“It is not the critic who counts; not the [person] who points out how the strong [person] stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the [person] who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spend [themselves] in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if [they] fail, at least fails while daring greatly, so that [their] place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

One of my Board members was giving me a pep talk once and told me: “No one ever built a statue to a critic.”  How true!

Many of you reading this – regardless of your level of responsibility in your organization – are “The Person in the Arena.”  Have courage!  Have faith in your mission and vision!  There are many of us cheering you on as you “dare greatly!”

This is the standard that I set for myself – and I remind myself of this every day.

This does not mean that I do a perfect job in every class – far from it.  I always have ideas on how I can do better.  But I go for it and give 100% effort every day.

What would it take for you to bring you’re “A Game” to work every day?

Here are some of the things I do:

• Prepare.  Every day brings a new challenge.  Make sure you have put the time into being ready for each of your key goals for the day.
• Focus.  It is easy to get distracted during the day.  Work to keep your focus on your key goals for the day.
• Prioritize.  Bringing your “A Game” does not mean that do everything perfectly.  You need to pick the top goals for the day to focus on.
• Rest.  We cannot be our best without getting proper rest – whatever that means for you.
• Health.  Taking care of our health is great for the long term, but also for today.  Make sure you have the energy you need to bring your “A Game.”
• Continuous Improvement. All of us can get better each day.  Continually evaluate improvements for the future.
• Make Your Own List. These are the things that I need to bring my “A Game” – what about you?

Are you bringing your “A Game” every day or are you sleepwalking through life; same ‘ol, same ‘ol?  Are you phoning it in?

We can never get a day back.  I suggest making the effort to bring your “A Game” every day.  Not only will you be more successful – the whole experience will be much more fulfilling.

I was not interested!  I didn’t need to “win” friends.  I was already good at “making” friends.  And the “winning friends” part made me suspicious that the “influencing people” part was about “how to manipulate” people.  Not interested.

Finally, enough people kept recommending it that I broke down and read it.  And I became a fan!  That was many years ago.  I have recommended the book and/or given it to many people over the years.  This little blog is my recommendation for you to read it as well!

The most important part of the book is Carnegie’s recommendation: “Become genuinely interested in other people.”

As you know, some people are “genuinely” interested in others – and some are not.  Some are way more interested in themselves.  I am guessing that since you are reading this, you are someone who IS genuinely interested in others – you care about them.  And if that is true, then this book will help you understand how to show people that you really care.

Here are just some of the nuggets from the book that may help you decide to read it:

• Remember names: A person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
• Be a good listener: Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• Show respect for opinions: Never say, “You’re wrong.”
• If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
• Give honest and sincere appreciation
• Smile: It is a messenger of your goodwill.
• As a leader, praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement.
• By controlling your ego and prioritizing the dignity of others, you naturally gain influence.

If you care about people, then using these behaviors will help people see it and feel it.

IMPORTANT: These are not tricks!  If you don’t care about people and use these behaviors, people will realize that you are full of it!

In a world that often rewards selfishness and in which many people don’t feel cared about, these are important behaviors to consider – if you really do care about others.  And, of course, if you don’t care, people will figure you out.  You cannot fake sincerity.

In fact, many are so driven to succeed that they cannot fathom the idea of having a single failure.

In his book, Originals, Adam Grant says:

“When achievement motivation goes sky-high, it can crowd out originality: The more you value achievement, the more you come to dread failure.”

It’s not that you should love failure.  No one “loves” to fail.

The question becomes, do you follow your passion and set a high goal – knowing that the chances of failing are significant?  Or do you sell out what you want in your heart, to be “successful” at accomplishing a much smaller goal?

The difficulty is that many people focus on goal attainment versus actual results.  If you want continuing improvement in results – over time – then set big goals, try innovative ideas, and be true to your passion.  You will absolutely fail many times.  But over time, your results will be better and you know will know in your heart that you followed your passion.

Nelson Mandela once said: “Your playing small does not serve the world.”

Play Big!  And if you fall short, get up the next day and play big again.  That will serve the world and your passion.

The new year is around the corner and you are figuring out how to get your team fired up for the new year.

That’s great.  But before you dive into new year planning, take some time to look back and savor your accomplishments from 2025.

You can do this in just a few hours.  Look through your calendars.  Come up with the top three accomplishments your team had for every month of 2025.  What were the highlights?  Who were the heroes?  Celebrate these!  Ideally you can have a celebratory lunch or dinner to really appreciate all of your accomplishments.  Savor these for a few days.

Then – focus on 2026.

