Leadership

• 
  HarvardBusiness.org

• Is Your Business Ready for H1N1?

  Harvard Business IdeaCast

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:26 am

  Featured Guest: Dr. Robert Blendon, professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kennedy School of Government. RELATED:Business Preparedness for Pandemic: Executive Briefing for Corporate and Governmental Decision Makers More than 200 corporate and government leaders came together at Harvard Medical School in Boston to learn about the most effective practices in preparing for a pandemic. This report captures the key takeaways from this leadership summit.

• Can We Simplify Financial Regulation?

  Ron Ashkenas

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

  There's a common saying that you never pay attention to your electricity provider unless the lights don't come on. Well, it's the same thing with the various regulatory systems throughout the world. For the most part, they tend to be invisible, unless there's a problem. Unfortunately, over the past year the financial regulatory system has been extremely visible, and not in a good way. As the post-mortems on the economic downturn continue, regulatory bodies are being put in the spotlight. Why didn't they prevent the crisis or at least send early warning signals? How did the examiners allow…

• How to Ask for Help — Without Looking Stupid

  Jodi Glickman Brown

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:24 am

  Last week, more evidence emerged in the Securities and Exchange Commission's debacle over the mishandling of the Bernie Madoff über-fraud. While the SEC failed repeatedly to uncover the greatest Ponzi scheme in our country's history ($50 billion and counting), the New York Times revealed a tale of "unseasoned people uncertain about what to do and unwilling to ask for help." But learning how to ask for help — and how to do it right — is critical to doing your job well and setting yourself up for success. You may be afraid of looking dumb, but to be afraid to ask for and get the…

• When Should You Let an Employee Make a Mistake?

  Peter Bregman

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:43 pm

  "Put my training wheels back on," Sophia said in a stern tone, "Or I'm not going to ride my bike!" She had just turned four that day and wanted to learn to ride a bike like her older sister. Now she wasn't so sure. After a lot of encouraging and a little stubbornness of my own, she was willing to try. We agreed to practice 15 minutes a day until she got it. A couple of days later we weren't getting anywhere. It's not that she wasn't trying, it's just that she didn't seem to be able to get her balance on her own. Then it dawned on me: I was getting in the way. I didn't want my baby girl to get…

• Washington Must Help the U.S. Regain the Lead in Manufacturing

  Deborah L. Wince-Smith

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:41 pm

  The federal government can and should play a much bigger role in helping American companies regain the lead in manufacturing. We need to invest a commensurate amount of federal R&D dollars in advanced manufacturing technologies as we do in other areas of science, technology, and engineering. The last administration created an assistant secretary for manufacturing in the Commerce Department, but that position really didn't come with any significant resources, and that's still true. There is some government investment in manufacturing R&D. For example, the National Institute of Standards and…

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  Forbes.com: Managing news and reports

• How Do You Lead When All The News Is Bad?

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  To start with, communicate, empathize, make some sacrifices and communicate more.

• Here's What Executives Can Learn From Great Athletes

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:34 am

  They have what both they and you need to make it at the top.

• John Portman: Why I Am Successful

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:26 pm

  The renowned architect describes what five decades in business have taught him.

• Three Myths About Business In China

  27 Oct 2009 | 1:34 pm

  Some things everyone knows are no longer true.

• Why You Shouldn't Hire A Perfect Job Candidate

  22 Oct 2009 | 12:22 pm

  It means you're holding out for someone who will probably be both overpaid and bored.

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  SmartBrief on Leadership

• Man turns up alive at his own funeral

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  A Brazilian bricklayer stunned friends and family by wandering into his own funeral.  -More- Chief Financial Officer Members First Credit Union - Manchester NH

• Spending big bucks can stifle brainwaves

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Pledging to spend large amounts of money on innovation efforts can actually make it harder for companies to achieve their goa -More- 

• Fast-food giant aims for cultural overhaul

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Yum!  -More- 

• Financial firewall could tame mammoth banks

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  When banks get too big to fail, it's time to break them up, writes Nouriel Roubini.  -More- 

• How Steve Jobs turned corporate America upside down

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Steve Jobs, Apple's mercurial CEO, came back from career oblivion -- and survived two brushes with death -- to turn the busin -More- 

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  Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog @ LeadershipNow

• Leading Views: Winning Hearts and Minds

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:30 pm

  Smart people with great credentials often self-destruct because they fail to connect with the people they are trying to influence. Both teachers and leaders must win the hearts and minds of those they lead. Without an emotional connection, both students and employees are just getting through the day. Leaders must learn to focus on the human side if they are to be effective. In Fierce Leadership author Susan Scott shares the difference between good teachers and bad teachers: What makes for a bad teacher? Things like rigid control, broadcasting from the front of the room, and yes/no,…

• Nestlé's Paul Bulcke on Staying the Course

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:53 am

  Paul Bulcke became chief executive of Nestlé SA in April 2008. An inauspicious time to take over the world's largest food company. Deborah Ball reports on an interview with Bulcke. In the short (2:35 min) video embeded below, he reflects on being authentic, developing a culture of competitive intensity and making people feel they have ownership. He says, “If your strategy is right, stick to the strategy. Maintain your inspiration which is long term, but do act short term.” Here is a brief excerpt from the article: WSJ: What is the worst piece of management advice you've received on how…

• First Look: Leadership Books for November 2009

  1 Nov 2009 | 10:57 pm

  Here's a look at some of the best leadership books to be released in November.   Derailed: Lessons Learned from Leaders Who Failed by Tim Irwin   Design of Business: How Design Thinking Creates Competitive Advantage by Roger L. Martin   Everything Counts: 52 Remarkable Ways to Inspire Excellence and Drive Results by Gary Ryan Blair   Grow from Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation by Robert Wolcott and Michael J. Lippitz   You Are What You Choose: The Habits of Mind that Really Determine How We Make Decisions by Scott de Marchi and James T.

• LeadershipNow 140: October 2009 Compilation

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:25 am

  Here are a selection of tweets from October 2009: Effective crisis leadership is really imagining a future that brings you beyond the status quo ~Ron Dufresne, St Joseph’s Univ We're Governed by Callous Children http://bit.ly/3GerXd RT @hulmevision: “People in distress will sometimes prefer a problem that is familiar to a solution that is not” | Neil Postman RT @MargieMcKinney: "The secret of being boring is to say everything." ~Voltaire In order to lead and influence others, we have to be available and intentional in our relationships. ~Becky Robinson @LeaderTalk http://bit.ly/M7vli…

• Newswire: Our Leadership Today

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pm

      I would like to direct you to some good weekend reading. Financial Times columnist Stefan Stern, writes about the paradox of managing change. Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, writes about how leaders are not offering a new path, they are only offering old paths and its effect on society. And finally, in the U.S. News & World Report, David Gergen reflects on our leaders and suggests that if we can retain the spirit of the early republic, giants may walk among us again. Failing to Cope With Change?by Stefan Stern, Financial TimesStefan Stern shares a comment from a…

• 
  Management-Issues : News

• Why some people succeed more than others

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  When was the last time you wrote out a goals list? If you can't remember or if you've never written down your goals, today is a good day to do it. The principle here is that you will go where you're focused, and the process of writing goals gets you focused.

• A Tribute to Derek Torres

  30 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  The team at Management-Issues would like to pay a special tribute to our blogger Derek Torres who died in Paris on Tuesday night.

• The £15 billion black hole

  30 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  Poor customer service is costing UK businesses an astonishing £15.3 billion a year. So what does "poor service" mean in practise? And what can orgainsations do to provide better service?

• Who's afraid of your opinion?

  29 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  Why do organisations make such an effort to seek out the opinions of those working for them, only to reject them out of hand? Perhaps it is because seeking opinion from the floor is something that undermines the myth of executive authority.

• Moving beyond survival

  28 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  With new research highlighting a sharp decline in employee commitment - particularly among top performers - isn't it time organisations stopped cost-cutting and lay-offs and started to plan for the future?

• 
  How to Change the World

• The 19 bloggers Inc. thinks you should read

  GuyKawasaki

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

  Inc. named 19 bloggers that you should read. We’ve aggregated them all in one place: Inc19.alltop.

• How to Get Found

  GuyKawasaki

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:29 pm

  The reality is that people and technology is getting better and better a blocking out unwanted interruptions—aka, “marketing.” Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, and he explains in my post on the American Express Open Forum “how to get found.” It’s all about creating great stuff and letting Google et al do what they do: find great stuff.

• How I tweet

  GuyKawasaki

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:47 am

  By popular demand (and some complaints), I’ve done a FAQ with myself about how I tweet. Hope this helps you use Twitter for your business too. I explain how I use ghostwriters and why I repeat my tweets among other “unusual” practices.

• Current Twitter Demo Script

  GuyKawasaki

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:26 am

  This is the set of links that I used to demo Twitter by going down through this list to show why Twitter is such a valuable marketing tool. Introduction Home page Profile page Monitor Search Guy Kawasaki or Alltop Starbucks VIA introduction Search for “Prius” or “Civic” Sell Dell Outlet Kogi BBQ Support Comcast Cares Engage JetBlue Virgin America Fandango Prospect Camaro Camaro near Palo Alto Advanced searches Surfing or skateboarding (shows how to eliminate extraneous results such as “surfing the web” How I Tweet - Find Alltop MyAlltop helped me find this.

• How to Avoid Twitter Cluelessness

  GuyKawasaki

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:24 pm

  Over at the American Express Open Forum blog, I explain how to not look clueless on Twitter. The first five ways are: Don’t tell other people how to tweet. Don’t tell the world that you unfollowed someone. Don’t ask people why they unfollowed you. Don’t constantly tweet mundane updates and babble. Don’t use a small picture for an avatar. To read all ten and why they impugn your intelligence, click here.

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  Women's Leadership Exchange Blog

• Change the World by Changing the Gender Gap

  31 Oct 2009 | 10:45 am

  Mathematics and statistics used to be boring to me. Then, my husband introduced me to the TV Show “Num3rs,” which is about how mathematics helps solve crimes. It’s an engaging show, based on true stories, about 2 brothers, one a mathematician and the other an FBI agent, who combine their work effectively to successful solutions, even sometimes saving lives. Recently “Num3rs” has interjected a female mathematician, also the love interest, who gets to show her prowess, solidly disputing former Harvard University President Larry Summers’ claim that “women aren’t good at math and…

• Reinventing How You Sell

  25 Oct 2009 | 6:03 am

  Recently I attended a workshop presented by Tony Smith, CEO of VSA Consulting Group,one of the best business coaches I've ever had. Tony had a tremendous impact in my growing my marketing communications company prior to my founding Women's Leadership Exchange. He also gave me the tools I needed to realize my dreams of impacting the growth of women-owned/led businesses which resulted in the creation of WLE. If Tony is presenting, I never want to miss it. I always gain tremendous value. His presentation was entitled "Loving, Learning, and Mastering the Art of Selling." Tony asked us…

• Do Women Know Their Place?

  9 Oct 2009 | 9:08 am

  Today's headlines reminded me AGAIN that things are far from equal in the power suites of America. What's worse is so many men are not even aware of the language they use. It just comes naturally to them. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was told by the National Republican Congressional Committee that she needed to be put "in her place"for her views on Afghanistan. I'm sorry to say I remember being told that on various occasions when I was growing up. I was told that I needed to know "my place" in speaking out in a man's world. Leadership positions in the real world were just not for women,…

• It Seems We All Need Anger Management

  16 Sep 2009 | 4:26 pm

  After writing in my blog about Serena's on-court outburst and post-apology, it seemed everything I read is about yet another celeb or high-profile person flaring up with anger! We all know it started with Joe Wilson on the floor of the house during the President's speech. Then it was Kanye West grabbing the mike and rudely interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech claiming Beyonce deserved to win more. Of course, the media was abuzz about Jon saying he despised Kate, mother of his eight kids. And then to top it all off my beloved Yankees got in a physical fight on the field at the new…

• Serena Williams Grand Slams An Apology

  15 Sep 2009 | 5:36 am

  If you are a tennis fan, you probably didn't miss the surprising scene on the courts of the US OPEN during the women's semi-finals. If you are not a fan, you missed seeing one of the world's greatest tennis players, Serena Williams yell at a lineswoman when she didn't agree with a call at a most critical moment. Serena didn't just yell, she volted electricity right through the TV screen. This morning, the sports page reported Serena's apology. This was good news for leadership. The fact that one of the greatest female athletes, a leader in the sports world, and certainly a role model to so…

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  Learned On Women by Andrea Learned

• Bridging Gender, Consumer Behavior & Social Responsibility

  Andrea

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  A few trends are aligning that have already and individually been making a difference in the world of marketing.   They have to do with consumer gender, corporate responsibility and values-based humans (as consumers and employees).  While addressing these will be challenging for marketers, I believe it will be worth it.  What those trends represent is likely to be the most rewarding business and cultural shift we’ll experience in our lifetimes. The separate trends I see now combining to cause that shift include: 1) A new perspective on gender, and how it influences consumer behavior.

• Open Your Feminine Mind To The Power of Sustainability

  Andrea

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:36 am

  What if I told you that one of the most successful converts from traditional manufacturing to sustainable manufacturing had a big clue for you?  Would your brand take an interest in more seriously committing to a sustainable business approach?  One more question: what if changing your ways had to do with moving your mind toward its more feminine sensibilities? Here’s what that convert, Ray C. Anderson, Founder and Chairman of Interface (and well-known sustainability proponent) writes of male/female, left/right brain thinking in the afterword to his book, Mid-course Correction (in…

• Consumer Gender and Corporate Social Responsibility

  Andrea

  14 Oct 2009 | 8:54 am

  Since about 2001, this marketing to women path I’ve been on has been an interesting ride.  Where I expected to get more and more focused on the ‘business” end, I have instead gone broader and broader with the “whys” of gendered consumer behavior.  If I think about my background and life experiences, it makes sense. I never take the direct route or explore the front and center.  As I suggested in my most recent newsletter article* – my “focus” tends to be the out-of-focus, or the peripheral.  While it can be easily missed, what’s coming…

• Random Notes: Gender/VCs, Parenting Teens, Eco-Invites

  Andrea

  9 Oct 2009 | 8:04 am

  1)  Businessweek recently posted an interesting piece by Jeff Bussgang (note: male perspective) on gender and leadership in the VC realm.  In it, he offered up several ways to look at sexism in that field – which then launched some engaging discussion in the comments (and yes, I added my two cents).  Bussgang closes with this wise observation: I guess when you have a clubby, tightly-woven, self-perpetuating network, it’s hard for women to break in. It’s a stubborn phenomenon, but I hope we can figure out how to correct it. Otherwise, our industry is tragically losing out on 50%…

• VPR Commentary: The Rise of the Citizen Consumer

  Andrea

  6 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am

  I was inspired by a recent Time magazine article to consider the new power of the “citizen consumer ” in my October 5th VPR Commentary.   I celebrate this new responsibility revolution in my own buying, but I’d also suggest that marketers take heed. The way a person makes purchase decisions is influenced by much more than price these days. A few of the things I say: The key point I took from the survey included in the [Time magazine] article was that consumers are starting to look at provenance: where the products come from and how they get to the marketplace. The consuming…

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  Great Leadership

• 10 Ways to Get the Most from a 360 Degree Leadership Assessment

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pm

  A 360 degree leadership assessment is one of the most effective ways to get feedback from your employees, peers, and managers against a set of pre-defined leadership competencies.Having debriefed these for hundreds of managers, and taken a number of different 360s myself, I’ve discovered some best practices that have worked for me and others.Here are 10 tips for getting the most value from a 360 degree leadership assessment:1. Mentally prepare yourself.You have to go into these things with the right frame of mind. Don’t get all worked up dreading the results and hoping no one says…

• The November 1st Leadership Development Carnival

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:48 am

  Welcome to the day after Halloween, too much candy hangover, take the leftovers to work, full moon, November 1st edition of the Leadership Development Carnival.There's no bottom of the treat bag dum-dums in this edition - nothing but full-size snicker bars.So grab your candy bag and get ready to fill it up with some sweet advice, opinions, and ideas from some of your favorite leadership bloggers. You can also follow many of these bloggers on Twitter by using this Twitter group, courtesy of Becky Robinson. We lead off with Wally Bock presenting Let’s hear it for the role models posted at…

• How to Infuse Coaching Skills into a Manager

  29 Oct 2009 | 4:20 pm

  After taking the recent Talent Management Challenge, a reader commented:“Suggestion for your next blog post - How do you improve career coaching and development at your organization when your managers are bad at it and don't have time to get better (ha - and they don't think they need to get better, nor do they have the time!)?”The reader was referring to solid, beyond a shadow of a doubt research that says managers, in general, are lousy at coaching and developing their people.As if that fact isn’t depressing enough, what makes it even worse is a whole body of other research that…

• Great Leadership 2 Year Anniversary Celebration!

