So, you’ve decided to become a leader. Congratulations! You’ve already taken the first and one of the most important steps; you made a decision. Most people never decide to take action; they simply react to life. Making a decision is crucial and admirable; decision-making takes courage, since without decision, there would be no risk. Keep […]
Today (Sunday) in Austin, Texas the weather was perfect. With a high temperature in the low 70s and minimal wind it was an excellent day to play golf. With that said, I wanted to share with you what I learned while golfing today. It had been 8 months or so since I’d even swung a […]
A few weeks ago we looked at personal branding. We examined what personal branding is and how it can help or hurt you and we looked at a case study of Coca-Cola and how they’ve evolved their brand over the last 100+ years. What I’d like to look at today is Online Personal Branding. You may or […]
“No one will ever take your career more seriously than you do”. Does that sound familiar? I still don’t know who told me that, but it is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I think it’s great advice and worth sharing again with all of the readers of this site. Similar to what […]
Time + Effort = You. Who we are is a reflection of what we say, think and do. Most of us spend 40+ hours a week at our jobs so we say we’re a (Blank) employee. Those working with students say they’re teachers or counselors. Parents who don’t work in an office say they’re stay at home moms or dads. We […]
There are many things in life that remain constant; death, taxes, change, things like that, but I wanted to touch on this: we all live and work in a world with people. Sometimes these people can be our greatest assets, sometimes they can can be the water that helps move us along, and sometimes they can challenge […]
I have been thinking about Jeremy Lin for several days now, as millions of people probably have. If you’re unfamiliar with his meteoric rise to stardom, it has truly been something to watch and I highly recommend looking up the NBA player on YouTube. I’m not much of a sports fan, but I find Jeremy’s story […]
Close your eyes and imagine your office for a moment, or open them and look around; what do you think is the most valuable item in it? (When my wife read this article she immediately thought air, water and food, but those don’t tell much of a story on leadership and success.) We’ve all seen […]
“No one will ever take your career more seriously than you do.” That one piece of advice has stuck with me for a very long time. When I heard it I don’t know where I was, what company I was working for or even who shared it with me. Good advice tends to end up that way; […]
What makes you different? What makes you special? Not different and special the way that got you picked on in school, but the different that makes you extraordinary. Why are you better than the next person? In the professional world, why should you be considered for a job instead of the next applicant? Why should I […]
Leaders don’t just lead some of the time, or just when they feel like it. Leaders don’t just lead between the hours of 8 and 5, or only during the week. Leaders lead all the time. Empoweringthe80Percent isn’t just about getting ahead or leading in business or in your professional life. It’s about leading. Pure and simple, wholly and totally. Leaders lead because […]
No man is an island. Two heads are better than one. Strength in numbers. We’ve all heard these age-old proverbs and have probably heard them all of our lives. But have we taken them to heart? And if we have, to what extent and to what end? Creating your own personal board of directors, a […]
In today’s economy, there are many reason’s to be out of the office, or OOO. Reasons for being OOO include, but aren’t limited to: being laid off, staying at home with young children, going back to school, illness, etc. Essentially, either by choice or by necessity. Having been laid off myself, and subsequently unemployed, in […]
Personal branding is absolutely critical to your successes in life and in your career. If your personal brand is not absolutely important to you, you’ll never realize how pivotal it is to those around you. Your personal brand is the image or idea that is in someone’s mind when they hear or see your name. […]
Relationships. That word will bring different thoughts, feelings and emotions to each and every one of us. Some people may think of friends, others of family; some people will get a happy feeling and others a sad feeling. But for all of these emotions, relationships are like water. Regardless of the emotion behind it the […]
