Jeff Henderson states, "It's no longer about being the best company IN the world. It's about being the best company FOR the world." This quote has me thinking about my legacy and what the world is going to remember me and my business for. 

Creating your legacy can begin today.  How do you want the world to remember you and your organization? 

When you think of Alfred Nobel, what comes to mind? You might be like me and not have known his first name, but that last name conjures up the faces of the best of the best of humanity--Mother Teresa, Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, and Barack Obama to name a few Nobel Peace Prize winners. 

Alfred Nobel is the man responsible for the Nobel Peace Prize, but did you know that he was also a chemist, engineer, and innovator who manufactured weapons? He had dedicated his life to developing nitroglycerine as an explosive; one of his brothers, Emil, was even killed during one experiment. Ultimately, he invented...

Jamie Kern Lima, founder of IT Cosmetics, went from once a struggling waitress to an international best-selling sensation, eventually selling her company for over a billion dollars becoming the first female CEO of a brand in L’Oréal’s 100+ year history.

How did she do this? By not changing her "why!" Jamie shares, "If other people's opinions can shift your "why", it's not powerful enough." 

I believe sustained organizational health and success begins with a clear and concise mission statement. Your organization's mission is the WHY behind your existence. 

Here is what I mean.

Great organizations continuously follow their mission and rarely stray from it; as even a deviation can result in a flutter of ineffective activity and confusion. 

As marketing expert Donald Miller says, “When you confuse, you lose.” 

The most effective schools I have studied sustained their mission through stable school leadership, clear education...

On October 8th, at the Live2Lead Conference  John Maxwell will be teaching key lessons and anecdotes on 2 of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The Law of Addition for leadership states that if you choose to serve your customers and your employees by adding value rather than trying to come out on top or make yourself richer, higher profits will follow. On the Law of Connection, John Maxwell writes, “When it comes to working with people, the heart comes before the head.” Logic will only take you so far—in order to really get people on board with your mission, you need to connect with their emotions.

I would like to share with you a story, where I saw first hand the Law of Connection at play. I had been given the opportunity to lead a group of nonprofit board members in Philadelphia. Most of them governed charter schools but a few were from other organizations, law firms and local colleges.  Hearing that the audience would be quite...

I have learned from my mentor, John Maxwell, that great leaders know the way and show the way.  He goes on to say that, "The smallest action is better than the biggest intention. No one ever intended their way into greatness." 

As a leader, your first step is being able to see the big picture, the overall vision for the organization, initiative or product.

Have ever heard the quote, Without vision, the people will perish?

This doesn't mean that people will actually perish. It means that because people do not see where we are going. As a result, I am not going to put forth much of an effort. Creating not just a lack of productivity, but a lack of effort. 

The leader must have the ability to effectively communicate this vision to his or her team, collaborating with their team to systematically get the steps and plans down.

They must see the challenges ahead and chart a course that everyone can follow. This is the Law of Navigation, which says "anyone can steer the...