Mark Cole

What happens when you don’t prepare? Take a minute to think about it—and be honest with yourself. In my leadership, the results of being unprepared are predictable. Things I hoped wouldn’t happen do happen—and occur with greater frequency than the things I hoped would happen. The reason is simple: being unprepared puts me out of position. Ask negotiators what happens...

All great leaders read. And I’m not talking about skimming through the newspaper each morning over coffee. I’m talking about devouring knowledge! Did you know that the average American only reads one book a year? Compare that with the fact that the average CEO reads four to five books a month. Some of the most successful leaders throughout history were...

Asking personal leadership questions is one of the most powerful and effective things you can do to improve your life, your leadership, and your organization. Great self-accountability questions often stem from a difficult situation in our lives. As people, our natural tendency when dealing with a challenge of some kind is to become frustrated. That moment of frustration presents us...

There’s a hunger for leadership in the world today like never before. People have looked to Hollywood, sports figures and politics, all in hopes that leadership will show itself. We’ve all been disappointed in places of business, or faith, or Wall Street. And this has generated confusion about what leadership really means. This hunger produces a vacuum that creates opportunities...

I’m a huge football fan and the Super Bowl is in my town this Sunday. To say that I am excited would be an understatement! Organizations have been pouring in from all over the world all week for this one event. This week alone will bring in over $1 billion for the city of Atlanta. Football isn’t just a game;...

Dear Leader: You can’t make it on your own. That’s not a putdown—it’s a reality. The bigger your goals, the more help you’re going to need in reaching them. John Maxwell says, “The definition of a nightmare is a big dream and a bad team.” That’s why I believe the most important member of any leader’s team is a phenomenal...