Are you “A” Character or “Of” Character? What’s the difference? This was a sentimental day to talk about my brother Gary and my Dad (both passed) as they were examples of these types of “Characters.” Do you know Characters in your life – silly, goofy, stand out, unique? Do you know people who are “of” Character – operate from a good place, are trustworthy, honest, show up, follow through, people of their word, consistent, and do the right thing? “A” Character can have good Character too. Good Character goes a long way in your connections with others, in how you model leadership and in how you operate in life. If you work on nothing else, know that a person OF good Character will be worth sharing with others.

 What’s the connection between LEADERSHIP and VULNERABILITY? They both involve courage, strength, stepping out and taking risks. They both involve connecting and building relationships with people. The ability to be emotionally vulnerable, even in a leadership role, can impact your effectiveness as a leader. Yes, both can be scary but instead of thinking scary, think of the courage, strength and bravery it takes to be vulnerable, especially when you are leading. It’s hard to lead yourself but a good place to start is to be vulnerable.

 Are you in the people business? Do you know who your people are? Do you care about them? Are you interested in them? Do you want a connection with them? I hope the answer is yes. Whether in business or personal relationships, people matter. If you are in the people business, your primary reason is to serve them and develop a connection and rapport with them. YOU and your product are secondary. You will find when the attention is on others rather than you or your product, you will enjoy your job and relationships more and chances are be more successful in the process.

This month often times gets a “bad rap”…it’s a gloomy month, we’ve experience a lot of storms this month, it’s closing in on the end of winter, and we are anticipating spring. But, there is a lot to celebrate this month…Black History Month, Ground Hogs Day, Super Bowl, Valentines Day, President’s Day, Fat Tuesday, Lent and a lot of birthdays and anniversaries. AND, it’s the shortest month of the year. The days are slowly becoming longer – adding more light to our day. It’s coming…more and more light. Just a few more shovels left and we’ll be hanging outside much more. Hang in there – Spring is just around the corner.

 If you watched the super bowl you know who WON and who LOST. The “winners” looked like they were having so much fun as you see the players smiling, laughing, hugging and jumping up and down. The “Losers” had their heads down, not jumping around, not laughing or smiling. They looked sad. But, is it sad? Instead of calling it losing, how about calling it “learning.” There is so much gain and growth in losing, often times much more than in winning. Wayne Dyer says, “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” Losing doesn’t mean you are a “loser”, it means that when you get to the win, you will have learned and gained more than the winner in the end. Instead of saying winner and loser, call it winner and learner! It is not as degrading as hearing the word loser!