Set the three most important Strategic Goals that your team needs to accomplish in 2026.  Use the following guidelines.  If you already have the goals, use the guidelines to sharpen them up:

• Outcomes.  Set your goals as outcomes – results – not activities you want to complete.
• Specific & Measurable. This is the only way to know if you are on track.  If you have difficulty, try this book as a resource: Make Success Measurable.
• Aggressive.  If you want to get even more innovative, try setting Almost Impossible goals like they do at Google.  Learn more in this brief, free video.
• Relevant.  What are the three most important goals you can set that will advance your larger organizational goals – as well as the vision and mission.
• Time Bound.  Every goal must have a date.
• Outcome Milestones. Set at least four of these during the year to see if you are on track with your results – not your activities.
• SWOTs.  People like to reserve SWOTs for strategy, but you can use them for each goal.  What Strengths do you have that you can leverage to achieve the goal?  What Weaknesses do you need to develop in order to achieve the goal?  What Opportunities can you seize to help you accomplish the goal?  What Threats do you need to keep an eye on so you are not derailed with the goal?  This analysis can help you set your Action Plans.

Your review and savoring of 2025 will set a positive tone and build your team’s confidence.  This will act as a springboard to catapult you into setting and accomplishing your 2026 goals.  Good luck making a Mission Impact in 2026!

Note: There will be no Insights With Impact blog on December 30, 2025.  Enjoy savoring some time off!

However, many of us do not take enough time to celebrate and savor our wins.

A recent article in Harvard Business Review points out the downsides of moving on too quickly to the “next goal.”  We miss out on three critical benefits:

1.  Refuel Motivation: Celebrating an achievement provides a crucial moment of positive reinforcement. It allows you to connect the hard work you put in with the satisfying outcome. This connection is essential for recharging your internal battery.

2.  Validate Your Strategy: A win is evidence that your chosen approach was effective. By celebrating, you mentally record what worked, making it easier to replicate that successful strategy in the future. If you rush past it, the valuable data of success is lost.

3.  Build Confidence and Anchoring: The modern business climate is defined by uncertainty, scrutiny, and nonstop demands. Acknowledging an achievement—even a small one, like a successful presentation or an on-time deliverable—serves as a stabilizing force. It helps you stay anchored and energized.

Acknowledging your own achievements isn’t self-indulgence; it’s a strategic necessity. Start by integrating small, simple habits into your routine:

• Practice a “Moment of Notice”: After a successful outcome, take 60 seconds to simply notice it. Don’t immediately check your email or jump to the next item. Acknowledge the achievement with a simple: “I did that well.”
• Keep a Success Log: Maintain a brief log (a simple document or notebook) where you record daily or weekly wins. These notes serve as an external source of validation to look back on when self-doubt creeps in.
• Share the Success (Authentically): When a team win occurs, share it widely and specifically. Credit the individuals and explain how their efforts led to the positive result. This reinforces the behavior and makes the team feel seen.

We are at the perfect time of year to begin practicing this!  Take some time at your next team meeting to list your key accomplishments for 2025.  Celebrate!  Do the same thing for yourself, personally.  Don’t let these moments slip by. Noticing your successes will help you build the confidence you need to keep moving forward.

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Chaplin, L. N.  “Most Leaders Don’t Celebrate Their Wins – But They Should,” Harvard Business Review online, November 10, 2025.

Are you seizing the day or sleepwalking through it?

Are you maybe feeling a bit “meh” at work?

Even the most dedicated professionals hit a wall. When work feels like a monotonous routine, or a sense of “fine” replaces genuine fulfillment, it’s a clear sign you’re in a slump.

The good news, according to a recent Harvard Business Review article, is that you can proactively reignite your motivation with a few key strategies.

1. Invest in Your Growth. Look over your last performance review and identify some professional development activities which excite you.  Connecting your proposal to your review will make it easier to convince your boss to support you.
2. Schedule Time with Work Best Friends. Make a point to regularly connect with the people you like best at work. This could be lunch meetings or just taking a walk together in the afternoon.  Work friendships make us more engaged and fulfilled with our jobs.
3. Create an Inspiring, Challenging New Project. What cool new project could you dream up that meets the organization’s priorities, but had not been on your radar screen? Brainstorm this with some of your work friends to see what they think.
4. Track and Record Weekly Successes. We are often so busy getting ready for the next week’s list of challenges that we do not take time to review and really savor what we accomplished the prior week. Create a list of your key successes at the end of every week.  Review these along with your “to do” list during the next week.

