Online Devotionals & Study Guides

Through the Lens of "Strategy":

1. WIIFM of Kindness: If you think of me as a nice person, then you’ve got to hear my origin story. You also need to know what you get back when you are kind to others.
2. The Next 100 Days: Extreme arrogance, information bias, and poor communication caused Napoleon Bonaparte to meet his Waterloo. What can we learn from his mistakes?
3. Situational Brainstorming: We all know how to brainstorm: lots of ideas, no judgment. Good leaders must address the nuances presented in various situations. Here are some tips!
4. From Stranger to Raving Fan: A road map exists for converting potential clients to raving fans of your products and services. Discover the 8 stops on the Customer Value Journey.
5. Big Ben, Small Changes: Big Ben’s 14-foot minute hands moves with accuracy down to the penny, yes, to the penny! Learn how one penny can influence a 31,000-pound bell.
6. Case of the $15,000 Pizza: How did 25 really smart people pay $15,000 for a pizza? By losing sight of corporate mission, values, and goals-- along with a few other things!
7. Getting to Inbox Zero: Tips and tricks for email management are countless and tend to be a bit polarizing, right? Get the 6 Ds and find out what Inbox Zero really means.
8. Perception is Everything: What can a group of thrill-seeking ski bums teach us about uncertainty? Identify your team’s risk attitude and the importance of perception.
9. Extinguishing Burnout: Grilling with charcoal briquets gives leaders insight into burnout. Learn to prevent flareups and control the heat during stressful seasons.
10. Peaches & Coconuts: Building relationships with “Coconuts” and “Peaches” can get hairy. Gain insights into earning trust and developing camaraderie on a team.
11. TAG! You're It: Making the call, asking a question, or speaking up... Do you thrive in a Learning Zone? Or suffer in the Apathy, Comfort, and Anxiety Zones?
12. A REVIEW

Through the Lens of "Progress":

1. Healthy Competition: I love competition-- as long as I’m winning! Like cyclists riding through mountains, businesses face ups and downs. What role does competition play?
2. Chestnut Do Over: I dug into the tiny white paper bag and tasted my first chestnut. How do expectations and repurposing play into our much-needed Do Overs?
3. Runaway Truck Ramp: The sign says, “Don’t Be Fooled…”! What does that have to do with a big rig loaded to the legal max of 80,000 pounds, hot brakes, and hairpin curves?
4. Get Ready to Soar: What do eagles teach about adjustment, the effortless, and the proven? What do birds have to do with planes, controversy, and the United States seal?
5. 7-Minute Workout: Why can’t we simply microwave our way to great fitness, relationships, appreciation, or confidence? Here’s what efficiency experts won’t tell you.
6. Waiting to Bloom: It is hard to wait for a good plan to unfold, what can impatient or discouraged leaders discover from cotton blossoms, boll weevils, and denim jeans?
7. Take a Chance Card: What was the game of Monopoly intended to teach us and what can great leaders learn about taking risk, managing fear, and revealing personal edge.
8. Scoring to Lose: Rarely does an opponent insist on giving points to the other team. What does an ill-timed goal tell us about instincts, clock management, and losing?
9. Learning Styles Myth: You may not be able to use machine-learning algorithms, but you can entertain and engage learners while appealing to a broad set of learning styles.
10. City of Gold: Miners worked for $2 per day, braving cave-ins and explosions. The Gold Rush presents leaders perfect examples of sunk, indirect and opportunity costs.
11. A REVIEW

Through the Lens of "Identity":

