One of the greatest gifts I’ve received I would not wish upon anyone. As one of approximately 10% of the population I have a learning disability, dyslexia. Just the word dyslexia is agonizing. What cruel person creates a word, so incredibility difficult to spell, to label a disability of people who struggle with spelling. Even Noah Webster, I believe, would ask for a do over on this one.

Today, there appears to be a subtle drift as to how people, in general, understand leadership. The confusion stems from two opposing points of view regarding a foundational tenet of what it means to be a leader. On one side is the idea of “Forced-Authority”; on the other, “Authentic-Influence.”

“Next to physical survival, the greatest need of a human being is psychological survival; to be understood, to be affirmed, to be validated, to be appreciated.” Dr. Stephen Covey

Dear younger me,
In my last letter to the younger me I reminded myself of the importance of leading with love. Life as a father is more enjoyable when you keep in mind the simple insights I left in my last note: Give the benefit of the doubt, balance your counsel, and vulnerability builds character.

Speaking in front of people is not always easy for me. Even with two decades of experience and a deep joy once I get started, speaking publicly still takes my breath away at times. Anyone who has given multiple presentations can tell stories of horror from a public speaking moment.

In an effort to dig deeper on the idea of making common sense more common, I enlisted the assistance of my friend, Carol Jenkins, PhD, to help bring some sense to the mystery behind the lack of common sense. When I first approached her with the question, “Why is common sense so difficult for people?” I received the classic affirming smile, which reassured me I asked an important, yet intriguing, question.

“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen” - Albert Einstein

Is it just me or has common sense become less common? For some unknown reason, we are losing our ability to think and act with good judgment. Have we entered into a disastrous spiral of social apathy? Have we become so self-centered we have lost our ability to consider others?  It seems we have allowed our selflessness muscles along with our good judgement to atrophy.

In the hard driving world of business a person would be hard pressed to find an organization not focus on growth. Many a wise sage have quoted the maxim, “If you are not growing you are dying.” For some leaders the idea of growth, most commonly measured in terms of year-over-year progress, is an all-consuming ambition. The very heartbeat of an entrepreneur is to undertake an idea and grow it to its fullest potential.