“Leadership is going somewhere -- if you and your people don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter.” Alice learned this lesson in Alice in Wonderland.  She was searching for a way out of Wonderland when she came to a fork in the road. She confronted the Cheshire Cat and asked “Would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here?”  The cat responded, “That depends on where you want to go.”  Alice replied that she really didn’t care much.  The smiling cat told her, “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” We need to be careful when our vision statement is in a file or on a wall for declaration.  It should be [...]

Let me ask you a question, "Did you get here alone?  Are you really self-made?"  Probably not. Am I right?  Whatever we have accomplished up to this point in life, it’s likely the result of someone helping guide you. It may have been a coach, a boss, a co-worker, teacher or a parent -- and maybe several people. As leaders, we make investments and decisions on a daily basis. When we decide to invest our time in mentoring someone, we expand the enterprise, we help move it forward.  In the book, “The Leadership Challenge,” authors Kouzes and Pozner state “Leaders are pioneers; they guide us to new and often unfamiliar destinations.  Leaders move us forward.” The positive result of mentoring [...]