked your wife how you could be a better husband? Do that tonight, then ask your employees tomorrow how you can be a better boss.'” Afterward, my buddy told me I had been speaking with the CFO of the world’s largest company.

 

Here is the seventh best thing I learned last year:

Great Words – When our son left for college, I started texting him a motivational quote each class day. He never mentioned receiving them; yet, the first time I missed – five weeks later – he texted, “No quote?” I fulfilled this commitment 62 out of 75 days before he returned home for the holidays. These are my favorites:

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” ~ Maria Robinson

“Mister, when you read Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s not on trial. You are.” ~ Justice Antonin Scalia, quoting his sophomore high school English teacher, Jesuit priest Tom Matthews

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” ~ Voltaire

 

Counting down the Top 10 Things I learned last year. Number eight:

Not Impressive – Our son, newly graduated from high school, was to begin an internship with 21 others at a Fortune Top 10 company. Having completed the extensive paperwork months earlier, as of the Friday before, he didn’t know who to see upon arrival. He called the contact. No reply. Monday arrived. He called at 8 a.m. A return email came hours later: “Looks like it will be next week. I’ll be in touch.” The following Monday another email appeared: “We’ve decided not to have an internship program this summer. You should make other plans.” It amazes me how poorly some leaders deal with communication of difficult news. It amazes me even more how poorly some adults treat tomorrow’s leaders.

 

The ninth best thing I learned during 2013:

Living Credo – Logos Bible Software had a glitch in August that resulted in many online prices being listed at zero. Dozens of people took advantage of this unintentional bargain in the few minutes before programmers fixed it. “We’ve heard from some asking if they needed to return the free products,” blogged president and CEO Bob Pritchett. “We made a mistake. We own it, we learn from it, and we welcome the chance to show we mean what we say about values and ‘The Logos Way.'” That’s easy when the error is minimal. This one cost Logos $40,000.

 

Each December, I take a break from my typical monthly newsletter to reflect on the ‘Top 10 Things’ I learned during the year. Here’s wishing you much joy and prosperity this holiday season… as we begin with Lesson #10:

Tracking Knowledge – In March, I started logging a spreadsheet of what I learn. One reason was so I wouldn’t have to scratch my head to remember the lessons below. There are 57 entries about things I didn’t know – from notes on how to be a better coach, to examples of excellent customer engagement, to the humility of Pope Francis. (‘When he was still Rev. Jorge Bergoglio, the man who espouses service to others did laundry for seminarians under his tutelage.’) You might want to begin keeping your own list January 1… and chart how much you grow during 2014.