The Lead Yourself First Blog
The fear of success is bigger than the fear of failure
Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough – Og Mandino “My goodness! What would it be like if I had the life I always wanted! How would I cope if everything I desired to achieve actually came true! Wouldn’t that be terrible?” This kind of self-talk is an example […]
When Customers Walk – The Business Consequences of Disengagement
After a seventeen hour journey from Australia to Canada, plus forty-five frustrating minutes talking to airline staff about a pair of prescription glasses that were left on board, our friends left Vancouver International Airport knowing that the chances of anyone caring enough to resolve their concern was almost zero. A young woman who listened to […]
All the world’s a stage, and now is the time to own your place on it
For the purposes of this blog, allow me to take license with William Shakespeare’s original quote: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” Instead, I invite you consider that there has never been a better time to take our respective places on the world’s stage, and this has little […]
Entrepreneur or Intrapreneur…Is it an either/or question?
During an afternoon break at a conference, a participant who had just attended my breakout session on building collaborative workplace relationships approached me to discuss his dilemma regarding whether he should stay with his company or start his own business. He spoke candidly about his managers, colleagues as well as his future employment path, and […]
Drama in the workplace: Are you ready and willing to end it now?
Understanding and managing drama in the workplace is a concern shared by leaders and individuals alike. Not only is it emotionally draining, the cost and consequences cannot be understated. In fact, one of the key reasons for soaring levels of workplace disengagement links directly to the existence of dysfunctional workplace relationships. Drama occurs because we […]
Leadership Values – Crisis or Opportunity
“The ideal leader is the servant of all – able to display a disarming humility, without the loss of authority” …Col. Sir Edward (Weary) Dunlop, Australian Hero, Leader Extraordinaire Not a day passes without a reference to a leader’s fall from grace somewhere on the planet. News regarding the behaviours of a political despot, government […]
Leadership isn’t a job- it’s a state of mind
Leadership Isn’t A Job, It’s A State Of Mind The Globe and Mail speaks to leadership expert, Michelle Ray, about her new book, Lead Yourself First: Have you ever used a word so often that it has lost all meaning? Leadership has turned into one of those words for me. Even asking, “What does leadership mean […]
Wanted! Authenticity and honesty in the hiring process
“If you want to ruin the truth, stretch it. ~Author Unknown” Dimensions International’s (DDI) latest global research on hiring trends has yielded some fascinating results. The study, titled “Global Selection Forecast 2012”, including responses from more than 250 staffing directors and 2,000 new hires from 28 countries, was conducted in partnership with Oracle. In a […]
Disenchanted, disconnected and disengaged…Who is responsible for taking the lead?
“I’ve been in my job for 14 years and today my manager conducted our annual performance review and told me that I had become disengaged from my job…I know that is true.” I met Helen in the coffee shop; not long after her performance review. I had just delivered a workshop to a group of […]
Executive Women in Texas Government Annual Conference
Michelle Ray receives a standing ovation at the Executive Women in Texas Government Annual Conference following her opening keynote address: “The Power of Personal Leadership: Take Charge of Yourself, Your Career, Your Life” Michelle was interviewed by Liza Chen Willmore from the Texas Legislative Council on the subject of Lead Yourself First, after her presentation.
