Service, service, and service. Who are my best clients? Police chiefs. Healthcare providers. Behavioral consultants. Ambulatory surgeons. Judicial officers and clerks. Internal auditors. What makes my speaking and training programs most gratifying? The opportunity to serve those who serve others. The truth is, we can all define ourselves and our …

Funny you should ask. I recently said to my business partner, “We need to fight about something.” After one year, we’ve almost finished developing the infrastructure to support our mission. We’ve made several pivots, each emerging organically as we refine our vision. But we haven’t yet had a serious disagreement. …

Speaking, driving, learning, dining. I wake up in my convention center hotel suite, then deliver my keynote on ethical leadership, applying ancient wisdom to the challenges of the modern world. I’m on the road home before noon, reveling in the splendid isolation of my car while listening to one of …

Self awareness is where success begins. I love this question, because after countless hours composing, revising, and reconfiguring my profile, I have become exponentially more articulate explaining the value of what I do. No matter how well I think I have mastered my value proposition, going over it one more …

A vision of a brighter future. Some of us want fame. Some of us want power. All of us want to make money. Whether we know it or not, what we want most is a sense of fulfilled purpose. Fame, money, and power won’t get you that. Connecting with something …

Batting practice. What causes hopelessness? The feeling that success is unreachable, that our efforts don’t matter. If we can’t achieve our desired outcome, the time and energy we invest are for nothing. But are they? Why do baseball players spend hours at batting practice? To get better. The inevitability that …

Look in the mirror. Then ask yourself: “Am I the kind of person I would want to work with?” Employees today say what they want most from a job is a boss they can trust. But 58% of employees report they would trust a total stranger more than their own …

Culture is everything. Keynotes, training, and coaching are essential tools for transforming a culture. But they’re not silver bullets. You build success on the bedrock of ethical leadership, ethical communication, and ethical intelligence. A prospect asked me to implement an ambitious plan to revive his company. I quickly discovered that …

Bread and circuses. Ironically, the tech trend that may prove most disruptive — in the classic sense of the word — is a reboot from the Roman Empire. Just as the nobility of Rome kept their citizens anesthetized by creating the entertainment industry and the entitlement culture, an increasingly absorptive …

Believing you have to choose between being good and being successful. This is the biggest mistake a leader can make. How many times have we thought, said, or heard, “I can’t afford to do the right thing” or “I don’t have time to show appreciation” or “After I’m successful, then …