Tag: self improvement

Bill Belichick and the Art of Winning: Lessons Beyond Football

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Few leaders in sports—or business—have demonstrated such consistent success as Bill Belichick. His six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots weren’t the result of luck, but of a philosophy rooted in discipline, accountability, and relentless improvement. While his field was football, his principles apply just as powerfully to business, leadership, and life.

Here are some key learnings I had from this amazing read:

Attitude and Productivity

Belichick’s view of people is stark but true: they fall into four categories. Productive with a good attitude, productive with a bad attitude, unproductive with a good attitude, and unproductive with a bad attitude. Only the first group sustains success. Talent alone is never enough—complacency from a skilled but disengaged teammate can be more damaging than an injury. Elite contributors don’t just show up for the “game”; they bring effort and intensity to every practice, meeting, and detail along the way.

Process Over Results

Belichick insists that results cannot be mastered—only the process can. A disciplined process builds habits, habits create dependability, and dependability wins games. That same idea holds true in organizations: big wins are built from the thousands of small, consistent actions that precede them. Preparation must be predictable, repeatable, and designed to compound into excellence.

The Power of Improvement

If there is one theme Belichick returns to over-and-over, it is improvement. Improvement is not a temporary push or a seasonal theme—it’s the medium in which winning cultures live. It is about getting better every day, in every interaction. His three rules of improvement are simple yet profound:

  1. Don’t blame or make excuses.
  2. Understand what needs to be done.
  3. Take positive steps to change it.

Setbacks aren’t invitations to retreat. They’re opportunities to prepare harder, to adapt faster, and to re-commit to the standard.

Mental Toughness and Resilience

For Belichick, mental toughness means “doing the right thing for the team, especially when circumstances aren’t perfect for you personally”. Dwelling on mistakes wastes time; the only productive move is to reset and execute the next play. True competitors are measured not by comfort, but by their response to adversity.

“Do Your Job”

Perhaps his most famous phrase, “Do your job,” is deceptively simple. It’s not a one-time instruction but a continuous responsibility. Each person must focus on their role, execute it with excellence, and trust that teammates are doing the same. Trying to take on someone else’s responsibility dilutes accountability. A winning culture is built on clarity, dependability, and mutual trust.

Leadership and Team Culture

Belichick emphasizes that leaders provide tools and a plan, but it is the team that fills in the gaps with adaptability and determination. Culture is built by those who reject “not my job” mentalities. Role models, whether on the field or in the office, demonstrate that effort and attitude overflow downward, shaping the environment for everyone else.

Adaptability and Focus

Technology may level the playing field, but the differentiator is how teams use it. Belichick stresses redirecting saved time and energy into preparation and execution. And working hard isn’t about performative busyness; it’s about hitting the targets that matter, with accountability holding everyone to the standard.

A Daily Mindset

Belichick’s mindset can be summed up in one phrase: “Every day, you’re either building something, or you’re wasting time.” Winning, whether in football, business, or life, is improvement, one rep at a time. It’s about process over results, accountability without excuses, resilience in imperfection, and doing your job with unwavering focus.

Takeaway: The Art of Winning is not about trophies or titles. It’s about cultivating a culture where discipline, improvement, and accountability are woven into the fabric of daily work. That’s a playbook worth following in any field.

Why Empathy Is the Secret to Leading Through Tough Decisions

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Leadership isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s difficult by design. At its core, leadership is about making decisions—many of them difficult, and some of them unpopular. A leader must often choose a path that not everyone agrees with, weighing what’s best for the organization against how it might impact individuals. And that’s part of the job: to make the tough calls even when others might not fully understand or support them.

But here’s where great leaders distinguish themselves. While decisions must be made, and action must be taken, how those decisions are made—and how people are treated along the way—defines the legacy of a leader. This is where empathy comes in, not as a soft skill, but as a strategic advantage.

The Case for Empathy in Leadership

Empathy is the ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes. In leadership, it means taking the time to understand what your people are experiencing—even when you can’t change the outcome. It doesn’t mean avoiding hard decisions. It means making them with humanity.

Empathy builds trust, and trust builds alignment. And alignment is what allows an organization to move forward, even when times are uncertain.

