By Michael Holland - The Adirondack Mountains in Upstate NY provide a beautiful opportunity for hiking. There are 46 mountains that are higher than 4,00 feet. I’ve spent some time climbing a few of the "46ers" and one challenge appears often: the false summit. After a few hours of hiking you come to a spot [...]
by Michael Holland - How far can a bungee cord stretch before it will break? I squinted at the 4th bungee cord I was using to hold down my son’s modified couch for Young Life’s couch race (a story for later). As I stretched and stretched it, I held my breath, hoping it wouldn’t snap. My [...]
By Michael Holland - I like to play golf. I find it relaxing and a great opportunity to compete against myself and the elements. In golf – or any sport or creative endeavor – feedback and coaching can help one learn how to improve and get at least more satisfaction if not more happiness from [...]
By Michael Holland - You cannot re-lead. You can't go back in time and lead in a different way. You can't wipe the slate clean and have people - your employees, peers and bosses - view you differently. You can't take back those words. You can't change the look that was on your face. Every [...]
by Michael Holland - Rock stars and celebrities often have eccentric requirements for their pre-gig preparation rooms. The famous band Van Halen had a clause in their contract that specifically said they wanted bowls of M&Ms backstage, but that all the brown ones must be removed. Seems ridiculous. But there was a method to lead [...]
by Michael Holland - A foot of snow provided the perfect opportunity to teach my then 16-year-old son how to drive in the snow. He was several months into his learner's permit process and, all things considered, was a fairly good driver. To start off, we found a nice big parking lot. “Floor it towards [...]
By Michael Holland - One of my often used warm-up question sequence when coaching a leader is: As you reflect on your leadership recently, what is one success that sticks out, one way in which you were leading well recently? And conversely, what is one thing you did as a leader that, upon reflection, was [...]
by Michael Holland - A few years ago, I was moving my daughter out of a temporary apartment during a polar vortex. The temperature hovered somewhere between 1 degree and minus 4 degrees, either way it was too darn cold. And then there was the wind that drove that temperature even further down below zero. [...]
By Michael Holland - I've asked the question countless times and more often than not I get the same basic answer. The question: who in your past has been a great leader, someone you can visualize and model your leadership behavior after? A few moments of staring off into space ensues while they think back [...]
By Michael Holland - I recently read about a company where the owner and leadership team decided they wanted to live out their cultural values in a radical way: They would provide employees with a guarantee of lifetime employment. That decision had profound impacts on so many aspects of leadership. Here are a few. How [...]
