Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech are powerful examples of visions shared. They had the ability to conceptualize the future with imagination and wisdom. That kind of vision has been and will continue to be the focus of the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW).

I just took a trip with my son to do some fishing and sightseeing in Montana.  We fished the Big Horn River and then did a fly fishing float on the Yellowstone River. It was a welcome time to refresh, re-focus, and re-energize.

I hope you all had a wonderful “4^th of July”! I’m using quotation marks to emphasize what I hear most people say these days. But how often do you hear anyone say “Happy Independence Day”? How many people remember celebrating the day of our independence from the British rule of law? Because of this the name is important, for it reminds us we are a nation of independent people. When the day becomes just a number, the holiday is nothing more than a big picnic and party day. I’m amazed how many of my patriotic friends fail to greet others with Happy Independence Day! Independence is such an important characteristic that it needs to recognized and encouraged by leaders of business, family and sports.

DIRECTION: Merriam-Webster defines as, among other things, a guiding, governing or motivating purpose. The most successful people, companies and organizations all have a solid sense of direction.

A few months back I wrote about relationships in terms of how you can use them to bring value to your work, home and spiritual life.  Today I want to explore how friendships can impact our professional and personal relationships now and for years to come.  I’m looking at this from the viewpoint of how my career has rewarded me with “friendships”, in addition to “relationships” that bring value to a business.

Goal setting is the first step in building an ultimately successful business. Goals define what you and your team want to achieve and in what time frame. So as a team you set the long-term goal, then the mid-term goals, and short-term goals. It will let your team know where you want the organization to go and how to get there.

Simply stated, Leadership means to lead. Yet how many of us take time to examine how we lead? Is our mindset, “do as I say, not as I do?” Or do we “lead by example?”

Building or maintaining a company culture of excellence requires an understanding of the importance of following SOP’s, or communicating through the proper channels. To achieve excellence within the organization requires an implicit understanding among all team members of the corporate expectations that are built on creating a legacy of trust, timeliness, credibility, and more.

In recent months, I’ve shared my thoughts on how to go from bad to good or good to great, and about passion. The underlying energy that allows us to change for the better, or to feel passionate about our work, is a foundation for creating and maintaining strong bonds within our family, our faith, and most certainly, our careers.

What does "passion" mean to you? There are obvious meanings – strong affection or desire, an outbreak of anger, or an intense feeling or conviction. The Christian religions refer to "The Passion" as the suffering of Christ between The Last Supper and his crucifixion. When I think about my passion, I think about ardent affection and intense conviction. This definition is how I embrace passion and how I've used passion throughout my career.

How do you measure a good year? What are your indicators of success? Have you ever written these down at the start of each New Year and reviewed at the end to see if you achieved those things, or if you changed course at some point due to factors driving the need for change. We all “feel” what we perceive as successes or failures, a good year or a bad one. But even in a bad year we all have the ability to make things better.