Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

During my leave of absence, I had the opportunity to lead what we'll call a 'normal life.' Well, as normal as can be with a baby waking up every hour or 2 hours. To me, normal is being off of the road where I can work between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm and am able to have dinner with my wife and son and not worry about eating late or at random times. I can run errands and actually plan my day because there is some stability and consistency. On one of these off days, I did some work at Caribou coffee and while I was working, I do what all people do - people watch. What I've noticed is that there are people that are not much older than me that just come to hang out. It looks like they come in from a morning run and then sit together around the table and discuss what ever is going on in their lives. My question is, "what in the world is it that these people do?" And am I doing something wrong? It's also the same feeling that I get when I drive down West Pac...

There is no 'I' in team, but there is an 'I' in win." -Michael Jordan I have had the chance to catch a couple of World Cup games and am intrigued in how the game captures the attention of the entire world. There is excitement, acting (on the field), and drama (off the field). In the rest of the world, soccer stars are rock stars and make the money that NBA players make in the US. In the World Cup itself and especially with the European teams, there are plenty of millionaires out there kicking a ball around to make your head spin. There are teams on the field with 11 superstars in their own right - all used to being in the spotlight and center of attention. I can only imagine what it would take to keep those egos in check. The reason that I bring this up is that everyone in business loves to be around the "rock stars". I rarely stand up in the middle of a review process and say, "You know what? This guy is an excellent 'role player.'"...

Our business is an interesting one to say the least. They say that the only thing constant is change. Every year we think of new ways, approaches, and frameworks to do the same thing.  One of the problems with throwing a lot of smart people at a problem is that everyone is always right. My dad, who is a professor, said something analogous to this. He said, "The problem with getting a bunch of PhD's in the room is that everyone thinks they are the smartest." In management consulting, the problem with getting a bunch of leaders in the room is that not only to they think they are the smartest, but with everyone being so Type A, everyone has to be right.  I personally dread the proposal or project that has 4-5 partners / senior managers running it because you spend 80% of the time getting them to compromise on different ways of delivering the same message. I read a blog post by Darren Hardy that says the important job of a leader is to listen. I am not the most assertive...