PBS' show Frontline is doing a documentary called "the last abortion clinic" on the pro-life movement in Mississippi. I was interviewed for the program over the summer while walking in Jackson, MS. The show is scheduled to air tonight at 8:00 pm CST. The link for the show can be seen here.
I attended the 11th annual Worldwide Luminary Series Leading to Greatness seminar today, it was so good that I decided to post all my notes from it. The conference topic was on building true success wherever you live and work. All the speakers did a great job of conveying their own secrets of leadership and how to implement them. Enjoy!
Carly Fiorina
Anyone can choose to lead; leadership is a choice to make a positive difference
Learn as much as you can wherever you’re at, and always give your very best at it
-Focus on your job or position right now, give it your all!
There are two ways to look at every job, the limitations or the possibilities.
Leadership is creating something new, seeing a possibility and making it happen
Leadership is about taking risks, management is about minimizing risks
Information is no longer power when everyone can get it
Asking the right question can be more powerful than knowing the right answer; logic and common sense are just as important
Leaders must propose a solution, a positive alternative
Leadership is overcoming fear, risk taking, and placing uncertain bets
- Every person has more potential than they realize
- All acts of leadership take courage
Leaders cannot act alone; others will put trust in you as you put trust in them
-If you can’t trust others you can’t lead
Balance- the art of leadership
-Optimism & realism, balancing the two
-Realism is truly understanding the goal or objective
Consistency & flexibility
Confidence & humility
-Confidence is required for leadership
-Humility is required to admit you’re not perfect
Knowing what you know and what you don’t know
You must surround yourself with people different than yourself
Must know the big picture and the details
Strategy without execution is futile
You must have an internal compass
-Never sell yourself ‘cause no one will ever pay you back
-When choices are tough, refer back to your internal compass
Authenticity
-Bring all of yourself to the job, you can’t fake it
-Effective leaders are authentic
Leadership is a choice – raising people’s sights, the possibilities in themselves and in the company or organization
-Unlocking potential, making a positive difference in others
Marcus Buckingham
The one thing they need to know
“Find what is unique and capitalize on it”
“To rally people to a better future”
-Ego is not too big, ethic are too small
-You must have the ego to believe you can do it
“Find what is universal and capitalize on it”
-Fear of the unknown is a commonality amongst all people
Clarity is the solution to anxiety
Points on clarity:
-Who do we serve?
-What is our core strength?
-What is our core score?
-What actions can we take today?
If you change your mind, do it with great clarity
Be vivid on your strengths
If you can’t pause success you can’t repeat it
Pick your hero’s with great care
Fortune Panel
Bill Novelli
-Be entrepreneurial, think outside the box
J.W. Marriott, Jr.
-Do what you love
Jim Turley
-Recognize that no client is bigger than your personal integrity
Jack Welch
5 stages of crisis
Denial, containment, somebody to blame, overreaction
Crisis makes things better in the end
In bad news, a leader defines the vision, the plan to get to the next level
Punish bad behavior that goes against values of company
Reward good behavior & exaggerate success
You must be candid – every manager must let every employee know where he stands
8 rules for leaders: Always be open and candid
1. Relentlessly upgrade your team, never settle
2. Differentiate between skills and abilities
3. Must have a clear and well-defined mission statement, talk about it and get
Others to buy into it
4. Exude optimism
5. Courage to make unpopular decisions
6. Be curious & make sure your questions get answered
7. Inspire risk taking- reward those who aren’t afraid to try
Support both the risks & the failures
8. Celebrate- recognition of those who have done well, great for moral
Hiring & firing
If you make a mistake, clean it up fast
You must judge integrity & behavior
“Why did you leave your last job?” is the most important question to ask potential
Hire
Energizing others is of utmost importance
Developing talent is of vital importance; you’re only as good as those under you
Team building, hire those smarter than you!
Rules for managers
HR person sees everything, learn from him or her
Don’t avoid charged relationships
Maintain a flat organizational chart
What to do if you have a bad boss?
Wait it out, have a safety valve of another job
Make your boss look good
Learn from those smarter than you
Dr. Steven R. Covey
Begin with the end in mind
“Leadership is communicating peoples worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.” It all begins with oneself.
The 8th Habit
Find your voice and inspire other to find theirs
“Never be afraid to run in”
Leadership is a choice, not a position
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” –Albert Schweitzer
Malcolm Gladwell
Great generals/leaders can make decisions on instinct (cur Doyle)
A study found that cops make much worse decisions when in the presence of a second cop
With more info people become overwhelmed, less info makes decision process easier
Sir Richard Branson
Must be good at motivating people, helping them succeed is key to success
Know the art of delegation
Detail is crucial; the little things make the difference
To survive in business you have to strive to be the best, customer service is a huge part of this
Give your team a stake in the company
Characteristics of good people to hire
-Good with people, high ethics, can help shake up industry, fun, be themselves
It never pays to be unethical
In dealing with failure you must stay positive throughout
Protect your downside- look at all the angles
Personal obstacles to success
Just do it
Don’t listen to naysayers
Managing and leading -treating all those in the company with complete worth and dignity
Companies have a social responsibility after achieving a position of strength
Rudy Giuliani
Are leaders born or made?
