It’s never a good idea to criticize your boss in public. It’s an even worse idea to talk about him or her to the media. If you do, don’t be surprised if you get fired. You were asking for it.

Yet, they wanted us to trust them and invest in their future as though it had already happened. … At the end of the day, you can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.

Of all the things that affect my energy and productivity, nothing is more important than getting a good night’s sleep. Exercise, diet, and mental focus are all important, but they can’t make up for a lack of rest. Here’s how I make sure I get a good night’s sleep.

Even though we’ve lost a great coach and teacher with John Wooden’s death, he left a legacy that that is especially relevant today: his virtuous leadership style.

In my answer to Michael’s previous question, I emphasized the formal ways in which we communicate our values at Thomas Nelson. I talked about hiring practices, new employee orientation, rewards and recognition, and annual reviews. All of these are important, but, as I suggested at the end of the post, they are probably not the most important.

“How do you or other leaders in your organization communicate the ‘core values’?” Unless values become behaviors, you only have a set of platitudes. Unfortunately, these platitudes will ultimately create cynicism when smart people realize that your behavior doesn’t line up with your words. At Thomas Nelson we rely on six methods to communicate our values.

At Thomas Nelson, our core ideology is comprised of four key elements. These are distinguishable but inseparable. It’s a little bit like talking about an orange. You can distinguish its shape, its color, its size, and its smell and taste. However, you can’t do away with any of these attributes and still have an orange. So it is with your organization’s core ideology.

What he did have was a strong sense of who he was, and a caring spirit about him that made me want to follow him, listen to him, be in his space as much as possible. … For two reasons: First, it was abundantly clear in our conversations that he cared about me, and second, he lived the kind of life that I wanted to live.

Where do the great ideas come from in your organization? The short answer is anywhere. They can come from at least four sources. More important, there are specific things you can do to ensure your organization nurtures and harvest’s the best ideas.

The bigger and more successful you become, the easier it is to rest on your creative laurels. This is one of the things I have really admired about Apple. They keep pushing the envelope. I don’t think this happens by accident. Someone there is doing a lot of thinking about how to encourage and reward creative thinking.