As a little kid, my brother had a cape that made him invisible. We both loved it –for different reasons. He loved being invisible. I loved beating him at hide-and-seek every damn time Truth was, he was small and spry. Probably could’ve beat me if he’d hidden. But his belief in the magic gave him a false confidence to just stand still. Which brings me to the employee engagement survey. The corporate cloak of invisibility. We run it once a year and believe it’s protective.  But our belief in its magic often leaves us standing still. When we should be doing the everyday work of Activatin ..read more

How do you approach achieving big goals? Do you have a solid system, or do you just wing it? In this episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast, Jeff Sanders interviews Rachel Cooke about achieving big goals, leveraging momentum, and optimizing productive spaces for long-term success. The post Jeff Sanders’ Interview with Rachel Cooke appeared first on Lead Above Noise ..read more

Did you hear the one about the British rowing team that took home the Olympic gold in 2000? The short version: The GB8 team’s rowing performance in the 1990’s was…meh. They were efforting hard. But achieving little. Until team member Ben Hunt-Davis declared a new and simple training strategy.  The team would ask and answer – at every decision – point the question: Will it make the boat go faster? Each answer to this question informed everything – from how they slept, ate, trained, partied, selected equipment, and on and on. This one small, simple question delivered life-changing result ..read more

And yet again, we blink and Q4 is upon us. So, how’s your 2023 been? Hopefully stellar. But if so, you’re in a minority. At least in my little corner of the world. For many orgs, this year’s been a tricky one. And as the turning leaves serve to remind us – we’re in the homestretch, friend. So whatcha got up your sleeve? I don’t mean tricks or gimmicks. I mean ways of truly activating your team – of igniting their collective will and skill to deliver meaningful results for your business. Because as complexity and uncertainty remain spitefully present, and playbooks equally passe, the truth ..read more

Know that change you mean to make? Like – you mean to eat better or exercise more? Be honest. How many times have you asked Google what to do? Only to think “Ugh, but I already know all this!” Hey. Me too. Truth is, when we want to make a change – personal or professional – our first instinct is generally to seek out knowledge. Information. Advice. Yet it’s almost never a lack of knowledge that holds us back. We don’t not eat well because we don’t know what’s nutritious.There’s almost always something else holding us back. And the same goes for leadership development. An organization decides ..read more

I still remember the first time I saw Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. Seeing that image of all those people enjoying a day at the park…and then learning it was effectively a compilation of tiny points? My mind was blown. As a kid, living in “precedented” times, I saw art. As an adult living in – well, you know – I see wisdom and genius. I see a metaphor for a path forward. The points are the point. They represent increments – tiny spots versus broad strokes. They represent small acts. Little experiments. Steps in a direction that we can quickly revise or evolve if that step takes us t ..read more

It’s time to leverage a Pulse Check While the economy is showing glimmers of hope (yay), leaders are still a-struggling. Questions continuing to arise in my little corner of the business world include… → How do we do/ deliver more with less? → How do we reinvigorate an exhausted team or organization? → How do we “do” hybrid more effectively? And on and on. Any of these land for you? If so, I want to urge you to consider the power of a Pulse Check. Of course, we’d love you to partner with us. But if not, then run one on your own. Trust me. It really delivers. Let’s talk why (let me earn your ..read more

Remember the days when being a great leader was about knowing a lot of stuff? About having lots of experience in “how we do things” and then transferring that knowledge and experience down the org chart? Quaint, right? Man, things feel different today. Wisdom and experience aren’t obsolete. But neither are they the competitive advantage they once were. Today it’s really about the ability to navigate the future. To be a leader who meets uncertainty with confidence– and has the ability to create clarity from it. These – in our parlance – are Future-Fit Leaders By operating withFuture Fitness ..read more

Culture’s gotten complicated But why? Since the pandemic, companies have been bamboozled by the question of “how do we build culture in the absence of eternal, physical togetherness?” I appreciate the complexity. But I feel compelled to offer a big reveal. Here it is: Culture doesn’t live in your office. It never did. Culture never sat at your conference table. It was never kicked around by your foosball players. It wasn’t your free seltzer, your oversized couches. It wasn’t your happy hour, your company picnic. Culture is – and always has been – woven into the DNA of your words, your action ..read more

I've always loved magic. Quarters and cards, rabbits and hats charmed me endlessly. So when I got a "How to do Magic" book on my 7th birthday, I dove all in! But my enthusiasm quickly faded to frustration as I realized that clear instruction was not translating to magical performance. The tricks just weren't working for me! But I had an awesome uncle with a few tricks up his own sleeve. He took me under his wing and we began practicing together. He taught me the value of trial and error; of starting with the fundamentals; of practicing without an audience; of building confidence; and of learn ..read more