Bill's Blog - Page 27 of 92 - Connect the Dots

How to Be a Great Little-Known Leader

John Wooden. Nelson Mandela. Richard Branson. Abraham Lincoln.

Great leaders, all of them. Their words and actions inspired and motivated thousands upon thousands of people.

But probably not you. At least, not directly.

You never met Abraham Lincoln. (And, if you did, you need to contact the Guiness Book of World Records people immediately.) And, although I may not know you personally, I’m guessing that you’ve never had any of the other three on your speed dial either.

Sure, you’ve read their words and ...

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Leadership, Producing Results, Work Ethic

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Breakthrough Ideas Are Not Created In a Vacuum

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Your next great idea will not come to you out of thin air.

I can say this with near 100% certainty because that’s not how ideas work. That breakthrough idea—the one that will make you rich and famous by Thursday—will not be created in a vacuum. More likely, it’ll be the result of a collision. A collision of dots.

Huh?

Let me explain. Creativity (which is simply the process of coming up with ideas) is all about connecting dots. These dots can be ...

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Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results, Videos

attitude, award winning performance, Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, business communication, business integrity, business speaker, change, communication, communication skills, competition, creative ideas, creativity, customer service, diversity, exceeding expectations, goal setting, goals, innovation, innovative thinking, inspirational speaker, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership speaker, leadership training, leading through change, making decisions, motivational speaker, producing results, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

Are You Missing Out On the Most Important Business Tool?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Quick Quiz: What do the following have in common?

The iPhone
The Tesla Model S
Spanx
The self-cleaning litter box
The Sputnik 1 satellite

Answer: They were all the product of a creative idea. As was every single other breakthrough that made a million dollars, cured a disease, or changed the world.

They all came from a creative idea.

Every company that exists—or that ever existed—originated with a creative idea.

Every billionaire on the Forbes 400 list is there because of a creative idea. (Sometimes that creative ...

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Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results

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How a Different Perspective Can Make You a Better Leader

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I spent several hours yesterday helping a colleague (whom I’ll call Poppy, because it’s fun) rewrite her website. She was concerned—rightly so—that her site was too wordy, didn’t really capture who she was, and just plain didn’t pop. (This is especially important when you’re named Poppy. Which she is not. But, for the purposes of this article, she is. So there.) So we spent several hours rewriting, revamping, and revising—after which we had a delightful Italian dinner.

Now, I’m not a ...

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How Bruce Springsteen Can Make You a Better Boss

Posted by: Bill Stainton

There’s nothing quite like seeing a world-class team operating at the highest level, is there? For example, let’s take Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The video below shows Bruce (“The Boss”) and his team working out an audience-requested song—not one of Bruce’s—live, in front of 45,000 people. Watch the entire video (it’s about 8 minutes—and turn it up as loud as you can!), and then read on for my thoughts on how what “The Boss” does with his ...

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attitude, award winning performance, Bill Stainton, business communication, change, communication, communication skills, competition, creative ideas, creativity, exceeding expectations, innovation, innovative thinking, leadership speaker, leading through change, motivational speaker, professional speaker, running your business, small business, small business success, success, team building, teambuilding, teams, teamwork, thought leader, work ethic

TED Talk Secrets That Will Make You a Superior Leader

Posted by: Bill Stainton

A little over a week ago, I was on a stage in Vancouver, BC, giving a TEDx talk about creativity to 2,700 people. The video will soon be available online, where it could be seen by (fingers crossed!) millions.

The road to a TEDx talk—whether it’s seen by millions or just dozens—is a long one. At this point, of course, I don’t know whether my talk will hit millions of views, dozens, or somewhere in between. But I do know two ...

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Change, Creativity, Leadership, Producing Results

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