Challenging leadership thinking for strategic improvement.

Diving in Malapascua Means thresher sharks. Dive enthusiasts from all over the world come to this small island off the northern tip of Cebu (Philippines) for a chance to see these amazing creatures. Their tails alone are worth the trip. It was a thrill for me to dive here. To spend time with family and friends. To see the threshers.

When people experience a failure of trust, they can easily develop a cynical perspective about humanity, never to trust again. This state of bitterness poisons many people's efforts at leadership, causing them to crash after a few bad experiences. The more productive approach is to choose a life of trust.

Are you surprised when you get good customer service? I am. Why? Why should I be surprised to get good customer service? Isn't the meaning of customer service to "serve the customer"? Granted, some customer requests are just plain crazy. Recently a car dealer service man told me about a woman who had been rear-ended and wanted her car fixed for free. Why? Because she had a "bumper-to-bumper" warranty. No kidding. That's crazy, but I'm not crazy and I want good service.

Chocolate Hills. The name alone sounds inviting, like a type of exotic candy or a flavored coffee. In reality, the Chocolate Hills are a unique geographic feature found on the island of Bohol. They are real. They are NOT made of chocolate – sorry. They do not contain coffee. If you have 5 minutes, google them and look at the images you see. Surreal. Beautiful. Mysterious.

The story is told of funambulist Charles Blondin crossing the Niagara Falls on a tight rope and then asking the cheering crowds whether they trusted him. "Yes," they cried. He then grabbed a wheelbarrow and wheeled it out onto the cable that was stretched over the raging waters and again asked the cheering crowd, "Do you trust me to push this wheel barrow across the falls?" The crowd again erupted into cheers of confidence in their hero. But then cheering came to an abrupt halt; no sound could be heard other than the falls below: Blondin had just asked the crowd, "Who will be the first to climb in the wheel barrow?"

The "Obliteration Room" is a living art exhibit in the Brisbane Gallery of Modern Art. The exhibit, created by Yayoi Kusama, started out as a purely white room. White walls, ceiling, and floor. White piano, chair, couch, cabinets, television. Absolutely everything … white. Then, he allowed children and adults to pass through the room … after giving them colored dots to place anywhere they chose. Before and after pictures reveal oddly fascinating (and colorful!) results.

Smart phones. Have one? Love it? Of course you do! … Smart phones (or any “text capable” phone for that matter) have made life different. We’re more informed. We’re more well connected with our friends, co-workers, BFFs, etc. – our “professional” and “social” networks. We text. We call. We email. We surf. We skype. We google. … Sounds a lot like – “we came, we saw, we conquered.”

Tango is a beautifully romantic dance conceived by the Italian immigrants to Argentina. When I had the opportunity to see it performed, the seemingly absolute perfection of the dancers gracefully moving across the floor never ceased amaze me. Of course, the people who were dancing were far from perfect and knowing this made their dance seem even more beautiful. We are more able to see the good in others and in ourselves when we are unpretentious about who we are.

Every machine has a purpose. Looking at my desk, I see a number of machines and the purpose of each is apparent. The pen writes. The radio receives signals and converts them into sound. The lamp illuminates. The keyboard translates key presses into electrical signals. The monitor displays colored pixels. The inventor or manufacturer of each is proud to see the machine being used for its intended purpose because in each case it is making life better for people.

The fish looked amazing! … We were walking along the beach in Bohol and passed by this small fish vendor selling fresh fish. Once you selected what you wanted to eat, they grilled it to order right by your table – about 30 feet from the water. Pretty cool! While I was admiring the fish, trying to decide what I wanted to eat, and take a picture, I was distracted by a couple yelling! He was red-faced (really RED) and she looked … well, she looked like a character who stepped out of a horror-movie and onto the beach. They both looked wildly out of place standing on the beach.

I dedicate this post to my dear friend and mentor, Don Toy, who passed away 26 December 2012. Don was the quintessential example of an empowering leader, the kind of leadership I have often written about in this blog. In this post, I cannot begin to express the value of a life like Don's, but I do want to note some of his key qualities that stand out in my mind.

It's New Year's Resolution time again. I will lose 35 lbs. I will exercise 4 times each week. I will stop at Caribou only twice each week. I will watch less TV. I will have devotions every day. I will read non-fiction 30 minutes each day. I will keep my checkbook balanced. I will get my taxes done early. The list of resolution possibilities is endless. The truth is that most of us never fully integrate a single New Year's Resolution into long-term living. Why?

"High maintenance" – the term might bring to mind an exotic sports car, or a girlfriend/boyfriend, or a spouse. Most of the time, maybe all the time, it is a term that is used in a derogatory fashion. Indeed, it is how I use the term in this article.