John Hope presents a viewpoint on some facet of leadership every Wednesday. These thoughts are usually inspired by some random weekend thought process, like “thoughts in the shower,” “thoughts while running,” or “thoughts from behind the windshield.” Monday Morning Musings is a short read is intended to give pause for consideration or as a thought starter for the day.
Monday Morning Musings
“There is no such thing as a “self-made” man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken a word of encouragement to us, has entered into the makeup of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.” George Adams A …
Monday Morning Musings
“The primary skill of a manager consists of knowing how to make assignments and picking the right people to carry out those assignments.” Lee Iacocca Right! But you can’t go with your gut here. What tools do you use to pick the right people and assign them to the positions that fit their personality and …
Monday Morning Musings
I am not counting the years; I am counting the blessings. This past weekend, we celebrated an anniversary, Kristi’s birthday, a first meeting with a business partner, a reunion with great friends in Colorado, and Army beating Air Force at Mile High Stadium. We are safely back in Nashville. I am a blessed man. Count …
Monday Morning Musings
I am beyond blessed to celebrate my anniversary today with my business partner, and life partner, the Lovely and Vivacious Mrs. Hope, aka Kristi. She is God’s grace, with skin on. Kristi, thank you for saying yes. I am not deserving, but I treasure you each and every day! THAD. #love #partnership #leadership #leadershipcoaching #principles …
Monday Morning Musings
“Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” George Addair It’s Monday! The world is out there waiting, but it isn’t coming to you. You have to go find it. Get out of your comfort zone today. You have goals, and objectives, and dreams, but something is blocking your forward movement. It’s …
Monday Morning Musings
Monday Morning Musings. “I was always lucky in my bad luck.” Bohumil Hrabal Team Hope took a bit of a hit this past week. We had a smallish fire at our forest property here in Tennessee. There is no determination of how it started, but the woods are very dry. We lost a fiberglass ladder …
Monday Morning Musings
Monday Morning Musings. “Simplifying is not necessarily about getting rid of everything we’ve worked so hard for… it’s about deciding what is important to us and gracefully letting go of the things that aren’t.” Elaine St. Ames I am wired to be a planner by nature. Each December, I plan for the next year and …
Monday Morning Musings
“Know yourself. Each of us is really five people: Who we are, Who we think we are, who our subordinates think we are, who our peers think we are, and who our boss thinks we are. Those who seek feedback from many sources are more likely to understand their various selves – and to be …
Monday Morning Musings
“The whole point about getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.” Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading Team Hope attended the last Nashville Sounds game today. Now we move into fall. Things to do: Finish PrinciplesUs certification training; finish “Fusion Leadership” asap; love and care for Kristi; attend to fall harvest and planting. I …
Monday Morning Musings
“It is an old saying, and one of fearful and fathomless import, that we are forming characters for eternity. Forming characters! Whose? Our own or others? Both. And in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence.” Elihu Burritt Character is one of the attributes or features that make up or distinguish …
Monday Morning Musings
Monday Morning Musings. “What do you mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest what we mean is a sense of national responsibility… a patriotism that is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” Adlai Stevenson II #neverforget #neverforgotten #beliefsmatter #principles #valuesmatter …
Monday Morning Musings
Monday Morning Musings. “And where is the Prince who can so afford to cover his country with troops as to provide for its defense, as that ten thousand men descending from the clouds might not in many places do an infinite deal of mischief, before a force could be brought together to repel them? “Benjamin …
Monday Morning Musings
“Finally, I was able to see that if I had a contribution I wanted to make, I must do it, despite what others said. That I was OK the way I was. That it was all right to be strong.” Wangari Maathal It’s a new day; it’s a new week! Get out of your comfort …
Monday Morning Musings.