  28 Oct 2009 | 3:58 pm

  Two years ago today, October 28, 2007, I launched Great Leadership. 445 posts and counting.Once again I'm going to skip the usual lengthy reflections, "best of" lists, and thanking the members of the academy. 95% of my readers would find it boring, and there would be just way too many people to thank. The one thing I did want to share is an answer to a question my blogging friend Scott Eblin asked me over a year ago. Scott's an executive coach, and probably because he just can't help himself, he asked me one of those deep, reflective questions that good coaches often do - "So tell me Dan,…

• Leading with Courage: Run Toward the Roar

  27 Oct 2009 | 4:48 pm

  Guest post by Emmett C. Murphy:When antelopes hear the sound of a lion’s roar their instinct tells them to run in the opposite direction. Doing so, however, means they run to almost certain death because lions expect their prey to do just that. The male of the pride anticipates where the antelope will run while the lionesses lie in ambush opposite the male. When the lion roars, a startled antelope runs directly into the jaws of the waiting lionesses.When faced with threats to our happiness or security, we humans all too often run away from the “roar” of daily life only to find, later,…

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  800 CEO Read Blog

• The Future

  jack

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm

  “The future you shall know when it has come; before then, forget it.” –Aeschylus

• Lee Eisenberg’s Shoptimism (and 50% off of The Number)

  dylan

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:20 am

  One of the books we really tried to get people to read in 2006 was Lee Eisenberg’s The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think about the Rest of Your Life, published by Simon & Schuster imprint Free Press. We were huge evangelists of the book, constantly blogging and telling everyone we could about it. It was a Jack Covert Selects and Todd picked it as one of his best books of 2006. And, even though it was a best-seller, it never caught on as much as we thought it should. As Todd wrote looking back on it that year: The book was released with high hopes from Free Press and the…

• The Portfolio Catalog & Business Beat

  dylan

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am

  Being the publisher of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, we’re obviously fond of the folks at Portfolio. Beyond the personal connection, though, we feel they have consistently put out some of most intriguing books in the business genre over the past decade, and continue to do so. The list below contains the titles coming out of that publishing house in hardcover before year end. (In the interest of full disclosure, I nabbed this list from the Portfolio Javelin blog.) Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley & Kathi…

• October’s Best Selling International Titles

  Roy

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:26 pm

  It’s been awhile! A whole summer, in fact! Have you felt as much out of the loop as to what’s HOT across the seas, oceans and borders of the world as I have? Well fear no longer, gentle reader for I have got 800CEOREADs listings of what business types and cohorts are reading! So, if you’re wondering what’s shakin’ in Shanghai or what’s new in Newfoundland – hang on tight, for we’re going around the globe – Take a look at our TOP TEN INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLING BOOKS of OCTOBER 2009: No. 1 - Australia: Put More Cash in Your Pocket by Loral…

• Brainstorming?

  jon

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:08 pm

  Every day, people come together in groups to brainstorm: share ideas, create projects, and turn dreams into reality. The leaders of those groups would be well advised to serve the appetizer, The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life by John Hunt before those meetings get under way. Because, let’s be honest, oftentimes, there are people who think they have “the answer” before the question has really been explored. And others feel like they have nothing to say at all. Both cases, of course, are untrue, and this uniquely designed book creates a great starting point…

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  Philanthropy Journal - Management/Leadership Articles

• It’s time to focus on ‘return on mission’

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am

  The recession has taken a toll on nonprofits and now is the time for boards to adopt a ‘return on mission’ stance and champion efforts to build capacity.read more

• Letting a nonprofit’s founder go

  22 Oct 2009 | 9:15 am

  When it’s time to replace a founding executive director, should you make her a permanent voting member of the board? read more

• Ideas that work: Improve your world, one process at a time

  16 Oct 2009 | 7:49 am

  Business-process improvement can help nonprofits reduce redundancy and use their valuable time more efficiently.read more

• Board effectiveness: Is expanding the answer?

  2 Oct 2009 | 8:01 am

  As the recession forces nonprofits to compete for coveted dollars, many are considering expanding their boards of directors.read more

• Tax implications for fee-based offerings

  18 Sep 2009 | 6:54 am

  Though the IRS generally has no problem with nonprofits charging fees for services, organizations should proceed with caution when adopting this practice, says governance expert Terrie Temkin.read more

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  Education Week: Leadership And Management

• Mo. Education Leaders Discuss Future of Schools

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:11 pm

• Crisis in School Leadership Seen Brewing in California

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:11 pm

  Policy experts say the state lacks comprehensive human-resources policies for principals.

• Hawaii Copes With Disruption From School Furloughs

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:11 pm

  The money-saving school closures have begun amid legal challenges, parent protests, and general uncertainty.

• Report on School Boards Elicits Opposing Views

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:11 pm

• National Panel Urges Upgrades to Teacher Workforce

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:11 pm

  The recommendations for states and districts from a high-powered task force are drawing fire from the American Federation of Teachers.

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  The Practice of Leadership

• Leaders Take Risks!

  George Ambler

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:01 pm

  Photo by schoschie   The act and practice of leadership is a risky undertaking. Leadership is the act or bringing about positive change. This requires leaders to initiate, to blaze new trails, to venture into the unknown and unexplored terrain. All of this entails risk. Kouzes and Posner in their bestselling book, “The Leadership Challenge” describes it this way: “Leaders are pioneers – people who are willing to step out into the unknown. They are people who are willing to take risks, to innovate and experiment in order to find new an better ways of doing things.” Leaders take…

• 10 reasons why you’re going to fail!

  George Ambler

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:50 am

  I can across a really stunning post on failure by Tony Morgan, “10 Reasons Why You’re Probably Going to Fail” that is really worth sharing, so here is Tony’s list… 10 Reasons Why You’re Probably Going to Fail It’s not your passion. If it doesn’t make your heart beat fast or cause your mind to race when you’re trying to sleep, you’re probably doing the wrong thing. You don’t have a plan. You need a vision, and you need to identify specific steps to make that vision become reality. That includes a financial plan. (I happen to believe you need direction from God on…

• The 2009 Most Influential Business Thinkers

  George Ambler

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:45 am

  Forbes.com released their 2009 “The Most Influential business Thinkers”  results. The consulting firm CrainerDearlove compiled this list of today’s top thinkers, by surveyed 3,500 people and a panel of experts to determine the 2009 edition of the Thinkers 50, the fifth edition of a biennial list of the most influential living management thinkers. This years results are listed below.   Rank Name 2007 Rank Country Day Job 1 C.K. Prahalad 1 India/U.S. University of Michigan Academic 2 Malcolm Gladwell 18 Canada New Yorker Columnist 3 Paul Krugman U.S. Princeton Academic 4…

• Keeping your goals in focus

  George Ambler

  30 Aug 2009 | 1:39 pm

     Photo by kevindooley The article “For This Guru, No Question Is Too Big” from the NY Times discusses the work of the best selling business author Jim Collins. Given the popularity of Jim Collins the article discussed how he allocates his time, which is as follows: “… in a corner of the white board at the end of his long conference room, Mr. Collins keeps this short list: Creative 53% Teaching 28% Other 19% That, he explains, is a running tally of how he’s spending his time, and whether he’s sticking to a big goal he set for himself years ago: to spend 50 percent of…

• Do you have a personal leadership vision?

  George Ambler

  30 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pm

  Photo by maessive Stew Friedman writes a great post titled “Define Your Personal Leadership Vision” in which he provides some guidance on how to go about defining your personal leadership vision. He describes a personal leadership vision as… “… an essential means for focusing attention on what matters most; what you want to accomplish in your life and what kind of leader you wish to be. A useful vision has to be rooted in your past, address the future, and deal with today’s realities. It represents who you are and what you stand for. It inspires you, and the people whose…

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  Talking Story with Rosa Say

• Students Need the Life Skill of Caring and Speaking Up

  Say Alaka‘i

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:20 am

  I did something a week ago I am not particularly proud of, but if I’m completely honest about it, I don’t regret it either. Well, maybe one partial regret; I could have been more tactful and less forceful and direct, and still get my message across. I gave a speech while I was angry at my audience. After writing about The Lost Generation and our Sense of Workplace issue over the past month my emotions got the best of me I guess, for I very bluntly (as in very bluntly) told my audience of 15 to 17 year-old students how hugely disappointed I was in them for not asking questions —and not…

• Guilt-Free Self-Leadership: 12 Possibilities

  Say Alaka‘i

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:15 am

  Had a conversation yesterday with a work team who had tackled the Sweet Closure initiative with us in October. Not only did they tackle it, they nailed it. So yesterday they were asking, “Now what?” wondering if there was specific goal-setting I recommended for them through November and December. They were feeling great about all the projects they successfully completed in October (within the Sweet Closure goal of ending 2009 early, to better enjoy the coming holidays), but now they felt a bit directionless – they are not at all used to facing two months with no new projects! How’s…

• Challenge Your Most Brilliant Self: Burn Your Boats

  Rosa Say

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:15 am

  This past Thursday was a rare day I did not duplicate the posting I’d done for Say “Alaka‘i” here on Talking Story, for I gave the publishing day to the announcement of our D5M Ruzuku alpha instead. (It starts today!) Well, some things are not to be denied. The post was called “Your Edge Comes From Your Inconvenience” and Smilin’ Pat left a comment for me there which reminded me of the story of Hernando Cortés. I had to look it up, and found the following passage as quite appropriate for our day: Today is your final chance to sign up for our habit-building challenge with The…

• 5 Minutes/ 3 Values/ 9 MWA Questions Redux

  Rosa Say

  1 Nov 2009 | 2:15 am

  What a prosperous October we have had. We are wrapping up our Ho‘ohana of Sweet Closure 2009 with a rediscovery of The Daily 5 Minutes. There is one more Daily 5 Minutes article which has been on www.ManagingwithAloha.com for quite some time and needs updating, and I wanted to bring it here to Talking Story, weaving a few of our recent conversations into the learning. This one does borrow from the values-based workplace coaching that my business is all about, and those who frequent our Ho‘ohana Publishing sister site, Joyful Jubilant Learning will also smile knowingly at the connection to…

• Learning the Daily 5 Minutes: Our Weekly Review

  Rosa Say

  31 Oct 2009 | 3:15 am

  If you’ve skimmed ahead, looking down this page, it looks long. It may be long if you are newly joining us here at Talking Story. For most of you however, this is a brief review of the highlights of our past week here, for we’ve been in full-on project mode, and you’ll be happy to know I think it’s time we take a break. Breathing space… Those who know our Talking Story habits know that we dedicate Saturday mornings to our Weekly Review, for I would be quite the lost soul without them, so let’s review. At the end I will preview what is to come in the next two days leading to…

• 
  Seth's Blog

• Everyone is clueless

  Seth Godin

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:29 am

  The problem with "everyone" is that in order to reach everyone or teach everyone or sell to everyone, you need to so water down what you've got you end up with almost nothing.Everyone doesn't go to the chiropractor, everyone doesn't give to charity, everyone has never been to Starbucks. Everyone, in fact, lives a decade behind the times and needs hundreds of impressions and lots of direct experience before they realize something is going on.You don't want everyone. You want the right someone.Someone who cares about what you do. Someone who will make a contribution that matters. Someone who…

• The unclicking 84%

  Seth Godin

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:36 am

  Mark points us to this great set of stats.Basically, all of the clicks for all the ads online come from only 16% of the surfers, and most of them come from just 4% of all internet users.So, if you optimize your ads for clicks, it means you're ignoring a huge population.If your business is built around the kind of person who clicks, you win. If it isn't, you either need to not buy ads online or buy ads optimized for attention and familiarity, not clicks.Imagine that only left-handed people clicked on ads (it's about the same percent). What are you going to do if you make a product for the…

• When data and decisions collide

  Seth Godin

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:54 am

  Until recently, most of the decisions we were called on to make were based on hunches, insight and a little bit of data. Occasionally, a field like direct marketing would develop into something quite data-driven ("I don't care if you like mailer one, Smythe, mailer #2 did three times, better! Number 2 it is.") but not often.It took Ignaz Semmelweis more than twenty years (he died before it happened, actually) to persuade doctors that washing their hands could save the lives of mothers giving birth. He had the data, he had the proof, but that wasn't enough to change minds.Data mining and the…

• Limited edition boxed set available today SOLD OUT!

  Seth Godin

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:41 am

  [We ended up selling more than three a minute. You guys are so cool. We had a few counter problems, but it didn't effect the number we sold...they're all gone, 800 in total, and I won't be able to sell any more. Thank you for the energy and support!]It seems as though the Apple tablet is unlikely to be ready in time for the holidays... what to get? How about a boxed (a wooden box) set of five of my books? Very limited (only 800 will be sold, ever). Sold at a discount from retail, with cool packaging, assembled by elves, delivered by Martians, blessed by enlightened goats. My goal was to make…

• Ms. In-between

  Seth Godin

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:50 am

  The either-or world continues to decay, confronted by a shifting economy and the tools of the net.It used to be easy to tell if someone was a journalist. Either you were or your weren't. So giving special privileges to journalists was easy. Parking permits, press badges, first amendment protections... no problem, you're a journalist. Everyone else? No way.It used to be easy to tell if someone was an entrepreneur. Either you had a full-time job or you ran a business. So we could treat employees the same (health insurance, no moonlighting) and assume that the few that didn't have jobs were…

• 
  CEO Blog - Time Leadership

• Getting Results: Five Absolutes for High Performance

  Jim Estill

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:03 am

  I recently read Getting Results: Five Absolutes for High Performance by Clinton O. Longenecker and Jack L. Simonetti.Everyone of course is interested in getting results, so although the book does have a short chapter on why we need results, I don't think we need to be sold.The book comes up with five absolutes to get results:1. Get everyone on the same page - Focus on the purpose of your organization.2. Prepare for battle - Equip your operation with tools, talent and technology.3. Stoke the fire of performance - Create a climate for results.4. Build bridges on the road to results - Nurture…

• New York Marathon

  Jim Estill

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:27 pm

  Even though it is only 8:30, I am tired. I ran the NY Marathon today.The day started at 5. Up to catch the bus to Statten Island. This involved walking about 8 blocks from the hotel in a light rain. Then wait a bit on the bus, drive for about an hour (made the marathon seem like a long way). Then we got unloaded into a waiting hour for about 3 hours. It was about 45 degrees F.The grounds where people waited were wet (although the rain had stopped by then) so I stood. More creative people had shower caps over their shoes. Many brought plastic to sit on.I knew we would be waiting so I had a…

• Growing @ The Speed of Change

  Jim Estill

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:52 am

  I recently reread Growing @ the Speed of Change by a friend of mine, Jim Clemmer. When I say I recently reread it, I actually read it before it was published to give comments to the author. See my FTC Disclosure. The subtitle is Your Inspir-actional How-To Guide for Leading Yourself and Others Through Constant Change. One thing I love about Jim Clemmers' books (and he is a prolific author), is his liberal use of quotations, such as:"knowing is not enough, we must apply, willing is not enough, meanwhile we must do.."Goeth 1749- 1832 The basic theme of the book is how to thrive in turbulent…

• Purpose

  Jim Estill

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:49 am

  I am just back from a 4 day retreat with YPO. Awesome time. Good people.I re-read "Purpose - The Starting Point of Great Companies" by Nikos Mourkogiannis. An excerpt from the book:"Leadership is the ultimate advantage. When it's present, it makes all other advantages possible. And poor leadership can turn even the best advantage into a disaster. If leadership is genius, then it is only effective because it is tightly linked to management. Leadership does not float in and out of an enterprise linke an inspiring butterfly coming in the window; its's not charismatic words and great deeds served…

• The 25 Hour Day and Sleep

  Jim Estill

  26 Oct 2009 | 3:22 am

  One Success Habit that many people sent me for my book (and I need more so email me your Success Habits at jimestill at gmail) is Rise Early. The problem is that another Success Habit is "get enough sleep" (not too much but not too little either). So if you want to wake early, you need to go to bed early. I see a tendency among many people (myself included) to stretch the day by staying up. It seems many of us have a 25 hour clock - not 24 hours. If the sun did not tell us when we were supposed to be awake, we would continually progress an hour later every day. Shifting the whole day. I…

• 
  The Tom Peters Weblog

• New "Mini-MASTER"

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pm

  I've been fooling around with a lot of formats for recent events in the likes of Luanda, Riyadh, Dhahran, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Toronto. I've also been folding some of the stuff in the new book into my presentations. For my own use, I created a 525-slide monster I titled "Mini-MASTER." Here it is, FYI.