When I think about leaders I admire, either through reading about them, and in many cases having had the privilege of working for many great leaders I’ve observed the following commonalities:

  • Average leaders make decisions and get results.
  • Great leaders do the same—but in a way that brings people along with them.

An average leader explains the “what.” A great leader also explains the “why.”
An average leader gets compliance. A great leader inspires commitment.
An average leader operates with authority. A great leader operates with authenticity.

Few would argue the impact of Abraham Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War. He made some of the most difficult, divisive decisions in American history. But he led with deep empathy—even toward those who opposed him. Lincoln’s famous quote, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” reflects his belief in finding common ground in the face of division. That demonstrates incredible empathy capabilities which in turn became the mark of his greatness.

The Leader’s Critical Obligations

Whether you lead a handful of people or thousands, leadership brings obligations—not just to your business, but to your people. Each day I do my best to:

  1. See People, Not Just Roles
    Behind every title is a human being with dreams, fears, and stories. A leader’s job is to understand what makes people tick, and to help them thrive—not just produce.
  2. Create Psychological Safety
    Innovation, honesty, and growth all begin with safety. People must feel safe to speak up, take risks, and be vulnerable without fear of blame or retribution. When teammates act fearlessly and with vulnerability, not afraid to make a mistake, you know you’ve done this well. Fail fast, fail forward.
  3. Champion Common Ground
    When opinions differ—and they will—a leader must become the bridge. Finding shared values and uniting people around a common mission is a leader’s superpower.

Empathy Is Not Weakness—It’s Strength

Empathy doesn’t mean avoiding hard truths. It doesn’t mean being a push-over, or weak. It means being able to deliver difficult decisions with care. It doesn’t mean pleasing everyone. It means respecting everyone—especially when decisions don’t go their way.

We’ve all heard it—people might forget what you said, but they’ll remember how you made them feel, especially when things get tough. I’m definitely not perfect at this, but I try to keep it front of mind every time I make a decision. It’s what I strive for every day—even when I don’t get it perfectly right.

Customer Success:  5 Requirements to Creating Value in Every Client Interaction.

On By Joe DeRosaIn BusinessLeave a comment

 

Today’s buyers are overwhelmed with data points, reports, metrics, and an avalanche of nonstop news whether its from traditional networks, cable news, or social media.  Points-of-view are as infinite as the number of stars in the universe…or are they?  In a world dominated by countless Customer Success models I continue to observe just how complicated we’ve made some basic human interactions, and just how little value some of these interactions deliver.

 

Great Customer Success interactions require 5 crucial elements:

 

  1. It all starts with a clear customer success statement as articulated by the customer.  What does success look like?  When we meet 3 months from now, what would have to be true for you to say this engagement is a success?
  2. A strong understanding of general market conditions (macro), and the ability to connect those dots to your customer’s situation, this is what I call “pulling the thread all the way through”.  It requires solid structured thinking skills.  The ability to define a problem, understand the cause, and create a solution that reduces or eliminates the problem. 
  3. Ability to create insights – combining a fact with an implication or point-of-view,
  4. Strong EQ skills that allow you to connect/relate to your customer/buyer on an emotional level,
  5. Storytelling skills

 

I’m sure someone, somewhere is saying, “yeah, but what about…”, or “Customer Success is so much more than these 5 things…”, or “you don’t know my industry, it’s so different than any other industry…”

 

What does this look like in our daily lives?

 

Think of someone in your network you respect and learn something from every time you speak to him, or her, who would it be?  What characteristics does he/she possess? I’d suggest they made your list because they are proficient at all 5 of these competencies and perhaps expert at some of them.  Certainly, you wouldn’t offer me a name of someone boring who lacks details, confidence, or a clear point of view.  No.  Instead, you’d share a name of an individual that you hold in high regard, or perhaps even aspire to be like.

 

Once basic human needs – food, clothing, shelter, safety – are satisfied, you transition to next-level needs which include the need to be heard, understood, validated, and the ability to succeed.  These next-level human needs address both self-esteem and self-actualization.  Said differently, we all desire confidence and ultimately the need to be seen by others as being successful – that we’ve reached a position of respect, or sought-after expertise.

