The Best Way to Start Off Your Week? Do Nothing
I’m sure you’re facing a long to-do list right now, and this coming week, there are probably many things to be done in your life and the life of your organization. But on Monday morning, I’m recommending something a bit different – do nothing. That’s right. No work, no action, no check offs. Well, in a way at least. By doing “nothing” here’s what I mean: Read the full article »
How to Overcome the “Jolts” of Life
When disaster strikes our life, we’re often simply overwhelmed. As we saw during the 2011 tsunami in Japan, entire towns were wiped off the map, and a nuclear reactor is still in deep trouble. When a country like that is in chaos, where do we begin? Even more important, how do we deal with the “meltdowns” we face in our lives? In my book “Jolt! Get the Jump on a World That’s Constantly Changing” I show you how to weather the storms of change, and actually use it to your advantage. After being fired, going through a divorce, losing a loved one or experiencing other traumatic life events, how do you start over? Here’s 5 ways to move forward with purpose: Read the full article »
Studio Executive DeVon Franklin and the Ability to Read a Room
My friend DeVon Franklin is the Vice President for Production over at Columbia Pictures in Hollywood. A year or so ago, I had the opportunity to interview him onstage at a media conference here in Los Angeles. In fact, if you haven’t read his book “Produced by Faith” then I highly recommend it. During our session at the conference, I asked him what was the single most important skill it takes to reach the top in this industry. His answer? Read the full article »
Where Did You Find Your Last Great Idea?
There’s something about the shower that makes ideas explode in my head. Once that water hits my face, for whatever reason, the ideas start popping. Driving is similar, as well as sitting in church, on a plane, or in a waiting room. Whenever I can’t move, my brain kicks in. Why does it matter? It matters because knowing where your ideas happen is the key to making them happen more often. How about you? When do your best ideas happen? Listening to Read the full article »
What I Love and Hate About Financial Donors
Kathleen and I were teaching recently at a media conference in Madrid, Spain. During the trip we visited the legendary Prado Museum in downtown Madrid. Walking through the galleries we stumbled upon a remarkable painting from 1640 called “The Crucified Christ with a Donor,” by Francisco de Zurbarán. It was such a glaring and humorous example of how financial donors have been so great and also so terrible for artistic, nonprofit, and humanitarian work over the centuries.
While some donors simply want to help make Read the full article »
What I Learned About Productivity From Moving from New York to Los Angeles
I’m writing this after an exhausting day packing a rental van for moving. Our daughter and son-in-law Kelsey and Chris have been living in New York City for the last 5 years performing regularly in musical theater. A few months ago they came back to LA for television’s “pilot season” and so many opportunities happened, they decided that it might be better to be based in Los Angeles and commute to New York for various projects. So Kathleen and I flew up last week to Read the full article »
It’s Up to You!
I’m not being trite or condescending here, but the truth is, most of the time, people give me a million reasons why they’re not successful, and in most cases, it has nothing to do with them. “My boss won’t listen,” or “The economy tanked,” or “People don’t understand me,” or “Everyone steals my ideas,” or a million other excuses. And that’s exactly what they are – Read the full article »
Creative Alert: Obsessively Detailed People Will Kill You
“Anal Retentive” – bear with me here, and just check the dictionary or Wikipedia. It’s a person who’s attention to detail becomes obsessive. Trust me, you’ll encounter these people sooner or later in your work. It’s the person who is a slave to policy. He’d rather the organization fail, than actually bend the rules. I’ve met hundreds of them, and they’re the people who speak up after you’ve produced a successful project to “remind” you that Read the full article »
