So why dance? Dancing can give you a break from obsessing about your challenge. Your mind will keep trying to work out the problem but on a more subconscious level. It can add up to giving you a solution while you don’t even directly think about the problem.

Of course other activities can be substituted for dancing but just make sure that they are fun.

It’s very disturbing to hear that possibly since 2010, the agency has been putting conservative groups under higher scrutiny. This is a sword that should never be drawn. Regardless of the political disposition of a group, it should not be the given more attention by the IRS.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a tradition. Journalist, Elizabeth MacDonald reports, “But the IRS has an ugly history of conducting political audits and unfairly attacking individuals and nonprofits at the behest of politicians — a history that involves the FDR, Eisenhower, Nixon, Kennedy and Clinton Administrations.”

Even when laws have been strengthened against this kind of abuse, it has still happened. We need to find out what happened in this most recent case and permanently close any loopholes. We can’t have a rouge arm of the government.

I hope you’re enjoying this podcast as much as I enjoy putting it together. Back when I first had the idea, I wanted to give you some good, actionable advice that you could easily consume. Some may remember this video that outlined my vision:

We’ll continue to bring you new episodes every Wednesday. Keeping up with them is easy when you subscribe through iTunes. Click here to make it happen. And while you’re there, why not leave a review and help this podcast grow even bigger.

That could be eating up a lot of your time, time that you could be spending on your big picture goals (also known as the stuff that makes you more money). If this is your work life, no wonder you feel like your productivity should be better.

It’s important to remember that as a leader, you should be making decisions and not searching for solutions. Don’t let your team treat you like a parent. That’s not your role. To Clear the Path to increased productivity, you need to change how you handle these challenges.

Start with making sure that your team understands that if they bring you a problem, they should also bring you some potential solutions. You don’t have to pick one of those options but it should keep you from having to learn about the problem from square one.

It also lets your team know they need to take an active role when confronted by challenges. Let them do some of the mental heavy lifting.

Your role as a leader is to weigh the options, make a decision, or ask for more information.

It’s tempting to think that you need to know everything about everything. This is a trap that will eat huge chunks of your time. If you have a good team, then you should use their talents. By empowering them to think critically, you’ll ultimately make them better employees.

This is also a great way to make yourself bus proof. We’ve discussed this term in the past, regarding how an organization needs to be able to function when the unexpected occurs to a team member and takes that person out of the office.

Still not convinced? Think of it like this: You drive a car every day but do you need to know how each part works? You pay a mechanic to worry about that stuff, while you focus on driving. On the job, let someone else look “under the hood,” while you plot your destination.

Don’t fall into the trap of letting your present experiences cloud your mind about the potential the future holds. The skies will clear.

The problem is rock stars coming late to their own shows. The latest case happened in Boston where singer, Rihianna, was three hours late for the performance. There were no warm up bands so fans had to just wait.

Not long ago, Madonna arrived three and a half hours late for a show in Miami. Was she on west coast time?

Teen sensation, Justin Bieber, also got in the act by hitting the stage nearly three hours late at a concert in Germany.

While this is not a national (or international) nightmare, it’s a troublesome epidemic of impoliteness.

Concerts are not cheap and fans go to have a memorable experience. It shouldn’t feel like the Department of Motor Vehicles.

I’m sure in all of these cases, there was a time when the singers were begging people to hear them. Success should not equal tardiness.

Is this simply a case of the stars being able to get away with bad behavior? Perhaps, but if you look at a Billboard Chart from 5-10 years ago, you’ll notice that music acts come and go over time. Why not be remembered as the performer who cherished the fans?

This weekly podcast will change the way you approach challenges at work and at home. A new edition of the 2 Minute Takeaway Podcast comes out every Wednesday. You’ll never miss an episode when you subscribe through iTunes. Click here to make it happen. And while you’re there, why not leave a review and help this podcast grow.

As frequent readers know, my home state of Florida suffers from a lot of road debris, which means a certain amount of flat tires. I recently discovered a nail in one of my tires and went to my nearby tire merchant for some repairs.

While I was the only customer at the place (the chain we’ll call, “Round Rubber Royalty”), it seemed like it was taking a while to look up my tire history and give me an estimate on the repairs. While I didn’t say anything about the slow service, the clerk volunteered some information.

“We just got a new computer system,” he said. “It freezes up a lot.”

My reply was a simple, “Oh really,” but that was enough to open the floodgates.

