Speaking

Inspiring, Empowering, and Motivating Teams

The Five Be’s

In a world full of “no” and “don’t”, The Five Be’s is a positive vision of who to “Be.” Based on a lifetime of mentoring young adults, The Five Be’s is a roadmap to living a healthy, fulfilling, and successful life!

• Be Proud Of Who You Are: Everyone has something to contribute — and so do you!
• Be Free: Authentic freedom means having the ability to choose what’s good for you!
• Be Virtuous: The virtues are the “guardrails” for success in life!
• Be Balanced: Keep your Mind, Body, and Spirit nourished to keep your balance!
• Be Courageous: Courage comes in many forms: physical and moral courage — find yours!

Mickey’s Rules for Leaders

For years I kept General Colin Powell’s “Rules” on a worn, type-written sheet of paper somewhere on my desk. His Rules had been published in a news magazine article, and I thought they were fabulous, so I typed them up and added a few of my own to the bottom. Over the years, I developed my own “Rules” that gradually replaced “Colin Powell’s Rules” even though that worn piece of paper still adorns my desk.

I’ve found these rules to be very useful to me, and I’ve regretted it every time I’ve violated them. The eleven rules listed below are my guidelines for relating to other people and to my work and reminders about leading my organization.

1. Have a direction and know what it is. Go there
2. Don’t spook the herd. Emotional demonstrations are always counter-productive and stifle initiative.
3. Don’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good.”
4. “Can’t” never gets anything done. Keep it out of your vocabulary.
5. The first report is usually wrong. Be patient and ask questions.
6. Asking the right questions is usually better than knowing the right answers.
7. The other team is not the enemy. The enemy is the enemy; don’t confuse the two.
8. Be curious. Ask “Why?” a lot. Keep asking until you understand.
9. Walk the horses. No one can go full throttle all the time.
10. Drink your water, eat your lunch, and make new friends.
11. Check your “moral azimuth”…if you’re doing something that you wouldn’t want posted on the Internet, it’s probably illegal, immoral, or fattening.

This talk is a light-hearted look at a serious topic, with some concrete lessons for attendees to apply in their own lives. Each attendee will also receive an ebook copy of “Mickey’s Rules for Leaders” as well.

Mickey can also serve as a Moderator for panel discussions on:

• Leadership
• Personal Growth
• Professional Ethics
• National Security
• Engineering Management

To get started, email me with your name, contact info, dates of the event, and preferred topic, or you can call my office and leave a message at 210.960.6087.