In this video, Rudyard Kipling’s inspirational poem, If , is read by tennis great Roger Federer. The poem gives lessons on how to live life, believe in yourself, act with dignity and be a leader. Words to the poem below.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men Read More...

British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson talks with Harry Smith (from CBS Sunday Morning) about his journey from dyslexic high school dropout to one of the world’s richest men.

Be Free! Read More...

What traits of future entrepreneurs do children exhibit? Could they be bored in school, unfocused, failing classes and at odds with peers?

These are the questions successful entrepreneur Camron Herold wants to help teachers and parents identify. In doing so, he wants to identify the traits these future business creators have to help groom students to take their Read More...

How do you explain when others are able to achieve something that defies all of the assumptions? There is a pattern. As it turns out, all of the great leaders and organizations in the world act, think and communicate in the exact same way.

Simion calls it the “Golden Circle” and it centers on the question of “Why,” as in what is your purpose, cause or belief. It is a powerful model for inspirational leadership.

His examples range from Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers. Read More...

There are many lessons you can learn from the natural world, but do you know how to apply these lessons? Let us revisit the concept of flexibility by looking at what the Tao te Ching says about it:

Men are born soft and supple;
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
Dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
Is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
Is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

So, how can this message from Read More...

When a tree faces a windstorm or a snowstorm, it has two options: fall over or withstand the force.

A friend of mine is a landscape architect. He talks about Bradford Pear trees with great disdain because they are such a popular choice in landscaping, and yet they are weak trees. Although they look pretty, due to their poor roots and thin branches, they deteriorate in about 20 years if they do not toppled in a windstorm sooner. Storms do not strengthen the Bradford Pear tree, they destroys it.

However, many other varieties of trees actually strengthen in storms. With hearty trunks and branches that flex in storms, they withstand the strength of the snow or wind and continue to grow stronger. Read More...

A while ago I read a book called Managing by Values, which I highly recommend. It’s a pretty short little book, and the main lesson in it can be applied to an organization or to an individual.

This lesson involves who (or in this case what) is leading or guiding your business life? In other words, who is the boss?

Most companies and individuals view the “corporate hierarchy” like this:

Shareholders
CEO
Managers
Workers

And that’s how it works in Read More...

What have you been preaching and teaching BUT…not doing yourself?

It happens to the best of us. We get in the habit of knowing the right path, the path towards health, wealth and success, we tell others all about it, and then one day we wake up only to realize that we have not been following our own awesome advice.

At a recent training, I had more than one person say something to me like, “Oh my gosh, I’ve known these things for years but I haven’t been doing them myself.” As a coach, the same thing happens to me. I’ll tell someone something so basic and simple that it seems like a no brainer, and I have said it so often to so many people that I don’t have to think much about Read More...

Today we’re going to talk about developing solutions. Business owners understand that they need to come up with solutions to the challenges that face them and they are confident to do so.

Those acting like employees will come across a challenge and go straight to their boss or to someone else to come up with a solution.

Might I suggest that instead of going to others, act like a business owner and develop a possible solution yourself before you approach someone else?

Think about this: the person that you would like to ask for help is a busy, well-respected businessperson. If that were not true, you wouldn’t be seeking their advice. You have more information about the Read More...

Instead of taking direct action or changing something specific to act more like a business owner, in this article, I am going to focus on two tips to focus internally to act like a business owner.

You will find that, as a result of doing the last two tips, you WILL change some specific things, but the main exercise is in your mind.

Here are the Steps to Take

1. Block off a half-an-hour for this exercise, and here is what you will do: grab a pen and paper, clear your mind, and get comfy.
2. Start thinking about the kind of business owner you would be and take some notes. Start with some thoughts about what, in your mind, is the description of a Read More...