• King Fahd University

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:26 am

  Tom's public seminar yesterday was hosted by King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran. "KFU is as good as it gets in its field," Tom reports. "I had a lovely time. I think we got some good work done—and had a lovely time along the way. As an engineer, I have great fun poking fun at my brethren." He adds, "If it gets any better than Saudi hospitality, I don't know where." (At Tom's request, spaces at the seminar were made available for "a couple of dozen students.") As always, please let us hear from you, and you can get the PPT slides here.

• The Little BIG Things video series

  Shelley Dolley

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  As mentioned previously, Tom's been busily working on a new book. The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence will be published early next year. Our talented friends at Enterprise Media captured Tom's thoughts during an early draft stage of the book. The words in the book will have little resemblance to the words Tom uses in these videos, as there have been numerous draft revisions, but the concepts are the same. Our new video feature can be found at the top right of the front page under the banner. The video series starts off with the topic of the recession, the first being…

• Excellence Slides

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:53 am

  Tom's on the road again, this time speaking to the International Conference on Administrative Development: Towards Excellence in Public Sector Performance, in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If you attended the event which took place earlier today, please let us hear from you in the comments. If you would like to get the PPT slides, you can do so here: Excellence Always, Riyadh Riyadh, Long Version

• Psychology By Any Other Name

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:26 am

  I love the book Nudge—the content's pretty good, the title even better! But I hate—literally hate—the title of the genre. Namely, "behavioral economics." Oh for God's sake. Behavioral economics? Translation? Psychology! (Or as I like to call the field, "Economists discover humans.") But that's actually not the topic of this post. As I write I sit in a beautiful British Airways Club Class lounge in Heathrow's opulent Terminal 5. The lounge is big. The lounge is well appointed. There are two parts. There is no distinction between the two parts in terms of access. The "half"…

• 
  Leadership Turn

• Seize Your Leadership Day: Leaders: Authentic And Otherwise

  Miki Saxon

  7 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  What do you do when you are booted out of your business leadership position? Go into politics, of course. Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard’s ex (to the great relief of people both internal and external) CEO is the latest to throw her hat in the ring, touting her corporate problem-solving skills; problem-making is more accurate. So what do you do when you are booted out of your political position (or your term expires)? Go on the speaking circuit. I realize that I may offend some of my readers, but to learn that George W. Bush is being paid $100K to speak for 40 minutes ($2500 per minute!)…

• Life In Six Words

  Miki Saxon

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  Can you sum up your life in just 6 words? Clare Booth Luce, according to columnist Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, once told President John Kennedy that “a great man is one sentence.” Noonan writes that Lincoln’s life could be summed up as “He preserved the Union and freed the slaves.” –Bloomberg.com Smith Magazine just published its second collection of six word memoirs by, as they say, “the famous and obscure.” They also continually collect them on their website. Forcing yourself to boil down your current situation or a specific aspect…

• Leadership’s Future: We Need More Tom Dunns

  Miki Saxon

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  What do you do and where do you go when you leave a high-stress career that nearly kills you? If your name is Tom Dunn and you spent 20 years, first as a defense counsel in the Army Trial Defense Service, then stints in Florida, New York State and most recently as head of the nonprofit Georgia Resource Center, you find a less stressful environment in which to indulge your passion. You teach in a tough middle school in Atlanta, Georgia where “ninety-three percent of students are black and 5 percent Hispanic; some 97 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch.” Dunn’s prior…

• Wordless Wednesday: Hope, Despair Or ???

  Miki Saxon

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  (Please take a moment to share your thoughts in comments.) Now click to see a great take on a common business problem Your comments—priceless Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL Image credit: Sappymoosetree on flickr Post from: Leadership Turn

• Ducks In A Row: Planning For A Successful 2010

  Miki Saxon

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  It’s November, a time when the end of the year is suddenly much closer than you thought. During the next two months people will be doing their best to tidy up all the loose ends, both business and personal, before the year ends. Whether you do it yourself or have and executive team and thousands of employees, you can’t afford to focus only on wrapping up 2009; you need to plan for 2010. The approach we use was drummed into my head since 1979 by Al Negrin, RampUp’s angel and chairman. It’s called PBO (plans, budgets and objectives), but is very different from the old…

• 
  Management Craft

• The Four Conversations: Communication That Gets Results

  Lisa Haneberg

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:23 am

  Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to get caught up on my business book reading - I was SOOO behind. I will be out of the country for the next three weeks, so I have cued up several posts about great books. These posts will be about books I recommend, because I don't have time to write about a book I would not recommend you buy.Sixty percent of all management problems result from faulty communication. ~Peter DruckerThis post is about a unique book called, The Four Conversations: Communication That Gets Results by Jeffrey Ford and Laurie Ford. I first met the Fords about 15 years ago.

• The Unforced Error - Why Some Managers Get Promoted While Others Get Eliminated

  Lisa Haneberg

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:55 am

  Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to get caught up on my business book reading - I was SOOO behind. I will be out of the country for the next three weeks, so I have cued up several posts about great books. These posts will be about books I recommend, because I don't have time to write about a book I would not recommend you buy.This post is about a very fun and helpful book called The Unforced Error by Jeffrey Krames (you can listen to the podcast I did with Jeffrey about his last book, Inside Drucker's Brain, here). I love this book - it is written with such style and texture -…

• The Market Has Changed, Have You? A Great Book for the Salesperson in Us All

  Lisa Haneberg

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:51 am

  Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to get caught up on my business book reading - I was SOOO behind. I will be out of the country for the next three weeks, so I have cued up several posts about great books. These posts will be about books I recommend, because I don't have time to write about a book I would not recommend you buy. This post provides a quick appetizer for the book, The Market Has Changed, Have You? Sales Strategies That Work by Paul D'Souza. If you have any kind of revenue generation responsibility (who doesn't?) this is a great book for you. And it is out at a great…

• Give an Employee Five Precious Minutes

  Lisa Haneberg

  27 Oct 2009 | 3:15 am

  Management is a social act and every minute you spend with your employees is precious. That's why I have always loved the 5-minute management practice from pal and fellow management author and blogger Rosa Say. Here is a quick explanation of the habit from Rosa:The SIMPLE partIf you are hearing about it for the first time, The Daily 5 Minutes (D5M) is a simple habit. Each day, without fail, managers give five minutes of no-agenda time to at least one of their employees. What they are giving is whole listening time, and their undivided attention to whatever that person has on their mind.Check…

• Living in More than One World - Drucker for Everyday Life

  Lisa Haneberg

  25 Oct 2009 | 4:37 pm

  Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to get caught up on my business book reading - I was SOOO behind. I will be out of the country for the next three weeks, so I have cued up several posts about several great books. These posts will be about books I recommend, because I don't have time to write about a book I would not recommend you buy.This post is about a very cool book called Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker's Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life by Bruce Rosenstein. There have been many books written about Drucker's work and impact, but this is the first book…

• 
  Three Star Leadership Blog

• Book Review: Keeping Up in a Down Economy

  Wally Bock

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:43 pm

  Wisdom, Examples and Ideas in Bite-Sized Packets

• 11/4/09: Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

  Wally Bock

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pm

  Every week I select five excellent posts from this week's independent business blogs. This week, I'm pointing you to posts on leadership battles you fight within yourself, execution, infectious workplace diseases, helping confidence grow, and casual conversation in the workplace.

• Feedback is the Boss's Job

  Wally Bock

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:48 pm

  More than half of American workers say they don't know whether their performance is up to standard. Their supervisors should be ashamed.

• 11/1/09: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week

  Wally Bock

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:10 am

  Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your work week. I'm pointing you to articles about Yum Brands, Netflix, entrepreneurship, alignment, and greed.

• Book Review: Awesomely Simple

  Wally Bock

  30 Oct 2009 | 3:16 pm

  A readable, high-level view of business that should give you some good ideas.

• 
  Life Beyond Code

• Event: Thought Leadership 2.0

  Rajesh Setty

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:10 am

  If you are in the bay area on November 18, I would love to see you at this event where I will be speaking about how to build thought leadership without breaking your back. A quick summary Thought Leadership 2.0 Building thought leadership without breaking your back Everyone knows the benefit of being established as a thought leader. For starters, there is an immediate trustworthiness associated with thought leaders that will increase your influence as you are perceived as someone who “knows” and who “cares.” In the old world, tools to build thought leadership included…

• Apples and Oranges: The pitch for pre-paid gas option

  Rajesh Setty

  22 Oct 2009 | 11:36 pm

  Yesterday I was at the Hertz counter in Los Angeles and there were about half a dozen people in front of me in the line. I was surprised (actually shocked) to see four of the six people in front of me choose the pre-paid gas option. For those of you who don’t know what is pre-paid gas option, you pay for the entire tank of gas and you can return the car with an empty tank. A quick side note: I know there are some nit-pickers who might be reading it. You can’t return a car with an EMPTY gas tank (you will need to get it towed, literally) so that is not the point of the blog post.

• Mini Saga #41 – Loan

  Rajesh Setty

  19 Oct 2009 | 1:10 am

  Photo Courtesy: Melissa Maples on Flickr Sometimes we take things literally. Enjoy the story: Loan Rick stopped someone in the lobby and said – “I am from the office next door. Can you please lend me $1000?” The person flatly refused stating that he doesn’t know Rick well. With a confused look, Rick said – “That’s odd. My coworkers won’t lend me saying they know me too well.” Note: 1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50. 2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here…

• Recharging while sweating…

  Rajesh Setty

  13 Oct 2009 | 1:10 am

  Some background first… The day before I went for a long hike (long is relative BTW) I told my friend Arun that I was planning to go on a hike the next day. Arun asked me – “So where are you going?” And I proudly mentioned that it was “Rancho San Antonio,” he just laughed and said – “It is not a hike, it’s a walk.” Of course, he would said that being an avid hiker. For me, being on the hiking trails for the first time, it was definitely a HIKE. Why share the background? Simply because I know there will be some other avid hikers out…

• Mini Saga #40 – Dream

  Rajesh Setty

  12 Oct 2009 | 1:10 am

  Photo Courtesy: Bobasonic on Flickr Sometimes dreams can be unbelievable Enjoy the story: Dream Rick handed the keys to his Ferrari to the Valet guy and the phone rang. Actually it was the phone in his office. It was all a dream! Rick smiled and got up and walked towards his Mercedes. Just then, he heard a voice – “Wake up, you will miss the train.” Note: 1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50. 2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here is the link – Mini Sagas: Bite-sized Wisdom for Life and…

• 
  Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen Shapiro

• Content is No Longer King…Long Live the King (Part 2)

  Stephen Shapiro

  21 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm

  In an earlier blog entry on content, readers provided a number of interesting comments. If you haven’t already read that article (and the comments), you may want to do so in order to understand this new article. Many did not agree with my point of view. And that is great. I only wanted [...]

• Win a Trip to our Gala Casino Book Launch Party

  Stephen Shapiro

  14 Oct 2009 | 8:23 am

  As you know by now, I just signed a 2 book deal with Portfolio Penguin. The first book to be published is Personality Poker. When the book hits the stores in Fall 2010, we are going to party in style!  Given the poker theme, we are holding the book launch party in either Las Vegas, Atlantic [...]

• Content is No Longer King….Long Live the King (Part 1)

  Stephen Shapiro

  4 Oct 2009 | 9:58 am

  We often hear that content is king.  But I wonder if this is still true. Let’s take some very simple examples. I am sure most of you know that the iPod was not a revolutionary invention.  It was merely a new spin on the already existing MP3 player.  The real innovation was the integration of the iPod [...]

• GCLS Quotes – Day 1

  Stephen Shapiro

  23 Sep 2009 | 4:24 pm

  I am in NYC participating as a delegate in the Global Creative Leadership Summit led by the Louis Blouin Foundation. Attending are 100 fascinating people ranging from Prime Ministers to business leaders. Over the course of 3 days there are a number of conversations on topics related to improving the world. Here are some of the [...]

• Two Book Deal with Penguin’s Portfolio Books

  Stephen Shapiro

  22 Sep 2009 | 3:20 pm

  Today I signed a two book deal with Penguin’s Portfolio imprint.  They are the publishers of excellent books including all of Seth Godin’s books and “The Back of the Napkin.” The first book, “Personality Poker,” is scheduled to be in book stores September 2010. The book will be packaged with a deck of cards. The commercially [...]

• 
  Orrin Woodward Leadership Team

• MasterMind 5 - Let the Revolution Begin!

  Orrin Woodward

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  The MasterMind Event 5 is in the record books and I am still shaking with excitement from the quality of the speakers and attendees.  A huge thank you to Art and Ann Jonak for their tireless efforts to lift the entire profession. Art Jonak, the Networker of Networkers, orchestrated a powerful seminar with the right mix of information, inspiration, and unification.  The Networking profession has officially launched the revolution.  I will give you a summary recap of the speakers for this phenomenal weekend.  Each speaker brought their own style and personality to this epic…

• Classical Liberal Education - Shattered Glass: Repairing the Ruins

  Orrin Woodward

  25 Oct 2009 | 2:53 pm

  I have been reading the Great Book Series from Encyclopedia Britannica and am enjoying them immensely.  I have finished the first two books and am wrapping up the Syntopicon currently.  The Syntopicon was written by Mortimer Adler and is a compendium/discussion of the Greatest Ideas in the Great Books.  This is significantly different than my education at GMI (now Kettering) which focused on logical process thinking.  I loved the training and still use the process thinking to this day, but I missed nearly all of the Liberal Arts training.    I watched a video…

• 2009 World Business Forum - Gary Hamel

  Orrin Woodward

  13 Oct 2009 | 6:04 am

    Chris Brady and I had the honor to be invited as a guest bloggers to the World Business Forum in NY City at the Radio City Music Hall.  The list of speakers included top economist, politicians, leadership gurus, and thought leaders.  One of my favorite talks at the conference was by Gary Hamel.  Mr. Hamel is a thought leader in the field of management and organizational change.  Gary stated that the most important innovation in the last 100 years was the science of management.  That floored me!  Even bigger than the automobile, the telephone, airplanes,…

• Leadership Guru Voting

  Orrin Woodward

  11 Oct 2009 | 6:16 pm

  I received an email over the weekend from the LeadershipGuru website.  In 2009, I was selected as a Best of the Rest selection on another leadership list, without having any idea I was a nominee.  On this list, I was informed ahead of time and your vote does make a difference. They are starting the voting for 2010 and I thank my readers in advance for their support.  There is the list from last year and beneath that is a button to nominate new leaders. Here is a copy of the email.  I believe Chris Brady received an email also and I would encourage writing him in…

• J. S. Kim - The Role of Central Banks

  Orrin Woodward

  1 Oct 2009 | 5:15 am

  Here is an informative article from J. S. Kim, one of the best minds on economics and government policy in the marketplace.  Mr. Kim has consistently beat the market and, like Peter Schiff, studies the underlying principles behind government policies to predict accurately.  We need less rhetoric from our government and more principle based leadership.  I encourage everyone to start educating yourself on Austrian Economics, because it is the only economic training that has consistently predicted the effects of government intervention.    I posted an interview with Mr.

