Blog | Simon T. Bailey

Movie Review – America: We Still Believe

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Well I am proud to be an American,where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
’Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land!
God Bless the USA!

- “Proud to Be an American,” Lee Greenwood

The words from Lee Greenwood’s patriotic “Proud to Be and American” hit me just as the credits rolled after the new Gerard Butler movie, Olympus Has Fallen. The film features an incredible cast, including Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Ashley Judd, and Rick Yune—but the cast couldn’t have been the only reason the audience reacted so strongly to the movie. Because as my bride of twenty years and I stood to exit, I was astonished to discover people actually applauding at the end the movie. I am by no means a movie critic; I am just a simple man on the street who was out on a date in Las Vegas. But I couldn’t help but wonder what sparked this unsolicited response in a movie theater. Well, here’s my opinion: People still believe in the brand called America—and rightly so.

Here’s why we should still believe in America:

Our country’s currency has printed on it “In God we Trust.” According to the Department of Treasury, Secretary Salmon P. Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861: Dear Sir: No Nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition. As long as God remains on our currency, everything is going to be just fine.
Creativity and opportunity make up the blood that pumps in the heart every American and would-be American who takes personal responsibility for his or her life. Where else in the world can you be born in the ghetto, leave the ghetto, find a job, quit a job, start a business, and never look over your shoulder? Now, that’s my America. I love this country.
We still believe because every day is another opportunity to serve someone or something. Serving is not limited to ethnic origin, gender, marital status, religious preference, educational attainment, or socio-economic status. We serve because we have been given the opportunity to show kindness to another human being. We become more authentic when we choose to help someone who can do nothing for us.
We still believe because we trust that we have the greatest military in the world. Enough said. But we also have the greatest minds in the world. Why would other countries want to steal our trade secrets? If they were really smart, then they would realize if we created something once, we could it again and even better.

We have the greatest music in the world. In my travels to six continents within the last decade, most of what I hear is American music from 1960s, 70s, and 80s being played like it was just released.

We have produced some of the greatest movies in the world: Schindler’s List, The Godfather, Roots, and Forrest Gump, just to name a few.

Let me bottom-line it for you:

We have a choice to rise up and believe in America through our daily actions. Yes, I understand that we are polarized in the headlines of the day. However, we have a responsibility to do the best we can while we can.

The America that we will experience tomorrow is being shaped today. What will you do to stand and defend her still today? It is totally up to us. God bless you and God Bless the United States of America.

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Be Audacious – This is an Urgent Request

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In life, there are exquisite moments that forever leave an imprint on one’s emotional psyche. I experienced one of those moments while sharing the stage with Dr. Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and Libby Seatrain, who was then Chief People Officer for Yahoo.com. That day, Dr. Covey said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but we are spirit beings have a human experience.” I had never heard a statement like this before. It is as riveting today as it was when he first said it.

As spiritual beings, we exist in a matrix, or quantum field, that is pulling things towards us like a magnet. We repel from us the things that are incongruent with our worldview. In other words, you will always attract people, situations, and circumstances based on the vibrational energy that you release into the universe through daily conversation. Audacious men and women are bold in their beliefs and convictions. That’s why they are revered and admired in the matrix—because they have found a way to channel their energy like a laser in the direction of their intended direction.

Characteristics of audacious individuals are the following:

They exude positive energy.

Happiness is their calling card.

People either like them or not.

They attract attention in a crowded room without saying anything.

They’re highly intuitive—always dialed into what is happening in the world.

They operate with tacit knowledge; that is, they don’t know how they do what they do; they just do it with confidence. There is no app that you can download to gain this type of intuition.

Something shifts inside of you when you are in their presence.

They are agents of change. They are not afraid of change; they create it.

Audacious individuals who embrace the science of their spirit repel inferior energy. They may be alone but never lonely. Worry is foreign to them because in the quantum field of life they understand how to de-emotionalize themselves by keeping a cool head when drama surrounds them.

