I often read authors and hear speakers who warn their audiences not to read or watch the news. Why? Because newspapers and news shows are so full of negativity. While this is certainly true, the advice is neither practical nor prudent.

The same folks who say we shouldn’t pay attention to the news do recommend reading lots of positive, upbeat material from self-help books and other sources. While I agree with this recommendation, it doesn’t go far enough.

Leaders need both information and inspiration. Information is basically neutral. We evaluate it and make a value judgment: this is good news or bad news, positive or negative.

If you are a homebuilder, news about housing starts being down isn’t–in your frame of reference–good news. It is, however, important information. Denying the reality doesn’t make it go away.

What’s happening around us shapes our strategies and tactics from operations to pricing to hiring. To ignore reality (much of which is negative) is dangerous. The goal for an effective leader is to be informed, and that requires accurate information that describes reality, both the good and the bad.

Inspiration is what encourages us to constructively use information. Inspiration is both the counterbalance to negativity and the impetus to move forward rather than give up.

Where should you be getting your inspiration? The sources are broad and include classic literature, self-help and religious writings as well as speakers, thought-leaders and clergy.

The danger of information is that we can become overwhelmed by the challenges it conveys and become blind to the opportunities. Orison Swett Marden, one of the earliest writers in the self-help genre, said, “Difficulties are great or small in proportion as you are great or small.” Inspiration wisely acquired and considered equips us to be greater leaders.

Information can create fear but inspiration creates courage.

Information describes what is happening but inspiration determines how we respond.

Information gives us ideas but inspiration is the fuel for acting upon those ideas.

For effective leadership, information and inspiration are inseparable. Information without inspiration can be oppressive but inspiration without information can be foolish. By considering and consuming both, we can become better.

This time of year the use of “landscape” is often used figuratively for considering the present and future. What lies on the horizon? What dots the leadership landscape?

That’s not the way I’m using it. By landscape I mean the literal view of your surroundings.

I’m looking out the window of our new offices. I can see Denver 17 miles to the North, the Tech Center and the distant mountains. From my second floor office, the view is extraordinary.

My old office didn’t afford me such a view. Today I’m reminded how one’s literal view can inspire and elevate.

That doesn’t necessarily mean moving to a new office on a higher floor. How we furnish our offices or workspaces–with personal mementos, art, icons, etc.–can change our mindset. The choice of colors and finishes in our surroundings affect us as well.

I’ve long been an advocate of finding an inspiring thinking space. For me it is an area 20 minutes from my old office with a panoramic view of the Front Range. Sometimes we can create that space where we work, but sometimes we need to transport ourselves there.

As you think about the coming year, consider your leadership landscape. What can you do to simultaneously improve your view and your mindset?

According to an article in USA Today, a Dutch psychologist investigated the differences between chess masters and grand chess master.

He found no difference in IQ, memory or spatial reasoning.

The only difference he could identify: the grand masters simply loved chess more. He concluded that they had more passion about and commitment to the game.

I’ve observed that you don’t have to love what you do to be very good at it. I know very competent and successful individuals who have developed the skills to succeed at their work and who by their own admission see what they do as a means to an end. They don’t love their work, nor are they passionate about it. They are, however, very good at it.

But when it comes to greatness, I intuitively agree with the Dutch researcher. The inspired performers, the uber achievers and the grand masters of life seem to share a common difference. They simply love what they do a little bit more.

Love is the difference.

Reader Nancy Wright submitted the following story after reading the January issue of my ezine.

“I just read your latest ezine and the article “Live like Fred” has spurred me to share this experience with you. I was standing in the back of my church during a service several weeks ago and noticed one of our ushers “living like Fred” (although she would have no idea what that meant). Our ushers hand out programs to people who enter the service. Included in the program is an outline that people can fill in during the sermon. This particular usher would fill out the outlines as far as the pastor had gotten so that anyone entering the service late would know where they were in the service and would not have missed any of the teaching points. This woman only has sight in one eye, and it is somewhat limited at that.  So for her to hurry to fill in those programs for late arrivers is truly a remarkable thing.

I was inspired (and told her so). The notion of “living like Fred” is very powerful and I will endeavor to live that way myself!”

Thanks for sharing, Nancy!

How quickly the past decade has passed. What have I learned?

Here are some of the things I’m thinking about at the close of this decade:

The quantity of information we consume and process does not equal the quality of our learning or our lives. In his book, The Cult of the Amateur, author Andrew Keen says that while the internet has helped the democratization of information the downside is that we live in an age of uncredentialed creativity.  Just having a medium to share ideas and opinions doesn’t necessarily make them useful or even valid; it is harder than ever before to separate faction from fiction and history from hyperbole.

We can be smarter but not wiser. What makes us wiser isn’t just learning but in remembering what we’ve learned and applying it.

I’ve never lost any money I gave away. When there is a downturn in the economy and investments are negative, it is a stark reminder that money invested in others is the safest investment of all.

Speed can be insidious. I recently read that young people are writing more words than ever, but they’re writing them faster. Think about the dramatic increase in texting. This haste causes poorer word choice. If we want to write better, we need to slow down.  A similar case can be made for how we live. Haste not only makes waste but it diminishes the quality of just about everything significant, from the written to personal relationships.

We can often accomplish more by doing less. That means eliminating the superfluous and unimportant activities that serve as a kind of anesthesia. Staying busy might make us feel productive but only achieving important results makes us productive.

We are saying more but communicating less. So much of what passes for public dialogue is nothing more than diatribe. The vitriol of those who disagree is so off-putting that thinking people see little reason to advance ideas. Someone recently observed, “More than being told to respect everyone’s opinions, we’re being told not to form our own opinions.” Disagreement too often comes coupled with contempt. Why? Could it be that people are so insecure in their own thinking that they feel threatened by those who h old opposing viewpoints? We learn nothing from name-calling, labeling and vilifying those with contrary ideas.

Fame is about the attention you get but greatness is about the contribution you make. Some are so consumed with the need for attention they fake emergencies and crash presidential parties. They are passing footnotes in the cult of celebrity. So many people are doing such great work and receiving so little attention. The man, woman or child who quietly serves will rarely be recognized with front page coverage or a show. But we need to remind ourselves and our children that greatness is its own reward.  Aristotle wouldn’t have considered fame as answer to “What makes for a good life?”

I am always happier when I focus on what I have instead of what I don’t have. Life isn’t an either/or game. The blessings are mixed with burdens and we need to acknowledge both but we can choose where we focus our attention.

Jewely Del Duca is an elementary teacher for Littleton Public Schools. In general, I believe teachers are remarkable people, but Jewely even more so. She has stage 4 cancer, and despite the pain, continues to teach her students each day. She wants to impart important lessons not just about academics but about life. For her remarkable story, click here.