 

Tying it all together…

 

Customer Success Managers (CSM) are entrusted with managing, and growing client relationships.  The CSM has one of the most challenging roles in an organization as they walk the tight rope between Sales, Service, Marketing, Operations, IT, HR, Finance, and virtually any other functional area that touches the client with the potential of creating an experience be it positive or negative. Understanding macro-economic conditions does not mean going back to school to obtain an Econ degree.  As a result of the diversity of a CSMs interaction with a client it’s imperative for him/her to understand how macro conditions affect the customer’s business.   This doesn’t require an advanced education but rather some basic structured thinking, discipline and commitment.  This is the ability to define a problem, understand what causes the problem, and finally creating a solution(s) that addresses the problem.

 

Client Success Managers (CSM), need to have a general understanding of the market conditions.  What’s happening in the market?  How are interest rates moving?  What’s happening with employment numbers?  How is inflation trending?  Where is consumer confidence?  With one or two apps on your phone you can stay abreast of every major macro metric in real time…in less than the time it takes to sip a cup of coffee.  It requires the discipline to build that habit into your day.  According to an October 2023 survey by Statista, people on average spend 2.5 hours per day on social media.  Using 3 minutes of that time every day to understand market conditions doesn’t seem like a huge change in behavior…but it can be if you let it…you’ve got to commit.

 

I often use the phrase, “pulling the thread all the way through.”  This means, having the capability, or skill to understand these conditions and pull the thread all the way through to how these macro conditions affect your customer through storytelling.  Doing this allows you to clearly define the problem your customer is currently facing, or about to face, and be able to communicate this to them in a way that is both articulate and confident.  Storytelling is not fiction, nor is it fear mongering.  Storytelling involves understanding your client’s current situation, the inputs that affect the situation, and what possible outcomes may exist depending on the actions taken.  Effective storytelling can be summed up in the ability to take multiple inputs and synthesize them into a story that captivates, creates intrigue, and ultimately causes action.  Storytelling is not about scaring the client into taking the action you want, but instead is about causing the client to stop, think, ask questions, and genuinely ponder the possibilities the CSM has presented.

 

Creating insights are something many CSMs struggle to do.  Keep in mind, an insight is combining a fact with an implication, or point-of-view.  A fact could be where current mortgage rates stand, or the current rate of inflation.  An insight would be how a change, up, or down, in that rate could affect your client and what the implication would be in either scenario.  This is a learned skill.  It doesn’t just happen.  Your CSMs need to study macro conditions, practice formulating insights, and role play with sales management in order to improve their effectiveness with their client engagements. 

 

The days of “objection handling” are done.  These old school sales tactics often rely on one’s ability to out-talk, or through smoke-and-mirrors, overwhelm the buyer.  I always disliked old-school objection handling.  Too much emphasis was placed upon having quick come backs, slick words, and one-liners.  Memorize these 3 responses and you’re golden.  Unfortunately, this approach is why Sales as a whole is often viewed in a negative light.  People are reluctant to meet with a salespeople and many salespeople don’t like to tell others they are salespeople.  How can we change this perception?

 

Being insightful is how you earn your customer’s time – their most precious resource.  People are only willing to invest their rarest of resources (time) with those that they can learn something from, and who make them feel validated.  So why is this so difficult?  Why do client engagement professionals still rely on old school objection handling?  Well, I’d suggest it’s because being able to provide real insights and value requires a full-out dedication to learning and understanding market conditions versus memorizing 3 great come-backs when a client raises an objection. 

 

Still today, too many salespeople subscribe to the nonsense of Sales ABC – Always Be Closing.   If this is happening in your company, I’d suggest this is a failure of leadership not leading…not teaching.  If leaders don’t raise the bar and expect a higher degree of business acumen, then their respective teams will fall back upon these ABC rules because they have nothing else.  Leaders need to lead.  This means leaders need to teach.  Further, this means leaders need to get more comfortable with being vulnerable.  Most people dislike role playing as much as they dislike public speaking, leaders included…perhaps more so.  However, role playing is a crucial element to improving your ability to take facts, formulate insights, and tell a story that leads to action, all in real-time.  Role playing for salespeople is the equivalent of a quarterback taking snaps under center at the line of scrimmage.  Defenses unfold in real-time.  We all know that good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.  This is why professional sports teams practice, practice, practice.  The coach creates and environment that allows for real-time judgement based upon real-time changes to the scenario…all with the goal of making these bad judgements in the safety of a practice versus a real game.  As leaders it’s our job to create these types of learning environments for customer success managers to hone their skills.  It also means the leader must risk a wonky role play in front of the team.  No one has all the answers, but the best leaders, are okay with getting it right versus focusing on being right.

