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Win the Playoffs of Life

  The NFL's history began in September 1920, when representatives of professional football teams met at an automobile showroom in Canton, Ohio, and formed the American Professional Football Association, the league that would become the NFL two years later. In those early years there were no playoffs. The team with the best record was simply named champion. The first true championship game didn't come until 1933, and the first Super Bowl (then billed as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game) wasn't played until January 1967, when Vince Lombardi's Packers beat the Chiefs. The trophy still carries his name. Today, the season is 17 games long, and only 14 of 32 teams make the postseason. We're only in Week 4, but every game already matters because playoff positions are earned over months, not in a single hot streak at the end of the season. The groundwork gets laid now. That's the point: we are already in the playoffs of life. Sometimes we wait for the "right tim...

10 Timeless Leadership Principles

  Gandhi Jayanti, celebrated annually in India on October 2nd to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, is a global reminder of the impact one individual can have on the world. In 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/61/271 (June 15), declaring October 2nd the International Day of Non-Violence. When we think of Gandhi, what stands out is his ability to lead without holding an official title or political office. He showed that true leadership is not granted by authority. It is earned through personal influence and a compelling vision that unites people toward a shared purpose. Stephen Covey defined leadership as communicating people’s “worth and potential” so clearly that they come to see it in themselves. A leader’s primary responsibility is to consistently affirm the value and potential of others. When individuals feel valued, their performance rises, and the whole organization benefits. Few people possess every leadership trait in equal measure, but being...