I was listening to an Andy Stanley podcast on leadership this morning and he was talking about how success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure. Here was a quote from a book called the Leadership Challenge- “Leaders must challenge the process, precisely because any system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the Status Quo and prevent change.”

I just read this article from All Pro Dad on Politics and our kids. Here’s an interesting thought, “Politics does not provide spiritual nurture nor does our leaning necessarily say anything about our standing with God. The writer of the Declaration of Independence acknowledged that The Creator endowed us with fundamental rights, not the government, and certainly not one political party.”

I recently refinanced my home loan and received a thank you letter in the mail from the closing company. The closing company comes to your home and walks you through all the paperwork to sign. The Thank You letter had my formal name in the salutation, Robert, and was not signed by an individual in the company. It was just a form letter and not personalized in any way. This approach ticks me off and I feel it would be better if the company did nothing. Either take the time to write a personal note or don’t do it at all. A form letter insults me and makes me feel like just a number.

I traveled to Auburn, AL for my nephew’s wedding last weekend. It was so nice to be around family and hear the sweet voice of encouragement and laughter. I need to continue making family and family events a priority in my life.

Listened to a sermon by Joshua Symonette/National Community Church this morning.”There is no great opportunity without great opposition,” said Joshua. I am continuously learning to stay strong through all circumstances.

Just read about a LinkedIn to drive more folks to your profile. Creating content is great, but if you don’t have the time try and share or like content from others. This will drive more people to your profile. Also, try and focus on giving recommendations. The more you give the more you receive.

I thought the Prayer for Peace is a good meditation for those of us in sales trying to serve customers and prospects. Here’s a piece of the prayer- “To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love; For it is giving that we receive.” St. Francis of Assisi.

I read a book called When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanathi. Here’s a great line- “In taking up another’s cross, one must sometimes get crushed by the weight.” I find that this can ring true with family, friends, colleagues or customers.

I recently read an interesting view on networking events. In a nutshell, it’s not about who you met at the event. It’s about who you met after the event.

Just as you would not audit your own financial books, I recommend having a third party do an audit of your top customer relationships. It is a great way to get candid and objective feedback. Heck, I would recommend this approach for most marriages.