Okay, I will land the plane. Harvey Mackay shares a powerful insight about the Japanese Koi fish, which has unlimited growth potential. When the Koi fish is put into a small fish bowl, it will only grow two or three inches in length. But when it is put into a larger tank or even small pond, it will grow six to ten inches. If placed in an even bigger pond, it will grow to one and half feet. Finally, if it is put into a large lake where it can really stretch out, it will grow to three feet. The size of the fish is proportional to the size of its environment.

As an audacious individual who understands the science of your own spirit, the size of your future is only limited by the size of your quantum field. When you are audacious, you invite the world to mirror back to you what you are releasing into the atmosphere. Your spirit grows in direct proportion to the size of the environment in which you choose to live. This resurrection season be audacious.

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Experience the Six-Week Simon T. Bailey Emerging Leaders Certificate

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Harrison College – Emerging Leaders Certificate announced that the college will offer a program titled Simon T. Bailey Emerging Leaders Certificate beginning Spring 2013.

This online experience is targeted for emerging leaders, high potential employees, high performers, people who lead without a title and those who just want to get better at what they do.

If you are looking to move ahead in your career or business then you want to sign up for this six weeks of intensive learning. It will be delivered 100 percent online and was designed by Simon and his team at Brilliance Institute.

You will walk through actionable ways to assesses personal strengths, provide challenging hands-on exercises and individual action plan that will help move you toward your career and professional growth. This educational experience is available to anyone nationally or internationally. You will receive a certificate from Harrison College.

You can download a free webinar to get a taste of the six week experience at and more information on the Emerging Leaders Certificate.

About Harrison College

Harrison College is a contemporary, career-focused institution of Higher Education serving more than 6,000 students throughout the United States and Internationally. Harrison College has 12 campuses in Indiana and Ohio, two culinary schools in Indiana and North Carolina, and also offers courses online at Harrison.edu.
Harrison College is accredited by the Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) and is dedicated to excellence in higher learning. In addition, the College is currently a Candidate with The Higher Learning Commission and an affiliate of the North Central Association (HLC-NCA). Harrison College was founded in 1902 as Indiana Business College and has a rich history of preparing students for success in their chosen profession.

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Vuja de – Think Differently

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A client was recently sharing with me her frustration with her assistant. She had asked her to do what she thought was a simple task in Microsoft Outlook and she couldn’t do it.

My client said “you’ve been here for 21 years and should know how to do it.” The assistant said “you are the first person that has asked me to think in seven years.”

Well, I could already see my fingers feverishly tapping on my laptop this priceless quote. It was totally Déjà vu – Been there…Done that! However, where’s the Vuja de?

In a study by McKinsey & Company over a decade, the total market capitalization of the largest 150 global companies grew 11% per year.

However, the top 30 companies experienced a 22% increase in market capitalization and net income. What drove the results for the top 30 was the value of thinking–intensive workers.

These are men and women who found a way to expand their knowledge bandwidth and thought differently about their work as a career to build instead of job to have.

A thinking-intensive individual is constantly scanning the environment to see where things are headed. They have a knack for reading the tea leaves of the times and thinking like a poker strategist.

People who don’t think become robotic in their execution. People who do think ask “why are we doing this and is there a better way?” People who don’t think are waiting to be told what to do. People who do think just make it happen.

Associations don’t have ideas, thinking people do. If organizations are to continue to thrive, there must exist an internal group of men and women who are given the autonomy to create the future. They must be fully funded and given the chance to fail forward. They are not handcuffed to organization legacy, but unleashed to Vuja de what the organization will be in 2020.

Let me Bottom Line it for you – thinking differently is the new killer app. Men and women who implement their own routine of mental gymnastics are constantly looking at business and life through the lens of Vuja de and saying enough is enough. Something has to change.

Here are five tips for you to think about:

Take yourself out of point-less meetings that seem to drag on and accomplish nothing. Get up and walk out. If you work for someone else, ask your leader for permission to get up and leave any meeting that is past being relevant and timely because you have work to do. When the upset leader calls your boss to report your rude behavior for leaving their meeting, your boss can say that you had permission to leave because you had some pressing items to complete.

