The term “lecture” has become synonymous with “life-sucking experience.” You know this to be true simply by the way people use the word in a sentence:

I had to sit through a lecture.
My parents gave me a lecture.
Don’t lecture me about my clothes.

I often wonder if there’s a way to spell lecture with four letters, because it’s so often used like a four-letter word.

I know it’s not an effective tool to teach, yet I still use it. In fact, I didn’t miss the irony of teaching about the ineffectiveness of lectures to a group of people…through a lecture on the ineffectiveness of lectures. I am my own worse case study.

The goal is to get their attention and once you have their attention, to engage them in the process of making progress. Continue Reading…

/NOTE/ The following is a guest post by Gary Burnison, CEO of Korn/Ferry International

Leadership is less about analytics, and much more about aligning, motivating, and inspiring others. It is empowering people so that their decisions and actions are in line with the overall values and strategy of the organization. Effective leadership begins with purpose.

Purpose is the “why” of the organization. Its companion, vision, is the “what” – a picture of what the organization will look like when purpose is realized.

Based on my conversations with leaders around the globe–which are reflected in my newest book, The Twelve Absolutes of Leadership–and given my experience as CEO of Korn/Ferry International, I can attest to the power of purpose. When employees have a strong sense of purpose, they know that what they do really matters to the organization, to its customers and clients, to society, and even the world at large. Empowered and aligned, they become more engaged.

Purpose is the soul of leadership. Continue Reading…

We are all given 24 hours in a day. No one gets any more or any less. But the way each of us spends time makes all the difference.

Did you hear that? I used the word, “spend.” We often use that word when talking about our time. This is because time is a valuable resource that we use like money. And even though we each have different amounts of money, we all have the same amount of time to spend each day. Time levels the playing field. If you can spend your time wisely, you’ll make a better investment of that resource than the person who spends his or her time foolishly.

Unfortunately, we don’t view time as a valuable resource because we think we have so much of it. We don’t think about how we spend it – until it’s too late. The downside of time is that we never get it back. I can lose or spend $20. At that point it’s gone. But I can turn around and find a way to get another $20 – by working for it or borrowing it from someone else. Not so with time. Once it’s gone – it’s gone.

When we truly grasp this concept, it raises our appraisal of time – from valuable resource to precious commodity. When you lead yourself well, you make the most of your time. Continue Reading…

You might have been drawn into a leadership position because you had some idea of how things could be better. You stepped into this role hoping to leave things better than you found them. You wanted people to be better off because you invested yourself into the process. You didn’t want to be part of the problem, so you worked hard to become part of the solution. You realize things can’t stay the way they are in order for the situation to get…well, better.

Here’s the thing: Whenever someone talks about better, it means change is coming. Better = change! (although change doesn’t always equal better)

But how do you go about leading in such a way that you create change for the better instead of changing for the worse? And if it is a change for the better, how can you lead in such a way that your change will actually occur?

The process starts with identifying the key components and characteristics necessary for any effective change to take place. A leader continually looks for ways to communicate and guide those on his or her team in understanding and implementing them. While I offer them here as a type of formula, it’s important to remember that all change is messy. But change becomes even more messy when one of these components is absent from the equation. Continue Reading…

The minute you try to accomplish something significant in life, you are going to run into problems. Problems are part of life. In fact, I often say that problems are job security for leaders.

People respond to problems in a variety of ways. In this video, I talk about the different responses people have to the problems they face. In the midst of all of the common reactions, there is an uncommon reaction to problems that immediately increases one’s influence: it is the ability to solve problems.

If you’ve got a minute, then hit play to find out this week’s tip to increase your influence.

Got A Minute? #10 – Be A Problem Solver

Got A Minute #10 from tim milburn on Vimeo.

Want more? Check out the Got A Minute? Video Series page.

We all tell ourselves stories. We tell stories about how we met certain people. We tell stories about the idiosyncrasies we’ve acquired. We tell stories because stories help us give meaning to the events of our lives.

Some people don’t like to think about life as a story because stories don’t seem real. They equate story with fiction. That’s too bad. I’m finding the best lives are often filled with the best stories.

I’ve noticed whenever we encounter a situation that doesn’t seem to have a story attached to it, we will make one up. We’re good at making up stories.

For example, let’s say I’m driving down the highway and someone cuts across three lanes of traffic and speeds off down the off ramp. They nearly knock me off the road with their sudden lane change. As I straighten out my vehicle, I begin to formulate a story about the other driver. Typically, every story I come up with in this situation will begin with the word: JERK! Continue Reading…

/NOTE/ This is a guest post by Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese and is an excerpt from the book they authored entitled: The Collaboration Imperative: Executive Strategies for Unlocking Your Organization’s True Potential