He had no idea. He thought things were good or at least on track. They were not. His team was frustrated, his peers annoyed and his clients were threatening to leave. 

It appears that the more a leader rises in prominence the less he or she is willing to listen to others.

We spend a lot of time as a country complaining and bemoaning what we don't have and very little time appreciating what we do.

Our choices define our character. My friend who is a CEO with many years of leadership experience shared a story he has recently observed.

I love to meet people who love what they are doing, even if they don't necessarily love what they do.Let me explain. I met Kendra at lunch at a downtown restaurant. I was there for a business lunch meeting and she was there to make ends meet.

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with our Eagle Coaches for an onsite training day. This group is made up of experienced leaders and executives who are committed to using this season of their careers to coach and invest in the lives of leaders across the world.

Ask anyone. Literally. Ask anyone who is in a relationship of any kind. Ask the professional who is attempting to meet demands and create success. Ask the couple who have been married for 30 years, 20 years, 10 years or 2 years. They will all tell you the same thing.

I never knew Uncle Carl. He was a hero, like so many who have gone before us to sacrifice their lives for our freedom. He served his country during WWII and never came home. He left a father, mother and a host of siblings who mourned his death.

You would have thought that they were a losing team. The list of "things that are wrong" was much, much longer than the "things that are right". A leadership team was going through an extensive strategy offsite.

Meet Chad. He is a carpenter by trade but it's been tough lately. Chad has not always made the best choices and he is reaping the consequences of some of those decisions

It was a total fail. The message was completely wrong and the timing was awful. Those who were in the room when the event occurred knew immediately that this went directly against the mission of the organization. 

There are leaders who make decisions. There are those who don't.  There are also those who criticize and nitpick. I was talking with a young leader who was having a hard time understanding a decision that a leader had made some time ago.

He had the position. He had the authority. The call was his to make. This leader of a large corporation knew that a change needed to be made. He also knew that his decision would affect a leader on his team. He had two options.

One of my heroes, Jim Odom, was presented with the Citizen of the Year award by our local Chamber of Commerce recently. This comes as no surprise to me. This man has met with Presidents, led huge projects for NASA including being an integral part of saving the Hubble telescope when it was on the brink of destruction several years ago.

It always catches me off guard. It seems I never expect it. But I should, I guess. The leader was explaining to me what had just taken place. A team member just had a conversation with her that left no doubt of his intentions and motivation.

Zig Ziglar once said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly…until you can do it well". I was talking with a leader who was experiencing the repercussions of a superior who lead with bullying, intimidating tactics. It seems the boss wanted results without the discipline of process. 

Who are you? Really. What is it that makes you tick? Are you comfortable “in your own skin”? The leaders who are the most impressive to me are those who know themselves well enough to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. I asked a strong leader recently what she considered her greatest asset. She replied, "I believe that I am self aware.”

What is it that separates some leaders from the rest?

Have you ever noticed that those who lecture the most lead the least?

One was a veteran in her field with many years of work experience. The other was a young millennial with incredible talent but very little work experience.