Most successful leaders have figured out that their mere presence can be intimidating. Even a random comment can take on 10X more meaning when “the boss” says it.

Like it or not, our brains are extremely sensitive to status and rank. Sometimes, it’s not YOU that people are responding to. It’s your role and your level compared to them. 

So how do you overcome this to build or rebuild trust with the people you want to uplift?

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I know a man who’s foolish enough to believe that maybe he could save the world. Or at least his corner of it. After watching him work, I believe he’s not so foolish, after all.

Rex Mann is a retired forester who spent 42 years working for the National Forest Service. He’s been haunted by a tragedy for most of his adult life: the extinction of the American Chestnut tree.

It doesn’t just haunt him because he knows something went very wrong in our forests. It haunts him because he actually believes he could do something to correct it.

What about you? Are you aware of something that isn’t working…that you believe you could address? If so, you’re going to need the same secret weapon Rex built to save the forests.…[Continue Reading]

José couldn’t read, write, or do math when he was 12. Last weekend, he graduated from Xavier University ready to change the world.

And he will. After all, he’s developed a secret power.

Few people will overcome odds like José did. But it is very possible.

Will you apply José’s secret powers to make your own miracles?
It helps to have an inspiring reason to develop those powers.

What would wild, meaningful success look like for you?  In those brief moments of quiet when your attention isn’t flooded with noise, activity, and distraction, what bigger dream stirs within you?…[Continue Reading]

What do you have in common with a junior high flunkee?
At 12, Jose was failing in school. He couldn’t read, write, or do math. Not just sort of. Not at all.

He was living in a dangerous neighborhood trying to be the man of the house. His father had abandoned the family (mom, Jose, and two younger sisters) when Jose was 8, and they struggled in extreme poverty.

People predicted his failure.
Jose’s 8th-grade math teacher told him he’d never graduate high school. A doctor suggested that Jose’s difficult birth might have caused “brain damage.” His Mom should just accept Jose wasn’t going to get better.

Then, Jose embarked an 11-year, self-induced miracle.
Jose decided he didn’t like the stories others were telling about his future, and he chose a new one.

This Saturday, he takes the next step in his miraculous journey. He will receive his undergraduate diploma from Xavier University. Then he’ll move to DC to lobby Congress for Immigration Reform.

You’re more like Jose than you might think.
Don’t be deceived by the external circumstances. The principles Jose applies to live his miracle are relevant to anyone who hopes there is still something better within them.…[Continue Reading]