• 
  Crossderry Blog

• PM Quote of the Day — Harold J. Smith

  Paul Ritchie

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:46 pm

  More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them. Posted in PMO Tagged: denial, Harold J. Smith, lessons learned, mistakes, PM Quote of the Day

• Power of Strategic Commitment — Interview Intro

  Paul Ritchie

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am

  I’m catching up on some great material — at least great IMHO — that has been locked away in my notebook. Last month, I got a chance to talk strategy with Josh Leibner and Gershon Mader, founding partners of Quantum Performance, Inc.   They have worked with Fortune 500 companies around the world including: Capital One, Cisco, The United Way, AT&T, Campbell Soup, and others.  What prompted our discussion was the recent release of their book (with co-author Alan Weiss), The Power of Strategic Commitment: Achieving Extraordinary Results Through TOTAL Alignment and…

• PM Quote of the Day — St. Thomas Aquinas

  Paul Ritchie

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:54 am

  Beware of the person of one book. Posted in PMO Tagged: ignorance, PM Quote of the Day, professional deformation, Thomas Aquinas

• “Live” prototying/proof of concepts

  Paul Ritchie

  22 Oct 2009 | 8:41 am

  It has been a busy few weeks here at MJN as we get the transition to stand-alone rolling. Like many large programs, our main transformation initiative — Sunrise (nice name, eh?) — sometimes acts as if it were the first program of any importance ever executed. Its size and stature also obscure other major initiatives. We have been, however, executing global HR and LIMS (laboratory information mgmt system) implementations all along. One of the ways we keep these programs spotlighted is to communicate lessons learned from these global projects. One of our Global LIMS leaders —…

• PM Quote of the Day — Carol Burnett

  Paul Ritchie

  13 Oct 2009 | 12:24 pm

  You have to go through the falling down in order to learn to walk. It helps to know that you can survive it. That’s an education in itself. Posted in PMO Tagged: Carol Burnett, Learning, mistakes, PM Quote of the Day

• 
  Troy Worman

• The Strokes - Juicebox ( LIVE ON ROVE )

  Troy Worman

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:26 pm

• Bloc Party - Helicopter

  Troy Worman

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:21 pm

• Los Campesinos - You! Me! Dancing!

  Troy Worman

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:20 pm

• The Subways Oh Yeah @Live from Abbey Road 2008

  Troy Worman

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:13 pm

• Worth Quoting: Henry Ford

  Troy Worman

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:16 am

  “History is more or less bunk.” — Henry Ford

• 
  MBA Depot - Latest Content

• Articles: The Buffett Approach to Valuing Stocks

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  Description: Much has been written about famed U.S. investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett's investment style and successes. Preeminent among these writings are the oft-cited Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters, written by the "Oracle of Omaha" himself. These informative letters have been the basis for a multitude of books. But even with an abundance of available information on "how to invest like Warren Buffett," it is apparent that something is lacking—how does Buffett determine an acceptable price for companies of interest? This article provides an example of the process…

• Market Research Entries: US Private-Label Food Market Grows 60% Since 2003

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  Source: Marketing Charts | Just Food | Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) | GfK Custom Research Subject: Industry Specific

• Business-Related Quotes: Warren Bennis

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  Quote: Know Thyself means separating who you are and who you want to be from what the world thinks you are and wants you to be. Author: Warren Bennis Source: LeaderValues Subject: Personal Development

• 
  The Chief Happiness Officer

• Friday Spoing!

  Alexander

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:40 am

  Where can I go and try this? Looks like fun! Have a happy weekend :o)

• The Happiness Hat will hurt you until you smile

  Alexander

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:37 am

  Smile, dammit: This is not meant to be taken seriously – this is art. Or social commentary. Or both. The Happiness Hat was created by Lauren MacCarthy, who calls it: A wearable conditioning device that detects if you’re smiling and provides pain feedback if you’re not. Frowning creates intense pain but a full smile leaves you pain free! The first in a series of Tools for Improved Social Inter-Acting. To me, this is a great commentary to the pressure to be happy that exists in society today. There seems to be a sense that “if you’re not happy, there’s…

• Friday Spoing

  Alexander

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:53 am

  This Friday it’s really more of a Spoooooooooooooooooing :o) Have a happy weekend!

• A question for ya

  Alexander

  28 Oct 2009 | 11:29 am

  I have a simple question for you: What’s the one thing you wish your manager understood about you, which still hasn’t sunk in with him/her? I ask because I’m giving a ton of presentations to groups of managers about happiness at work these days and I’d like to give them an even better idea of where managers and employees often don’t connect or misunderstand each other. So what do you think? What doesn’t your manager seem to get about you? Please write a comment, I’d be very happy to know your take on this! Great comment: Marks says “I wish my…

• Hooray, it’s Monday!

  Alexander

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:28 am

  Below there’s a message for all my Danish readers. For everyone else: I bet you’re sorry NOW, that you weren’t born Danish, huh :o) We’re launching a new web site (in Danish) for everyone who’s lost their happiness at work and would like it back. Har du mistet arbejdsglæden? Og vil du gerne have den igen? Er du en af de mange danskere, der engang har været glad for sit arbejde, men lige nu har glemt hvordan det var at glæde sig til mandag morgen? Vi har nemlig lavet en lynhurtig lille video netop til dig, der har mistet arbejdsglæden – og gerne vil have…

• 
  TerryStarbucker.com

• 10 Leadership Battles – And How To Win Every One of Them

  Starbucker

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:28 pm

  In our quest to become great leaders we take on a constant stream of internal battles.   Each and every day we choose our  sides and try to do the right things, with the objective of achieving something great. There are 10 confrontations in particular that can make or break us, and we need to consistently be on the winning side of every one of them to reach the pinnacle of success. People vs. Process -  It’s as simple as this: a process is only as good as the people executing it.  Focus on the people first, and while you’re at it, make sure your charges truly understand the…

• The Most Important Blog Post You’ll Ever Read

  Starbucker

  25 Oct 2009 | 3:26 pm

  ….is out there somewhere. You just need to find it. And in a land of over 100 million blogs, how is that possible? And besides, blog posts don’t change lives, right? Wrong. They can, and they have. I’m living proof of that. One day in June of 2006, I found my way to a blog written by Liz Strauss called Successful Blog. I found her by way of a link on someone else’s blogroll (Phil Gerbyshak) – I was just starting my blogging adventure and was just looking around, trying to get comfortable with this new world. What caught my eye was a post she wrote about how…

• All Great Content Is An Intersection: The Brian Clark Interview

  Starbucker

  18 Oct 2009 | 3:49 pm

  Brian Clark is a writer who loves to write about his craft, and it shows.  His blog, Copyblogger, is one of the most popular sites on the Internet for writers and fellow bloggers of all stripes. The site has also been his launching pad for several other successful online ventures designed to help others improve their skills and online presence.  He is a much sought-after speaker on the Social Media circuit not only because of his know-how, but also because of his quick wit and insightful observations. I recently caught up with Brian to ask him a few questions about the craft he loves, his…

• Supertramp Talks Social Media – 30 Years Before It Exists

  Starbucker

  11 Oct 2009 | 3:37 pm

  This morning, as I was driving back from Starbucks with my morning latte, I had a vision of sorts.  I had been thinking a lot about writing another post about Social Media, and wondered where I’d draw my inspiration.  Then, it happened…….. A song came on the radio by the 70’s group Supertramp.  And then oddly,  another.  Somebody was trying to tell me something. But I couldn’t figure out what it was. Intrigued, I arrived home and sat down at my computer and called up several more Supertramp songs.  This group had its heyday 30 years ago, but something about…

• Leadership Hiding In Plain Sight: The Return of Common Sense (WBF, Day 2)

  Starbucker

  8 Oct 2009 | 10:23 am

  Bill Clinton at the World Economic Forum, 10/7/09 This is my second post of observations from the World Business Forum in NYC.   My first post , covering the 1st Day of the conference, tied all the presentations on Leadership into the theme of “sitting tall in the saddle“. This post continues the thread on Leadership, but from a slightly different direction.   The 2nd Day speakers, particularly in the afternoon sessions, made it clear to me that a lot of effective leadership practice is hiding in plain sight. That is, sometimes we go too deep in searching for answers.   The…

• 
  The Bing Blog

• Has Warren gone off the rails?

  Bing

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:01 am

  I’ve been in a good mood all week about the announcement that Warren Buffett was investing $32 billion in Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the nation’s 2nd largest railroad. “From my standpoint, it’s a lot easier to make a $32 billion investment than 10 $3 billion investments,” Mr. Buffett said, and also noted, with his customary dry wit, that he was probably doing it because his dad never bought him a train set as a kid. At first blush, this is so radically counter-intuitive a move that you just don’t know what to say about it.  A railroad? Really? Isn’t…

• Come to think of it, eBay?

  Bing

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:42 am

  Reaction is mixed to the big new eBay advertising campaign, “Come to think of it — eBay.” Of course, reaction to anything is mixed these days. Anybody who does anything worth noting is stuck like a shish kebab by somebody who’s got a bone to pick with something or another. Personally, I think it’s kinda good that eBay is going to gear up a huge ad campaign at all. It’s the first in 18 months for them, and signals further improvements for the environment.  On the other hand, you want brick-and-mortar stores to do well this holiday season. The more…

• How to save business journalism

  Bing

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:53 am

  Those who were enjoying a weekend of high sports drama or familial bliss might have missed another media obituary this past Sunday – David Carr’s persuasive au revoir to business journalism in the New York Times. Carr cites several “technical reasons underlying the collapse — and that’s what it is — of business journalism.” It’s hard to argue with him, not to mention dangerous. You don’t want a guy like Carr mad at you. Still, you’ve got to hope he’s being a bit pessimistic in order to make his point, and that there’s…

• Take THAT, bears!

  Bing

  30 Oct 2009 | 10:27 am

  For more than a year — almost two, if you count the gloomy prognostications of my friend Fred, which began in August of 2007 — we’ve had to listen to people telling us that the world was ending. For a while, it sure looked like it was. “You think THIS is bad,” they would say, “just wait until the Barfinger number explodes on the downside of the augmented credit facility situation!” At which point, you know, we would be treated to a horrific scenario in which nobody in the world would have a home anymore, or could get a loan ever again, or go to an…

• Northwest Pilots and the FAA: Snoozing or Cruising?

  Bing

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:40 am

  The Case of the Northwest Pilots keeps getting funnier and funnier. Of course, it wouldn’t be one bit amusing if it had happened to me, but as Woody Allen once said, when I get a hangnail, it’s tragedy;  when you fall down the stairs, it’s comedy. Or maybe it wasn’t Woody Allen. Maybe it was Paul Allen. Or Herb. Sorry. Just thinking about those two in the cockpit doing… what was it they were doing?… makes my mind wander. As you know, original speculation was that the pilots were taking their semi-approved staggered naps simultaneously. This made sense to…

• 
  Weekly Leader

• Kerik Confesses to Cheating I.R.S. and Telling Lies - NYTimes.com [del.icio.us]

  weeklyleader

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:09 pm

  Amazing story about the fall from grace by a another high profile leader.

• In the Shadow of Bruce Wasserstein (Wall Street Journal) [del.icio.us]

  weeklyleader

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:44 pm

  Bruce Wasserstein, CEO of Lazard Ltd. and a giant Wall Street personality died suddenly on Oct. 14, 2009. According to the article author Dennis K. Berman, there is no one to fill his shoes which completes a shift in how business is done on Wall Street. "A jumble of ego, smarts and audacity, Mr. Wasserstein boasted in 1987 of his plans to "transform Wall Street." He slipped onto magazine covers before his clients did. He made billions along the way. But today there is no heir. And that's because no one wants there to be." Time will tell.

• Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 25 – Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image

  podcast@weeklyleader.net

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:38 am

  This week Peter interviews Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image, a digital marketing agency and creator of Six Pixels of Separation book, blog and podcast and Pam's Research Report of the Week focuses on keeping star employees. Leadership... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Work Life Lead: Values – The Surprising Key to Future Growth

  podcast@weeklyleader.net

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:33 am

  Vickie Gray asks  “How do we make choices about what to give up in order to make space for growth – how do you choose?” This is a great question. I’m going to address it from the perspective that this is really a question about how we make a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Leadership Laughs: The Benefits of Role Playing

  podcast@weeklyleader.net

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:48 pm

  Role playing can be an effective leadership development tool as seen in the following video. Thanks to Alex De Carvahlo’s TumbleLog Related posts:Leadership Laughs: Jet Blue’s CEO’s Guide to JettingLeadership Laughs: The Art of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 
  BrainCram

• The Deming Cycle

  Martin Rhodes

  21 Oct 2009 | 3:25 pm

  Following the Second World War, Japan was struggling to regenerate its manufacturing base and a key feature in this struggle was the need to generate a culture of quality. Their economic saviour in many ways was Dr W. Edwards Deming, an American statistician who was so influential in creating a culture of quality that Japan still has an annual quality award that bears his name. He is a venerable hero of the Quality movement. A tool that Deming employed frequently for quality and process improvement was the Plan, Do, Check, Act process. This later became known as the Deming Cycle. The key…

• Six Thinking Hats

  Martin Rhodes

  20 Oct 2009 | 3:11 pm

  When faced with a problem, it can be beneficial to consider a number of different perspectives on that problem. Different perspectives can often reveal different factors and features and can potentially reveal a variety of innovative solutions. Using a structured approach to selecting these different perspectives is a sign of disciplined and logical thinking and an approach typified in Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. The approach is extremely simple but can be very effective in problem solving. Each thinker metaphorically adopts a ‘thinking hat’ and then constrains their thinking to…

• 10 Tips for Successful of Entrepreneurship

  Martin Rhodes

  11 Oct 2009 | 6:38 am

  Starting your own business can be an exciting and exhilarating challenge.  It can also be an overwhelming and somewhat daunting experience for anyone.  Here are 10 tips that will help you think about the more strategic level things you need to think about.  Don’t forget that you will also need to look after the more detailed part of the business too, delivery, marketing, accounting, cashflow management etc. Have Goals If you don’t know what you are going, how will you know if you are moving the right direction and how will you know when you get there?  Goals need to be clear and…

• 9 Tips for Effective Networking

  Martin Rhodes

  29 Jun 2009 | 12:25 pm

  One of the most useful things you can do for personal and professional success is to network effectively.  And as with most activities, there is a right way to network and a wrong way to network. If you have the time, I recommend reading ‘Never Eat Alone’, which is the seminal work on networking and Ferrazzi has a talent for describing the most effective techniques of Networking in an easily understood and accessible way. If you don’t have the time or the inclination for the big volume then here are some tips for networking: 1.         Talk to anyone about anything. …

• New Article: Developing Self Esteem

  Martin Rhodes

  29 Jun 2009 | 6:48 am

  Catch this new article on Developing Self Esteem Dare to Aspire

• 
  ManagingCommunities.com

• Social Media Business Forum: One Day Only: Today in Durham, NC

  Patrick

  23 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  Conferences, conferences, conferences! Well, after IZEAFest and Blog World Expo, this should be my last one for a while. Social Media Business Forum is today at the North Carolina Central University School of Education in Durham, North Carolina. I’m going to be on a pair panels during the first half of the day. From 9:00 AM [...]

• See Me at Blog World & New Media Expo 2009!

  Patrick

  15 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  photo credit: Nick Bastian Tempe, AZ Blog World & New Media Expo starts today at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you’re coming, I’d love to meet you. I’ll be around during all conference hours (here’s my BWE sched), but there are three scheduled events that I’ll be taking part in. Friday, [...]

• Announcing the Winner of the “Social Media: The Bad and The Ugly” Blog World Expo 2009 Conference Pass Giveaway

  Patrick

  13 Oct 2009 | 11:00 am

  On Sunday, I launched the “Social Media: The Bad and the Ugly” Blog World Expo 2009 conference pass giveaway, offering up a free full access pass to Blog World & New Media Expo (a $1,195 value). To win? You had to come up with the most interesting blog post about a trend in social media [...]

