I've been dogmatic to use myself as a case study.

When you compete against everyone else, no one wants to help you. But when you compete against yourself, everyone wants to help you.

Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief - WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?

If you go to the gym and you come home and look into the mirror, you'll see nothing. If you go the next day and you come home, you will see nothing. In fact sometimes you're in pain.

Genius is in the idea. Impact, however, comes from action!

Most organizations only focus on WHAT they do and HOW they do it - tactics and strategies - and they aren't even aware that this thing called the WHY exists. Focusing on only two pieces of a three piece puzzle leaves an organization, or a career, inherently out of balance. Being out of balance, only operating on two of the three pieces, shows up in different ways - increased stress, loss of passion, obsession with what your competition is doing, being forced to play the price game, trouble differentiating. These are all signs that the WHY is missing.

No matter how many or how few people you have reporting to you, you must remember that as you climb higher in the ranks, your words will be taken as commands even if you're just thinking out loud.