One day, a teenage Benjamin Franklin entered the Boston home of the renowned Reverend Cotton Mather. After their lengthy discussion, he walked Franklin through a tight doorway on the way out with a low beam as Mather told him, “Stoop, stoop!”. Not paying attention, Franklin bumped his head on the beam. The older, wiser Mather found a teachable moment:  “You are young and have the world before you. Stoop as you go through it and you will miss many hard thumps”.

All his life, Franklin never forgot Mather’s immortal words.

2019 has produced many good things, and yet, it has been one of my worst years.

Can I be brutally honest, since you are my friends? I have taken quite a lot of shots this year, and am a bit beaten from the beams. Frankly I, like several others I have spoken to, am soooo ready for a new year! Now, this is NOT one of those downer letters that you read and feel sad after reading it.

The good news is yet to...

“You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.” — Les Brown

Dr. Buckley and The Strengths Academy want to offer you a FREE copy of his Amazon #1 Bestseller, Discover Your Personal Strengths NOW! Visit our website at www.thestrengthsacademy.com a get it today!

Also, get a FREE ebook at the bottom of this blog! The 7 Mindsets. It's a must-read!

Now...

How do you engage professional development? Do you have a leadership development plan? On your job? With a professional course or business book? Do you have an onsite coach or leader helping you?

Question:  What is THE best way to grow professionally?

Well, it begins with a foundation of at least these 5 essentials! What are they?

Well, I will share those with you momentarily!

First, though...

Announcement of Contest Winners!

Ashley S. and Rory K. are the two $25 Amazon e-gift card winners for September! Congratulations to you both!

We will be announcing...

How to get the MOST out of yourself and your team (Part 2 of 2)

Last week I began a subject that I will complete today: How to get the MOST out of yourself and your team. This is part 2 of 2. So, if you didn’t read the email on part 1 I sent last week, open it first or read my blog last week on our website at www.thestrengthsacademy.com

You CAN know your strengths, and grow your strengths, whether as a team, business, volunteer service, or individually.

REMEMBER-To be your BEST, you must assess!

This analysis comes in several forms-evaluation, feedback, assessments, introspection, reflection, accountability, and several other identifiers.

No matter the methods, or possibly multiple approaches for that fact, challenge your team in discussion and dialogue moving forward in professional development.

NOTE TO LEADERS AND MANAGERS: Measure what matters.

 Review from previous week:

The SWOT Analysis

(I have attached a LINK HERE to see the expanded version about how to...

Have you ever walked into a business and everyone seemed to be doing his or her own thing? No one appeared to care much about you as a customer but was off in la-la land, concerned only with what they had to accomplish.

Worse yet, it seemed like the whole company functioned that way! Yeah, it’s crazy I know, but it happens in many businesses.

Where were the owners or managers to correct this behavior?

Who knows, maybe so buried in work in their offices that they couldn’t take time to see what was really going on.

SIDE NOTE TO LEADERS AND MANAGERS: People don’t always do what’s expected, but what’s inspected.

Later, I will spend more time dealing with what good customer service truly is, as I used to be a senior manager and corporate trainer of customer service professionals, but I will move on for now; however, great service seems to be rare in some sectors in the marketplace today.

Agree or disagree?

Questions leaders should pose to themselves and...