 

In conclusion, customer success is about having a clear success statement articulated by the customer.  Great CSMs will provide a blend of facts and insights that address their customers problems which result in earned trust and respect.  These CSMs take chances, formulate insights, role play their delivery, and embrace the outcomes as their own.  They are the game changers, the difference makers, in achieving outstanding customer success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birds of a feather

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Today’s article in the WSJ, “Buffett and Munger on Success…” got me thinking…

Success is about surrounding yourself with other high-achievers with whom you share common values. Many people surround themselves with like-minded people. This approach becomes self-limiting as it’s easy to fall into group-think when the focus is to associate with other like-minded folks. Sure, it may feel comfortable, or safer to align with others that think like you do, but that approach is a growth limiter.

Instead, focus on surrounding yourself with people who share similar values, and morals, and you’ll end up with a network of positive, diverse thinkers who can stretch and grow your perspectives.

Another important filter when thinking about your network that resonated with me came from the WSJ interview with Charlie Munger. Success comes from steering clear of toxic people. “The great lesson of life is get them the hell out of your life—and do it fast,” Mr. Munger said. 

Find those that lift you up, challenge you, teach you, coach you, and are courageous enough to be real with you. Those are the folks that will help you grow and become a better human being.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warren-buffett-on-finding-success-at-work-and-what-matters-in-hiring-43da47c3?mod=business_lead_pos1

20 Objectives For All Chief Revenue Officers

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment
  1. Be a continuous learner – what got you into the CRO role won’t keep you there.
  2. Create a culture of innovation – willingness to try new things without the fear of failure.
  3. Demonstrate teamwork and camaraderie – people will watch and observe your behavior before they act.
  4. Focus on the people – this means getting to know your colleagues beyond their quotas.
  5. Be authentic – this equals consistency and predictability. Wild mood swings are often due to people transitioning from their “real” self to their created façade.
  6. Be vulnerable – show you’re human, it’s okay.
  7. Confront reality – denial wrecks your credibility. Quotas are huge, don’t act like they’re no big deal.
  8. Provide a path to success – it may be a difficult path but a path none the less. Remember, the leader’s job is to provide the vision…the possibilities.
  9. Be honest – shoot straight, share what you can, not only what you must.
  10. Always have an active ear – listen…actively. People want to know how much you care before caring about how much you know.
  11. Never surprise your boss – understand what’s important to the CEO and how/when to best communicate.
  12. Be deliberate in your actions – an environment of uncertainty is a byproduct of hedging bets. Your team will know if you’re not all in.
  13. Be kind – nothing in this job should justify taking someone’s dignity.
  14. Be gracious – say thank you. Give credit and recognize people consistently.
  15. Look for the good – every day find a good deed, or success from a colleague, and then share it.
  16. Know your numbers – where are you this month to quota, next month, and quarter standings.
  17. Know your business – what external factors may arise to get in the way of achieving your goals and those of your colleagues?
  18. Always be planning – “In preparing for battle I have always found plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
  19. Stay fit – CROs tend to be the heartbeat of a company. Work hard to have and maintain a healthy heartbeat.
  20. Always, always, remember (and thank) those who helped you arrive – family, friends, former bosses, mentors. No one gets to where they’re going totally alone

Growth Through Adversity

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Our lives are filled with crucible moments.  Situations that shape and mold who we become as people, workers, managers, and leaders.  These moments, whether we face them in our personal lives, or professional life, shape the core of who we become.  They inform, and direct our future beliefs, habits, and behaviors.  They can strengthen or weaken, improve, or deteriorate.  

