Life not lived in shadows

<<Board of Brilliance, Life nt lived in shadows

John's Board of Brilliance

Life is not lived in someone else's shadows... a 1:41 video.

If you want something different

<<Board of Brilliance, If you want something different...

John's Board of Brilliance

If you want something different... a 1:48 video...

Failure is not Identity

<<Board of Brilliance, Failure not an identity

John's Board of Brilliance

Failure is not an identity..... 1:34 video

Best Choice

<<Board of Brilliance, Best Choice

John's Board of Brilliance

People always make the best choice... 1:07 video
Article by John Usher on Choice:

The Best Choice is...

6 Steps to Engaged Leadership

6 Steps to Engaged Leadership

Whether you are arranging your own life for success, or rallying the energy and enthusiasm of a team, it is important that you and your team are fully engaged in the process.  According to Wikipedia, Engage means: 1. occupy or attract (someone's interest or attention).  2. Participate or become involved in and   3. (With reference to a part of a machine or engine) move into position so as to come into operation.

As a leader focused on achievement of a vision, you will require yourself and your team members to be interested in the vision, you will require them to participate or be involved in the active achievement of the vision by moving into an operational position that will make them fruitful. Engaging people is no easy task as approximately 77% of people are disengaged from their own lives and careers. Getting people interested and involved is the single hardest task for a leader that never stops. The six steps to Engaged Leadership is a looped process that will allow the leader to continually develop his or her own engagement and that of the team.

4 Dream Killers for Potential Leaders and Winners

4 Dream Killers for Potential Leaders and Winners

With so many people content to live inside the box of Averagedom, it must be comfortable and appealing, right? Yet, studies show that more than 47% of people are discontent with their life and personal achievements. If so many people are unhappy with who they are and what they have achieved, why don’t they do something about it? Is the box so rewarding that people settle for second best for their lives? Or are the obstacles that prevent people from getting out the box so powerful?

 It is true; many people choose to remain average throughout their lives. Although there are many reasons for people to stay inside, this article explores 4 difficulties people have trying to get out of the box. These are not the only reasons people struggle to break free from mediocrity, but they offer an insight to the most common barriers to success for potential leaders and winners.

5 Phases of Team Development

5 Phases of a Developing Team

As obvious as it may be to you and I, there are many people floating about claiming the title of leader when they have no team, they have no followers. What should be obvious is that “leader” is not a title, but rather a role or a function. The leader may not always be the most experienced person, nor the oldest. The leader may not walk in front of the pack, but one thing is for certain, a leader carries that label because of the job they perform.

The obvious job a leader performs is to lead a group of people. The path may be from A to B, or from A to B and back again. The path a leader takes a group may cover all the letters in the alphabet, but one thing should not be overlooked: the primary function of a leader is to take his or her people from a frazzled group to a high performance team. 

8 Comparisons between Groups & Teams

Groups vs. Teams

A leader will emerge as a team gathers to accomplish any sort of objective. A handful of key principles will assist a leader to lay a good foundation for his or her personal leadership style. The leader should also understand the phases of a developing team, understand what is required to keep the team on track. A working knowledge of the difference between a group and a team will help the leader identify where the team is in the development process.

5 Principles of Team Development

5 Key Principles of Team Development

In order to achieve something fantastic, you require a team to do what is needed for success. Before you have a high performance team, you need a group that shares a common cause. Before you have a group with a common cause, a leader is required. This leader will take his or her people from being a group into a high performance team that achieves outcomes smoothly and efficiently.

Even though there are many kinds of teams, each accomplishing many types of objectives, all requiring vastly different skill sets, it is clear that the leaders of the unique and varying groups need to have an understanding of the basic concepts of leadership. Knowledge of just a handful of key principles will give the leader a clear understanding of his or her role in the success of any team.

5 Steps to turn your Group into a High Performance Team

5 Steps to turn your Group into a

High Performance Team

All teams are a group, but not all groups are teams. In order to understand this opening statement it is important to understand the dynamics and definition of a group, and of a team. A Group is a collection of people that have come together, joined by a common cause. A Team is a collection of people, already united by a common cause, and have a common objective or goal to achieve.

Which Comes first: Leadership or Purpose?

Which Comes first?

The age old riddle of which comes first; “the chicken or the egg,” is a frustrating argument. Trying to determine which element is needed to fuel / develop / birth the next is turned into a circunever-ending debate by asking: which is needed first? Or, what is step one? When you are involved in the development of leaders, you will discover a similar dilemma - Which is needed first: Leadership or Purpose?

The “chicken or the egg” riddle is not as simple as it may first seem. Which is required first? This seems like a logical question, however, it always ends in the repetitive circular argument that has made the riddle famous. There is another question which could be asked: Which one can survive on its own?