• “Social Media: The Bad and The Ugly” Blog World Expo 2009 Conference Pass Giveaway

  Patrick

  11 Oct 2009 | 11:19 am

  photo credit: Nick Bastian Tempe, AZ Update 2: The giveaway is now closed! Winner to be announced shortly. Update: The pass has now been upgraded to a Full Access pass! On October 16 at 4 PM in Las Vegas, I’ll be speaking at Blog World & New Media Expo on the “Social Media: The Bad and The [...]

• IZEAFest at SeaWorld 2009 Recap

  Patrick

  8 Oct 2009 | 1:06 pm

  From October 1-4, I attended the IZEAFest conference at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. It was somewhat of a last minute booking because I was lucky enough to win a pass from Table for Five and be able to share a room, for the first three nights, with my unbelievably gracious friend Wayne Sutton, who was [...]

• 
  Lead on Purpose

• Three steps to the next big opportunity

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:26 pm

  One of the keys to career progress (advancement) is identifying and taking advantage of new opportunities. Most of the time the new opportunities are not obvious; after all, when things become obvious they are usually past the “opportunity” stage. The crucial habit for progress is watching, learning and becoming aware of trends and changes going on around you. Here are three steps to help you prepare yourself for the next big opportunity: Demonstrate flexibility: The word ‘flexible’ has various meanings; in this context think of ‘willingness.’ Be the person…

• A new Leadership Development Carnival

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:14 am

  The Lead on Purpose blog is featured in the November Leadership Development Carnival of Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership blog. The latest Leadership Carnival brings together links to more than 30 fresh posts on topics such as mentors and role models, leading teams and maximizing your performance. You’ll find posts from great bloggers such as Wally Bock, Steve Roesler, Chris Young and others. The Leadership Development Carnival is a great way to expand your leadership knowledge and get to know the bloggers who are making it happen.

• Trust in business

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:13 am

  One of the things I’m finding as I continue to read The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey is the abundance of leadership quotes he has included in the book. They give excellent insight into the importance trust plays in your success. The following quote points out the importance of trust in business: You can’t have success without trust. The word trust embodies almost everything you can strive for that will help you to succeed. You tell me any human relationship that works without trust, whether it is a marriage or a friendship or a social interaction; in the long run, the same…

• Keeping the best

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  26 Oct 2009 | 11:14 pm

  One of the keys to creating a successful organization is hiring and retaining the best talent available. During difficult times, management too often forgets that their people are their greatest asset. The Wall Street Journal tackles the issue of retaining executives in a recent article How to Keep Your Best Executives. The key, according to authors Elizabeth Craig, John R. Kimberly and Peter Cheese, is this: “make it easier for them to leave.” In difficult economic times many companies focus less on retention and keeping their employees happy. That can be a big mistake.

• Trust – the key to success

  Michael Ray Hopkin

  23 Oct 2009 | 10:42 pm

  One of the five factors of leadership, the tag ‘trust’ has become a hallmark of the Lead on Purpose blog. The act of trusting others and trusting yourself is vital success. Yesterday I received a copy of The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey. I had listened to a podcast and read positive reviews about the book, so I was happy to receive a copy. I say “receive” because a friend of mine gave me the book with a personalized autograph from the author. As I started looking through it the first thing I noticed was the large number of reviews. As I began reading them it…

• 
  The Recovering Leader

• Monday LeaderTip: Approachability

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  1 Nov 2009 | 8:34 pm

  Approachability is critical for leadership, as it fosters healthy and necessary communication between you and your team. You may see yourself as easy to approach—yet when you are frequently preoccupied, stressed, or driven, they come to perceive you as off limits. It’s as if your people are trying to call you, but the line is busy. Make an extra effort to be poised, invite dialogue, and be willing to turn off your internal chatter long enough to hear them out. Doing so allows others to access your leadership, coaching, and advice, and in return, volunteer critical information you need to…

• Monday LeaderTip: Delegate the "What," Not the "How"

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  25 Oct 2009 | 8:12 pm

  Great delegation habits make leaders and organizations more effective. First and foremost, it’s important to trust your people to do the job their own way. Yet, if you’re telling them what you want done AND how to do it, you’re hindering their efforts and your own. Delegate the "what" and leave the "how" it gets done to the person doing the work. Trusting your people in this way helps them be more engaged, autonomous, and creative—three key ingredients for maximizing your human capital through delegation.Self-coaching: Consider the three elements of delegation: 1) trusting people to…

• Leadership Delegation:Trust, Verify, Consequences

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  21 Oct 2009 | 6:58 am

  Just a few thoughts today on elements of delegation.1. TRUST Give someone a task, project, or “to do” that fits them (role, responsibilities, capabilities) and you think they can and will do it well. Give them clarity: WHAT you want and WHAT success looks like, WHEN you want it done by, WHY you want it – how does it fit in to your priorities and why do you need it?, and any STAKES (positive and/or negative) or consequences (positive and/or negative.) 2. VERIFY Verify progress face-to-face or voice-to-voice at reasonable interval(s) between when you delegate it and the agreed upon due…

• Health Care Reform Leadership: Rise

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  20 Oct 2009 | 11:38 pm

  Yes, our elected officials have been paid for by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.  Yes, there's dis- and misinformation flooding the media.  Yes, people are confused, overwhelmed, scared, and apathetic.  Yes, there are going to be problems and unknowns with anything that passes.  Yes, Olympia may vote against it.  But now is the time.  It's time we find the strength within ourselves to be at our best and most ingenious. Now is America's opportunity to show how capitalism and caring can coexist in harmony.People are dying for health care coverage that works.  That must…

• Monday LeaderTip: Approval-Seeking

  david@leadershipunleashed.com

  18 Oct 2009 | 8:40 pm

  Leaders respond to requests for approval every day. Yet we all know people who need a little too much approval or reassurance. To them your opinions and decisions seem to impact their sense of security or self-worth, and they may strike you as clingy, needy, or fawning—something that may be in their blind spot. You can coach them to greater effectiveness by explaining how they are coming across to you, and how your decisions are neither an endorsement nor indictment of them as a person or a professional. Taking the lead on alleviating this burden helps you and the other person achieve…

• 
  Virtually Ready - "Extend Your Reach!"

• How Effective Are Facebook Ads?

  admin

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:18 am

  Virtuallly Ready Fan Page on Facebook® At Virtually Ready, we’re reaching out to our connections to find some questions that may be looming out there about the social web and how to best manage your web presence.  As a result, we received the following inquiry from one of our Fans on the Virtually Ready Fan Page on Facebook and wanted to share it with you. “I think the thing that I have been wondering the most is how effective are the ads on here (Facebook)? I have been going back and forth on doing one for both the business and the podcasts, but I am wondering if they actually…

• Business Owners Have A Chance To Win A Customized Flip® MinoHD Video Camera from Virtually Ready

  admin

  15 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

  Do you own a business? Here’s your opportunity to get connected and promote your business at the same time using the latest “on the go” video camera technology – The New Customizable flip® minoHD 120! This handy little gadget can boost your online business promotions with its FlipShare software feature, that “makes it easy to email videos, edit individual clips, make custom movies, capture still-image snapshots, and upload video to Facebook™, MySpace™ , YouTube™ and other sharing sites!” Virtually Ready is giving away a top-of-the-line 120 minute…

• Soundwave Merchandising Extends Social Web Presence for Business with Virtually Ready

  admin

  21 Sep 2009 | 2:09 pm

  Soundwave Merchandising - Specializing in Band Touring Merch & Webstores A couple of months ago, Virtually Ready announced our new partnership with Campus Customs, which offers custom imprinted apparel, promotional screen printing & embroidery to their customers.  Today, we are  introducing an extension to that partnership with Soundwave Merchandising, a division of Campus Customs. Soundwave Merchandising is known for having “major company muscle with independent company thinking and accessibility”, especially in the music industry. The company specializes in band…

• Springbak Springsoles Spring Into Action On The Social Web

  admin

  2 Sep 2009 | 7:00 am

  Official Springbak Springsoles Virtually Ready has recently partnered with Springbak Springsoles, the official provider of the sales and manufacturing of Springbak performance boosting Springsoles (insoles) designed for professional athletes, to revamp their website and bring them up to speed with a new Social Web Fusion(SM) website. To compliment their new site, they are also utilizing Virtually Ready’s website and social web management solutions program to boost their web presence and extend their reach. Springbak’s new website accommodates all of the detailed information they…

• J. Joseph Salon Builds Social Web Presence with Facebook Promotions

  admin

  24 Aug 2009 | 4:58 pm

  After launching the recent redesign of www.jjosephsalon.com, Virtually Ready expands its long-term business relationship with J. Joseph Salon, upscale Tampa hair salon located in Land O Lakes, FL.  We have been providing the salon with ongoing web presence solutions that includes the opportunity to participate and reap the many benefits available from building a professional social web presence. Today, J. Joseph Salon launched their Facebook Fan Page campaign to reach out to its existing and future clientele on a regular basis. The current short-term goal is to reach 100 Facebook fans on J.

• 
  The Practice of Leadership

• Leaders Take Risks!

  George Ambler

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:01 pm

  Photo by schoschie   The act and practice of leadership is a risky undertaking. Leadership is the act or bringing about positive change. This requires leaders to initiate, to blaze new trails, to venture into the unknown and unexplored terrain. All of this entails risk. Kouzes and Posner in their bestselling book, “The Leadership Challenge” describes it this way: “Leaders are pioneers – people who are willing to step out into the unknown. They are people who are willing to take risks, to innovate and experiment in order to find new an better ways of doing things.” Leaders take…

• 10 reasons why you’re going to fail!

  George Ambler

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:50 am

  I can across a really stunning post on failure by Tony Morgan, “10 Reasons Why You’re Probably Going to Fail” that is really worth sharing, so here is Tony’s list… 10 Reasons Why You’re Probably Going to Fail It’s not your passion. If it doesn’t make your heart beat fast or cause your mind to race when you’re trying to sleep, you’re probably doing the wrong thing. You don’t have a plan. You need a vision, and you need to identify specific steps to make that vision become reality. That includes a financial plan. (I happen to believe you need direction from God on…

• The 2009 Most Influential Business Thinkers

  George Ambler

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:45 am

  Forbes.com released their 2009 “The Most Influential business Thinkers”  results. The consulting firm CrainerDearlove compiled this list of today’s top thinkers, by surveyed 3,500 people and a panel of experts to determine the 2009 edition of the Thinkers 50, the fifth edition of a biennial list of the most influential living management thinkers. This years results are listed below.   Rank Name 2007 Rank Country Day Job 1 C.K. Prahalad 1 India/U.S. University of Michigan Academic 2 Malcolm Gladwell 18 Canada New Yorker Columnist 3 Paul Krugman U.S. Princeton Academic 4…

• Keeping your goals in focus

  George Ambler

  30 Aug 2009 | 1:39 pm

     Photo by kevindooley The article “For This Guru, No Question Is Too Big” from the NY Times discusses the work of the best selling business author Jim Collins. Given the popularity of Jim Collins the article discussed how he allocates his time, which is as follows: “… in a corner of the white board at the end of his long conference room, Mr. Collins keeps this short list: Creative 53% Teaching 28% Other 19% That, he explains, is a running tally of how he’s spending his time, and whether he’s sticking to a big goal he set for himself years ago: to spend 50 percent of…

• Do you have a personal leadership vision?

  George Ambler

  30 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pm

  Photo by maessive Stew Friedman writes a great post titled “Define Your Personal Leadership Vision” in which he provides some guidance on how to go about defining your personal leadership vision. He describes a personal leadership vision as… “… an essential means for focusing attention on what matters most; what you want to accomplish in your life and what kind of leader you wish to be. A useful vision has to be rooted in your past, address the future, and deal with today’s realities. It represents who you are and what you stand for. It inspires you, and the people whose…

• 
  Maximize Possibility

• This Week's Featured Possibility Maximizer: The Marshall Goldsmith Library

  Rainman

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:46 am

  Every week I like to feature a resource that I feel will help you Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. This week I would like to feature an excellent collection of online resources from one of my favorite business minds: Marshall Goldsmith. The Resource: The Marshall Goldsmith Library What it Covers: The Marshall Goldsmith Library is a powerful online collection of articles and other resources from one of the most influential business thinkers of our time. On this site you will find a wide variety of resources including research articles, white papers, podcasts,…

• Carnival of Leadership Development is Live at Great Leadership by Dan

  Rainman

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:53 pm

  The latest Carnival of Leadership Development is up and live at Dan McCarthy's Great Leadership blog. Head on over for a great collection of almost 50 leadership and talent management posts from a wide range of the industry's top bloggers! While you're there be sure to browse around Dan's blog... I promise you won't be disappointed!

• The Rainmaker 'Fab Five' Blog Picks of the Week

  Rainman

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:20 pm

  I like to start every week by pointing you to my choices for the top five talent management, leadership development, and human resource management blog posts from the past week. Here's what I've enjoyed reading this past week: Don't Let Your Strength Become Your Weakness - Researchers interviewed 18,000 U.K. leaders over a decade (1999 to 2009) to discover what derailed them under pressure. They identified 11 derailers — strengths which turned into flaws under pressure. Watch for a future blog post I am writing titled - "Is Your Organization Too Politically Correct?". A Better Way…

• Are You a Victim of "Satisfactory" Performance?

  Rainman

  31 Oct 2009 | 3:57 pm

  A reader comment on my recent blog highlighting the importance of employee performance measurement got me thinking about how we frame the idea of employee performance management. One reader writes: I think if the work is getting done satisfactorily that an employee is performing well. I can't get over one word in the sentence above: satisfactory - what an un-inspiring word! As I see it, when it comes to employee performance, this is a word that equates to good enough and encourages the minimum effort required to get by. I don't mean to imply that workers don't want to do...

• This Week's Featured Possibility Maximizer: Log Me In Free

  Rainman

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:23 am

  Every week I like to feature an online resource that I feel will help you in your quest to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. I have a great resource for you this week that allows you to remotely access any computer you work on for free. The Resource: Log Me In Free What It Is: Log Me In is a totally free software download that allows you to remotely access any computer you install the software on from anywhere you have internet access. When you access your computer via Log Me In Free you will...

• 
  Bigger Isn't Always Better

• Has Toyota lost it's way?

  15 Oct 2009 | 5:35 am

  My Jan 5, '07 post was about the folly of setting "being the world's biggest car maker" as a growth goal. Then GM held that mantle. Now Toyota does. Follow the link to see what Toyota has reaped.

• Reinventing (intelligent) regulation

  15 Apr 2009 | 7:43 am

  The Washington Post’s Steve Pearlstein wrote another on-target column today outlining the roles of the financial regulators that will be needed to keep bigger-is-better thinking from causing future financial crises. He wisely warns of dangers of creating an intelligent regulatory system in a rush, and as a reaction to the current mood of populist outrage about Wall St et al. Outrage is great for stimulating awareness of a problem, but it’s a poor basis upon which to create something new and better.What Steve misses in his analysis is the critical role the US congress must play in any…

• Growth requires subtraction as well as addition

  12 Apr 2009 | 8:06 am

  Follow the link to a good Fortune case study about how Middlebury College (see Feb 2 '09 post) is coping with the economic downturn. There are lots of lessons for organizations - for-profit as well as non-profit - here."Especially in the private sector, higher ed has grown by adding new things without taking old things away. There's going to be a lot of soul-searching on campuses around the country, and colleges asking, 'What's essential?"... comments Ronald Ehrenberg, a Cornell University economist who studies higher education.The article also highlights Ron Liebowitz, who came to Middlebury…

• The dumbest idea in the world

  14 Mar 2009 | 6:31 pm

  Bigger Isn’t Always Better is sharply critical of the shareholder value approach to running a corporation. It calls it a strategy built on dubious logic, flawed assumptions, and a belief in magic.That book was published in 2006. Now, three years later, Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric and celebrity poster-child for the shareholder value movement, publicly admits it was a dumb idea:"Jack Welch, who is regarded as the father of the “shareholder value” movement that has dominated the corporate world for more than 20 years, has said it was ‘a dumb idea’ for executives to focus so…

• Salary (reduction) sanity

  2 Feb 2009 | 7:31 am

  My first book was about downsizing. It stressed ways to do it smartly and humanely. (See my website for its text). So it was encouraging to see the approach Middlebury College is taking to adjusting to the current economic crisis. Here is what it’s president, Ron Liebowitz, wrote about how he is distributing the pain:"Though we are committed to competitive salaries for our faculty and staff, and recognize their importance in hiring and retaining the best faculty and staff, we believe it would be unwise to raise salaries this coming year as if it were business as usual, especially when the…

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  Pink Slip

• Snot monitor at Disney World (and you thought your job was terrible)

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:44 am

  I was reading yet another of those 'be afraid, be very afraid' articles on the H1N1 pandemic - my throat scratchy, my neck glands aching, through every last word. (Did that person on the other side of the street just cough? Thoughtless bastard should be wearing a surgical mask and staying the hell home.) This one was in the NY Times, scheduled for this coming Sunday, but through the miracle of modern technology, available in the now. It talked about how theme parks just might be breeding grounds for the flu. There are, apparently, Disney fans’ discussion boards are buzzing about the…

• Leader of the Laundromat

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:59 am

  How well I remember my first trip to the laundromat. My friend Bernadette's family washing machine was broken, so her mother asked us to take a couple of loads over to Pat's Laundromat, conveniently located across Eureka Street from the Lees' house. We started up the first load, and then realized that we hadn't put the detergent in. Undaunted, we opened the washing machine - a front loader, of course - so we could throw in the Tide. Which we did manage to accomplish, more or less, but not before nearly flooding Pat's Laundromat. I probably had little use for laundromats again until I got an…

• Now they're telling us a Bombers' win is good for the economy. Damn Yankees!

