Tag Archives: connections

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Leadership Reflections From The Amway River Bank Run 2023

I participated in the Amway River Bank 25K run this past Sunday. It’s an annual event that was started in 1978. The race, a 15.5-mile stroll through downtown Grand Rapids and more, is one of scenic beauty. You run past the John Ball Park Zoo, along the river bank, and back into the city. Every part of the run can take your breath away.

Over the years, the sponsors have changed. It started as the Old Kent River Bank Run, transitioned into the Fifth Third River Bank Run, and is now the Amway River Bank Run. There’s a lot of history in the race and people are proud.

Something unique about the race is the distance. You hear about 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon but the 25k is an elusive distance. It’s one that brings in runners from all across the country. Over 10,000 people ran in this race. It’s quite the experience to run with that many people!  Read more...

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Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

A Reel Leadership Article

Giant monsters fighting one another. A compelling human story. And learning to work together. This is what the new Godzilla is all about.

Continuing from the 2014 Godzilla movie, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters introduces all new characters. Each character has a unique story.

Still from Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

There’s Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler), and Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown from the Netflix series Stranger Things) who lost their son and brother to the Titan Godzilla. Then there’s Jonah Alan (Charles Dance) who wants to awaken all of the Titans. You can’t forget about the Monarch agents: Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), Dr. Rick Stanton (Bradley Whitford), Dr. Ilene Chen (Ziyi Zhang), Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins), and Sam Coleman (Thomas Middleditch). They desired to monitor the Titans and use them to help humanity.  Read more...

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Your View Of Friendship Is Skewed

One thousand, eight hundred and thirty-seven. That’s the number of “friends” Facebook tells me that I have.

On one hand, it brings joy to my heart. There are 1,837 people that are connected to me on Facebook.

The other hand feels sadness. A longing for intimate relationships that I don’t get from Facebook.

Friendships aren't what you think

Do you have these conflicting thoughts too? One of glee and happiness. One that makes you feel so joyous because you’re connected to SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many people.

And then reality smacks you upside your head and tells you that you really don’t have as many friends as Facebook tells you you do?

Facebook Has Messed Up The Truth Of Friendship

Something odd has happened over the last 12 years since Facebook was created. Our view of friendship has gone from those we’re close to and morphed into a catch-all term for everyone and anyone we’re acquaintances we’re with.  Read more...

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5 Ways To Help Your Team Grow

We know great leaders continue growing even after formal education. They also help their teams to grow.

I’ve shared how to create an environment of growth before. Today, I want to take it a bit deeper and give you 5 more ways to help your team grow.

Image by Paul Bica

Image by Paul Bica

Our main goal, other than leading the organization towards it’s goal, should be to create leaders. Whether it’s to take our place or to come alongside us, we need to be growing new leaders.

The best way to do this is to help people grow. There’s many ways to do this but I want to focus on 5 ways you can help others grow.

1. Grow yourself: Jack Welch once said “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” So what does this mean? This means we need to focus on ourselves and grow. Get to the level where you know more than someone else.  Read more...

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Reaching Out To Others: You Have Nothing To Lose & Everything To Gain

The act of reaching out to others may be daunting for some people, but not for leaders! Leaders know that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing so.

Hand reaching out with a message

The simple act of reaching out sometimes takes guts, especially if the person you are reaching out to is deemed more successful than you, more powerful, wealthier, is an influencer who has a large following, or is someone who is just plain intimidating to you. However, what is the worst that can happen if you reach out to these types of people? The worst they can say is “NO”.

But what if they say “YES”? What are the possible consequences then?

Let’s take a moment to contemplate this.  Read more...