Flip Your Lens

Time and experience have a way of exposing a more well-rounded view.

I started writing a new book over 15 months ago. It began with great enthusiasm and discipline. But unlike my book Building the Best, I didn’t have a deadline. And for someone with a little ADHD, no deadline is a recipe for delay.

While I’m disappointed it isn’t finished and in your hands, the delay has come with some unique benefits. The extra time and experience have provided new principles and ideas that wouldn’t have been included if it had been published a year ago.

One of those ideas came from Barry-Wehmiller CEO and author of Everybody Matters, Bob Chapman. In a recent podcast interview, he said, “The lens through which you see people affects the way you treat people.”

That single line stopped me. Because it’s true in leadership, parenting, marriage, and friendship.

• If you see people as problems, you’ll treat them like obstacles.

• If you see people as tools, you’ll treat them like resources.

• If you see people as an annoyance, you’ll treat them like an itch.

The greatest leaders understand this truth. They see potential where others see problems. They see progress where others see frustration.

The first line of the new book reads, “Positive impact requires leadership. The best part, unlike most human change, all it takes is a moment to flip your lens and look at life through the lens of leadership.” In the Leadership Lens keynote, I asked the room full of 500 people to snap their fingers simultaneously. The room was filled with a loud snap, and I reminded them that’s how quickly you can flip your lens.

So today, take a moment to check your lens and then flip it if necessary. See the best in someone, not just the easiest conclusion. Because the way you see people will always shape the way you treat them.

This will also be my last reminder to finish that book before the end of the year, so you can be inspired by it in 2026.

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