Effective on Purpose with Geoff Welch
Geoff Welch is on a mission to help leaders defeat distraction and overcome overwhelm so they can deploy the majority of their time, energy, and focus on their most valuable work. His unique ability to help these busy professionals get out of their own way and distill complex challenges into accessible actions has made him a trusted resource for decision-makers across the country. Effective on Purpose is an expansion to his weekly e-mail series, The Sunday Setup, adding depth and texture to his challenging and inspiring messages.
Episodes
November 26, 2023 • 17 mins
Thanksgiving was a few days ago here in the US and I’m intentionally ringing this bell AFTER the holiday because I want to reinforce that the act of giving thanks should be a consistent practice, not an annual event.
Considering the things you are thankful for changes your brain chemistry for the better and elevates your perspective above the immediate circumstances you are navigating. I have yet to me...
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November 19, 2023 • 13 mins
The Thanksgiving holiday is this week in the US and I’m guessing many of you are gearing up for one or two extra days off.
Enjoy! You could probably use the rest.
Turn the computer off. Bake a pie. Stop checking your email on your phone. Watch some football. Forget about work for a minute. Read a book.
The impact you hope to make demands that you rest and renew fr...
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November 12, 2023 • 14 mins
I want you to consider something you want. Maybe it is a promotion, an experience, or an object.
Do you have something in mind?
Okay, now I want you to think about the kind of person who already has that thing.
What is different about the way they ACT and the way you ACT? Skip the part about how their circumstances are different and focus on their actio...
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November 5, 2023 • 14 mins
I used to think it was the role of a leader to diffuse tension.
When tempers flared or circumstances became overwhelming, it was the leader's job to turn down the dial on the tension so that everyone could operate with less stress and frustration.
It sounds good on the surface, but sometimes we actually need a leader to turn the tension up.
Exercise is ...
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October 29, 2023 • 10 mins
I was recently at an event that featured a boxed lunch for each participant. Upon opening my lunch I discovered my box contained an objectively horrifying flavor of chips called “jalapeño.”
(It might be important to understand that I really don’t like flavor of almost any variety)
I told my neighbor that I had an extra bag of chips if they wanted them. They replied that jalapeñ...
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October 22, 2023 • 11 mins
I was recently talking with a prospective client – who is an incredibly successful professional – and they told me the saddest story about a meeting they once had with their boss.
In this meeting, they shared with their leader an aspiration to advance to a specific role in their organization, a revelation that was met with a profoundly inspirational response: “oh, you won’t be able to do that.”
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October 15, 2023 • 14 mins
There is a black and white photo of me that has been famous in my family for better than 40 years. It features a 3-year old me holding a stick with some fishing line attached to the end (weighted down with a metal nut) over a mud puddle at a camp site somewhere in Alaska.
It’s adorable, of course, but a few things probably immediately surface around how effective I might have been “fishing” that day.&n...
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October 8, 2023 • 11 mins
If there is one valuable thing that I’ve learned from intersecting with trashy reality television, it is that delusional people are geniuses at insulating themselves from reality.
You show me a person who is convinced of an off-the-wall idea – or someone that is swimming in drama while believing none of it is their fault – and I’ll show you a battalion of people around them who are all nodding th...
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October 1, 2023 • 7 mins
Imagine yourself at the starting line of a speed skating race. The buzzer sounds to announce the start of the race and you promptly fall on your face.
It’s over. Give up. Go home. Right?
This was the premise of a video I recently watched on LinkedIn, but as the race unfolded I was fascinated by how the skater in question leveraged an advantage hidden inside the apparent disadvantage and foun...
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September 24, 2023 • 11 mins
As unpopular messages go, this might be the grand slam of unpopular messages.
But, if you really want to go further, faster and take your effectiveness to a new level, it’s an important one. Just stick with me for a few more seconds.
When there is a project or relationship that just isn’t working, the most effective among us are willing to ask themselves, “am I the problem?”
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September 20, 2023 • 41 mins
In this BONUS episode, my incredible assistant, Trúc, and I riff on the importance of delegation, the value of working with an assistant, and how we got started together.
This conversation is for YOU if:
you are worried that your inability to delegate is reducing your capacity for impact
OR
you are curious about how an assistant could help you elevate your impact
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September 17, 2023 • 12 mins
There is going to be a moment, certainly this week, likely tomorrow, in which you will want to convince someone of something. Perhaps you will want them to partner with you on a project or simply order take-out from your favorite restaurant.
The (often failed) approach most people take is to express all the reasons their solution makes sense TO THEM. They will talk about what they feel or the research ...
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September 10, 2023 • 11 mins
If you are looking for a great way to fail, just try to change everything all at once and see how it goes.
Whether you are trying to change your eating habits, improve organizational culture, or become a stronger leader, making widespread, wholesale changes all at once isn’t always an effective path to take.
Instead, where appropriate, you could try making small changes t...
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September 4, 2023 • 12 mins
Here is a completely simple way to increase your influence and help others reach new heights: be like Moriah.
Two or three times a year I get an email from Moriah in response to one of the messages I share and every one of them is like one of those power-up mushrooms that make Mario double in size.
They are short, they reference something specific that made a difference f...
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August 27, 2023 • 12 mins
Here’s a simple and effective way to change your career over the next 12 months: invite someone you appreciate professionally to lunch once a month.
It’s easy, just send a text or an email that goes something like this:
“Hey, PERSON, I really admire the way you go about your work and I’m hoping you will let me buy you lunch to chat about your career path.”
Flesh i...
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August 20, 2023 • 11 mins
Here’s a perspective shift that might melt your brain: When you say “yes” to something, you say “no” to EVERYTHING else. But when you say “no” to something, you’ve only eliminated one possibility.
(This is, of course, assuming you are bound to the same 24-hour day as the rest of us and have to allocate chunks of time you will never ever get back to specific pursuits. If you have transcended time and sp...
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August 13, 2023 • 13 mins
If you’ve ever woken up, looked out the window at unappealing weather, and immediately felt like the day was off to a lackluster start, well, congratulations, you are a person.
Most of us have been there, and yet, it’s worth considering how much power over our outlook and mindset that we give to things we cannot control, like the weather…or the Yankees.
Listen, I love sunny day...
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August 6, 2023 • 12 mins
I want to make a deal with you. Right now.
From now on, come hell or high water, you and I don’t do overwhelm alone.
I understand there are a thousand reasons why it feels like you can’t ask for help, or why your circumstances are so special that no one else will understand, but none of it is real. It’s a trap.
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July 30, 2023 • 10 mins
When my dog, Bernie, tangled with a pickup truck in 2020, he found himself in surgery to have one of his legs amputated. In the aftermath of that surgery he had a significant array of stitches lining his hip and was forced to spend many days with a cone around his head to prevent him from licking the stitches.
It turns out that dogs don’t have the cognitive abilities to know that licking their st...
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July 26, 2023 • 10 mins
Only a tiny percentage of projects are going to work exactly as you expect.
Here’s the weird part: most people know this, like in their bones they know it, and yet they are still surprised and frustrated when the unexpected shows up.
That’s kind of like being flabbergasted that the sun came up AGAIN today or that small children will need to use the bathroom at the most inconven...
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