“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” Dale Carnegie I have learned far more from my failures than from any of my successes. So many failures have led to future success. I failed jumpmaster school the first time through. It was humiliating and the only time …
Monday Morning Musings
“When you determine what you want, you have made the most important decision of your life. You have to know what you want in order to obtain it.” Douglas Lurton You have found your purpose when you determine what you want to do. The “what” is the key. Many people know what they want; they …
Monday Morning Musings
“One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you.” Jeff Bezos There is great wisdom in these words if you choose to hear them. My purpose is selfless service; leadership is my passion and my DNA. I WAS …
Monday Morning Musings.
“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.” Zig Zigler Every once in a while, we need to stop and consider where we are in life. My favorite example comes from then LTC Hal Moore during his cliff-hanging battle in the …
Monday Morning Musings.
“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.” Jim Rohn There are all different levels of success. Leading others to self-learning is hands-on leadership. Self-awareness is about knowing where you are, so you can evaluate …
Monday Morning Musings
. “Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” George Washington Carver. If you are reading this, you are not without Hope! But you may lack vision. Having vision means we have a clear sense of purpose. Ah! It doesn’t start with why; it starts with what. WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE? If you know …
Monday Morning Musings
“Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead… You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.” Kathleen Norris I have a John Deere. His name is Bob. My …
In Memorial
Monday Morning Musings. No quotes today, but please remember and thank those killed in action and those missing in action and presumed dead. Those who died in training accidents and in travel. For any of those who gave their lives for this great country. All gave some; some gave all. As for the table, those …
Previous M3s
Friends! Happy Monday and Happy February. “It’s about communication. It’s about honesty. It’s about treating people in the organization as deserving to know the facts… You treat them as true equals.” Louis V. Gerstner Jr. My last team in the Army was small, high performance and of 7 different ranks. I shared everything I knew …
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“Eagles don’t flock. You have to find them one at a time.” Ross Perot Happy Monday! Are you an eagle today! I hope that you are soaring high and strong. But remember your team fellow Eagles. They need your vision, your strength, and your guidance to help them soar. Be the wind beneath someone else’s …
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“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” Vinci Lombardi Great leaders that build great teams can ride on the shoulders of success! Focus this week on leadership and commitment.
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Monday Musings. “Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.” Joan Ciulla As business culture changes to virtual and more remote relationships, the shared vision of the good does not. Share the vision of …
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Monday Musings. “It’s seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It’s seeing what other people don’t see and pursuing that vision no matter who tells you not to.” Howard Schultze Seize this day. See not the obstacles; see the vision in the sunrise. Pursue your vision this day! Those who dare, win!
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Monday Morning Musings. “A prime function of a leader is to keep HOPE alive.” John W. Gardner A little Monday morning humor? Absolutely. After celebrating the joy of Easter, I reflected on how often, during 4 combat tours that a higher power kept Hope alive. Today, I am simply thankful for my salvation and for …
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Monday Morning Musings. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” It starts with your Core Purpose Statement. Addressing your heart will lead you to your individual development plan. That plan is your roadmap for where you need to go. Personal development comes from a purpose and a plan, …
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Monday Morning Musings. “I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.” Thomas Edison Well, it’s Monday again. Work is part of life, and life is ultimately what you put into work. Seize this day! You’ll never have it again!