Most of these moments are unplanned.  They sneak up on us and force our hand.  They force us to buckle, retreat, or forge ahead.  These moments-in-time, although difficult to persevere, help strengthen our constitution…or weaken us.  The choice really is our own.  How we react to adversity is in fact a choice.  Famous, U.S. Men’s Hockey Coach, Herb Brooks, said, “Great moments are born from great opportunities”.  First let me say I have great admiration for Herb Brooks and his legacy. That said, if I may be so bold, I’d make a minor change to his quote and add that great moments are born from either a great opportunity, or adversity.  After all, it’s friction that creates the most beautiful, and valuable diamonds in the world.  The same can be said about our greatest leaders – past, present, and future.  While not always pretty, the world’s great leaders have experienced their share of friction, adversity, and disappointment.  From Washington to Reagan, from Henry Ford to Steve Jobs, from Sam Walton to Elon Musk, each of these leaders experienced their share of hardships and challenges…crucible moments that shaped their views, perspectives, ideas, and leadership styles. 

Spend some time taking inventory of your crucible moments.  I was first exposed to the concept of life journey lines when working for Lorrie Norrington who at the time was the EVP with Intuit in the early 2000’s.  In fact, Journey Mapping is still very much a part of Intuit’s culture.  Looking back, Lorrie is still one of the most influential leaders in my career.  She taught me the importance of quantifying my capabilities and having the confidence to embrace them and act.  Creating a life journey line is an effective way to identify one’s crucible moments, and more importantly understand how those moments shaped us and the new skills and capabilities we acquired because of those moments.  Taking the time to think about these critical moments in life helps to provide clarity on your capabilities.  Steve Jobs famously said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward.”  That’s not to say, or suggest, we should live in the past, but rather to understand our ability to endure, preserve, learn, adjust, and succeed.

What are your crucible moments?  How did they shape you?  What changes did you endure?  Positive or negative?  

Every person we encounter on a day-to-day basis has gone through, or is currently going through, a crucible moment.  Our ability to empathize is critical.  How we assess these moments, and learn to adjust and adapt, based on this new knowledge and experience, is what enables our future success…and the success of the teams we lead.

The Leaders List of Critical Books to Read

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

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Curiosity is a key competency for those looking to grow and lead. Curiosity about a business, its industry, people, customers, competitors, investors, are all necessary to excel in today’s high speed world of hyper-competition. There are many ways to satisfy your curiosity including doing, reading, researching, and interviewing.

Unfortunately for many, reading takes the very last seat in the back, with the most common excuse I hear for not reading – “who has the time?” To which my response is, “Apparently only the highest of high performers.”  What exactly are you willing to invest in improving yourself and your skills?  How much time?  How much money?  How much of your freedom?  Why freedom?  Because, when others are using their freedom to golf, ski, hit the bar, head to the gym, or sleep on that cross-country flight, you’re using your freedom to expand your knowledge base and perspective.

Whether you’ve been a leader for a year, or twenty, we all experience ups, downs, wins, losses, triumphs, and failures.  One thing I’d say is that your top reads will almost always be driven by your immediate, or anticipated circumstances. My suggestion is to have a stable of those books identified and ready to go.  In addition, practicing the habit of self-reflection will also super-charge your results when combined with building your arsenal of perspectives through reading.

If you’re wondering how much to read, I simply say, get started.  Everyone’s pace is different.  Some like turning pages, others like reading on a tablet, and still others prefer listening via audiobooks.  No matter your preference, just start.  Set a goal.  Pick a book and set a goal to complete it within 2 weeks.  Two weeks is a good timeframe to get through a book that’s between 250 – 300 pages once placed into your routine.  Make no mistake, a routine it must be.

A few thoughts before revealing the list of critical reads for all leaders…first, all leaders need financial acumen. However, most of us, unless you were classically trained, have learned while doing.  This doesn’t make for a very strong financial foundation. Public companies view the world quite differently from privately held companies, or even more specifically those owned by private equity.

Second, to be a great leader you must learn and understand what it means to follow. This means that all great leaders take the time to learn as much as they can. If you don’t have a very healthy dose of curiosity, then find one quickly.  Your leadership life span will be limited by the depth of knowledge you acquire and accumulate as it relates to your business and the industry.

Lastly, conduct regular assessments on your personal performance. Find a number of folks who will be brutally honest with you about your style, your results, your core competencies. Play to your strengths and stop dwelling on your weaknesses.

Here is a list of the top reads for all leaders:

 

Growing Through Adversity

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Positive growth can happen even under the toughest of conditions. Perseverance, determination, and the ability to adapt are what’s needed to push through the challenges and capture the growth that’s yours. New skills, new perspectives, new ideas.