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:20 am

  Monday night, I was delighted to see the Philadelphia Phillies dig in, man up, and win a do or die game in the World Series. They may, of course, have merely staved off what seems inevitable: a Yankees win. A Yankees win. Blecchhh. As an American League fan growing up when the Red Sox were cellar-dwellers and the World Series meant the Yankees, I was an October-only Yankees fan as a child. But that changed when the Red Sox became a contender, and the last time I rooted for the Yankees to win was in 2001, when they were America's Team and should, by rights and corny story-telling, have won it…

• Executive pensions on the rise - whew, am I ever relieved

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:06 am

  Just when you think you'll never hear anything jolly out of corporate America, today's Wall Stree Journal brings the heartening news that executive pensions rose last year by nearly 20%. And for the most highly skilled and valuable, pensions rose by a well-deserved 50%. (Access to the full article may require a subscription, or picking a paper subscription off the vestibule floor of your building, which is where the ones that get delivered to my building end up. I recycle them.) Will I ever sleep better tonight, or what? Because I want to share the wealth, or, rather information about the…

• 'When you're lost in the rain in Juarez, and it's Christmastime, too' (Bob Dylan's got "Christmas in the Heart.")

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  It's almost that time of year when I pull out my Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Judy Collins, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Leon Redbone (what was I thinking), and the half-dozen or so other Christmas CD's I own, and start playing away. I wasn't planning on adding to my collection, when an ad in The New Yorker caught my eye. Bob Dylan's just released a Christmas Album. Say what? My first thought was, has Bobby jumped the shark, errrrrr, reindeer. When did this happen? Sure, I was a fan back in the day, and I do occasionally put on some of the Bob albums - Freewheelin', Bringing It All Back Home,…

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  Sanders Says

• 360 Degree Confidence

  Tim Sanders

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:37 am

  Confidence is the rocket fuel for success.   When you stamp out uncertainty in your point of view, confidence rushes in and gives you resilience, power and boldness.  Show me a successful entrepreneur and I'll show you a consistently confident persona. Confidence gives you risk tolerance.  It fills you with charisma, attracting others to follow or join you. It puts you in a creative (think proactive) state as opposed to the weaker reactive analytical state.   The secret, though, is to create an effective system for consistent confidence.  Sure, you get puffed up when…

• The Brevity Economy

  Tim Sanders

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:11 pm

  Last year, I met one of my heroes, coach and motivational speaker/author Phil Jackson.  I introduced myself as a fellow speaker and we shared a glass of wine.  During the course of the conversation, he shared his favorite piece of public speaking advice: "Be brief, be seated."  This quote, originally from Franklin D. Roosevelt, underscores the secret effective meetings of all types: Practice radical brevity. This concept bears true today, more than ever. Time is at a premium.  One of the biggest roadblocks to meetings these days it the lack of time to hold them!

• Don't use email to go over someone's head

  Tim Sanders

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:22 pm

  From my email etiquette training program, here's a simple but hard to follow rule: Don't use email to get your way via escalation.   I'm sure all of us have either used this passive aggressive technique or been abused by it.  Using email to pull rank on someone is a prescription for disaster.  This is just one of 12 rules that everyone should follow -- especially your employees that represent your brand.  Contact me for details on the program.  Rule 2: Don't Email Over Someone's Head 

• The value of a clean work space

  Tim Sanders

  30 Oct 2009 | 2:51 pm

  One of the most zen things you can do for your mind is to do a deep-clean of your entire work space. Mine is at home, where a 3 year renovation is reaching its end.  Over the last few months my desk became a holding place for cards, receipts, gadgets, coins, pens, pads and what not.   I could work around everything, and kept putting things into piles to neaten it a bit.  One thing I've noticed, though: I really don't feel creative in this space.  When I sit here, I'm wading through contracts, emails, projects and I feel like I'm weed-whacking more than value…

• Ask me for professional and business advice

  Tim Sanders

  29 Oct 2009 | 3:34 pm

  I'm getting ready to launch a podcast (Sanders Says).   One of my segments will be "Ask The Lovecat."  If you know me, you know that I love to give professional and business advice.  That's what I do in my books and during my keynote presentations.  If you have a question you'd like to submit -- send it to me.  We can keep your name anonymous so your question can be very specific.  If I use your question, I'll send you a book!  Questions could include:  * Advice on how to get things done at work  * Advice on how to move up in your company * Advice…

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  Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog

• This S&P 500 Chart Tells the Two-Part Truth

  John Agno

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am

  Have you seen or read ANYTHING like this in the past two weeks? The following text is courtesy of Elliott Wave International. Until Nov. 11, EWI is allowing non-subscribers to download their latest market analysis and forecasts for free, including Robert Prechter's latest Elliott Wave Theorist and Steve Hochberg's and Pete Kendall's latest Elliott Wave Financial Forecast. Learn more about FreeWeek, and download your free reports here. By Guest Author Robert Folsom, Senior Writer for Elliott Wave International As you read and look at this page, please know that the chart is the star of the…

• Leadership Through Sharing

  John Agno

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:02 pm

  No doubt you have heard "The Cookie Thief" poem by Valerie Cox from "A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul" Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen that goes like this: A woman was waiting at an airport one night,With several long hours before her flight.She hunted for a book in the airport shop,Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,That the man beside her, as bold as could be,Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.She read, munched cookies, and watched the…

• Black Monday: Ancient History Or Imminent Future?

  John Agno

  29 Oct 2009 | 9:11 am

  By Guest Author Nico Isaac The following article includes analysis from Robert Prechter’s Elliott Wave Theorist. For more insights from Robert Prechter, download the 75-page eBook Independent Investor eBook. It’s a compilation of some of the New York Times bestselling author’s writings that challenge conventional financial market assumptions. Visit Elliott Wave International to download the eBook, free. Once upon a time, the term "Black Monday" was to Wall Street what the name "Lord Voldemort" was to Hogwarts. It turned the air freezing cold and sent traders flinching around every…

• Group Think Stifles Creativity

  John Agno

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:26 am

  The noted physicist David Bohm used to say, "Normally, our thoughts have us rather than we having them."  That is why when we're learning something new outside the programming of our brains, we can feel awkward, incompetent, and even foolish. "Group think" is the continual, albeit often subtle, censoring of honesty and authenticity in a group of people.  Groups are naturally coercive: they need shared norms and shared ways of thinking and seeing to function effectively.  But problems arise when the collective censor goes unrecognized by theteam members. When an individual within the…

• Exposing the Myths of Working Women

  John Agno

  26 Oct 2009 | 11:07 am

  Women love lists of what they have to get done.  There are too many things for her to do before she can relax. The more exhausted she feels, the more urgent it becomes for her to get everything done. As an executive coach of working women, I know in a woman's brain there will always more to do.  It seems that Marcus Buckingham knows this also and has written a new book about what the happiest and most successful women have in common.  Here are five myths that Buckingham reports about the lives of working women: Myth:  With better education, jobs and pay, women are happier and more…

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  SustainableWork

• Economic development. Learning from action steps

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:04 pm

  I am really looking forward to a presentation I get to share with the Wisconsin Economic Development Association (WEDA) this coming Monday evening, Nov. 9. They have asked me to discuss opening a new economic development organization. I am coming up on my first anniversary as an economic developer in rural Wisconsin. On my first day on the job, Dec. 1, 2008, I was sitting in a vacant conference room in Dodgeville, WI. I had been shoveling info into a newly cloned database as fast as I could all day. I turned on the radio that evening as I set up to leave. I learned that a recession was…

• Slow startups. Find the information you'll need

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:03 am

  As time allows, I'm going to continue posting about the six steps I think people need to take for launching their own slow startup enterprise.This post is about the second of the six steps, gathering information in a way that adds value to your idea and sustainability to the platforms you will work from.In other words, this is about business planning and slow startup enterprises. A slow startup focuses on creating a new enterprise with limited time and funds. These enterprises are meant to bring increasing sustainability into people's lives and the communities they live in.The common thread…

• "Find Heroes. Do Demos. Tell Stories."

  25 Oct 2009 | 10:03 pm

  As anyone who has read these post for a while knows, I am a really big fan of Tom Peters and his work in designing management structures and work policies that achieve results.I have been reading Tom Peters for decades now. Tom writes for a more urban crowd I think. What I find really interesting is that as I move into rural economic development work I am finding many farmers and rural entrepreneurs who also embrace Tom's work.Busy weekend doing economic development budgets. Lost the time for a proper post so I thought I would share a quote from Tom Peters that I read recently.Here is a short…

• Slow startups. Get a realistic understanding.

  17 Oct 2009 | 4:30 pm

  Slow startups allow people to fit a small business into their lives in sustainable ways. You get to decide how much time and money you can spend. Both can be small but if you act on your small business during the time set aside, you can come out the other end with something valuable to you, financially and culturally.At that point you have a real enterprise. You'll have a base of unique skills and knowledge that will allow you to take your enterprise in any direction you want. You will have customers, cash flow and a track record. You will have learned to control your data. These are the…

• Slow Startups. What to do first.

  10 Oct 2009 | 9:19 pm

  The economy is rebuilding, but I don't know anyone who feels relaxed about their future economic security.People want to put some stability and meaning back into their economic lives. There are certainly many paths to get there.I've been writing about slow startups as a viable path for creating smart new enterprises that can make significant financial and cultural improvements in people's lives.We've got slow food, and now slow money. Why not slow startups? Everyone wants viable new solutions and the emerging model is competence and sustainability, not speed. Just as there is great honor in…

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  Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

• The Kevin Bacon Marketing Method

  Mary

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:39 am

  “Our target market is the Fortune 500.” “We’ll target industry leaders.” Both of these tired sentences come up repeatedly in go-to-market plans – and they’re meaningless. First, there are only 500 of the Fortune 500 (and they’re a pretty ragged bunch these days, in any event.) Do you know anybody at the F500 company – anybody that can get you to a decision maker? (Sorry, but your brother-in-law, the store manager in Ponca City, OK probably doesn’t have the CEO on speed dial…) The 800-pound gorilla leader may not be the best fit…

• Still Thinking About Social Media? (What’s that?)

  Mary

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:17 am

  Funny how things work. In doing research for a product launch plan for a software client – I’m ending up in all kinds of virtual places, data hog that I am. (And, I sometimes get my best ideas in some seemingly unrelated reading. Gets me out of the mental rut.) Today, for example, I somehow went from reading about trends in healthcare IT…to reading this survey about small businesses not using social media…to a really cool blog about social media, Penn Olson. It’s written by “kids” in Singapore (and elsewhere) and it’s easy on the eyes (no…

• You Can’t Force People (Customers) To Love You

  Mary

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:34 am

  No, no, I’ve not degenerated into giving dating (or life coaching) advice here.  But, building a customer relationship is a lot like dating (and  nobody gets married on the first date…at least not anybody that stays married.) My good friend and all-around marketer poobah, Mary Ellen Merrigan, recently wrote about an event where attendees were forced to visit vendors – so they could get that all important vendor signature to possibly win a prize.  Never mind if the attendees were: a. interested in what the vendor had to offer; b. the vendor wanted the type of traffic the…

• Are You (Really) Developing A Product?

  Mary

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:24 am

  …or are you playing with an idea? Of course, you need an idea before you can have a product…but you can patent anything (rather it’s a defensible patent…or a good product idea…that’s two other entirely different matters.) Three Sanity Checkpoints: 1. What does it do? No, not what you’ll put on the patent application. How would you explain it to: your Mother, your bartender, your five-year-old daughter? If the five-year-old gets it – you’ve REALLY got something with potential. And, she’ll ask a lot of embarrassing questions that us…

• Success Takes More Than Showing Up

  Mary

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:09 am

  90% of success is showing up. – Woody Allen This is oft repeated as an entrepreneur mantra.  And, yes – you need to show up, but you also need to show up with something. We all know them: The gung-ho board member of a nonprofit, who – if he actually does show up – comes late and unprepared, albeit still gung ho! (And, never actually seems to do any of those great things he talks about.) The excited new entrepreneur who feverishly works the room at seemingly every event in town…forces you to take her biz card (for the 12th time)…yet never seems to have any…

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  The Trump Blog

• Defective Construction Materials - Easy Fixes or Nightmares Waiting to Happen?

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:36 am

  by Tina Merritt It seems like there is always some defective construction product in the news.  Years ago it was lead based paint and asbestos.  Back in the mid to late 90's, it was EIFS, fire retardant plywood and Polybutylene plumbing.  Now, it's defective drywall from China.  What should you do?  Run away like everyone else from these properties or embrace an opportunity for a possible real estate investment deal? The answer is......it depends. EIFS (Exterior Insulation and Finish System) is an exterior coating used extensively in the 1980's and 1990's.

• Staying on Top

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pm

  by Donald J. Trump One way I stay on top of things is to realize there’s a flip side to everything. It keeps me circumspect in both good and bad times. This produces a learning curve, which is a smart way to look at problems or the curveballs that come your way. There are highs and lows in everyone’s life. Whether you’ve reached your goals or not, staying on top of things requires momentum on a daily basis. If you’re riding high or having tough times, it applies to both situations. It’s a sound base from which to operate. There is the saying “courage is…

• What's Up with Condos Lately?

