Making Dreams Come True

Being charitable and lending a hand to those around us is something we're all familiar with but helping so that others can meet their dreams takes the Good Samaritan philosophy to a whole new level.

The story of high school basketball coach, Jim Johnson and his equipment manager, Jason McElwain, (AKA J-Mac) is a great illustration of what this concept is all about.


On Feb. 15, 2006, Coach Johnson gave J-Mac an opportunity to play in the final game of the regular season by inserting him for the last four minutes.

And that's when a MIRACLE happened:



Jim Johnson joined me on HCL Radio to talk about the story that inspired the book, "A Coach and a Miracle".

As you'll hear from the coach, it's a story that provided hope and inspiration not to only those involved but to others as well.

Helping dreams come true does three things:

• It demonstrates kindness
• Reinforces the importance of our individual actions and the impact it can have on others
• Motivates people to help others.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith

See you on the court!

Get In The Game and Take Action!

On Friday, February 4th, 2011, I was honoured to be the recipient of a Speakers Bureau Spirit Award from the United Way of Peel for being an outstanding ambassador for the United Way.

I was presented with the honour during its Community Achievement Celebration when the 2010 campaign total of $13,752,578 was announced.


As a member of the Speaker's Bureau, I would visit different workplace campaigns to encourage giving and to help increase awareness of how United Way funded programs support our community.

A key characteristic of leadership is recognizing when action needs to be taken and then actually doing something about it. I'm constantly reminded how true this is on a seemingly daily basis through the lessons provided by my six year old daughter who was diagnosed with autism.

Autism is a disorder of neural development and Jahleesa's speech has been severely delayed. While this can make communication challenging at times, she's also proved that our ability influence others isn't tied into the things we say, its the things we do that matter.

Leaders are the ones who take action when action is needed and the best part about it is that you don't have to be a professional speaker to make a difference.

Organizations like the United Way are always interested in people looking to make positive contributions and be leaders in their communities. If this is something that you've considered in the past but haven't acted on, I'd encourage you to do so.

It's not hard.

So stop hanging around the sidelines and

Get In The Game and Take Action!

See you on the court!

Influence Is Like Flowers and Candy

Without question, leadership and influence go hand in hand with another. The most effective leaders are those that posses the ability to lead those around them from one place to the next.


There are a variety of influence and persuasion principles at our disposal to help us with this but it's important that we properly read the situation and recognize which tool is most appropriate.

Here are the six main ones we can refer to:

Liking - People respond much more readily to people that they like, and even to the friends of people that they like. They feel comfortable if they see similarity or like the things that you’re associated with.

Scarcity - People get so much more interested in something if they feel that it’s about to run out.

Consistency & Commitment - People respond to others who are consistent in their messages. If you are constantly giving the same messages to people and acting in a consistent way, they will respond positively.

Social Proof - If people see others doing something, they assume that it must be okay to do it and therefore, they will be happier about doing it themselves.

Authority - People invariably act more positively if they have respect for the authority of the person who is giving them information.

Reciprocity - Reciprocation is about how, if you do something for somebody, they will feel obliged to do something for you, or they will at least feel better about doing something for you.

Flowers & Candy

“An earnest and sincere lover buys flowers and candy for the object of his affections. So does the cad who succeeds to take advantage of another’s heart. But when the cad succeeds, we don’t blame the flowers and candy. We rightly question his character.”

"The Art of Woo"

The principles of persuasion are as neutral as flowers and candy because they and can be used to influence people either positively or negatively. The tools themselves are neither good or bad, it's how they are put into practice.

Brian Ahearn joins HCL Radio to chat about the topic of influence and persuasion and explore these principles a bit further.

Brian has the distinction of being one of a handful of people trained by persuasion and influence expert, Dr. Robert Cialdini.

I asked Brian to comment on the connection between influence and leadership.

See you on the court!

The Name on The Front of The Jersey

The most effective groups are the ones where the members are focused on the goals of the team. They put their personal feelings, agendas and issues on the side and play for the name on the front of the jersey as opposed to the one on the back.



That's not to say that you have to forsake who you are for the good of the team. If you look at the championship Chicago Bulls teams in the 90's, they still needed Michael Jordan to be Michael Jordan.


Essentially, a team is made up of a variety of pieces and the integrity of the group is maintained as long as each member does their part.

The bottom line is every player on the team has to be on the same page for the group to achieve success or have a legitimate shot at winning.

In his book, "Pulling Together", John Murphy identifies 10 rules for high performing teams and joins me on the next episode of HCL Radio to discuss them.

John describes high performing team as teams that continue to "rise up and perform at peak levels"

To hear more from John, be sure to check out "The Name on The Front of The Jersey" on HCL Radio.

To stay regularly up to date with new episodes, click on the follow button on slightly above the show description!

See you on the court!

It`s Not What You Don`t Have

There`s very few people that would have a better understanding of this concept than former big league baseball pitcher, Jim Abbott.


As a result of a birth defect, Jim was born with only one hand but that didn`t deter him from following his dream of being a professional pitcher.

Here are a few of his accomplishments:

• pitcher for the Gold Medal Olympic Team in 1988;

• threw a 4-0 no-hitter for the New York Yankees versus Cleveland (September 4, 1993).

• played for 10 seasons on 4 different teams and ended his big league playing career in 1999.

Instead of choosing to focus on what he didn`t have, Jim turned his attention towards the things he did have and refused to be defined by his missing right hand.

As a motivational speaker, Jim joins the next episode of HCL Radio to talk to about his playing career, how he personally overcame obstacles and what kinds of things motivated him to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional baseball player.

Listen as Jim talks about the importance of being accountable to ourselves clicking here.

Click here to read Jim`s full biography.

For more great insights be sure to check out the program or to stay regularly up to date with new episodes, click on the follow button on slightly above the show description!

See you on the court!

The Platinum Differences

I had the privilege of welcoming Scott Zimmerman to HCL Radio to discuss a concept called, "The Platinum Rule" which was originally developed by his co-author and business partner, Dr. Tony Alessandro.


While many are familiar with the Golden Rule which says we must do onto others as they would do onto you, The Platinum Rule adds a slight twist.

The difference being that we're not treating people how we want to be treated but rather how they rather be treated.

It acknowledges and recognizes the fact that we're all different and don't necessarily all respond to a one size fits all approach.


This change in mindset requires a solid of understanding of the four different personality modes that exist and leaders need to be able to identify which mode a person is operating in and when they move from one mode to the next.

Director Socializer Thinker Relater

As Scott points out, leaders can make the biggest impact if they adapt to the whomever they're dealing with by adjusting the speed and temperature.

Click here to listen.

Click here to learn more about the Platinum Rule or to get your own personal assessment.

For more great insights be sure to check out the program or to stay regularly up to date with new episodes, click on the follow button on slightly above the show description!


See you on the court!

The 8 Causes of Persistence

Coach Bob Starkey of the LSU Lady Tigers wrote a great piece on his blog Hoop Thoughts about the importance of being persistent and identified 8 causes of it:



1. Definiteness of purpose
Knowing what one wants is the first and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.

2. Desire
It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in pursuing the object of intense desire.

3. Self-reliance
Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages one to follow the plan through with persistence.

4. Definiteness of plan
Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.
5. Accurate knowledge
Knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; “guessing” instead of “knowing” destroys persistence.

6. Cooperation
Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation with others tend to develop persistence.

7. Will-power
The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose leads to persistence.

8. Habit
Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage. Everyone who has seen active service in war knows this.


See you on the court!