Recently, my wife bought me a Labradoodle puppy. I had wanted one ever since my daughter got hers. My grandson named him “Charlie Brown,” since his fur was a beautiful chocolate brown color. Though he was born in January, we didn’t get to meet Charlie until last week. He spent the first eleven weeks at […]
Archive for Leadership
What Are Your Options When You Are About to Miss a Big Goal?
We’re about 50 percent short of our goal, Dad.” My oldest daughter, Megan, had just called to brief me on our recent new membership campaign for Platform University. It was day four of an eight-day promotion. My heart sank. I don’t like missing goals. Our campaign target was to add one thousand new members to […]
The Reflex of Character
Get It Right When There’s No Time to Think
The foundation of effective leadership is character. Nothing else has more impact. Nothing else has greater reach. And nothing else can make up for its lack—not education, experience, talent, or contacts. Every now and then you hear a story about someone’s character that brings this principle into sharp focus. Gail and had this experience when […]
What Do You Love Most About Your Spouse?
Today is Valentine’s Day. At the Hyatt household it is the third most important holiday of the year, right after Easter and Christmas. When our five daughters were at home, Gail always made a big deal out of it. We ate breakfast on special valentine plates, and exchanged candy and cards.
The 5 Biggest Hiring Mistakes Leaders Make
Over the last few months, I have had three young leaders come to me for advice on hiring and firing. In each case, they had made a big mistake in recruiting the wrong person. They were trying to remedy the situation and avoid it happening again. I have made my share of hiring mistakes, too. […]
5 Reasons You Should Smile More as a Leader
Several years ago, when I was the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, I was presiding over our monthly business review meeting. One by one, each of our divisional managers would appear before the executive team and review their operating results for the previous month. At the first break, one of my business consultants who was […]