Tag Archives: mistakes

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Leadership Lessons And Quotes From Die Hard

A Reel Leadership Christmas Throwback Article

I usually start the Christmas season off by watching my favorite Christmas movie on Black Friday or that Saturday. This year, I postponed it but was able to get around to watching what I consider to be one of the best Christmas movies out there.

If you haven’t guessed, my favorite Christmas movie is Die Hard. Die Hard is the film adaption of the Roderick Thorp novel Nothing Lasts Forever. Die Hard tells the story of the New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis). John flies to Las Angeles to attend a Christmas party with his estranged wife Holly Gennaro McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) in the extravagant Nakatomi Plaza.

Leadership lessons in Die Hard

Things quickly go from good to bad to worse as John and Holly’s conversation becomes unproductive and terrorists storm the Plaza.

Die Hard is filled with action and violence. There’s a lot of foul language (it’s bad but the movie is SOOOO good). And plenty of leadership lessons in Die Hard.  Read more...

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How To Destroy Your Influence Through Social Media

Social media is a great tool, one that I love dearly. Who doesn’t, right?

It’s great to be able to catch up with old high school friends on Facebook. It’s great to see the constant flow of information on Twitter. It’s even great to see all of the amazing pictures people share on Pinterest.

Destroy or build your influence using social media

Image by Jason Howie

While there’s a good side to social media, there’s also a dark side many people get caught up in.

The Dark Side Of Social Media

By using social media in the wrong way, you can begin to destroy your influence. Amazingly, many people forget that social media is a very public form of communication.

Your employers can see what you post on social media. Your employees can see what you post on social media. Your friends and family can see what you post on social media.  Read more...

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The Steps You Can Take To Become A Great Leader

You’ll hear people say that great leaders are born. That’s rubbish, I say.

While it’s true some people have a predisposition towards leadership, you don’t have to be born a certain way to be a great leader.

Great leaders aren’t born, great leaders are made.

The thing is, you can’t be willy-nilly about becoming a leader. When you feel yourself being called to leadership, you’ve got to step forward and claim the title.

Otherwise, you’ll run into issues sub-par leaders face. You don’t want to be there!

So, what can you do to become a great leader?

To become a great leader, you need to:

Care for people: A leader is someone who believes others have greatness within them. Great leaders help pull out this greatness and help others grow.

Grow yourself: Leadership is a constant journey. One that requires growth and consistency.  Read more...

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I’ve Fallen! Now What?

No one is perfect. Every person, even leaders, will make mistakes.

We can all shout “I’ve fallen!”

Can you relate to that cry? The one where you know you’ve done something un-leader like?

Whether it’s a poor choice that cost your company a big deal or a slip-up in your marriage where you hurt your wife’s feelings, mistakes are made on a daily basis.

While we all fall the ending isn’t the same for everyone. Some leaders recover. Other leaders fall deeper into their mistake and never return.

What separates those who are restored and those who can’t seem to gain traction?

You’ve Fallen

I often think back to the commercial for LifeAlert. In the late 80’s and 90’s, there would be an advertisement with an old lady at the bottom of the stairs. She’d fallen and couldn’t get up.  Read more...

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I’ve Been Using Social Media Wrong. Have you?

I don’t know about you but I don’t claim to be a social media expert. Far from it.

There’s plenty of things I’ve done wrong with social media. You may be doing them too.

I want to be honest today. I’ve been using social media wrong. I’m sorry. I want to change and I want to help you avoid the social media mistakes I’ve made.

Even Twitter fails at social media

Image via Manoel Lemos

Social media is a new beast in the internet world. Sure, it’s a couple of years old but it’s still finding it’s foothold and it’s purpose.

Sites like Xanga and MySpace have come and gone and evolved.

So has Facebook, Twitter, and (the new kid) Google+.

And everyone is trying to figure out how to use social media to the best of their ability.  Read more...