How many different ways can you say ‘FA LA LA LA LA … LA LA LA LA?

Collectively, we have been repeating this sounding joy for exactly 181 years.

Enjoying that annual silent night when all is calm. All is bright.

Since it ‘tis the season, nothing quite captures the spirit of modern-day peace on earth like the Five Greatest Christmas Commercials Ever Made!

Deck the halls, pour another egg nog and throw on your best ugly sweater … because Christmas just came early.

What castles are you creating from your reflections?

The castle represents all you want to achieve during your limited time on this spinning planet. Examine the photo. Think of the still water as a reflection of the daily race you run. The furiously relentless hamster wheel as you check boxes marked ‘career’, ‘family’, ‘fitness’, ‘finances’, ‘friends’, ‘faith’, ‘frivolity’ and ‘weekend fun.’ 

You and I may dream of different castles, but they symbolize what occupies most of our thoughts and emotions. Whether we’re feeling up or down on any given day depends on the progress we’re making on the castles we are trying to build.    

Once upon a time there was a business leader in Middle America who found himself stuck between a most formidable rock and a hard place.

His decades-old company was staring at a looming economic iceberg, but there was no way Bob was going to suffer the same fate as the Titanic. He also knew no amount of business planning, marketing, goal-setting, cultural alignment or a focus on organizational health was going to save his ship from imminent disaster.

Having a Strategy is NOT the same as having a Plan.  

While baseball serves as the backdrop, Bull Durham is ultimately about people who arrive at life’s crossroads and make difficult choices. What nobody – including the writer and leading man knew at the time - was how much the film would spark an economic revival still being felt in Durham, NC to this day.

Crash Davis did a lot more than put million-dollar common sense into the 10-cent head of promising flame-thrower Nuke Laloosh. The fictional account sparked a re-birth of minor leagues across America. Attendance soared and investment picked up substantially. Bull Durham also triggered a dramatic, multi-billion-dollar boom in a down-and-out tobacco town that was going bust.

Synchronicity has been described as a meaningful coincidence where something other than pure luck or chance is involved. But the probability of that to occur always hinges on taking massive, bold action in the moment.

Professional speaker, author and troubadour Dave Carroll broke the internet 15 years ago with his smash hit, United Breaks Guitars. A staunch advocate of consumer rights, Dave knows first-hand what it’s like to have a story go viral with over 30 million views. Which is why he is fascinated by West Shore Home and how they are living the impossible dream with The Impossible Story on this extended edition of Leaders & Legends.

A former pro from St. Andrews, Scotland, Dad never cared for those eager to flaunt wealth, possessions or fame. His greatest love was the inner beauty of a centuries-old game and what it demands. Endless practice and fine-tuning required to compete at a high level in the most biomechanically difficult and mentally challenging of all sports. However, nothing has meant more to him than being the founder of the M.G.A. Golf Tour.

The World’s Favorite Baseball Team began its climb 8 years ago from historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, GA. Discover how one minor-league baseball team has reinvented sports marketing as we know it. and how those insights can rock your business and brand.

Warm-ups and batting practice is over. The umpire has just shouted Play Ball! It’s time to Escape the Marketing Mosh Pit on Leaders & Legends.

No matter what industry or category you compete, people want to hear your story. They want to know what makes you leap out of bed in the morning. And if you’re two soft-spoken roofers from the Canadian Rockies, they want to breathe the same mountain air as you.

Before embracing video marketing, Craig and Mike made a prudent decision to focus on long-term strategy. They began gaining unusual clarity on their brand identity well in advance of bringing in lights, cameras and film directors. In other words, they played a much longer game by getting their brand story straight in the first place.

Social media has been described as equal parts:

Fake. Artificial. Superficial. Disconnected. Divisive. Materialistic. Goal-oriented. Comparative. Competitive. Self-Indulgent.

In other words, the platforms tend to reflect shallow thinking and phoney-baloney behaviours that are for the most part, anti-social. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Have you ever listened to a story … and not fully heard it?

Ever watched a movie, read a book or hummed along to a tune without fully understanding the entire scope, relevance or meaning of that work of art?

That’s precisely what’s happened these past six weeks with a real-life friend. An honest-to-goodness BIG LITTLE LEGEND in his own right.

Books are gifts that you can open again and again.

They let you travel without moving your feet, packing bags or hopping on an airplane. A uniquely portable form of magic that ensures you are never alone.

It’s been said readers are leaders. If you are curious about exploration, contemplation and imagination and thirst for a different journey through 2024, this post was written specifically for you.

Discover how 24 In 24 just might be the most adventurous solo trip you take this year on this edition of Leaders & Legends.

Karen is standing in a small dark room in rural Ethiopia. She and her husband holding an unlit candle. On the opposite side of the room, they see the dim outline of a birth mother, cradling the flickering light of a single white candle.

The woman had walked for two days from her tiny African village to make one of the most excruciatingly difficult decisions any mother would ever have to make. In complete silence, she approached Karen and used the flame from her candle to light hers.

Then she blew out her own.

What is the difference between a Sales Organization and a Brand?

How about the difference between a Story and a Narrative?

Why is a highly distinctive Identity so crucial to any long-term strategy? 

Just several of the dozens of provocative questions readers have been asking since the November 2021 release of BIG LITTLE LEGENDS. When the book was first published 24 months ago, there was no way of knowing how many sparkling questions it would ignite from genuinely curious people like you; willing and eager to understand this subject at a much deeper level.   

Up until several weeks ago, Travis Kelce was a well-known football player within the confines of NFL fandom. A 4-time all-pro and 2-time Super Bowl champion, Kelce has become a global household name ever since the story broke about his rumoured romantic connection with a certain American pop icon.

What’s your strategy to stand apart from all the other accountants, attorneys, consultants, contractors, dentists, manufacturers, tattoo or country music artists, home renovators, retailers, realtors, financial planners, wedding planners and software developers in your space?

Writer’s block.

A maddening, excruciatingly painful disease. 

Tracy is a businesswoman, windsurfer, tea-drinker, wife, and mother of two. Makes her home on Canada’s east coast. 

Kristy is a businesswoman, fitness buff, tea-drinker, wife, about to become a first-time mother. Makes her home on Canada’s west coast.

Once upon a time, there used to be a saying in the 20th century that went like this:

Any press is good press. Any publicity is good publicity. 

It’s around 8 o’clock on a December Saturday night. 

On a sleepy, slow-moving train heading west out of Ottawa.