New York City, Sunday, October 19 2008, 10.50pm   Even the Motivator needs to be motivated. I just spent the weekend with 1000 people learning to reinvent myself, my business and my environment. Why? Because it’s going to be a long hard winter. The credit crisis is rippling out into the general economy. Trading conditions will get worse before they get better. The market for almost everything will shrink before it grows again.   So don’t bank on things getting…

Saskatoon, October 13 2008 11.35pm   Just when you thought it couldn’t get any wilder, it gets a whole lot weirder. From the insanity of Wall Street to the Fear on Main Street, the storm is shaking ALL of us to the core. Whether you’re a billionaire, a bureaucrat, or just Bob, you’re being forced to re-examine all that you’ve been told. The system is straining, the model is cracking, the ground is shaking. The unthinkable has never been so…

Iselin, New Jersey, October 6, 11.55pm   So much noise. So many distractions. So many temptations to focus on the wrong things. So many reasons to feel disturbed, dismayed and dislocated. The ante has been raised. We’re heading into deepening change and chaos. All around me, I see planned scenarios and business models being turned upside down.   It’s a whole new reality. The tide isn’t rising anymore. We’re into the ebb not the flow for the foreseeable future. And…

 Whistler, British Columbia, 11pm, September 29 2008   Last Tuesday was a very long, very bad day. I flew to Baltimore from Toronto to deliver two workshops – one for the YPO organisation and the other for the PCM Construction company. I left my house at 5.45am and returned at 9.45pm. Both sessions were fabulous. The people were open and responsive. The feedback was resoundingly positive. But the day ended badly.   It ended badly because I ended it badly.…

Toronto, 11.35pm, Sunday, September 22 A long time ago, I decided to place my trust and my money in Wall Street. I have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in America’s most respected companies. Over the past week, like many others, my trust has been severely tested. By midweek, I was ready to yank out whatever money I had left. But I didn’t. By the end of the week, all the losses were made up and I was even ahead…

The Renaissance Hotel, Orlando, Florida, Midnight September 15. It’s the midnight hour. I should be sleeping because I’m on the Air Canada flight back to Toronto in eight hours. But I can’t. I’m wound too tight. It’s been a mad weekend. I flew into Miami on Friday. Then I drove to Fort Lauderdale for a dinner with my great friend and Client, Ken Allen, CEO of DHL USA. The following morning, we had a three hour conversation on strategy, execution and people.…

The Fairmont, Calgary, midnight, September 9 2008   I just spent the weekend in a cold Shangri la, otherwise known as Saskatoon. It was chilly and crisp and you can smell the money in the air. I was there to facilitate a two day program with one of Canada’s leading construction companies. I loved it. Two days in a room with 80 owner-leaders who rose through the ranks panel by panel, sheet by sheet, brick by brick. It was a…

It’s been an extraordinary summer. And now it’s almost over. The relaxed pace of August is about to accelerate into September. I’m ready. I’m excited. I’m certain this Fall will be huge. I can feel the opportunities flying in formation towards me. I feel the nervousness that always precedes the Big Game. And for me, September 2 to December 23 2008 is the biggest game of all. It’s the one that determines the success of the entire year. As I’m writing these…

It’s been just over 48 hours since I stepped off an Olympic Airways flight from the Greek island of Santorini, via Athens, to Toronto. Together with my wife, Hilary, and daughter, Dani-Emma, I spent 5 days on that glorious island. Prior to Santorini, we spent 4 days on the Islands of Paros and Antiparos close to Santorini. If you’re looking for the most beautiful places on the planet, with food, people and prices to match, go to the Greek Islands. Every…

5.30am. Toronto. Aug 6 2008 It’s been a wild week. Last Wednesday I spoke to 600 government purchasing agents in Charlotte, North Carolina. The following day I spoke to 150 motorcycle accessory salespeople from Tucker Rocky in Dallas, Texas. Two days later, I spoke to 900 new recruits to Deloitte in Phoenix and yesterday, I spoke to 650 sales consultants from Infosys in Toronto, Canada. Each seminar necessitated its own preparation. Each seminar took me into a different world, populated by its…