Ask yourself when you are working on any task or assignment, “is this the highest and best use of my time?” If not, shift gears.

The person that “knows how” will have a job and the person that “knows why” will be the boss. If you intend to think differently, then you need to know how and why.

Develop thyself. Set aside time every week to learn, polish, discover or reaffirm what you already know. You are being invited to grow at the speed of change.

Be intentional in developing your network beyond what it is today. Your contacts and tentacles need to reach beyond your current place of business. Cross-pollinate with other areas, it may just surprise you. That’s why I have spoken at nine luxury wedding summits in two years – www.engage11.com This $75 billion dollar industry has expanded my thinking and understanding about how to create a brand.

Vuja de your life and unleash your inner salmon to swim upstream. It’s time to think differently.

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Change the Channel on Your Tell-A-Vision

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As we hear the echoes of a sequester impact on States and a climate of turmoil and uncertainty, I can’t help but think about my recent trip to Uppsala, Sweden. After my two hour plane ride from Moscow, I stood in line with seemingly hundreds of people from other parts of the world waiting to clear customs and there were no worried looks on their faces about the economy, be it local or global.

Someway, somehow the people here in Sweden (be it residents or tourists) didn’t get the memo, don’t read the paper, and won’t buy into the idea that if North Americans are shaking in their boots, they should be doing the same. You may have heard the old saying “when America catches a cold, the rest of the world catches the flu.”

Here’s the takeaway: it’s time to Flip the Script. Simply put, when everyone and everything is figuratively screaming gloom and doom, don’t buy into the hype. Walk the other way and take control of your inner steering wheel. See it differently and change the channel on your tell-a-vision.

Here are three ways to change the channel during this interesting time…

Grow the Economy of Your Mind. The greatest asset you have is your thinking. Dream Big. Envision even bigger. Right now. Yes, right now. Read books that uplift you. Magazine articles on Flip Board (Cool App in iPad) that stretch your thinking.

Surround Yourself with a Diversity of Thought. Look at your inner circle. Does everyone look like you, think like you and talk like you? If so, then you may be limited to what they know.

Learn another language. As the world is shifting right before our eyes, we need to be equipped with any and everything that will keep us relevant. I am starting to learn Spanish and it’s only as tough. I realize that it’s time to clearly graduate from halo (hello) and muchas gracias (thank you).

Oh Brilliant One, it’s time to change the channel and create a new tell-a-vision. The future awaits those who will create it moment by moment, minute by minute. Will you create it or allow something to project onto the movie screen of your mind the images that they want you to believe? Only you can answer this question.

Personal & Career Prosperity, Release Your Brilliance, Shift

Three Tips to Think Differently

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“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.”
That sage perspective comes from Father of Modern Physics Albert Einstein, and offers a practical explanation of which is Simply put, it’s using a fresh set of eyes to see the same thing as everyone else sees but to see it in a unique way or see a fresh opportunity for the first time.

In an era of significant global competition with the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), there is no room for being an anemic thinker. Men and women who will thrive in this decade will expand their knowledge bandwidth and think differently about their client solutions.

A Vuja de thinker is constantly scanning the environment to see where things are headed. They have a knack for reading the tea leaves of the times and thinking like a poker strategist. People who are use to deja vu thinking become robotic in their execution. Vuja de thinkers ask “why are we doing this and is there a better way?”

What about you? Do you Vuja de? Do you think differently? Do you see the future in the present or do you see what everyone else sees and accept it at face value?

Let me bottom line it for you thinking differently is the new killer app.Men and women who implement their own routine of mental gymnastics are constantly looking at business and life through the lens of Vuja de and saying enough is enough. Something has to change.

Here are three tips for you to think about:

Ask yourself when you are working on any task or assignment, “is this the highest and best use of my time?” If not, shift gears.

