Holly Green
We all know the value of a good deadline. It helps us get focused, motivated, and sharpens our thinking, right? Not so fast. Current brain research suggests that, in most cases, deadlines do the exact opposite – creating stress and tension while limiting our thinking. Having a sense of urgency does stimulate the part of…
If you talk to winning athletes – not the one-time wonders, but those who win on a consistent basis – they’ll tell you that winning is a habit. What they don’t tell you is just how hard they work to develop that habit. Winning takes a lot of things, like talent, commitment, resources and support….
In my last blog, I talked about Alex Ferguson, the now retired coach for Manchester United, one of the most successful sports franchises in the world. In addition to his technical soccer skills, Ferguson won wide acclaim for his ability to grow and develop talent. Whether in sports or in business, building a winning team…
Have you seen those Magic Eye 3D books? I came across one recently, and they are amazing! Each book contains two-dimensional pictures that look like nothing more than random patterns repeated over and over again across the page. But – and here’s where the magic occurs – when you focus the eyes in a certain…
A simple definition of elite leadership can be hard to pin down, but we all know it when we see it. I’ve been studying and working with elite leaders for years – from military teams to Olympic athletes and high performing work teams – and it’s obvious when I meet them. But what is it,…
What do Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, LeBron James, and other elite athletes have in common? They all practice. A lot. Even after winning world championships, the first thing they do the following season is undertake rigorous training and practice sessions to develop their skills to even higher levels. Then they play a number of practice…
The long bomb is one of the most exciting plays in football. Lofting a well-placed ball into the hands of a receiver streaking down the field can instantly change momentum and turn a losing effort into a dramatic win. But is it the best strategy for reaching the goal line? In 2012, NFL quarterbacks collectively…
News flash – winning is hard! If you don’t think so, just ask the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, who got spanked by my Broncos on this season’s NFL opener. Of course, they didn’t plan to lose that game. In fact, they had every intention of winning. But sometimes things don’t go according to…
Holly recently contributed to a series of blogs on innovation. She was asked to respond to the question, ‘What is the most dangerous current misconception in innovation?’ …that innovation can only be done by a few, naturally talented individuals. Each of us has the power to be innovative. There are some simple ways to use…
In my last blog, I talked about the importance of communicating your strategic planning framework to employees at all levels of the organization. And not just once, but over and over again so that people never lose sight of the goals. I also noted that most employees prefer to hear this information directly from their…
When Shakespeare said that all the world’s a stage, he probably didn’t have employee performance evaluations in mind. But for anyone who has ever endured a less-than-candid performance appraisal, his words definitely ring true. Giving and receiving feedback is a complex process made infinitely more complicated by our human emotions and reactions. In particular, our…
January is a time when many organizations present new and/or updated goals to guide behavior during the year ahead. Often, these goals have been weeks or even months in the making. Yet many leaders feel that all they need to do now is communicate the goals once and then everyone can go back to business…