“And nobody knows how to use it,” another clerk eagerly added. “Even our IT Department. They were never trained on it so they don’t know what to tell us when we call for help.”

“The big change they (meaning the big bosses, I assume) wanted was for the monitor to be able to swivel, so our customers could see what’s on the screen,” the first one said while laughing. “So now, we can swivel the monitor to show the customer that the screen is frozen.”

I nodded and waited for my critically damaged tire to be replaced. During this time, I thought what I had learned from this classic case of oversharing information about an organization’s shortcomings. It’s obvious that this company is being blocked by several obstacles. Here are some ways they can Clear the Path of these problems:

Loose Tongues Do Not Inspire Confidence: If something is wrong with the computers, apologize and move on. It’s rare that someone wants to know the history of the device, especially when it’s bad news.

You’ll get extra credit if, when you mention a problem, you also say what’s being done to find a solution. The customer wants results, not a chance to hear what’s wrong with your process.

It’s Them Versus Us:Your company culture may be totally dysfunctional but do I need to know this? People expect an organization to function appropriately. Would you want to go to a restaurant where the chef throws meat cleavers at the hostess?

From my tire experience, there seemed to be a lack of communication between those who think up ideas and the ones who implement them. Make sure these people are on the same page.

Be Relentless In Pursuit of Solutions The thing that was disturbing about my experience was that an ongoing problem was accepted. Fixing a problem should be everyone’s priority and part of every position.

If you are a front line employee, tell your supervisor. If nothing happens, tell him or her again. Yes, you may become annoying but in the big picture, is it better for the supervisor to be annoyed or the customer?

If you are a branch manager and the corporate office isn’t listening to you, then change your pitch. It’s one thing to say that the computers are not working. It’s another to explain how much the problem is affecting customers. Quantify how long the sales process is being delayed and if you think any business is being lost. Make the problem, real, from a dollars and cents perspective.

Bottom Line: People don’t pay you for your problems.

The lines are a starting point and a safety net for those who don’t know what to do. In almost every case, they are not a rule.

Don’t be afraid to venture past these guidelines into new territory. Life can be a lot more fun when you learn to ignore the lines.

For those who use a 3rd party site like, Expedia.com, you’ll be charged a fee of $25-100 per carry-on bag (the amount is based on when you pay). While space in the seat in front of you is still free, it’s not a whole lot of space. Especially when you consider that people who fly, often need to take a few pairs of socks with them. And pray that Grandma doesn’t give her grandchildren any gifts that might not fit below the seat.

If you use Frontier’s booking system, you won’t be charged for carry on bags. Of course, you might be be paying more for the ticket than what you’d shell out if booked through a 3rd party site. Airline leadership says the new strategy will reward loyal customers. I might add that it will, “punish” new ones or those looking to save their family a few bucks.

The plan seems like nothing more than a shell game where the traveler will have to “pay the man” in frustration. Frontier, a budget carrier, shouldn’t be making a money grab at customers.

This weekly podcast will change the way you approach challenges at work and at home. A new edition of the 2 Minute Takeaway Podcast comes out every Wednesday. You’ll never miss an episode when you subscribe through iTunes. Click here to make it happen. And while you’re there, why not leave a review and help this podcast grow.

You may find him in a hallway with a towel and a bottle of windex, saying, “I’m looking for smudges,” as he stares at a window or a glass door.

George has redefined his job to the point that he literally has the most job security of anyone in his organization. The office he cleans is spotless and it’s because everything he does is built around looking for smudges.

For many of his counterparts, cleaning an office is about getting rid of the mess. For them, that’s perfectly fine.

But George is different. He views clutter like a doctor looks at an infection. He gets rid of it and then makes sure “the patient” doesn’t get sick again. George doesn’t look for a mess to clean up. His focus is on keeping things clean. So you’ll find him searching out the first sign of smudges.

In your company, are you focused on cleaning up messes or are you looking to keep things clean? If you want to Clear the Path to increased productivity, you need to understand the difference.

Cleaning up a mess means that you are always reacting to situations. There is no time for long range planning. You go from one emergency to the next. You come to accept the mess and mean to get around to cleaning it one of these days.

George would say that cleaning up a mess is just phase one. After that, you need to make sure that things never get dirty again. George does long range planning armed only with a bottle of windex.

He knows that on a certain glass door, people tend to leave handprints. George looks for the smudges and removes them before anyone else even notices them. George knows his marketplace, anticipates needs, and executes a clear plan of action. He does all of these things without a minute of overtime.

Why aren’t you looking for smudges?