(And How Much Is Staying the Same Really Costing You?)

By William F. Nazzaro, founder of The Time to Lead Institute, leadership expert, performance and executive coach, and trusted advisor to leaders navigating transformation and cultural change.

Most people don’t hire a coach when life is smooth.
They wait until they’re sick of their excuses or something finally breaks.

Honestly, it’s predictable.

People will stall, overthink, make another pros-and-cons list, binge more books or podcasts — anything to delay real change.

Meanwhile, the people who get unstuck? They don’t waste time massaging their excuses.

They pay for strategy, perspective, and the kind of gut-punch truths most people avoid.

 The high cost of waiting

By the time most people finally look for a coach, they’re already paying a price:

• Underpaid.
• Stalled goals.
• Avoided conversations.
• Shrinking ambitions.
• Quietly wondering if anyone sees their potential.

That’s the real cost: doing nothing. And I know it fi...

By William F. Nazzaro, founder of The Time to Lead Institute, leadership expert, performance and executive coach, and trusted advisor to leaders navigating transformation and cultural change.

Some books don’t just land in your lap—they grab you and refuse to let go. In 2024, that’s what happened when I picked up The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford.

I’ll be honest—I didn’t stumble upon this book alone. My coach and mentor, Paul Martinelli, told me, “You need to read this.” He had that look that said, Trust me, this one will mess with you—in the best way possible.

I wasn’t prepared for what followed.

This book challenged and wrecked me.

And I’m not exaggerating. It took me months to get through, which is crazy because I can usually knock out a book in a week or so. But this one? It wouldn’t let me speed through. Every chapter was like a mirror, reflecting things I wasn’t ready to see. Some days, I had to put it down, take a deep breath, and say, Not today, Debbie.

But...

By William F. Nazzaro, founder of The Time to Lead Institute, leadership expert, performance and executive coach, and trusted advisor to leaders navigating transformation and cultural change.

In the dynamic world of leadership, mastering empowerment is essential for both new and seasoned leaders aiming to propel their teams to success. This article delves into the lessons from Bob Maksimchuk’s Concepts in Leadership sessions, examining how leaders at various career stages can utilize empowerment to boost team cohesion and drive organizational development.

Defining Empowerment in Modern Leadership

Empowerment in leadership transcends the mere delegation of tasks; it involves instilling confidence and authority in team members to make decisions and take action that aligns with the organization's goals. This process is crucial for nurturing a proactive workforce and cultivating an environment where innovation thrives.

Empowerment Strategies for Emerging Leaders

Emerging leaders often...

In an era where navigating through life on autopilot seems to be the default setting for many, the concept of intentional living offers a beacon of hope and direction. A recent exploration of John Maxwell’s Law of Intentionality underscores a profound truth: personal growth doesn’t just happen; it requires intention, focus, and deliberate action.

Breaking Free From Autopilot

For many of us, life seems to run on autopilot, with the assumption that experiences accumulated over time equate to genuine growth. This perception, however, is misleading. Growth is not a byproduct of merely existing but a purposeful endeavor that demands our conscious engagement and effort.

The Illusion of Automatic Growth

Exploring the reasons behind the lack of intentional growth, we encounter a range of justifications—from believing it’s not the right time to fears of change and failure. These barriers, though daunting, also highlight our intrinsic resistance to stepping beyond our comfort zones. Overcomi...

Few concepts are as pivotal yet often overlooked in leadership and personal development as "The Law of the Lid." This principle posits that an individual's leadership ability is the lid that determines their level of effectiveness and the height of their achievement. Essentially, how well you lead directly influences how much you can achieve.

At its core, "The Law of the Lid" serves as a metaphorical ceiling on our potential. No matter how ambitious or talented we are, our leadership capability caps our growth and the growth of our ventures. This concept, rooted in the belief that leadership can be developed, offers a pathway to breaking through our ceilings. 

Why is this law so critical? Consider the direct correlation between leadership effectiveness and organizational success. Businesses, teams, and projects thrive under solid leadership, indicating that improving our leadership skills can profoundly impact our careers and the collective success of the entities we lead.

Howeve...