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Monday Morning Musings. “Do not walk through time without leaving worthy evidence of your passage.” Pope John XXIII
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“Leaders identify, articulate, and summarize concepts that motivate others. Most important, they boil concepts down to an understandable idea.” Laurie Beth Jones A big part of leadership is understanding the big picture. Not everyone has or even wants this ability. The art is to reduce the big picture to bite-sized, actionable parts that each teammate …
Previous M3s
What I have learned is that if people understand what needs to be done, almost anything can be accomplished.” Marilyn Marks One of the key roles of leadership is to define the mission. When teammates understand the mission, the next role of leadership is to have the team accomplish the mission. Distilled Leadership input from …
Previous M3s
“Set your expectations high; find men and women whose integrity and values you respect; get their agreement on a course of action; and give them your ultimate trust.” John Akers Some elements of Distilled Leadership (a book currently being written by John Hope): integrity, values, mission, focus, trust, and teamwork. A great recipe to start …
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Monday Musings on Tuesday. “When you feel grateful, you become great, and eventually attract great things.” Plato Memorial Day is over and we begin Tuesday and the rest of the week. I spent the entire weekend in reflection of service and of brothers and sisters lost in service. And I am incredibly grateful to them. …
Previous M3s
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” Max Dupree Today starts a new week. Leaders should define or redefine realities for the week: the mission, the priorities, the action steps, and the metrics/measurements. Define what success looks like. …
Previous M3s
Team Hope conducted a 2-day Leadership Training Workshop last week. When we asked the group at the beginning of the training who had previously had leadership training, we got no response. Not one of the attendees had ever received any kind of leadership training. This is the normal answer for workshops such as these. This …
Previous M3s
Thoughts while mowing this weekend. Subject: Loyalty. 1) The state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations. 2) Faithful adherence to a sovereign government, leader, cause, etc. 3) An example or instance of faithfulness, adherence, or the like: “a man with fierce loyalties.” I firmly believe that loyalty and trust go hand-in-hand, …
Previous M3s
“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy.” GEN H. Norman Schwarkopf
Previous M3s
Business life and personal life sure have been chaotic over these last months… to say the least. Thoughts while mowing on Saturday: Begin with the end in mind. This is the vision. The Mission, the Who, What, When, Where, and Why, will provide the roadmap to complete the mission. Jack Welch set the standard at …
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“To be a Leader, you have to make people want to follow you, and nobody wants to follow someone who doesn’t know where they are going.” Joe Namath Thoughts while mowing. I signed up for a 9-month course at Lipscomb University to polish my coaching skills and enhance my accreditation credentials. I am pretty excited …
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I am reminded yet again that we can’t control life and we can’t control the weather. Bad weather canceled the Garth Brooks concert in Nashville Friday night. Big black cloud. Silver lining? Kristi and I had a couple of beers before the rains came. Take the good things life gives you this week!
Previous M3s
To my “Long War” comrades and battle buddies. Today is a hard day. As we clench our teeth, purse our lips, fight back tears, and try to control our inner rage, we ache to understand why. We are fighters; we are warriors. We gave it our best; some gave all. The collapse is nothing we …
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Veterans Day. “We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.”—Theodore Roosevelt In honor of all who served and those who paid the ultimate price. We are privileged to remember you this day.
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Well done Army Team! You set the national standard for remembering the 911 fallen. 911 was our Pearl Harbor and our call to arms. The impact of your entrance at Michie Stadium reverberated across the country. The football team and the Corps once again made the Long Grey Line very proud. We salute you! “Country …
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Team Hope began a partnership journey last Friday with four transitioning veterans at Operation Stand Down (OSD) in Nashville. OSD is a great veteran assistance organization in every way you can think of. I am very honored to be able to give back a little in honor of those great leaders and instructors who have …
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I graduated from High School in May of 1975. I returned to my first-ever reunion this past weekend. I was blessed to be reunited with all classmates and old friends. My life is richer today for having been reunited. Thank you classmates. You all rock!
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The Army lost a great Soldier and a great leader much too soon. I had the ultimate privilege of serving in the second cohort of his Chief of Staff of the Army Strategic Studies Group a few years back. He was a brilliant strategist, a true leader, and a hero to so many of us. …
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We lost another great Soldier this weekend. Thank you for your exemplary service to the nation GEN Colin Powell; may you rest in eternal peace.
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Yes, renewal is change. It calls for “do differently.” It is willing to replace and redo. But it also cherishes the proven basics.” Robert W. Gavin We can only achieve positive change when we move from our comfort zone and assume risk. We are hardwired to not change, but we must change to become better …
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Monday Morning Musings… on Tuesday this week because it WAS Monday yesterday, but I forgot. It had nothing to do with the soup of the day. This reminded me of past success when using humor as a weapon system. Smile and the world smiles with you!