1. Landscape of Office Politics: As an observer of vicious politics, I may need to be peeled off the ceiling. But, remember, office politics (born of scarcity) can be used for good!
2. Livin' for the Weekend: In 1975, The O'Jays sang about "Livin' for the Weekend" Sound familiar? Ironically, there IS a better way. Taking breaks allow for more productivity!
3. Who Has Time for Patience? Goals are attained one "lick" at a time. One failure, one victory at a time! Let's persevere through the "not knowing", enjoying the "now", and focus.
4. Red Flag Alert: Red flags forewarn of prickly leaders focused on short-term advantage, single-factor decisions, and self-preservation causing eroding support.
5. What's a Memory Dart? Ditch the Elevator Pitch for Woodruff's Memory Dart, challenging you to distill your life's work into words that make you memorable and referable.
6. Pronoia is REAL! Pronoid people are likable, capable and confident. Multipliers, expectations, and persistence empower their leadership and positive attitude.
7. Identity Crisis: Our identities can become enmeshed with our jobs. How does your job performance, business card, and work past contribute to your Professional Identity?
8. Virtual Networking: Geographical boundaries are limitless and access to people, infinite. What does it mean to be intentional about relationships, quirk, and service?
9. What More Do You Need? Not only did NASA send a crew to the moon, they returned safely with less computing power than I have on my wrist! Learn how to win YOUR "space race".
10. Change Fee: Improvement comes at quite a price-- a change fee. How does the airline ticket change fee shed light on the challenges of changing or not changing?
11. A REVIEW

Through the Lens of "Change":

1. Paradigm Shift: The letters G-B-U-J-S were tapped out using a towel against a prison cell. What the Stockdale Paradox says about leaders' perseverance and acceptance.
2. Agile Leadership: Bill Joiner’s Change Model addresses "effective action in complex, rapidly changing conditions." What's your Agile Leadership arena, level, and type?
3. Recovering from Mistakes: I insisted on appearing competent and confident by minimizing the issues-- only to discover the client interpreted my interactions as unapologetic! 😳
4. Taking Out the Trash: I received an electric grill as a gift. Though riddled with guilt, I gave it away! Find out why and what I learned about leading through change.
5. Leaders Need Spacesuits: The ISS "looks" quiet and peaceful as it orbits the earth at 18000 MPH! Leaders need spacesuits to prevent damage, achieve goals, and focus energy.
6. Leading Teams Under Pressure: When stressed, it's tempting to change processes, lean on 'favorites', and focus on good news; instead, teams need preparation, experts, and reality.
7. The Longest Day, Ever!: Quarantined families experience the longest Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day-- EVER, as sharing the workplace experience takes on new meaning.
8. Pick Your Triangle: We play roles on a stage called "Workplace". What's your starring role? Are you enabling? Empowering? Pick a Triangle and start practicing your lines!
9. Taskage™: Addressing the Difficult: When a project drags on, it may be too complex! What should leaders reassess, renegotiate, and reestablish to bring difficult efforts to a close?
10. Using a Different “Yes”: Ever feel a twinge in your gut in response to a request? Maybe it's time for a different "Yes"! Find out what "Nice Girls Don’t Get…" author suggests.
11. A REVIEW

Through the Lens of "Authenticity":

1. Rideshare Outburst: She turned down the radio and burst into song! What tips do stage performers have for leaders in boardrooms, elevators, and restaurants?
2. Pass It On: What if you were given $200,000 and told "Pass it on!" That is essentially what happened to medical students attending NYU School of Medicine. Why?
3. A Dream, Not a Plan: King's vision and belief demonstrates the impact of a dream. Sinek's Golden Circle champions "Why." Understand the winning power of a dream and a why!
4. Managing Sideways: Want increased collaboration, communication, and cooperation between your peers and your teams? What does managing up tell us about manage sideways?
5. Strategic Workforce Planning: How'd we get from a plane, a baby boom, and an outbreak to socialization, compensation, and leadership? What's that got to do with workforce planning?
6. A Dog's Purpose: How do you know if you are supposed to fix something or save someone at work? It's tricky, because leaders are equipped with “That’s a Problem Radar”.
7. Dirt to Rock: People, like clay, can be molded and quickened into vibrant leaders-- as long as they aren't overfired, underfired, dependent, or rushed.
8. 24 Hours: Each year, we collect an extra 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds and blow it all at once on February 29th. Imagine the possibilities, if you dare…
9. Head in the Sand: Admittedly, very few of us arrive at work running straight for the most challenging task, here's why bury our heads in the sand proves ineffective…
10. Trust, But Verify: I was petting her soft gray coat, then I realized she was a pit bull! How does "trust, but verify" inform our expectations and treatment of others?
11. Sprouting Leaders: What's the secret to developing leaders and what does a sprouting grain tell us about activating potential and spending energy on proactive endeavors?
12. A REVIEW