A career slump is a common experience, but it doesn’t have to be a permanent state. By taking control and proactively engaging in these strategies, you can find a renewed sense of purpose and motivation in your work.

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Goredema, O.  “In a Slump at Work?  Here’s How to Motivate Yourself,” Harvard Business Review online, March 28, 2025.

For years, the conventional wisdom has been to silence this “inner critic.” But if you’ve ever tried, you know it’s very hard to do.

A recent article from Harvard Business Review suggests that we may have completely misunderstood the role of this internal voice.

It turns out, your inner critic isn’t trying to sabotage you: it’s trying to protect you.  Shaped by early life experiences, this protective part of us often adopts a harsh tone because it learned that harshness equals safety.  It believes that it can shield you from external judgment, embarrassment, or failure.

So, instead of trying to silence it, here is how we can work with our inner critic to turn it into an ally:

1. Trace its origin story. Your inner critic has a history.  Reflect on when you first noticed this voice. Whose voice does it sound like? What was happening in your life then? Understanding its origins helps you see it as a voice of memory, not absolute truth.  Giving your critic a name, like “The Enforcer” or “The Coach,” can create helpful psychological distance.
2. Separate the method from the message. Your inner critic often has legitimate concerns, but its delivery is usually damaging. Ask yourself: What is this voice trying to prevent? Try responding with: “I hear you. You’re trying to keep me from [looking foolish/getting hurt/making a mistake]. Thank you. But we can approach this differently.”
3. Lead with self-compassion. This isn’t about empty affirmations, but acknowledging struggle and offering care. When self-judgment arises, name what you’re feeling, then offer a nurturing statement. For example, “I’m feeling anxious because I made a mistake. Of course I feel this way; I care deeply about doing a good job. But one mistake doesn’t define me.”
4. Give the critic a new script. Once your critic feels heard, you can offer it new, more constructive language. Instead of “You’re not ready,” try “Let’s make sure we’re well prepared.”

The goal isn’t to banish self-doubt entirely, but to train your inner critic with compassion and curiosity. This shifts its role from a punisher to a protector, a saboteur to a strategist, ultimately changing how you lead yourself.

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Carucci, R.  “Don’t Silence Your Inner Critic, Talk to It,” Harvard Business Review online, May 15, 2025.

Many of us seek to lead significant, transformational change in our communities and organizations.  As we engage with others it is important to keep these key characteristics of transformational leaders in mind:

*Begin with a sincere commitment to changes that inspire you – from the heart.  What do you care about?  Keep in mind the important values and principles that are the incentive for your change.

*Communicate your change ideas to others, but also ask for their input.  Make as many one-on-one connections as you can with people.  Ask for their input and listen sincerely to what they care about.  Include their ideas in your change plan.

*Demonstrate pride, optimism, and energy as you communicate with others.  Keep focusing on the future that you and others can build together.

*Encourage others to have a growth mindset and demonstrate this yourself.  Be open to new ideas and different ways of doing things so that the change can take hold.

*Acknowledge that you will face challenges along the way, but commit to working together with others to address those challenges and move forward to the future you are building together.

Maybe people try to “act” charismatic and inspirational.  This never works. You cannot fake this.

Instead, find something that you sincerely care about – that inspires you.  Others will see the inspiration inside of you – and it will draw them to co-creating a vision for the future with you.  That is the key to transformational leadership.

We appreciate people who acknowledge their mistakes, share credit with their team, and welcome feedback to improve.  As it turns out, a new research study shows that these types of leaders inspire others in their organization to step up and lead.  They spark ambition and drive personal growth.

Here are some suggestions from the research for developing your humility:

Focus on the Team.  Make sure your team knows that this is a group effort and share praise for them – especially in front of your boss and other organization leaders.

Develop Your Self-Awareness.  In the field of leadership development, self-awareness is gold.  Find a few people you work with who are willing to give you honest feedback.  Ask them to let you know if you seem open to feedback, admit mistakes, and celebrate team accomplishments.

Create a Culture of Humility.  As best you can, within your zone of emphasis – encourage and reward acts of humility.  Recognize others when they behave this way.

Guard Against Arrogance.  Success naturally breeds temptations for arrogance.  You don’t want to be “that person” who brags to others about how humble you are.  Again, ask colleagues to help keep you in check.

Like sincerity, you cannot fake humility.  You have to begin with an honest belief that you are only as good as your team.  But – at the same time – you can show strength.  You can call it “humble confidence.”

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Lin, X & Tse, H.  “Research: Humble Leaders Inspire Others to Step Up, Harvard Business Review online, January 29, 2025.