Hello,

Bob and I are delighted to announce the launch of our new blog, It's Your Time to Lead^®!

We created this blog to provide you with our insights into leadership to help spark your desire, or continue to feed your leadership learning. We will be sharing our personal and observed leadership experiences (both good and bad). Of course, changing the names to protect the guilty :-).

We look forward to sharing why we feel leadership is a critical component for organizational success and why we feel it’s a crisis for most organizations. As John C. Maxwell, #1 leadership Guru states, "Everything rises and falls on leadership."

It is our desire that this blog will become a place for you to visit frequently and to share your ideas, comments, and feedback. Please take a moment to explore our new blog, bookmark us, or subscribe in order to receive weekly posting updates.

Thank you for letting us join you on your journey!

All the best,
Bill & Bob

By Bob Maksimchuk

Empowerment is a word we hear bandied about freely. But what does this mean? Most people struggle to explain it.  When asked the more important question of how you empower people, you usually hear a very short, shallow answer such as you just give them a challenging assignment. Either that or you hear crickets.

However you want to define it, it’s more important to understand how you empower people.  Empowerment is a process and this process has four mandatory components. If any of these are missing, the result will simply be failure.  Here you see the Empowerment Cycle.©

It’s the repetitive, iterating, full cycle process for enabling people to incrementally increase their autonomy so that they can independently and responsibly achieve their goals. Now let me repeat that.

Empowerment is the repetitive, iterative, full cycle process for enabling people to incrementally increase their autonomy so that they can independently and responsibly achieve their goals.

By Bob Maksimchuk

You don’t have to ask many people.  Everyone is busy.  But as a leader, you don’t have that as an excuse.   It has been said that managers keep the business running, but leaders move the business forward.  If you don’t think you have the time to move the business forward, the business will stagnate.  Be stagnant for too long and the business will lose ground and be overtaken by its competitors.

As a leader, you must use your time and teams most effectively.  A simple first step is to leverage your team’s capabilities.  You must enable your teams to receive delegated work from you.  And here is where many leaders don’t leverage their teams.  The reason many leaders give: I “don’t have the time”.

That begins the “Downward Spiral of Leadership”.  If you don’t think you have the time you don’t delegate.  If you don’t delegate the team’s abilities don’t improve.  If your teams can’t do the work (or if you think only you can do it better and faster) you jump in.  When yo...

By Bob Maksimchuk

1. Be Dedicated – to your client, your team, yourself. Commitment builds trust.
2. Be Curious – about your profession, your client, other fields. Learn continuously. If you think you know it all, you have limited your potential.
3. Be Humble       – no matter how successful, smart, or well-known. Arrogance destroys relationships.
4. Be Energetic    – Do you bring energy into the room or do you drain the life out of it?
5. Be Engaged      – Your client doesn’t value an aloof adviser who provides little value.
6. Be Perceptive   – See their gifts. Does your team have cheerleaders (encouragers), pragmatists (guides), jokers (morale builders), and dreamers (visionaries)? Leverage these soft abilities as much as hard skills.
7. Be Empathic    – See their needs. Be sure to serve their actual needs, not yours.
8. Be Resourceful – When your team has no answer and neither do you, take the initiative to go find a new option or approach for them that may be useful.
9. Be Uplift...

By Bob Maksimchuk

In the last installment, we left Josey and his rebel friend at a river crossing.  There they met the boatman Sim Carstairs, Granny Hawkins, who runs a supply store, and a carpetbagger.  We discussed the loquacious Sim and now let’s see what we can learn from the unforgettable Granny Hawkins.

Josey orders the supplies they need from Sim and as Sim begins to load the horses, Granny Hawkins steps onto the front porch of the store.  This grizzled, toothless, old woman smoking a long pipe turns a cold gaze upon Josey, and calls him by name, to his surprise.  She then relates what the Union soldiers, who had been there a few hours earlier, told her:

“They say ye killed your own men…They say ye killed a slew of defenseless soldiers too.  They say ye are hard put and a desperate man, Josey Wales.  They say they are going to heel and hide ye to a barn door.  You know what I say? … I say that big talk is worth doodlysquat.”

(For the interested students, go resea...