by Parker Houston | Mar 26, 2020 | Leading During COVID19
It’s hard to imagine a more difficult leadership assignment in the history of the world than what Winston Churchill faced. There is a reason his most iconic portrait by Yousef Karsh was dubbed—The Roaring Lion—due to his penetrating scowl and fierce resolve. During...
by Parker Houston | Mar 22, 2020 | Leading During COVID19
In light of recent global events, this new series will be dedicated to science-based leadership strategies for leading through the impacts of the coronavirus. This series will give you tools to improve your leadership mindset, organizational communication, self-care...
by Parker Houston | Mar 12, 2020 | Optimal Performance Series
A few years ago, my friend Doug asked me a deceptively simple question—What good is your time if you bring no energy to it? At the time, I had become a time management fanatic, trying to make every moment productive. His question stunned me—and it also made sense...
by Parker Houston | Mar 5, 2020 | Optimal Performance Series
“If you don’t have time, you don’t have priorities.” –Tim Ferriss Many high achievers put in well over 40 hours per week in an effort to get more results. But performance psychologists and their studies show that this approach is often counterproductive. The Big...
by Parker Houston | Feb 27, 2020 | Optimal Performance Series
“When I wake up, I am reborn.” –Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi said this about 100 years before the brain research could validate his claim but the science is clear—good sleep habits are rocket fuel for elite performance. The Big Idea—Sleeping enough has been scientifically...
by Parker Houston | Feb 20, 2020 | Optimal Performance Series
“A field that has rested produces a bountiful crop.” –Ovid Last week we reviewed the data that showed how regular vacations are essential to keep you functioning optimally at work and home. But even when busy leaders take enough vacation, they often cram way too many...
by Parker Houston | Feb 13, 2020 | Optimal Performance Series
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it…including you.” –Anne Lamott According to Greg Mckeown, bestselling author and winner of the Young Global Leader Award 2012, many driven leaders fall into a predictable pattern of workplace success: Work hard Get...
by Parker Houston | Feb 6, 2020 | Optimal Performance Series
“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” –Pablo Picasso In this new series, we will be exploring the science of optimal performance. We are only just beginning to see the long-term effects of our hyper-connected internet and smartphone era. Research from...
by Parker Houston | Jan 30, 2020 | How People Change
*This post contains elements of prior posts, but is a new post! The Big Idea— Most people try to make changes in their lives by using willpower while ignoring the environments they place themselves in. But research plainly shows that willpower is like a muscle that...
by Parker Houston | Jan 23, 2020 | How People Change
We are in a series about how people change. In working with my own coach, today’s topic has helped me personally more than almost any other mechanism—exposing the inner saboteur. Furthermore, the people I have coached in the past few years have universally identified...
by Parker Houston | Jan 16, 2020 | How People Change
“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” -Thomas Watson, CEO IBM Today I want to share some ideas from research about experimentation and failure that have dramatically impacted...
by Parker Houston | Jan 9, 2020 | How People Change
As a leader, you need to understand how people change for 2 primary reasons: First—You must continue to grow yourself in order to lead. If others outpace you in growth, you won’t be the leader for long. You cannot separate growth and leadership. Second—You need to...
by Parker Houston | Jan 5, 2020 | How People Change
Today’s Big Idea: We all have a kind of emotional immune system that may be hidden from our awareness and preventing us from making changes we want to make in our lives. Today we will explore Harvard research that illuminates this habit we all have. In their book...
by Parker Houston | Dec 26, 2019 | Self Leadership
Today’s Big Idea—“Some people live 80 years, most people live one year 80 times.” –Zig Ziglar For the last several years, I have established a few practices that help me close out the year reflecting on what happened, what I’ve learned, and set my goals for the...
by Parker Houston | Dec 19, 2019 | Self Leadership, The Pillars of Family Leadership
This week I am going to take a short break from our series on how people change to do a couple short posts on the holidays and upcoming year. Today’s Big Question: If your holiday season was a success this year, what will have happened? Last week I was talking with my...
by Parker Houston | Dec 12, 2019 | How People Change
Every so often, you hear a quote that changes your whole life perspective. This one did that for me a couple years ago: Today’s Big Idea: “You are the average of the top 5 people you spend the most time with.” –Jim Rohn Stop and reflect for just a moment—Who is in...
by Parker Houston | Dec 5, 2019 | How People Change
Today’s Big Idea: Advice rarely works. In leadership, you need communication strategies that increase your odds that people will listen to what you have to say. This post will highlight research-based techniques you can begin using to influence those around you. I was...
by Parker Houston | Nov 28, 2019 | How People Change
Today’s Big Idea—Research identifies six stages of change people pass through when trying to change their behavior. Leaders need to understand these stages in order to make changes in their own lives, and help others grow. For almost 10 years, I worked as a...
by Parker Houston | Nov 21, 2019 | How People Change
Today’s Big Idea: “An overnight success is 15 years in the making.” –Dave Ramsey Above is a picture of the common water hyacinth—pontederia crassipes—a plant that is native to tropical and sub-tropical regions of South America. In one of the most important books I...
by Parker Houston | Nov 14, 2019 | How People Change
It would be ridiculous to talk about how people change without taking a deep dive into habits. Today’s Big Idea—To a great extent, your life is the sum total of your habits. 99% of the time, people don’t change overnight. Change is almost always cumulative, it occurs...
by Parker Houston | Nov 7, 2019 | How People Change
Today’s Big Idea—A written Life Plan is one of the best ways to make the changes you want in your life— and sustain them. It can function as your North Star so the storms of life don’t knock you off course. On July 16th, 1969, astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong,...
by Parker Houston | Oct 31, 2019 | How People Change
Today’s Big Idea—As a leader, it is essential to understand how to change your own habits, and how to help foster change in others. Science clearly reveals that some ways work better than others. A friend and colleague of mine, an executive coach, recently asked me a...
by Parker Houston | Oct 24, 2019 | The Pillars of Family Leadership
Today’s BIG IDEA—Leadyoufirst.com is dedicated to the idea that there is a logical order to leadership—that the best way to build a lasting leadership legacy is to lead yourself well first, then be highly proactive and intentional with your family leadership...
by Parker Houston | Oct 17, 2019 | The Pillars of Family Leadership
Today’s BIG IDEA— “Your greatest contribution to the world as a leader may not be something you do, it might be someone you raise.” –Andy Stanley When my first daughter was born, the nurses could tell we were total rookies in the parenting game, so they graciously...
by Parker Houston | Oct 10, 2019 | The Pillars of Family Leadership
“It’s not lack of love, but lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”—Nietzsche Today’s BIG IDEA—No one arrives at a great marriage by accident. A few years ago, my wife and I decided to join a one-year marriage enrichment program through our church. We...