The person that “knows how” will have a job and the person that “knows why” will be the boss. If you intend to think differently, then you need to know how and why.

Develop thyself. Set aside time every week to learn, polish, discover or reaffirm what you already know. You are being invited to grow at the speed of change.

It’s time to think differently and shift into a new fresh direction.

Release Your Brilliance, Shift

Stretch – The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century

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In my travels I am hearing a reoccurring theme of people being stretched like never before. As the global economy continues to rebound, many individuals are attempting to find their true north. Some are happy, some are concerned about the future, and still some are just plain shell shocked that they actually have to do some work. WOW… what a concept!

I am convinced that we are all being to ask to stretch in our personal and professional lives. Whether it’s a person who has been laid off and looking for the next gig, a business person who is reinventing how they introduce their product and services into the market, or an organization that is striving to stay relevant in the new normal. The truth of the matter is that everyone and everything must STRETCH.

The skill of stretching was not taught in school but must be acquired in the heat of the moment. If you are being stretched it’s because you have the capacity to grow. If you are being stretched, stop complaining and embrace it. When you stopped being stretched than it’s time to pack up your tent and start writing your obituary. Here are few ways to be stretched…

Go the extra mile – When I worked for the Disney Corporation, one of the greatest places that I ever had worked for in my life, I learned this process called “plus-it-up.” The purpose was to give something extra for the 1% of the general public that would notice it and comment. This strategy is what enables Disney in all of its lines of business to charge a premium. I will stop there less I have the Mickey Mouse police send me a magic-gram. However, you get the point. What can you do to go the extra mile, not just for purpose of metrics, revenue, or bragging rights? But to send a message to your internal team that this is the new world order and to the external world you will always go above and beyond.

Listen to a weekly webinar on your area of expertise – You should be the best of the best in your field. Hearing the latest thinking from other thought leaders will only sharpen your insights. It will also give you a fresh perspective from another angle or empower you to offer an opposing view.

Volunteer your time with a non-profit organization – what else needs to be said. Live to give and you may discover how giving stretches your living.

Be Brilliant,

STB

Personal & Career Prosperity, Personal Accountability, Shift

Five Ways to Be Confident in the Midst of Uncertainty

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Welcome to the greatest year of your life. The events that will shape you are yet unknown, the global economic climate is uncertain, and everything outside of your control may seem unstable.

That is incredible news. There are several things you could do about this situation, but I invite you to focus and execute.

Here’s what I mean: A teacher was working with his students in the art of archery. He set a wooden bird as the target and asked his students to aim at the eye of the bird. The first student was asked to describe what he saw. He said, “I see trees, branches, the leaves, the sky, the bird, and its eye.” The teacher then asked the second student the same question: “What do you see?” This student said, “I only see the eye of the bird.” The teacher said, “Very good. Shoot.” The second student’s arrow flew straight and hit the eye of the bird.

Until you focus, you cannot hit the target. As you think about your life, your business, and your career, here are five ways for you to be focused and confident:

Welcome to the Recommendation Economy. With the rise of, people organically recommend, like, and share their personal opinions. The internet has made word-of-mouth feedback digitally verifiable. With just a touch, a swipe, or a few clicks, anyone in the world can find out what others are saying about you, your brand, and the value of your product. According to the Local Consumer Review Survey (2012), approximately 72% of consumers surveyed said that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, while 52% said that positive online reviews make them more likely to use a local business.

Focus on how you will create a brilliant moment for every person who crosses your path—and particularly your online presence. Then ask those individuals to give you a recommendation that you can use online. Click to see an example of what I’m talking about. If I can do it, then you can, too.

If you intend to be relevant in this global economy, then consider developing a new skill that can benefit you. Consider what you know already and think of ways you can expand upon your knowledge. For example, in twenty-five years, I have worked for six different companies in ten different jobs. Each employer and job gave me skills and knowledge that are benefiting me now in my own business.

Combine the different elements of your skills, know-how, genius, and proven solutions to be relevant in a fast-changing world. The benefits of being a hybrid allows you to be more collaborative, communicative, and creative.

