Vision: Marco YOLO

We've been having some fun with a new catchphrase at conferences - Marco YOLO! Yep, Marco Polo is so five minutes ago. This YOLO stands for You Only Lead Once - a concept that should guide your vision as a leader. The lesson is two fold:

1. The change from polo to YOLO is a fun metaphor for the change effective leaders make in how people talk, label, converse and interact. Leaders don't just help people do better, they help people be better. Many times this transformation begins with improving, sharpening and "classing-up" language. How we speak is a reflection of how we think. Yet, leaders who make an impact understand that how we speak greatly influences how others think.

2. The personal application of YOLO - You Only Lead Once is about total commitment to every opportunity you have to lead today. View each leadership moment as your last and apply full personal resources. Anything less is not leadership; it's averageship. This is not about wearing yourself out all the time. This is about acting on the understanding that the people you lead deserve your best every time.

Marco...