Blogs by Steve Lounsberry
High school, college, degree, job. Is it that simple? Maybe not! Why? 1. Many people understand the difficulty of choosing a career path where choices appear endless and daunting: Attend college? Graduate high school and start working? Create my own business? 2. For businesses, hiring the right people can be equally difficult. In order for a company…
People are recipients of many lectures in school, but are rarely asked to translate learned material into an activity. At the end of a seminar or mini-course, there are few opportunities to apply newfound knowledge. Why? Traditional education: Focused on knowing instead of doing Easy to present knowledge to a large group of people Expensive…
Most people recognize good leadership, but what characterizes effective leaders? In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins identifies one type of leader as most effective. Contrary to popular thought, there was little correlation between charisma or personality with effective leadership. In fact, it had little to do with the leader’s personal ability, but the…
Danger statements: “You are so smart.” “You are so talented.” 5th Grade Study: In 1998, Carol Dweck and a colleague took 400 fifth-graders and gave them a series of simple puzzles. Afterwards, each of the students was given his or her score, plus something else: Six words of praise. Half the students were praised for…
Research shows attaining expert levels in any field requires 10 years (or 10,000 hours) of intense training, or deliberate practice. Deliberate practice differs from ordinary practice in that it emphasizes execution (performing) with immediate feedback, then focusing on correcting execution failures. Many people practice what they are already good at since it is more fun…
While scanning notes looking for the “perfect” idea to re-ignite our blog two notes jumped off the page: First, summary notes from a section of Patrick Lencioni’s, “The Advantage.” Perfection Paralysis There isn’t ONE RIGHT answer in most circumstances Successful teams will tell you it’s about rallying around the best answer they could come up…
When was the last time you missed a big play – either on the court or in your personal or professional life? Did you hang your head in defeat? Sulk after the error? Or, on the flip side, how long did you celebrate after a big victory? How many of us have focused our energy…
Ever wonder why we struggle to change a habit that is clearly not good for us? Maybe we want to stop smoking, start exercising or lose weight. But, we can’t seem to do it because, let’s be honest, change is hard! Organizational change can be even harder. Inhibited by behavioral economics, self-interests, politics, and lack…
Do you have swagger? Swagger– a blend of confidence, talent, and preparation. Swagger is earned with effort and work. Swagger is powerful. Posturing– a false front constructed as a defense mechanism to hide inadequacies. Preparation has been replaced by shortcuts and cover ups. A “Fake it ‘til you make it” mentality. Posturing gets exposed. The…
Last week I was able to mix two personal interests of mine – business and basketball- two areas of passion, an added benefit I was able to catch-up with my college basketball coach. Coach has a contagious enthusiasm, and unique ability to drop the right quote in the right situation at the right time. While…