In her book 11 Rules of Creating Value in the Social Era Ms. Merchant says, “Strategy as a separate concept from execution is a relic of the past. It is something that was created when organizations needed structure to direct people who didn’t have much education, where information was limited, and when markets and competitors moved slowly.” She goes onto say that we need to shift our approach from telling the strategy to co-creating it, so that the strategy is owned throughout the organization.

Here is the takeaway for you: Do you understand the “big picture” of your business and the thousands of choices that impact long-term results? If you do, then what about your team? Do they hold the same understanding? Be open, share as much as you can, and constantly get a pulse check to ensure proper alignment among your cohort.

For example, the head honchos at Rackspace, an IT hosting company in cloud computing, don’t really want their employees to have a job—they want their employees to have a life. Their strategy is built on core values such as results first; that is, substance over flash. They are committed to greatness, full disclosure, transparency, and a passion for work, and by carrying out these values every day, they determine the talent the folks at Rackspace attracts and the results they generate. Click here to see what makes the Rackspace brains brilliant.

Could it be time for you to rethink your strategy? If so, solicit input from those who know you and care about you. My friend, Mark Repkin, invited me to do it, and now I can’t wait to see how this new strategy unfolds over the next year.

Shift Into Customer Science – Jim Clifton, Chairman of Gallup, says, “What customers at any level really want is somebody who deeply understands their needs and becomes a trusted partner or advisor. In other words, know more about your customer than anyone else.” (I love Clifton’s book – The Coming Jobs War It’s a must read.)

This concept is also proven in the competitive New York City restaurant industry. In a recent New York Times article, “What Restaurant Know (About You),” it is said that “hundreds of restaurants are now carefully tracking their patrons’ tastes, how much you ordered, tipped, and whether you were a table hog who lingered long after dessert.” This information is vital in a cutthroat industry. The purpose is to make the customers feel “the love” and recreate “The Cheers effect”—referring to the 1980s television sitcom about the Boston bar where “everybody knows your name.”

Do you know your best customers’ birthdays and anniversaries? Do you know the special people in their lives or what makes them tick? Learning the little—and big–details can help you build your business and further cement your relationship with your cusomter.

Average is dead. History. Gone and never to be seen again—may it forever rest in peace. It had a short life span, thankfully. It lived from January 1, 2012, and departed the universe on December 31, 2012. It has now been replaced by “Bring it,” which means stop talking about what you are going to do. Find your inner madagascar and move it…move it…get to it.” Simply put, be you. Be more. Be Brilliant!

There is no room anymore for the status quo. Your personal brand is on the line and you will have to show up, step up, and over deliver every second of the day. If you can’t “bring it” no one will relate to you or remember you, let alone recommend you—and why should they? Put yourself on the line. As the athletes would say, leave it all on the field. In the “bring it” economy, in the words of Seth Godin, “Small is the new big.” Focus on better by taking small steps everyday instead of racing to get bigger.

Here are the benefits to those who “Bring it:”

You won’t have to ask people to like you on Facebook, follow you on Twitter, or repin your images on Pinterest. They will automatically do it.

Your mind will begin to notice the uncommon in the common.

You attract new relationships that stretch your thinking and expand your capacity to make a bigger difference in the world.

You shift into an environment where you are valued for your contribution instead of for your tolerance for being present.

Yes, my friend, focus and execution is possible when you decide to be confident in the midst of uncertainty. How? By protecting the most important economy—the one between your ears.

Personal Accountability, Shift

Meaningful Work is the New Bottom line

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Professor Teresa Amabile at Harvard School of Business and Independent researcher Steven Kramer did a ten-year study of the 12,000 electronic diary entries from 238 professionals in seven different companies.

They discovered that one third of the entries showed individuals that were unhappy, unmotivated or both. Their research shows that inner work life has a profound impact on workers’ creativity, productivity, commitment and connectivity. When they peeled back the onion to better understand what drives brilliance, they discovered it was meaningful work.

