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

"Quiet that voice of doubt inside of you. You are good enough. You do deserve good things. You are smart enough. You are worthy of love and respect. You are amazing just the way you are." - Lorri Faye   Self-esteem is the thoughts and impressions we hold about ourselves. And, what we think about ourselves affects who we are and influences everything we do. It can influence our attitude, self-motivation, mental well-being, and our overall quality of life. When our self-esteem level is strong, we have higher self-confidence and stronger feelings of security, belonging, and competence. Self-esteem is important because it can impact our decisions, our relationships, our physical and emotional health, and our overall well-being. Individuals who display healthy levels of self-esteem have a firm understanding of their skills and abilities and have realistic expectations of themselves. They understand their personal needs and can express them to others. They can maintain a healthy re...

"Life is not just about the good things or not just about the bad things. It is both. It all depends where you focus your attention." - Ann Marie Aguilar We spend a lot of time focused on the wrong things. Focusing on the negative. Afraid of what might or might not happen. We're not always going to get what we want in life. We won't always win and succeed at everything we do. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't approach what we do with an expectation of getting the outcomes we desire. Life is about balance, and why not believe that something great is going to happen? It doesn't require any more energy or effort than thinking that something terrible is going to happen. When you have a conversation with someone, you are likely to get incorrect responses if you ask the wrong questions. Similarly, in life, if we are sending out the wrong messages or asking for the wrong things through our thoughts, beliefs, and actions, we are likely to get undesirable results....

"It is the follow through that makes the great difference between ultimate success and failure, because it is so easy to stop." - Charles Kettering It's easy to talk a good game. We all have that list of tasks we want to get done, things we want to accomplish, places we want to go, or life changes we want to make to become the person we want to be. We may want to start doing something, stop doing something, or improve how we do something. What have you committed to yourself that you haven't followed through on? Maybe you said you need to exercise more regularly or lose some weight. Perhaps you vowed to drink more water or eat healthier. You may have wanted to go back to school or pursue a different career. Maybe you wanted to start your own business or write a book. What have you committed to someone else that you haven't followed through on? Maybe you said you would do something for them, help them with something. Perhaps you said you would volunteer and donate s...

"A cynical young person is almost the saddest sight to see, because it means that he or she has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing." - Maya Angelou Do you ever catch yourself being cynical in your way of thinking? I know I have. Sometimes without even realizing it at the time, and that's not a good thing. There is always something or someone in our lives that can cause us to have negative thinking. Maybe there's that one person who always seems to let you down. Perhaps it's the person who always bails out on their commitments at the very last minute. Or the people who seem to not hold up their end or do their share of the work. Maybe you end up thinking you always get the bum end of the deal. That things always fall apart. It's easy to slip into and can be very difficult to get out of if we are not careful. My tendency is to add humor into my conversations with others, sometimes just to lighten the mood, so we aren't always taking things so ser...

"You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win." - Zig Ziglar Expectations create reality. You have to believe you will win and succeed at whatever you are trying to achieve well in advance of heading down that path toward achievement. Every time you put yourself out there, you should expect to win. How do you gain this level of conviction? It is in your mental preparation and the work you put into it. You have to know what you want to achieve and understand what it could take to obtain it. You have to visualize the outcome, and you have to understand why you want to achieve it. Repeat these thoughts and feelings over and over again in your mind to create muscle memory. You have to believe in yourself and have confidence in your abilities to achieve great things. If you don't expect to win, then you've already admitted the chance of defeat. The people I consider successful all have at least one thing in common; they ...

"Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says 'Go', a leader says 'Let's Go!" - E. M. Kelly I have worked with some great people over the many years and many jobs I've had. I was reflecting on some of the past leaders and managers I've worked for. Both the good and the bad. Ones that I loved working for and others that I hated working for. The poor leaders: Had bad attitudes Super hard on the people they didn't believe in Often played favorites Inconsistent leadership style Focused more on the task than who was doing it Quick to place blame Do as I say, not as I do mentality My way or the highway way of thinking Always thought they were right Did most of the talking What have you done for me attitude Would strike fear to get people to get things done  The great leaders: Had great attitudes Worked hard on building up and developing people Always fair and consistent Put people first, and the work always took care of itself Always ...

"Losing your head in a crisis is a good way to become the crisis." - C.J. Redwine We live in turbulent times. I don't like to talk about politics or political views. But I was reminded of one of the chaotic 2020 Presidential Debates that had me shaking my head in disbelief at how the two candidates handled each other. Uncontrolled chaos was all I could think of. Most people want a leader to be rational and calming. Confident and strong. Calm under pressure. Focused on the initiatives or objectives. Basically, everything was lacking in the debate. Needless to say, I couldn't watch it very long and moved on to do something else. However, this got me thinking about leadership types in general and about what makes a leader great. I started thinking about great leaders during chaotic or stressful times. It's a fact that good and bad things happen to all people. Stress can be caused by a variety of things. It's crazy to think that everything will go smoothly every d...