“The first and final thing you have to do in this world is to last in it, and not be smashed by it.” – Ernest Hemingway

In Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game, the “winners” are those still in the game. Having the will and resources to continue playing the game, long after the other players drop out, will allow our organizations to stand the test of time.

A key part of Sinek’s philosophy revolves around Advancing a Just Cause. It’s what gives our work meaning. It is the world we hope to build and what inspires us to keep playing the infinite game.

Just Causes - and the Infinite Mindsets behind them - require resiliency. They must be durable enough to endure through political, market, technological, and cultural change over the years.

Likewise, so must the individuals that are doing the advancing. But how do we acquire resilience? Is it something we’re born with or can it be learned?

By now, we're all well acquainted with news of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), has now been confirmed in over 70 countries and has affected well over 90,000 individuals globally, resulting in over 3,000 deaths. While the vast majority of cases remain outside the U.S. at this time, it's never too ambitious to begin implementing prevention techniques in our homes and places of work. Below is a list of simple prevention techniques and travel best-practices in order to limit the possibility of COVID-19 spread and exposure:

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Ron Kitchens, Chief Executive Officer at Southwest Michigan First. We hope you enjoy Ron’s wisdom and perspective.

Leaders push boundaries. They’re the first to try out big ideas. But doing what has never been done is not without risks. All leaders will eventually experience obstacles and setbacks—it comes with the territory. One of the things that separate great leaders from the rest is their ability to adapt and navigate adversities.

Here are a few tips you can use the next time you’re down:

According to the American Heart Association, someone dies of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) every 37 seconds in the U.S. This accounts for 2,353 deaths from CVD each day, based on 2017 data, making it the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. As is evident from these figures, it is extremely important that prevention becomes a part of your company culture by ensuring that your wellness program includes education and challenges centered on heart health and how to keep risk factors under control. This provides employees with a benchmark in order to begin working towards heart-healthier lifestyles. Living a heart-healthy lifestyle does take some effort because it involves changing daily habits, so it should be encouraged and exemplified within the workplace.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Ben Berman, Certified EOS Implementer. We hope you enjoy Ben’s wisdom and perspective.

There’s a term to describe tempting opportunities outside of an organization’s core competencies: “Shiny Things.” 

Like sparkling diamonds or the flashing lights of fame, these opportunities beckon. Shiny things lure even the most rational leadership teams into poor strategic choices with real implications. When confronted with a new opportunity -- a shiny thing -- you’ll need to ask if it is a “core” or is it a “lure”? 

Let me illustrate by sharing an experience I had with a company implementing EOS® whose leader is an excitable, passionate Visionary.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Rebecca Fleetwood Hession, CEO/Founder of WEthrive.live and host of The Badass Womens Council podcast. We hope you enjoy Rebecca’s wisdom and perspective.

Maybe you can relate: I spent years of my life longing to see my office, my email, my car, and my house all neatly organized into color-coordinated files. Surely this blissful state would give me peace of mind and finally allow me to reach my biggest life goals.

As it turns out, getting organized is not the path to achievement. In fact, it might be killing your ability to have real leadership impact. While some level of order is essential for success, your quest to reach a blissful state of organized living might actually be holding you back.

“The true value of an organization is measured by the desire others have to contribute to that organization’s ability to keep succeeding, not just during the time they are there, but well beyond their own tenure.” - Simon Sinek, The Infinite Game

In 2009’s Start With Why, author Simon Sinek makes the point that all organizations and individuals have a “Why.” It’s our origin story, the reason we do what we do.

Why is our purpose, cause, or belief. Our purpose comes from our past. It’s born out of how we were raised and the values we were exposed to.

And, according to Sinek, it’s far more important than how you do it or what you deliver. As he often says, “People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”

Earlier this month I attended my first Gibson State Of The Company (SOTC) meeting. All 140 Gibson employees gathered in South Bend for the day to reflect on the past 12 months and ignite our energy for the year ahead.

I set modest goals for my first SOTC. I didn’t want to trip when walking on and off the stage and wanted to limit my creative pronunciations of names when announcing work anniversaries. I even got some laughs during my presentation – I think the laughs were of the “at me”, not “with me”, variety!

In all seriousness, I found this day to be incredibly valuable. Being relatively new to Gibson, the opportunity to meet fellow employees and put names with faces was a big part of the day for me. The energy and pride everyone had about Gibson, their clients, colleagues, and community was very evident and exciting to see. There was no doubt leaving the meeting that the Gibson culture is strong.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Doug Beebe, President/CEO of Benchmark Human Services. We hope you enjoy Doug’s wisdom and perspective.

“That was a stupid idea. I told him it wouldn’t work.”

As leaders, we all pursue excellence for our organizations, but sometimes hear the above. How excellence is defined varies across organizations and within industries. Often, excellence is described as cutting edge or best practice, but how many organizations adhere to the best practice standard? There is ample documentation across multiple disciplines that indicate huge gaps are evident between best practices and actual practices. These gaps are especially prevalent in service delivery.

“That’s not how we do it here.”

Identifying and addressing those gaps are important when trying to differentiate implementation outcomes (Are we following the practice?) from effectiveness outcomes (Are we getting the results we expected?). When poor outcomes result from a new initiative, we often blame the “new way” without holding ourselves accountable on the implementation side.