It’s that time of year when we get to hear the campaign speeches from our candidates for student leadership positions. Beyond their ability to give a good speech, they each share their hopes and dreams for next year. They lay out their plan to make it “the best year ever.” They are sharing their vision for the future. A distinguished …

When you lay your head on your pillow at night, you drift off to sleep with a sense of fatigue. But that fatigue can be caused by a couple of different things. 1. You’re tired and frustrated from spinning your wheels all day but not having much to show for it. 2. You’re tired and fulfilled from putting your energy …

The following is an excerpt from the book, The Way of the Seal: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed, by Mark Divine with Allyson Edelhertz Machate. Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister (1874-1965) I believe the world is chaotic and destiny favors the prepared. Unfortunately, sometimes chaos …

In Part One of this article I explained why it was important to develop a philosophy around the ways we approach, handle, and learn from failure. In this second part, I will offer six questions to aid in the process of developing our own philosophy of failure. I wish we talked about failure more than we do in student leadership …

The most effective leadership development processes give people the opportunity to learn to lead by leading. Even if you spend an enormous amount of time preparing students for leadership, you’ll never know what kind of leader they will be until they start leading. And like most things, they won’t get it perfect on their first try (or their second…or third…). …

Leadership starts with taking responsibility, first for oneself, then, for the good of others. In other words, leadership starts with you but it’s not about you. It’s about working for the good of others. Imagine the following scenario: You walk into your house and your mom or dad is standing over a broken lamp on the floor. They look at the lamp and then …

The following is an excerpt from the book, The Age of the Customer, by Jim Blasingame. Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him and to let him know that you trust him. — Booker T. Washington Thousands of years ago, when Og instinctively held up his open palm for the first time to reveal to Gog …

One of the best parts of launching a book is making new friends. Someone once told me that “a book is a business card that people don’t throw away.” I’d have to agree. Writing a book creates all kinds of opportunities for conversations. I’ve already begun communicating with people about the book on three different continents other than my own. …