Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Tony Hutti, CEO/Owner of Renaissance Executive Forums Indiana. We hope you enjoy Tony’s wisdom and perspective.

Over 25 years ago, I started taking at least one week a year to read and reflect. This time proved to be quite valuable – now I take at least three weeks a year to focus on reading and reflection. I cannot overstate the importance of this time in growing my various businesses and keeping work-life balance.

Are you taking time to sharpen your saw? Are you devoting time to recharge your intellectual and emotional battery?

My brother Jon has meticulously planned the trip of a lifetime for us. It’s a “coming of age” experience for his son and my two boys. Two forty-something brothers and their three teenage sons.

Where we’re going, the living standards are definitely not on par with the United States. Therefore, we’ll be on a combination of planes, trains, and automobiles being flown, conducted, and steered by outfits that aren’t regularly reviewed on Yelp or TripAdvisor.

We’ll be on the move, traveling light, and staying in hotels, lodges, camps, and personal residences. He assures me that at worst it will be “gentleman’s camping” and I’ll "survive."

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Patrick Frazier, owner and executive coach for The Coaching Authority. We hope you enjoy Patrick’s wisdom and perspective.

What does it take to be successful?

Ask around and you will find different answers to the formula of success. The truth is, success leaves clues and you can achieve the success in the area you desire by observing the common qualities and principles. They are simple and considered to be common sense but most people simply do not follow them.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Craig Sroda, author of YOU in the SWEET SPOT and Intentional Living. We hope you enjoy Craig’s wisdom and perspective.

The best gift you can give yourself or someone else is the gift of self-awareness. It is pretty much a fact that the highest predictor of success both personally and professionally is knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Being self-aware can be a secret advantage if you can get there. Most people don’t realize that being self-aware can advance them in their career, in their relationships, and in their home life.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jesse Lyn Stoner, business consultant, coach, former executive, and bestselling author. We hope you enjoy Jesse's wisdom and perspective.

Sometimes leaders make bad decisions or harm team morale by making autocratic decisions without involving others. And other times they waste their team’s time by unnecessarily involving them.

How do you know when and how much to involve your team in decisions? Sometimes the answer is pretty obvious.

You don’t need to call a team meeting to decide to order pencils for your office. On the other hand, if one of your direct reports has the authority to make decisions about office supplies, your taking over might not be appreciated.

Do employees bring a renter’s bias to the job? Or is that bias fostered by leadership, compensation and rewards, structure, or other factors common to the job? It’s the question Harvard Professor James L. Heskett posed in a 2017 Harvard Business School article. Professor Heskett is seeing a trend of employees increasingly becoming renters.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Terry Ploetz, Vice President of Business Banking for Centier Bank. We hope you enjoy Terry’s wisdom and perspective.

Time is a known and limited resource. In our daily lives we strive to save time for our own purposes. For those in a service market or sales position, growing your portfolio requires select and focused behaviors that take up quite a bit of time. To sustain future growth, you have to become more efficient or spend more time doing the work you did in prior years. At some point, the model breaks down; you can’t create or make more time.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Todd Bruce, Senior Vice President & Regional Manager for Lake City Bank's North Region. We hope you enjoy Todd’s wisdom and perspective.

When you hear the words redemption and deliverance, what is the first word that comes to mind? I bet it’s not leadership. Leadership is about leading, coaching, developing, overcoming…to which I say, exactly my point, redemption and deliverance.

“While CEOs obsess over getting big-banged out of existence, odds are good that their companies will suffer a more pedestrian fate: they will simply cease to matter.” - Inc. Magazine editor Leigh Buchanan

How relevant is your organization? Have you asked yourself that question recently? It goes something like this: In 3 years will the services we’re providing still matter? The best companies ask themselves this question every year. I’d bet many have never asked it.