The first month of 2020 has been full of all types of news - good, bad, and extraordinary. The recent news about the passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others is sad beyond words. Regardless of whether you are a fan of basketball, you will find Kobe’s principals inspirational and hopefully will help you think more about “what’s next”.

The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” - Kobe Bryant

We can do something special today for those we appreciate, to inspire people to be great in whatever they want to do. We have the tools and means to do this, regardless of our location.

1. If you love to write, you can do so as a guest, here on my blog.
   I am open to guest authors. Let me know if you are interested. (Reply to this email.)  You can write about the excellence of a person, team or company and why you appreciate them.
   
   
2. Write a recommendation on LinkedIn.
   Even those who work tirelessly to make an impact can benefit from a cheer, and a positive remark. Someone who is a marketer will say “this is a tactic” but I prefer to think as Kobe Bryant to “inspire people to be great”, which goes beyond marketing.
   
   
3. Send a card in the mail via an app on your smartphone. Mail is not dead. In fact, it is more special than ever. Take a look at these options to send a card to your staff, manager, vendor, customer, or prospect:
   
   
   • Felt (Android, iOS)
     Best greeting card service for custom handwriting via stylus or finger
   • Handwrytten (Android, iOS, Web)
     Best greeting card app for automatically mailing customers
   • Ink (Android, iOS)
     Best greeting card app for ordering cards in a hurry
   • Postable (iOS, Web)
     Best greeting card service for variety in selection
   • Punkpost (iOS, Web) – A favorite of mine.
     Best greeting card app for adding extras
   • Thankster (Web)
     Best greeting card app for automatically sending cards in bulk for business

NOTE: If you are not a writer but have thoughts that will inspire others, check out the REV app. You can record the audio and the REV app will then transcribe your audio into text.

As a leader, you will appreciate what Kobe has to say:

Leadership is lonely… I’m not going to be afraid of confrontation to get us to where we need to go. There’s a big misconception where people thinking winning or success comes from everybody putting their arms around each other and singing Kumbaya and patting them on the back when they mess up, and that’s just not reality. If you are going to be a leader, you are not going to please everybody. You have to hold people accountable. Even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable.” – Kobe Bryant

As you grow your understanding and leadership skills, you will feel pain. Not the physical type of pain that Kobe felt as a professional basketball player, but likely emotional pain. You will have doubts and days of anxiety.  Kobe shared his thoughts about this:

Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change. Don’t let it stop you from being who you can be. Exhaustion tells you when you ought to stop. You only reach your limit when you can go no further.” – Kobe Bryant

With each loss I like to find something to keep with me, so that during the sadness, there is also a moment of gratitude for what they brought.

I will be making more invitations to connect with people on LinkedIn if for no other reason than to be grateful for their contribution and make a recommendation.

How about you? What will be something new that you will do?  Please let me know with a comment below!