S.U.M.M.I.T. Leadership

"You must become the producer, director and actor in the unfolding story of your life."  - Wayne Dyer The best project you'll ever work on is YOU.   One year ago we were hit hard with this global pandemic, which had caused a major disruption to our daily lives. Millions of people around the world found themselves quarantined or furloughed. While the masses were getting caught up binge watching or immersing themselves in the constant negativity of the news, many others instead took the time to invest in their self-improvement so they could thrive in the months ahead. Being forced to stay-at-home to self-quarantine offered a huge opportunity for anyone who chose to use this time to create better habits.  Think about how your life was a year ago, and where you are now. Did you invest your time into changing your life for the better? Better yet, how would you like to evolve your life over the year to come? Where would you like to be one year from now? It's easy to get ca...

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein Instead of just making the best of every day, make the decision to make every day the BEST - it's your choice!  If we try to make every day better than the one before, then TODAY will be the best day yet, and the greatest days ever will await us in every tomorrow. That is a lot to look forward to! Take a step back, inhale and breathe, smile and laugh.  Take the time to reflect: Reflect on who you are. Everything and everyone in your past helped you to become who you are. Everything that happened for a reason. You are never given anything in this world that you can't handle. Learn from the past. Be hopeful for the future. Be strong, be flexible. Love yourself and love others. Never stop learning and growing. Reflect on why you're here.  What is your purpose, what is your why?  How can you contribute?  What is your p...

"We should seize every opportunity to give encouragement. Encouragement is oxygen for the soul." - George M. Adams When we help others and encourage them, it often has more meaning and makes a bigger difference than we realize. Take the time to seek out opportunities to encourage someone who needs it most. It is an important time for us to all stick together. To be there for one another. To encourage each other.  To uplift and support someone to help them get through. To help protect each other through these difficult times. This reminded me of when you see geese flying south for the winter. They all fly along in that "V" formation. You might be interested to know that science has discovered why they fly that way.  Research has revealed that as each goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately behind it. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. Together t...

"Appreciate what you have, while you have it, or you'll learn what it meant to you after you lose it." - Frank Sonnenberg It's hard to believe a year has gone by since I last posted this message. It still applies today, and serves as a great reminder for us all to continue to learn & develop from the past; work hard to create a better future; and live in the moment to make the most of today!  Here is an interesting way to look at the Coronavirus, and it really makes you stop and think differently. We must never forget:  Mankind got the disease it needed… We stopped looking after our health, so we became sick with a pandemic disease that made us realize what was most important in our lives. We no longer appreciated nature, so we became ill with a disease that made us realize how valuable it really is to be out in nature. We stopped paying enough attention to our families, so the disease locked us in our homes to teach us a lesson how to function as a family again. ...

  "We're all leaders. If you influence anyone's beliefs, thinking, behavior, or development, then you are engaging in leadership." - Ken Blanchard I want to talk to you about leadership. I recently watched one of my favorite Ted Talks, by Drew Dudley, and he talks about what he calls 'Everyday Leadership'. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. If I asked you, individually, to list some qualities or characteristics that come to mind if I asked you to describe "What Makes A Leader", what are some of your first thoughts?  I did this with some colleagues at work and here are some qualities that were mentioned: Confidence Action-oriented Go-getter Doer Team builder Difference maker Vocal Challenges the status quo Adds value Extrovert There are several great examples of qualities that initially come to mind when you think of what makes a Leader. We tend to identify a leader, and leadership, in general, initially with qualities that seem more...

"Every day may not be as good, but there is something good in every day." - Alice Morse Earle I’ve been thinking lately about how important it is to find and keep a positive perspective in everything, and live life in the present. Times continue to be challenging. These are scary times for sure. But the news isn't ALL scary, and we need to take a minute to recognize and acknowledge that.  We continue to battle the Coronavirus. But every day hundreds of thousands of people continue to get access to the vaccination. News of states moving to new phases of reopening. I know we still have a ways to go, but you have to admit, what was once an  enormous obstacle in front of us no longer seems so insurmountable. It remains hyper-critical that we continue to also try to find the positive within us, and around us. As we are now in the midst of the anniversary of the global pandemic, many are taking the time to reflect on the past year.  Here are 5 questions that were posed to me re...

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it" Thomas Jefferson The dictionary defines Luck as: "Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions."  I think the operative word in that definition should be 'apparently'. It's apparent based on what you think, believe and assume, about luck. We assume it appears by chance. Have you ever looked at someone and thought "Man, they are so lucky. They seem to have it all. A great relationship, career, life, money. They always have good luck." Sometimes it seems and feels like Lady Luck picks only a few people upon which to smile. Fate always seems to work in their favor. How do they do it? Are they really just that lucky? Or is there a way of persuading the universe to favor you with the same opportunities? And what role do you play in it? In the 2008 film The Dark Knight, based on the DC Comics character Batman, actor Aar...

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." - Albert Einstein Value is simply the usefulness, relative worth, merit, or importance of something or someone. Everyone has value.  Everyone has a purpose. We are all unique pieces of a much greater whole. It is important to know and understand your value, and the value of others. The problem is we often don't take the time to see our own value. And if we are failing to do that on a regular basis, it is likely we aren't placing appropriate value on others either, even if we think we might be. We must learn to value and love ourselves first if we intend to fully value and love others. Even if you’re a generally positive person, you still may not be recognizing your own worth and value. Anytime you hold yourself back, put yourself down, or give into your doubts and fears, you aren't seeing your own value.  Let me offer this scenario: If I took out a $100.00 bill and offered it to you, wo...

"What is not started today is never finished tomorrow." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Most of us have good intentions, but often we find it hard to continuously stay mentally on track. Even if we know that taking action is the first step we must take, to lead us towards our dreams, aspirations, visions and goals.  It isn't always easy to stay consistent in doing what we must to build the momentum and drive towards success. But being on the right track just isn't enough, unless we continue to make an effort to take the actions we need to. Will Rogers said "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." I believe that it isn't that we don't want to take action.  We do.  But our driving force may not strong enough to pull us through.  Intrinsically, people are driven by one of two things: Pain or Pleasure.  What we are willing to do, what are we willing to sacrifice, and what actions we are willing to take, are oft...

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." - Sun Tzu A year ago today, on March 11, 2020, the Coronavirus was officially declared a pandemic. We have experienced an entire year filled with more ups and downs and challenges than ever before. If I'm being candid, as this date approached, I have felt myself feeling a bit saddened and depressed. It has been a whole year…and yet here we are, still battling this pandemic, with continued chaos and uncertainty. I could feel myself giving in to the chaos a bit. My mindset was slipping back into a bit of a funk. I needed to fight back.    I lead off with a quote from Sun Tzu's book, "The Art of War." The author advises how to use both orthodox and unorthodox actions within chaos to find opportunity. In other words, he is saying we should allow the momentum of what is already going on to work in our favor and catapult us on to victory. The momentum itself may continue to be chaotic, but within chaos, you can a...