What is meaningful work? It’s being inspired to go above and beyond in what you are doing.

It’s having your head, heart, and hands engaged in an intellectual jigsaw puzzle to solve a problem and create a solution.

It’s working for a leader who understands how to convey the spirit of the mission in addition to the mechanics of the mission.

It’s an individual who wants to take personal ownership for the brand and become it.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor at Harvard Business School said in a recent Harvard Business Review “Great companies identify something larger than transactions or business portfolios to provide purpose and meaning.

Meaning-making is a central function of leaders, and purpose gives coherence to the organization.” I believe that meaning-making is understanding what makes employees tick and employees being in an environment to make a brilliant difference.

Corporations and businesses must reconnect men and women to the meaning of making widgets, selling products, or providing services instead of just making widgets.

This is not a dress rehearsal. You don’t get a do over. If you don’t like what you are doing from 9-5, 3-11, 11-7, then you are missing the meaning of life. Create an exit strategy and find meaning and happiness somewhere else. You are taking up room for someone else that could be 100% engaged. If you like what you do, but no longer like who you work for, then do yourself a favor and create plan to shift gears.

If you are a manager, do you really know how to release the brilliance of your direct reports or motivate them? If not, then ask them the following question in the spirit of the movie Jerry Maguire – Help me Help You – “what can I do to help you release your brilliance?”

If you are an employee, remember that no corporation or place of business is the ultimate utopia. You are responsible for your own meaningful happiness. Find it. No one can give it to you. It will not drop out of the sky like an apple. You will have to roll your sleeves up, open your mind, step out of your comfort zone and stretch yourself.

This sums up the importance of meaningful work…

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: ‘If you live each day like it was your last, someday you’ll certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: If today were my last day of my life would I want to do what I am about to do today? And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know that I need to change something.” Steve Jobs.

Personal & Career Prosperity, Shift

Be Audacious

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Audacious individuals…

Exude positive energy…

Live the brand 24/7…

People want to follow them with or without an official title…

Attract attention in a crowded room without saying anything…

Highly intuitive – always dialed into what is happening real-time…

Are open to expanding their worldview…

Operates with tacit knowledge – They don’t know how or why they know a certain thing, they just know. There is no app that you can download to gain this type of information. It’s way beyond the data.

Something shifts inside of you when you are in their presence.

Agents of change – They are not afraid of change. In fact, they create it.

Audacious individuals are willing to walk alone but are never lonely. Worry is foreign to them since they de-emotionalize themselves by keeping a cool head when surrounded by chaos.

Audacious men and women intentionally feed their spirit with what is possible instead of what is not possible. Knowing that the possibility carries within it, what thought leader, Tony Miller calls the power of fulfillment.

Okay, I will land the plane. Harvey Mackay shares a powerful insight about the Japanese Koi Fish which has unlimited growth potential. When the Koi fish is put into a small fish bowl it will only grow two-three inches.

When it is put into a larger tank or even small pond it will grow six to ten inches.

If placed in even a bigger pond it will grow to one and half feet. Finally, if it is put into a large lake where it can really stretch out, it will grow to three feet. The size of the fish is proportional to the size of its environment.

Audacious men and women like yourself understand they in life and business, you will grow in direct proportion to the size of the environment you choose to live in. Be audacious. What other choice do you really have in a world that craves conformity.

Lead, Love, and Live Brilliantly,

Simon T. Bailey

Release Your Brilliance, Shift

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Get Free Tips on How-to Release Your Brilliance

Movie Review – America: We Still Believe

Be Audacious – This is an Urgent Request

Experience the Six-Week Simon T. Bailey Emerging Leaders Certificate

Vuja de – Think Differently

Change the Channel on Your Tell-A-Vision

Three Tips to Think Differently

Stretch – The Most Important Skill in the 21st Century

Five Ways to Be Confident in the Midst of Uncertainty

Meaningful Work is the New Bottom line

Be Audacious

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