Leaders are made, they are constantly learning from others
1. In order to be a leader you have to have strong beliefs and convictions
-Develop and communicate strong beliefs
-Strong leaders convey their beliefs to others and don’t sway from them
2. Be optimistic – not pie in the sky
-People will follow those with solutions and a positive attitude
-Vince Lombardi- “I didn’t lose the game, I just ran out of time!”
3. Must have courage – not the absence of fear
-All people have fear; leaders simply manage and overcome their fears to get the job done
4. Relentless Preparation – fear will help you do this
-Preparation helps you to overcome your fear
-For every one hour spent in court you must spend four hours preparing
-Being able to perform at the end is a result of preparation
5. Understand Teamwork
-Surround yourself with great people
-What are my weaknesses and how can I find someone to help compensate for them?
-Understand that you don’t know everything
6. Be a Good communicator
-You have to communicate to others to lead effectively
-If you do the first five steps you’ll be a good communicator
-Be a problem solver
7. Have a sense of humor – you must love people!
-It’s more important to be there for people when things are going wrong than when they are going right
-If you’re there for them, they’ll be there for you
-Make others feel important
I'm helping coordinate hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the local area, here's the link to the ad on the Father's of Mercy website.
Tags:
news
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Tags:
Christianity,
prayers
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
-Robert Frost
It's been quite a while since I've last updated on the status of Crossroads and my many travels across the country, there are way to many stories and pictures to be able to put them all in one post, so I'll just comment on the fact that I am in Cologne, Germany for the 20th World Youth Day with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI!
The last month of Crossroads was amazing, very stressful and challenging but I certainly grew a lot from it. WYD is going very well, we began by doing a pro-life walk from Brussels, Belgium to Cologne, Germany, covering about 120 miles over the course of five days. Definitely a much more relaxed walk than the summer was. Since being here I have somehow been thrown into the media correspondent position for Crossroads, dealing with all the major news organizations and setting up interviews and PR work. It's been fun but stressful as well. Somehow I got international security clearance for the media as well as a press pass so I have access to all the back room media accommodations! I'm considered a "free-lance photographer", I have no idea how I get myself involved in these things! This afternoon we've got interviews with CNN and the Mayor of Cologne, its crazy!
We've passed out over 8,000 Crossroads pro-life stickers since being here, everyone loves them! Check out the official World Youth Day website here.
Here are a few of the pictures I've taken since being in Europe, enjoy and I'll try to post more often!
Tags:
Catholicism,
news,
photos,
pro-life,
travel
It's been a couple weeks since I've been able to update what's been going on with Crossroads, the primary reason being lack of Internet access. I have posted a few things on the Crossroads blog however.
At present we are in the Dallas/Fr. Worth, TX area, or as they like to call it here, the 'Metroplex'. I'm not really sure what that means but that's what they say. It's been a good past couple weeks, after crossing Arizona and going into New Mexico we spent the weekend in El Paso, TX and had the opportunity to cross the border into Juarez, Mexico. As this was my first time south of the border I quite enjoyed it, reminding me somewhat of Europe. It's hard to believe that things are so different just a few miles from the Texas border.
We crossed all of New Mexico and have been walking across Texas for the past week, will this state ever end?!!! I still have no clue what all the fuss is that Texans make about there state, All I've seen so far is a very large, flat area that is good for farming and not much else! Its just as hot here as it was in Arizona or New Mexico but its starting to get pretty humid as well. Plus, we're on the same road, TX 180, across the entire length of the state! So that's all I've really got to say about it, I think Texans just like to brag about it 'cause it's so big and there's nothing here, kind of like those in New Jersey, they just wish they were from New York!
There have been some new developments in the Terri Schiavo case, here's a copy of an article from the doctor who examined her. Here's an article from her parents attorney, and here's one about her autopsy.
Another interesting story I recently was made aware of is about Susan Torres, a women who is considered legally dead but is being kept alive as she is pregnant and in order for her child to have the chance to live she needs to hang on for a few more weeks. Here is the website where you can get all the info about her and this amazing story.
Until I have time to write again please keep all of us on Crossroads in your prayers as we have to walk across the rest of Texas this week and we'll be in Louisiana next weekend.
I'm out in the desert of New Mexico, still walking across the country. Things are going well for the most part, a few challenges here and there with attitudes, personalities, scheduling, etc, but all in all things are going well. I'm been posting to the official Crossroads Blog whenever I have time with pictures and stories so I haven't had as much time to on my own site, but you can link to it no problem. Here's a few more pics I've taken, enjoy!
As I begin to write this I am sitting in Phoenix, AZ at the Cafe Fiat after praying at a Planned Parenthood here in Phoenix with the group The Underground Project, started by the beautiful Melanie Welsch. The past week has been incredible. It started out with a long and delayed arrival into Ontario, CA after many challenges on my connecting flight into Houston. I began my journey in 29 Palms walking all night long through the desert of Southern California. Previous to beginning our night time journey we ate dinner at the O'Briens. Arriving at their house was an experience to be sure, they live in the middle of nowhere in the California desert. It was almost surreal, like something out of a movie! They were the nicest people you'll ever meet though.
The rest of the trip has consisted of walking though California and into Arizona, which is where I am now. Crossroads has a blog that will be updated all summer long here.
Here's some of the pictures I've taken thus far.