As I walked around our property today I saw this beautiful petunia growing in-between some pavers. Oddly this is not a flower we have planted anywhere on our property, yet here it is. With temperatures in the high 90’s this past week, and no rain or water, seeing this thing of beauty grow in the most difficult conditions made me realize how possible growth is in any environment.

It reminds me of the line in Jurassic Park – “Life will find a way.” You really can do anything you set your mind to.

How Sharing Can Accelerate Results

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

In today’s rapidly advancing digital age, information has never been easier to access. We shop for clothes, cars, computers, and countless other consumables and services through the internet. We research our customers, competitors, future employers and employees, and bosses. We share our experiences and opinions about banks, hairdressers, mechanics, and restaurants on sites like Yelp, Facebook and Google. In fact, by the time you finish reading this blog, more than 1 million posts will have been made on Facebook (assuming you can finish this in 2 minutes or less).

With so much information, so quickly accessible, why do businesses still operate in silos? Why do management teams, and executives, feel compelled to withhold information from their teams? Are there still people that believe in Jack Nicholson’s position in A Few Good Men? Perhaps some might not be able to handle the truth but most are far more capable than you may think. In fact, if you consider real-life General Stanley McChrystal, in his book Team of Teams, he talks about transforming the U.S. Military from a command-and-control operation to a “shared consciousness” where there is an organization-wide “understanding of the whole.”

So why do executives hold back? Why do they covet information at all? The answer is FUD – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Fear of embarrassment, uncertainty of reaction, doubt in the character and tenacity of the people on their teams. Harold MacMillian said, “A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man nobody trusts.” This couldn’t be more true.

Sharing for the sake of sharing is a waste of time and effort, however, sharing for the sake of establishing trust is an accelerator of positive results. How do can you tell if sharing is real? If the information the leader is sharing is sensitive, in that it makes him vulnerable, he’s sharing. If the information is sensitive, in that it may make the company vulnerable, she’s sharing. If there is any level of personal, professional, or company risk, this qualifies for real sharing. When real sharing is being demonstrated, a culture of trust can begin to develop and teams begin to form. A leader who shares real stuff is confident, comfortable being vulnerable, and willing (and interested) in learning. Those are the leaders people seek to follow.

Still think sharing is a crock? If you need further evidence that sharing can accelerate growth, look no further than Berkshire Hathaway which currently holds the title as the highest priced stock on the NYSE at more than $320,000 for a BRK-A share as of this blog post. If you, like me, believe that sharing is a critical ingredient to building trust, consider the words of Berkshire’s Charlie Munger, “By the standards of the rest of the world, we over trust. So far it has worked very well for us.” It certainly has.

How much courage do you have to start sharing?

Thoughts on Leadership

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

“He who cannot be a good follower, cannot be a good leader” ~ Aristotle.

Great leaders possess empathy and emotional intelligence. Caring enough to ask, and then listening, is the beginning for all great leaders. Charting a course that depends upon the contributions of others requires courage, fortitude and judgement. Leaders understand they are nothing without followers. Great leaders know that their success depends on the relationships they have with those followers. Trust, respect, and caring are ingredients that strengthen the bond between a leader and his, or her followers.

People want to know how much you care before caring about how much you know. Asking versus telling, guiding versus directing, teaching versus demanding, coaching versus demeaning…these are just some ways to demonstrate great leadership.

Leading others requires the leader to be vulnerable. It requires experience and judgement. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. There’s no shortcutting experience. You make the best decisions you can given the information at hand. Hindsight will always be 20/20, but we must live in the present which means the possibility of making a bad decision exists for each of us every day.

Embrace the learning. Be curious. Engage others and listen…truly listen. Open your mind to new perspectives. Create a list of leaders you admire and the attributes they possess that you strive to emulate. Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is the path to growth. Try many things. Fail fast. Don’t worry about being wrong. Nothing of greatness has ever been created on the first attempt. Diamonds take billions of years to create. The first mobile phone was a brick. The first car came in only black and had no windshield wipers. Progress takes time. The key is to keep moving, observing, doing, learning, adjusting. Trying to live life without failure is a wasted life. Life without failure is a blank canvas.

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” ~ C. S. Lewis