Category Archives: Leadership

Apr 03 2012
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Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership, Let The Music Play, Marketing

The MoMa Has Moved

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has been an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

However, it has now moved…and it’s right out your front door.

Walk out that door and there you will find art like, but not limited to:

A deal well closed.

A dish well served/cooked.

A lawn well mowed.

A paper well written.

A child well raised.

A fashion statement well stated.

A generous life well lived.

A job well done.

A garden well-grown.

A speech well delivered.

A game well-played.

A character well played.

An encouraging word well thought out.

An encouraging word well delivered.

A song well written.

A song well performed.

An idea well thought out.

An idea well executed.

A dream well pursued.

Notice the use of “well” in all of the previous entries. Not everyone will say “well done” when they’ve experienced you art. But that’s not the point. No one leaves the MoMa with inspiration from every piece. The goal is to find and continually inspire those that are saying or thinking “well done” and to do the same for those that you can get to the point of remarking “well done.”

Keep painting and singing for your promoters and disregard the naysayers (most of them have bad tastes anyway – look at their walls – that should tell you something).

Think paint and think song in everything you’re looking to do well at.

The world is 2 in 1: a blank canvas and a sound stage.

Paint and plug in.

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Apr 02 2012
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Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership

THE Green Jacket

A tradition unlike any other begins this week. The Masters. Golf’s quest for THE green jacket.
A few thoughts on THE green jackets we all should be in pursuit of and that some of us have won/earned.
  • Even though you’ve won the green jacket before it doesn’t guarantee another win in today’s competition.
  • Rarely does hole 72 determine who gets the green jacket. How was your sand play, iron play, and chipping holes 1-71?
  • This year’s competition field will be better, sharper, more focused, and younger than last years. Not to mention they probably want the green jacket more than they did last year too. This is no time for “been there done that.”
  • Every past green jacket winner, typically, has one bite of wisdom. “Putt well.” Romance in the small leads to success in the big picture.
  • If you don’t have a green jacket you’re in pursuit of – find one or dream one. Then master the route to it. Hint: The Muse already knows your seam measurements before your mastering quest begins.
When it comes to your trophies, you can show them off and you can dust them off, but their history and their shine doesn’t have much say when you tee off today.
Every year during this week I’m reminded of how the silent game of golf screams this is how life/business/etc. really is.
Godspeed in your green jacket voyage.
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Mar 30 2012
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Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership

Behind The Scenes

We can see and hear who has bloodied their fingers for years in the guitar solo scene.

We can see who practiced free throws in the 4th quarter scene.

We can see who connected, who prospected, and who studied the market in the closing the sale scene.

The solo perfected scene, the free throw made scene, and the closing the sale scene only can happen because of what has happened behind them.

The same goes for the missed solo, missed free throw, and the sale fail. These guys have predecessors too.

We all want to star the scene, but the limelight tends to find those who have courted their art for years in the dim light.

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Mar 29 2012
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Business, Creativity, Leadership, Marketing

Marketing Department

The reason 3 million iPad 3’s flew off the shelves in the first week of sales has no connection whatsoever to a Super Bowl ad, a spread in the Wall Street Journal, or any other advertising media outlets.

Sure, Apple brands better than anyone else, but they also are making products that are far better than the pack. Thus, the end-user has a great product, shares the experience of that product, and simultaneously markets the product on Apple’s behalf.

The reason 3 million iPad 3’s flew off the shelf is because, finally, 3 million people had 1, 2, 3, or 10 plus friends say “you’ve got to get one of these” OR they loved the experience with the iPad 1 and 2 so much that they came back for seconds.

2 take aways:

  • Great ideas, services, and products rarely, if ever, require advertising to convince us to partake in them.
  • Great companies today must realize that no one in their marketing department is actually on the pay roll.

 

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Mar 28 2012
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Business, Creativity, Discipline, Focus, Imagination, Leadership

The Ins & Outs of Control

At some point we will realize “we” have no control over the stock market, what Google will do next, why our neighbor won’t mow his yard, or even the election.

However, we can control our thoughts, our dreams, our ideas, our actions, and even our reactions.

Grasping the idea that these things can be held and controlled should lead us to forming them well, protecting them better, and sharing them in the right places – with the right people.

We call those wanderers who are constantly jaded in managing the control panels of the world they think they can maneuver. These guys get out of bed, jump on to the hamster wheel, and stay on until bedtime.

We call those leaders who are in constant pursuit of making what is inside of them physical in this world. These guys constantly refine, define, and disect the controllable.

What you can’t control doesn’t deserve an ounce of your thinking. What you can control deserves every ounce of your being.

And while we’re on it, the concept that the weight of the world can fit on your shoulders is a misnomer.

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