Jeff McManus's Blog, page 18

Leadership Pains

In 1995 my wife, Suzanne and I experienced something for the first time: our first child birth. First in a long list of “firsts” in our first year of marriage. We were admitted into the hospital early that evening where the doctors said, “You’ve started, but you’re not ready.” The long night that followed consisted of periods of calm interrupted by incredible pain for my wife.

Why Consistency Matters

When I was sixteen years old my parents and I drove, in their 1979 Toyota Corolla Station Wagon, from our home in Georgia to Yellowstone National Park. My older sister was working around the Old Faithful Inn area. She booked us a week-long stay there. As a teenager it was my first experience witnessing the Old Faithful Geyser. It was right outside our lodge. It was an experience I never forgot.

An Old Faithful eruption can last from one and a half to five minutes. Each discharge expels somewh...

Mindset Matters

Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. He was persuaded to come back and placed in a class for the learning disabled. He lasted a month and dropped out of school forever.When Thomas Edison was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything.Albert Einstein was four years old before he could speak.A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had “no good ideas.”Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade.

Each of these leaders had setbac...

Why Implosions Effect Your Leadership

The Atlanta Fulton County stadium, originally built in 1965, costing $18 million, took just under a year to build. And it took 27 seconds to bring it down with close to 1,250 pounds of dynamite and 350 pounds of charge. The explosives sent an estimated 140 million pounds of concrete and steel plummeting to the field the Atlanta Braves and Falcons once called home. The stadium was mighty in size and reputation, seating 60,000 people and hosting 32 years of Atlanta history—it’s where Hank Aaron br...

Surviving the Fire – Why Your Hardest Trials Will be Your Best Leadership Lessons

The Sequoia tree is the largest tree grown in the world. The Redwoods may be taller, but in over-all size, the Sequoia is king. I am anticipating the day I see these magnificent wonders in California. Recently I was reading about the unusual black burn marks on the base of each tree. Fire helps the tree grow. With a 21” thick bark, the tree can withstand extremely hot temperatures, and it not only survives, but it will also thrive. The only time a Sequoia is in danger from fire is if the fire re...

We Put People First. But Do We?

“Our most successful leaders are people who put other people first … in the long run, that’s exactly what makes them successful.” 

~Blake Roney, American businessman

A worker was driving his company’s large commercial truck to the recycle station for emptying, when he noticed an older gentleman sitting on a bench on the side of the service road. The gentleman looked tired and dazed. The worker slowed down, stopped, and asked the older gentleman if he was okay. The man replied, “Can I get a...

Beating Burnout

“In a culture where people believe that working hard can overcome any obstacle, reality teaches us that we have limitations. We burn out.” ~Jay Wren

It’s real and it can happen to even the best leader. Burnout is very common particularly in high performance leaders with as many as 72% of them admitting to it openly. In my experience, it is my best leaders I have to watch out for when it comes to burn out. They are problem solvers, love a challenge, and find satisfaction in accomplishment. The...

Should Leaders Teach Employees to be Adaptable?

“Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.” ~Max McKeown

We all know the stress and frustration of having to adapt our personal and professional schedules due to an unexpected occurrence. Your team is no different. In our industry change is inevitable and happens at a moment's notice. During a typical workday how does your team deal with unexpected change or roadblocks, a.k.a. “zingers?”  Did it come with a lot of drama or was it just part of ...

Self Doubt

“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” ~William Shakespeare

Have you ever been asked to run an area you have never run before and have no idea how to do it? It’s a scary feeling…to know you DON’T know. You have to remember, you may not know how to do everything, but there is a reason why you were asked to over see it. If we don’t remember that, we run the risk of doubting ourselves, our abilities, and goals. Self-doubt is putting all the a...

Fighting Discouragement

“Pushing yourself to be the best is unsustainable. Simply push yourself to be better than the day before.”

~Simon Sinek

In the Book Chop Wood Carry Water, Joshua Metcalf uses the story of one boy’s journey, John, to become a samurai warrior. In one part of the story John is learning how to overcome discouragement and how he can be his own worst enemy by how he thinks and conducts his self-talk. Akira, John’s teacher, shares with John that he must keep his guard up and fuel his heart with e...