Here's a question that's likely to be a surprise - a curve ball coming out of the blue. I wonder, do you have the space in your life to let goodness grow around you? I’m asking that question because I caught myself saying one particular word a lot within the past 3-4 weeks. I often said it aloud with people, and even more often said it to myself in my inner mind. It’s a word that stifles momentum and sends a weird message into our psyche… that word is:

Ten days from today we'll host another Good Leadership Breakfast, and I'm especially excited about this one. Here's why: One of my most gratifying roles as the CEO of Good Leadership Enterprises is selecting and inviting the speakers for our breakfast series. Silly me, I thought it would get easier as the breakfast grew. With so many good choices, it helps immensely when someone from our circle of friends makes a strong recommendation. That's how I met Pahoua Hoffman.

Yesterday was Labor Day in the USA. Did you realize we take the day off to celebrate our jobs? Yesterday was Labor Day in the USA. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century, and became a federal holiday in 1894. It's also popularly known as the "last day of summer" in America, because [...]

Last Friday was our biggest Good Leadership Breakfast event since we started in 2010. By encouraging our regular ticket-holders to bring a "young leader" for free, we added 118 young people to the attendance. But, that wasn't the only reason we had new people in the room. Here's why:

One of my favorite goodness concepts is nothing significant ever happens alone. And never has that been more true than what happened at the Masters Alliance Young Leaders episode of the Good Leadership Breakfast Series. One hundred and eighteen young leaders attended at the invitation of ticket-holders to hear this compelling message:

Thank heavens leadership styles have changed. For readers around my age (that's 55), perhaps you will remember this: A recurring joke on the popular 1980s NBC sitcom Cheers comes from the voice of the beleaguered accountant Norm, who frequents the fictional Boston bar named Cheers. One exchange is particularly memorable and relevant to our Goodness Pays discussion:

Next Friday, August 17, 2018, is the Masters Alliance Young Leaders session of the Good Leadership Breakfast Series. Before back-to-school-time, our intention is to honor and inspire young leaders to live their lives on the idea: Goodness Pays. But, rather than having the message come from a parent-figure, we've reached into the realm of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota to identify a young leader whose path today has been shaped by a miraculous set of twists and turns. Here's the story of our speaker, Lindsey Riley:

Last week, I spent three nights and three days "up north" at a Minnesota resort with two really important teams in the ongoing success of Good Leadership Enterprises. The people involved are feeling appreciated, energized, and aligned around where the firm is going. For best results, the formula cannot be work, work, work. We prefer to build the 24-hour retreat strategy in three sections:

Last week, the world headquarters of Good Leadership Enterprises in Edina was all a buzz. The playbills for the Fall Good Leadership Breakfast Series arrived. Despite the fact that the we're about to host our 18th season...we still feel like kids at Christmas whenever we tear open the box from the printer to smell the ink on the playbills, which reveal our slate of speakers. What made the office buzz this week was this:

This morning I spent some time reflecting on all of the mentors along my journey who helped me see what's possible in my life. Teachers, coaches, family, friends, bosses - mostly people who had no idea they were role-modeling a life of goodness for me. One person in particular, our family physician Larry Finney, helped me see a picture of who I could be when I grew up. The question for me now is: