Last weekend, I had a blast at the Chicago WNDR Museum, particularly at the Ames room exhibit. The optical illusion you see in this picture reminded me of a critical aspect of leadership often overlooked—we, as leaders, wield a much bigger influence on team mood, tone, and attitude than we may realize.

It has been more than 25 years since one of my past jobs (as a senior product manager) was eliminated. I was shocked and disheartened and immediately had a number of thoughts running through my head.  Initially, they weren’t very helpful thoughts, but it wasn’t long before I made a decision that has had a profound impact on my life.  I decided to change the way I was thinking about the situation.

I have always been a verbal processor. I do my best thinking when I can “talk it through” with someone. But when I first began leading people in the corporate world, I learned that not everyone was that way. Now, I find it to be one of the hottest topics when I am coaching executives or teaching students in the college classroom.

Every year, January takes on a special significance for me - not just because it marks the beginning of a new year, but because it's my birthday month. This time around, I decided to make it more than just a celebration; it became a month of reflection and restoration.

I recently invited a guest speaker into the business problem-solving class I teach at a local university.  When I asked him to provide the students advice on time management, I got an unexpected response.  He challenged my students to embrace time and space without the constant input of their phones - taking time to “just be”.  A majority of the student’s took on the challenge with awesome results.

It has been several weeks since I have created one of my regular leadership posts and to be honest, I’ve been hesitant to share why. But after giving it some thought, I realized it’s actually a great topic for my post. The truth is, I experienced a short bout of burnout. This included extreme exhaustion that resulted in making it difficult to do much beyond the bare minimum (which is not my usual MO). Thankfully, I was able to recognize it soon enough to take action.

There are many words that capture my first semester of teaching Business Problem Solving to college students - rewarding, exhilarating and fun (like when they played a practical joke on me 😂). More than anything, though, it was an amazing learning experience. And when I say that, I mean for me (and I hope that was the case for them). Here are some of the things I unexpectedly experienced and learned along the way.

Thanksgiving is always a time I reflect on what I am grateful for. There is a growing body of evidence that has revealed that gratitude has significant benefits in every area of our lives, and it contributes substantially to our well-being. That is a good reason to be grateful, but even better is this quote I saw in a recent article by Misty Pratt.

Thanksgiving is always a time I reflect on what I am grateful for. There is a growing body of evidence that has revealed that gratitude has significant benefits in every area of our lives, and it contributes substantially to our well-being. That is a good reason to be grateful, but even better is this quote I saw in a recent article by Misty Pratt.

I'm not an enthusiast of scary coasters, but my family convinced me to ride one at Cedar Point amusement park during a recent family trip. This one was unique because the cars hung out from the sides of the rails, making it seem as if you were flying.

Twice a year we head to Brookfield, IL to visit the largest retro gaming arcade in the world - Galloping Ghost.

I recently had the best hotel breakfast ever and it wasn’t because of the food - it was the people who served it! I actually got to see - in action - a leadership concept that I often discuss with my clients. I call it the “shadow of the leader” and it’s backed by neuroscience. Moods travel between people.

Here are a few tips for how leaders can create an environment of learning from failure.