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am

  by Tina Merritt There are many guidelines in the condominium lending world and investors need to know how these changes will affect them.  Why?  Well, the default rate on condominiums has increased substantially as units have faced foreclosure and associations have gone bankrupt.  Now keep in mind, I'm talking about condominium OWNERSHIP here, not necessarily the structure.  Condominium is a form of property ownership and a condo development can be the traditional apartment style structure, single family homes, townhomes or another variety of build-out. The new guidelines…

• The FHA 90 Day Seasoning Rule

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:50 am

  by Tina Merritt For many investors who rely on FHA-approved buyers to purchase their homes, the "Seasoning Rule" can be a big issue. What is the seasoning rule?  In a nutshell, with very few exceptions, FHA will not fund a mortgage for a property that has been owned for less than 90 days.  This causes many investors to lose money due to holding costs, extended time on the market and/or not being able to market to FHA buyers.  This rule pertains to any title transfer so if an investor transfers a property from one LLC to another, the 90 day rule goes into effect. On September 1,…

• Trump International - Scotland

  29 Oct 2009 | 7:55 am

  by Donald J. Trump I am pleased to announce that work on site on my golf course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, will begin this week, ahead of schedule. We plan to build the greatest golf course in the world. There are hundreds of acres of magnificent sand dunes and the seaside landscape includes three miles of spectacular oceanfront. 2000 acres in all, and the location couldn’t be better. I spent five years reviewing sites and turned down over 200 possibilities for development throughout Europe. When I saw the links land at Menie Estate, which is in northeast Scotland’s Grampian…

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  Management IQ - BusinessWeek

• CEO Oversharing

  Nanette Byrnes

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pm

  Recently Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre, a $230 million company with more than 3,000 employees, got enmeshed in a bit of a modern corporate culture snafu. Conley's not your average Harvard MBA pinstriped buttoned-down corporate chieftan. He's an entrepreneur. He writes his own rules. So to him, it wasn't so strange to post some pictures of himself at the Burning Man whatever-it-is in the desert on his Facebook fan page. Or to tweet on Twitter about the demise of his 8-year-long relationship. Some of his employees, however, found it unseemly for a CEO to be shirtless on Facebook. And since…

• Marketing Drugs: The Pitfalls of DTC

  Arlene Weintraub

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:56 am

  What happens when pharmaceutical company ads urge TV views and magazine readers to "ask your doctor" about a particular drug? A new study from market researcher Verilogue suggests patients either aren't asking for the drug by name, or worse, they're asking about its scary side effects. Verilogue came to that conclusion from a unique and useful vantage point: It recorded 12,500 real conversations between patients and physicians. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising is one of the most controversial issues in pharmaceuticals. Critics say the ads promote the over-use of prescription drugs…

• CEO Pensions Encourage Earnings Games

  Nanette Byrnes

  23 Oct 2009 | 3:44 pm

  A new study finds that it’s not just the outsized pay packages executives at AIG, Citigroup and others receive that is a problem. Nor are the golden parachutes given those forced out the only thing that deserves scrutiny. Regular run-of-the-mill CEO retirement has become a reason for CEOs to goose the numbers. The study by Paul Kalyta of McGill University finds that a CEO whose retirement pay depends in part on the company’s performance in his final years at the helm, will manage earnings up as he approaches retirement. After he’s gone, the stocks tend to drop sharply. By contrast,…

• Pay Czar Slashes Compensation; Makes Governance Changes

  Jena McGregor

  21 Oct 2009 | 2:55 pm

  In a striking display of government authority, pay czar Kenneth Feinberg is taking a knife to the pay packages of certain companies receiving U.S. funds. According to media reports, the government will slash the compensation of the 25 highest-paid employees at the seven firms receiving the most aid. The biggest drop will be to salaries, which will plummet 90% on average for these firms, while total compensation will fall by an average of about 50%. (Those numbers could be skewed by agreements reached with executives like outgoing Bank of America CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, who is forgoing all of…

• Research and Development Spending Slows

  Emily Thornton

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:02 am

  Here's a sobering prediction: A new study put out by The New Democratic Leadership Council predicts that American investment in research and development will experience its biggest decline in 30 years. R&D spending is expected to fall 2.4% in 2009- marking the third time in 30 years the nation has witnessed a pullback in research spending. Continued R&D spending is considered a key to economic growth. And there are companies that have continued to keep up their research investments. Nevertheless, the US overall now lags behind its competitors in terms of the percent of the nation's general…

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  Great Leadership

• 10 Ways to Get the Most from a 360 Degree Leadership Assessment

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pm

  A 360 degree leadership assessment is one of the most effective ways to get feedback from your employees, peers, and managers against a set of pre-defined leadership competencies.Having debriefed these for hundreds of managers, and taken a number of different 360s myself, I’ve discovered some best practices that have worked for me and others.Here are 10 tips for getting the most value from a 360 degree leadership assessment:1. Mentally prepare yourself.You have to go into these things with the right frame of mind. Don’t get all worked up dreading the results and hoping no one says…

• The November 1st Leadership Development Carnival

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:48 am

  Welcome to the day after Halloween, too much candy hangover, take the leftovers to work, full moon, November 1st edition of the Leadership Development Carnival.There's no bottom of the treat bag dum-dums in this edition - nothing but full-size snicker bars.So grab your candy bag and get ready to fill it up with some sweet advice, opinions, and ideas from some of your favorite leadership bloggers. You can also follow many of these bloggers on Twitter by using this Twitter group, courtesy of Becky Robinson. We lead off with Wally Bock presenting Let’s hear it for the role models posted at…

• How to Infuse Coaching Skills into a Manager

  29 Oct 2009 | 4:20 pm

  After taking the recent Talent Management Challenge, a reader commented:“Suggestion for your next blog post - How do you improve career coaching and development at your organization when your managers are bad at it and don't have time to get better (ha - and they don't think they need to get better, nor do they have the time!)?”The reader was referring to solid, beyond a shadow of a doubt research that says managers, in general, are lousy at coaching and developing their people.As if that fact isn’t depressing enough, what makes it even worse is a whole body of other research that…

• Great Leadership 2 Year Anniversary Celebration!

  28 Oct 2009 | 3:58 pm

  Two years ago today, October 28, 2007, I launched Great Leadership. 445 posts and counting.Once again I'm going to skip the usual lengthy reflections, "best of" lists, and thanking the members of the academy. 95% of my readers would find it boring, and there would be just way too many people to thank. The one thing I did want to share is an answer to a question my blogging friend Scott Eblin asked me over a year ago. Scott's an executive coach, and probably because he just can't help himself, he asked me one of those deep, reflective questions that good coaches often do - "So tell me Dan,…

• Leading with Courage: Run Toward the Roar

  27 Oct 2009 | 4:48 pm

  Guest post by Emmett C. Murphy:When antelopes hear the sound of a lion’s roar their instinct tells them to run in the opposite direction. Doing so, however, means they run to almost certain death because lions expect their prey to do just that. The male of the pride anticipates where the antelope will run while the lionesses lie in ambush opposite the male. When the lion roars, a startled antelope runs directly into the jaws of the waiting lionesses.When faced with threats to our happiness or security, we humans all too often run away from the “roar” of daily life only to find, later,…

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  CIO - Blogs and Discussion -

• Six Steps For Preventing Data Leakage from Portable Storage Devices

  John Jefferies

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:59 pm

  Protecting data is top of mind for companies and individuals as people continue to carry around more information on tiny computing and storage devices, especially because they can hold the equivalent read more

• AT&T Loses to Verizon in Ad Game

  Tom Kaneshige

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:51 am

  Americans love comparative advertising. The nastier, the better. Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ad campaign is simply brilliant. read more

• Is Target's India IT Arm a Target for Indian Outsourcers?

  Beth Bacheldor

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:09 am

  Earlier in the week, there were media reports that Indian outsourcing firms

• iPhone & ERP Go Together Like PB & Jelly

  Thomas Wailgum

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:03 am

  I know what you're thinking: Puh-lease, Tom. read more

• CIOs: Develop A Technology Watch List

  Forrester Research

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am

  CIOs in all industries face a challenge (or opportunity depending if you’re a glass half full or empty kind of person): how to craft near- and long-term plans as technology rapidly evolves and becom read more

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  Mission Minded Management

• Missed Opportunities to Rescue Dugard Linked to Poor Employee Screening or Poor Pay?

  Michelle Malay Carter

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:06 am

  According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “State parole agents fell down on the job again and again during the 10 years they supervised sex offender Phillip Craig Garrido, failing to check out clues that could have led to alleged kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard.”  [emphasis mine] Parole Agent Work is Level Two Work If you follow my blog, you know that work exists in levels, and we can classify roles by work level.  If a parole agent’s job involves sorting information to identify relevant clues and then adding clues together to draw conclusions, then it is level two work. Level…

• Ford not only Survives, but Thrives? Was it Science-based Organization Design and Talent Assessment?

  Michelle Malay Carter

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am

  Good news for Ford Motor Company this week as it earned a third-quarter profit of almost $1 billion and expects to be “solidly profitable” in 2011 in its North American business.  Has Ford turned the financial corner? I was reminded last week at the Global Organization Design Society’s International Conference that Ford Motor Company worked with Elliott Jaques and The Levinson Institute in the areas of requisite organization design and talent assessment years back. Was a work-levels, science-based approach to organization design and talent assessment a contributor to…

• The GO Society’s 2009 World Conference in Buenos Aires

  Michelle Malay Carter

  22 Oct 2009 | 10:34 pm

  I’m attending and presenting at the GO Society’s World Conference this upcoming week.  Can you imagine a group of geeks from around the world mezmerized by talk of work levels and Requisite Organizations until late in the evening each night?  Sounds like a slice of heaven, doesn’t it? I doubt that I will be able to keep the blog fires burning during that time, because I don’t want to miss a minute of the dialogue.  So, for now, you will have to talk amongst yourselves.  Discussion Topic:   Why does Management Science have yet to adopt a universal set of…

• What Does Your Franchise Fee Pay For? Work Levels 5, 4, and 3

  Michelle Malay Carter

  18 Oct 2009 | 2:20 pm

  The franchise model has been responsible for many an American dream (insert your country here as well).  And what are you buying when you purchase a franchise? Level 5 - The brand, the business model, the strategy Level 4 - The infrastructure, the future focus strategic work, operational change decisions Level 3 - The operational processes for consistency, best practices for efficiency and waste minimization, contingency planning. A Single Franchise Unit Can Be Managed at Level Two Franchising allows someone currently capable of level 2 work to run an effective business by…

• What is Requisite Organization? The Elevator Speech

  Michelle Malay Carter

  13 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pm

  I work for PeopleFit, a management consulting firm that specializes in: Organizational engineering, talent assessment, and designing managerial leadership systems rooted in Elliott Jaques’ meta-model, Requisite Organization. What a marketing nightmare - creating demand for services that most executives have never conceived of! Let’s Learn from Other Professions! While most professions and industries have standards of practice which weave a common thread throughout the work done, managerial leadership is lacking the adoption of universal rules of engagement. Can you imagine the…

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  Management/ Leadership

• You want to be a leader? Lead

  Judi Hasson

  18 Oct 2009 | 11:51 am

  John Glowacki Jr., the chief technology officer for Computer Sciences Corp., says there is no substitute for face-to-face communication and direct contact with customers, employees and business associates if you want to be a good leader. He tells CIOupdate.com that using remote collaboration tools like audio, video and web conferencing, and the telephone are fine, but you need first-hand contact and experience to know what is really happening with your company and your markets. "I can see 20 PowerPoint presentations on a given operation, and still learn more in a day or two on the ground…

• IT execs alarmed about the cloud

  Judi Hasson

  30 Aug 2009 | 4:14 pm

  Tech executives are more than a little worried about cloud computing, fearing security, data management and compliance problems, according to a new CIO.com of 240 IT professionals involved in technology-purchasing decisions. The survey finds that more than 50 percent of respondents have concerns, as opposed to 45 percent a year ago. The concern reflected in the survey is, in part, because some fear a loss of control over the data. In 2008, 26 percent were worried. This year, 37 percent said this was an issue that gave them pause.The latest survey found other startling results:…

• Companies lag in managing threats to development environments

  Judi Hasson

  19 Aug 2009 | 6:56 am

  Most IT practitioners don't think their company has adequate policies to manage threats to data in development environments, according to a new survey by the Ponemon Institute. Seventy-five percent of the organizations surveyed use one to 50 terabytes of data in development environments. These companies report running full lists through development systems rather than random samples, according to Ponemon. "Over decades in security research, I have seen the real effort put into the production environment, not development and testing,"  Larry Ponemon,…

• Seven ways to deal with IT workers in the recession

  Judi Hasson

  17 Jun 2009 | 8:08 am

  You know your staff is overworked, underpaid and depressed about recent layoffs in your shop. You cannot just sit by and ignore the dark clouds. Instead, there are plenty of ways to maintain an upbeat workplace and give your employees a reason to come to work everyday. CIO.com analyzes ways you can make the workload better, ensuring productivity and keeping your workers happy and productive. Here are a few of the suggestions: Tell the truth. Don't sugarcoat what's going on. Tell workers how the company plans to ride out the recession. Listen to your staff. Give them a chance to voice their…

• Mistakes CIOs make when managing vendors

  Judi Hasson

  31 May 2009 | 9:50 am

  When all the pieces are in place, in your IT office, you think it should be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, even when everything is where it should be, it does not always work the way it should. One of the biggest issues is how CIOs manage their vendors to get the best performance, stay on budget and get a project done on time. "A very typical issue that we see is managing these relationships by committee," James Harvey, partner and co-chair of the Global Technology, Outsourcing & Privacy Group at law firm Hunton & Williams LLP, told CIOinsight.com. "Which means no one is held…

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  CIO.com - CIO Role

• Are You 'Too Canadian' to Be a CIO?

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Canadian companies are increasingly asking headhunters to look outside its borders -- specifically to the U.S. -- for new IT leaders.

• GM's New CIO Plans Big Desktop Changes, Expanded Mobile Support

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  New General Motors CIO Terry Kline looks to continue the progressive IT ways of predecessor Ralph Szygenda by adopting the consumer technologies used by new car buyers as well as cloud computing techniques and "PCs on a stick."

• IT Snake Oil: Six Tech Cure-Alls That Went Bunk

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Legendary promises, little delivery -- IT history is fraught with "transformational" sales pitches that fell far short

• Utah Adopts 'Less is More' ARRA Strategy

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Utah's CIO is using existing systems to report ARRA spending, instead of investing in "gee-whiz software."

• Xobni CEO Talks About CIOs, Gmail and 'Getting Things Done'

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Xobni Corp. is releasing an enterprise version of its Microsoft Outlook search app, a move that will let IT managers centrally deploy and manage the company's plug-in to employees' client PCs.

• 
  IMD Business School - News

• IMD Faculty share their perspectives on the Berlin Wall anniversary

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  IMD Faculty share their perspectives on the Berlin Wall anniversary

• Speed of Trust event with Stephen MR Covey

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Swiss Marketing, the national number one non-profit association in marketing and networking, and IMD, the number global business school outside the US and number two worldwide (Financial Times, 2009 rankings), are pleased to invite you to our first international “Inspire for Excellence” Symposium, on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009.  Join our Executive Workshop with Stephen M.R. COVEY, international management guru and author of the Wall Street Journal #1 best seller “Speed of Trust” , to find out more about the one thing  that will dramatically impact…

• Professor Lehmann urges business leaders to take action on climate change in lead up to Copenhagen meeting

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Science has been warning of climate change’s dangers. Heads of state from around the world are scheduled to arrive in Copenhagen in December to address this issue during the United Nations Climate Change Conference.However, according to IMD Professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann, political leaders of the major industrialized and industrializing countries are engaging in a most unedifying game of blame and bluff, threatening the outcome of this meeting.  He offers a solution:

• Dr. Aileen Ionescu-Somers to take part in Geneva Women in International Trade panel

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Dr Aileen Ionescu Somers to take part in panel

• IMD Dutch alumni visit Fugro headquarters

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  IMD Dutch alumni visit Fugro headquarters

• 
  IMD Business School - Tomorrow's Challenges Articles

• DON'T FORGET CAPITALISM'S TRIUMPHS

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Read any newspaper these days and it is clear that the global financial crisis has raised serious questions about both capitalism and globalization. The enormous amount of capital now committed to bailout packages is cause for even greater concern. Before completely rejecting a system, it is worth taking a close look at just how far Europe has come since the fall of the Berlin Wall on Thursday, November 9, 1989.

• THE POST-BERLIN AFTERMATH

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  The destruction of the Berlin Wall and the global market revolution that followed emancipated hundreds of millions of people. Though censorship and various forms of state control persist in different parts of the world today, never have so many people on this planet been able to penetrate through the walls of information to gain knowledge and connect with others. Estonians are members of the EU, many children of the new Russian elite attend Swiss schools, while the Chinese appear among the most visible tourists at the Olympic Museum located in the city in which I live, Lausanne.

• THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  The fall of the Berlin Wall began with the Peaceful Revolution in September 1989. As the size of the demonstrations grew, it proved that the majority of the population was against the regime. The main chant of the non-violent protestors was, “We are the people.” Although the state wanted to suppress this counter-revolution, the power of the people, united against the government, ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. Without the power of the people, the Berlin Wall might still be standing today.

• SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  The subject of working capital reduction has been explored in detail in scientific journals for about a century, while business press articles have heralded its benefits for nearly two decades. Numerous conferences unite practitioners to discuss best practices every year but, for some companies, the topic has only recently moved to the top of the agenda. With banks less willing to hand out loans, companies are finding it difficult to maneuver.

• HOW JAPAN CAN IMPROVE ITS COMPETITIVENESS

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  An international financial crisis can be a danger to the future of global corporations, or it can provide opportunity. What is certain is that a global crisis means an end to business as usual. For companies flexible enough to adapt to a changing environment, crises can provide an opening to outpace the competition. For others, the risk is to be left behind or swallowed up by more agile competitors.

• 
  thoughtLEADERS, LLC Blog

• Lessons from Leonidas the Spartan King: Why Shrinking Your Business is Smart

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:01 pm

  Today's guest post is written by Brian Ahearn (no, that's not his picture at left). Brian's one of the most knowledgeable guys I know on the subject of influencing people (which is why he's been a guest here before). Enjoy!I conducted a workshop recently called Principles of Persuasion. During a break, one of the students said she’d had a conversation with her five-year-old son and expressed This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.

• Are You Telling Customers You Don't Care if They Die?

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:05 am

  If you have kids, you know the nauseating feeling of one of your kids going down for the count and having to rush to the emergency room. I had that wonderful experience very recently. What I learned from that visit to the ER is businesses can make very strong statements about how little they care about their customers simply through the processes they use to run the organization.I'm betting you This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.

• 4 Ways NOT to Run an Internship Program

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:02 pm

  An internship program can be great for your company, but don’t do it simply because everyone else is. Just like Mom used to ask, “If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you?” Make sure you can provide a mutually beneficial opportunity, and make sure you’re thinking from both perspectives – the employer and the intern – when you’re developing your program.One of my favorite references of real-life This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.

• How Blowing Up Your Business Can Drive Innovation

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:32 am

  Last week I pounded on folks for being wimps and not making decisions. Out of fairness, many of you want to move your organizations forward but might not have all the tools or resources to do so, Given that, I'd like to provide you some explosives.These are the good kind of explosives. The kind that enable you to blow up your business model and find innovative new ways of doing things. Too This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.

• 5 Reasons No One Reads Anything You Write

  22 Oct 2009 | 12:42 pm

  Please give a warm welcome to our guest blogger Chandra Clarke who is the founder and president of Scribendi.com.It’s cool to complain about “information overload.” It’s less cool to realize you’re a big part of the problem.Yes, you.When we think about information overload, we tend to think about web sites, RSS feeds, videos, and podcasts – things other people produce. But you know what? You This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.

• 
  The Garlington Report (TGR)

• Two Chicago Guys and a CEO Search

  13 Oct 2009 | 12:58 pm

  Left to right: Walter Massey (courtesy, AJC) Charles A. Tribbett III (courtesy, Russell Reynolds web site)Bank of America Corp. (BofA) Chairman Walter Massey has named executive recruiter Charles A. Tribbett III to assist with the recruitment of the bank's next CEO, according to people familiar with the matter. Efforts to confirm Tribbett's selection with a Russell Reynolds spokesperson were

• BofA: Will grits remain thicker than water?

  8 Oct 2009 | 7:57 am

  So week two drags on with the Bank of America Corp. (BofA) governance mess. The bank and its board remain under attack from every conceivable angle, leading to snap decisions such as on/off the shelf "emergency CEOs" that few understand much less believe to be part of a real solution. Mainstream media continue to speculate on the horse race or who will fill the role vs. what is needed to right

• BofA: Let the horse race begin

  2 Oct 2009 | 6:51 am

  Publisher's note: The following was first published today on BusinessWeek.com under their ManagementIQ blog heading. Find the direct link here http://www.businessweek.com/careers/managementiq/archives/2009/10/moment_of_truth.html. Or feel free to read on below.=============================Whoever fills the CEO role, while sexy and headline grabbing, is not the most pressing need at the nation's

• BofA Chairman forms search committee

  1 Oct 2009 | 12:05 pm

  Bank of America Corp. (BofA) Chairman Walter Massey has formed a search committee to find a new CEO to replace Ken Lewis, according to people familiar with the situation.Two executive search firms, Spencer Stuart and Heidrick & Struggles, reportedly are in the running to present qualifications to the committee. Spencer Stuart has been working with BofA on board selection matters since earlier

• ATL's non-teachable moment

  8 Sep 2009 | 8:04 am

  Here's the latest POV from one blogger to another: http://saportareport.com/blog/?p=1748.It continues to amaze how little behaviors change despite all the rhetoric, all the time on the subject of change. Atlanta and its ways are no exception. For such an easy place to live in, it almost does so in spite of itself.# # #

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  Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By

• Don't Look Now . . .

  Waugust

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:53 pm

  "In just two days, tomorrow will be yesterday."AnonymousA simple reminder how quickly things either change or appear to have changed.Our responsibility as managers is to determine which.

• Management Myopia, What To Do

  Waugust

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am

  "I have done that", says my memory. "I cannot have done that", says my pride, and remains adamant. At last, memory yields."Friedrich Nietzsche19th century German PhilosopherI heard a song this morning with a line about old men playing cards, drinking beer, "lying about their lives."Old guys sitting around, embellishing past accomplishments is one thing, but in business, being too out of touch with reality can be disastrous.All the more reason to have objective voices telling us what they think of what we do and say.Do you? Do you listen to them?

• Management: Not How Much You Have, It's What You Do With It

  Waugust

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pm

  "It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed."Kim HubbardEarly 20th century American humoristAnd they do not necessarily bring success or failure in business either.Certainly having more assets at your disposal is usually better than not, but it doesn't mean you still won't squander them.

• Tell Me What You Think

  Waugust

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:23 am

  "If I had to reduce the responsibilities of a good follower to just one rule, it would be to speak the truth to power."Warren BennisOrganizational ConsultantI'll bet many of you never even thought about followers having responsibilities, nonetheless they do. Every relationship imposes them on both parties regardless of rank.Of course, along with the requirement that the follower be ready to speak the truth to those in power is the responsibility of those in power being ready to listen, and of greater importance, not penalizing the follower for having done so.Does it work that way in your…

• Management: "Are There Any Questions?"

  Waugust

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:56 pm

  "If there are no stupid questions, then what type of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?"Scott Adams"Dilbert" cartoonistInteresting perspective on what our teachers always told us. Being stupid does not mean you can't ask a non stupid question, anymore than not being stupid insures your questions will all be (what?) unstupified.We all have a little pointy hair'd boss in us sometimes.

• 
  DrivenLeaders.com

• How to Deliver Bad News to a Group

  Anthony Portuesi

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:50 pm

  Delivering bad news to a group is never an enjoyable experience for any leader. Yet unfortunately in today’s environment, it’s a task that falls on our shoulders all too often.  While established techniques for delivering bad news exist, it’s often difficult to find training on disseminating negative information in the group setting. Personally, in the various management training and leadership programs I’ve been involved with over the years; it’s an area that has barely been touched upon! Difficult conversations and delivering a negative message remain a challenge for many new…

• Turning Ideas into Profits: A New Tool for Entrepreneurs

  Anthony Portuesi

  21 Oct 2009 | 5:13 pm

  At one point or another we’ve all had that million dollar idea for a radical new product that fits some unmet need. Yet no matter how good the concept, more often than not, busy schedules, lack of funds, or just plain apathy for the process, result in us taking no action to making it reality. This week I was intrigued to learn of a new website designed to assist and empower those with entrepreneurial spirit.  The aptly named LaunchYourLine.com, launched today, aimed at walking entrepreneurs through every step of the process from incorporation, to writing business and marketing plans, to…

• Are You an Authentic Leader?

  JimTaggert

  15 Oct 2009 | 4:15 pm

  “I am your servant. I do not come to you as a leader, as one above others.” When you read these words did the person who uttered them come to mind? Admittedly, the world is adrift in leadership quotations. But what makes these words special is that they were said by Nelson Mandela, a man who truly suffered by years being incarcerated in a South African prison. What I want to talk about in this post is leadership and to pose this question, which each of us needs to answer. “Am I an authentic leader?” We’ve heard statements that leaders are born. But then others argue that…

• Preparing Your Organization for Gen-Y

  Anthony Portuesi

  7 Oct 2009 | 2:32 pm

  Generation Y is of the age to enter the workplace and the workplace is in need of them. But are you ready for them? Thanks to Richard Bottner of Intern Bridge, Inc, another development opportunity is in the works that attempts to close this learning gap. Set for October 26th - 30th 2009, Intern Bridge is sponsoring the Millennial Thought Leaders Online Conference, geared at preparing organizations with the tools and practices necessary to engage today’s rising talent. We know that as Gen-Y’s presence in the workplace increases, the need for growth in this area becomes ever more…

• Would You Change Your Personality to Advance Your Career?

  Anthony Portuesi

  28 Sep 2009 | 2:48 pm

  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been on the road quite a bit and with each flight I find some needed time to catch up on industry journals, books, and whatever I can get my hands on. My last trip to Chicago proved to be just such an occasion, yet this time I found myself grazing the most recent issue of Spirit (Southwest’s in-flight magazine). Flipping through the pages, I came across an interesting article by Executive Editor Brad Cope, pondering an interesting question – is it possible to change your personality type to advance your career? While there is no single personality type that…

• 
  Leadership Institute of Indianapolis

• How to Demotivate Your Team

  Bill Caskey

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:14 pm

  We’re constantly talking about ‘inspiring your team’ so I thought today I’d show you a video clip of an interview with Jim Collins (Good To Great), where he addresses this very issue.

• Why Would Anyone Follow Me?

  Jillian Vanarsdall

  28 Sep 2009 | 9:48 am

  “To Understand Follower-Ship, Leaders Need to Grasp The Survival Benefits of Social Coordination” I recently read an article, An Evolutionary View-What Followers Want from Their Leaders, that explains the three characteristics dating back to the ancient tribes that every follower needs from their leader. Roughly two million years ago, the hunter-gather living style did not have formal leadership roles.  With tribal-warfare being the major cause of death during the Old Stone Age, tribes needed to establish leadership to survive and that’s where social coordination was…

• Sales Leaders. Do You Settle For Little Or Aim For Big?

  Bill Caskey

  3 Sep 2009 | 6:57 am

  I’ve had several conversations with VPs of Sales/Managers in the last few weeks, and it’s absurd to me how tolerant we are of mediocrity. I recently spoke with a prospect (CEO) on the phone who was complaining about the lack of engagement with his Senior VP’s/Sales Managers. He said he had seven of them, but only one was really performing sufficiently. That means 85% of his management team are losing. I asked him what he had done about it, and aside from “calling them on the carpet” or “writing them up,” he had done nothing. He said that even though they weren’t…

• Determination

  Jillian Vanarsdall

  27 Aug 2009 | 12:12 pm

  “Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination” -Unknown Author We hear it daily–in the car, at home, during work, and even at church. The U.S is in a recession. According to the United States Department of Labor, in July 2009, the unemployment rate was 9.4%. An article from www.management-issues.com by Dan Bobinski states, “When unemployment numbers rise, the truth starts to ring home.  All jobs are temporary and people can be let go at any moment.  People suddenly realize that neither the government nor corporate America can truly look out for…

• The Four Sins of Poor Listening

  Bill Caskey

  3 Aug 2009 | 3:31 pm

  (The following article is from the magazine Going Bonkers–”Are You Listening To Me”) “It is time for us to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever-the one who recognizes his/her challenges and does something about it.” -Vince Lombardi The Four Sins: 1. Interrupting. “I really am not interested in paying attention to what you have to say which is why I’m not allowing your to finish your sentences and telling you what I think instead-obviously what I have to say is more important than what you’re saying.” You probably don’t mean to…

• 
  Mitch's Blog

• Three Syndromes Consultants Face

  Mitch

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:22 am

  Last night I was talking to another health care consulting friend of mine who just ended a long assignment. She was asking how things were on the health care front, and I told her things were a bit slow, but probably ready to start warming up again. We started talking about some of our shared experiences, because many of us who work in this business will encounter some of the same things, even if we’re at different hospitals. There seems to be some running themes in what we try to do. The first syndrome is coming in after someone else who didn’t do a good job. That may be a…

• It’s Not Always About What You Think

  Mitch

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:32 am

  Yesterday was Election Day in America, and people from all over the country went to the polls to vote for, or against, candidates of their choice. My wife and I went, and had to learn a new way to vote, as they’ve gone away from machines to paper ballots here; this is progress? I vote because a lot of people were willing to give up their lives so that I could have the right to vote. That’s how I honor those people who were able to help force the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and I’ll never be able to thank those people in any other way for the right than to exert that right.

• When Logic Clashes

  Mitch

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am

  A couple of days ago, my wife and I happened to be in the kitchen at the same time. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve started making my week’s meals on Sundays so that all I have to do during the week is get my container, heat up my food, and go about my business. It’s also helping me regain control of my glucose level. My normal process was to remove my food from the container, put it on a paper plate, heat it up then go about my business. My wife asked me why I was doing that. It caught me off guard as a question, because I’ve always done it. I said I do it so that…

• Intuition Revisited

  Mitch

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:44 am

  A couple of days ago, when my wife left for work, she had a funny feeling and decided to lock all the doors before she left. The thing is that I was still home, even though I was asleep, and usually she wouldn’t have locked the garage door. When I asked her about it later, she said she just had this feeling that maybe it was something she should do. Tuesday night, I was talking to a friend of mine about something she was thinking about exploring. As she talked more about it, I had this feeling that I had heard of something like this before. Actually, I felt like I’d actually gone…

• At What Point Do You Take Responsibility?

  Mitch

  28 Oct 2009 | 5:25 am

  As many people know by now, 3 people passed away due to their participation in something called a sweatlodge ceremony. In essence, this is a Native American ceremony where people go into a little handmade hut of coverings with some very hot rocks. Then someone pours water over them, creating a lot of steam, and for about 45 minutes to an hour they go through either a bunch of chants, meditations, and prayers, or sit around in total silence. It can get really uncomfortable, but participants are encouraged to try to stick it out, being told they will attain a spirituality that will change their…

• 
  Bait, Tackle, Ice, Advice & Beer Blog

• Sesame Street invades Google

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:55 pm

  Sunny DaySweepin' the clouds awayOn my way to where the air is sweetCan you tell me how to get,How to get to Sesame Street This week I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my favorite Sesame Street characters gracing Google's homepage. It all began on Wednesday when Big Bird's long legs were in place of Google's typical font. Google often changes their design in honor of holidays and major events. When I saw Big Bird's legs I figured that this was a one time occurrence, but oh no Google had some surprises up their sleeves.The festivities continued on Thursday with Cookie monster devouring…

• Catches of the Week!

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:43 am

  For those art lovers out there, I came across this artist and was very intrigued with how he incorporates outside spaces into amazing pieces of art. Unlike any graffiti I have ever seen;Chor BoogieSan Francisco, CAOn his work: The intentions behind my art work are to create timeless dynamic moments of Imagination, Creativity, Originality, Meaning, Style, Self Expression, Audience, Taste, and the Visual Elements of Line, Light, Composition, Form, Space, and Color. This is what defines my work and defines me as an individual, and allows me to still keep an unselfish perspective on “Why do I…

• Beer and Pumpkins

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  Last Friday, Catch Your Limit hosted the annual pumpkin carving happy hour.Though not all guests were old enough to enjoy the beer, a good time was had by all.Between the pumpkin carving, the Corn-hole playing, and the Oktoberfest lagers, the fall spirit abounded. Some chose to spend time concentrating on their masterpieces, while others would rather indulge in some ghoulish treats.And, of course, we all remember that classic Halloween limerick: At the Catch Your Limit Happy Hour,When the guests' tummies are all full of beer,There's a flesh eating monster come outBut, please, have no…

• "Spooky Catches of the Week"

  30 Oct 2009 | 8:48 am

  1.How to be most effective when you take control of a team2. 3 tips to improving organizational collaboration3. Developing Your Leadership Presence4. Are your employees telling you what you want to hear5. Dont let the organizational chart hinder talent developments Now that you've read those Catches...expand your knowledge with these Halloween Facts! 1. An October 2008 CNN Poll showed:• A majority of us, 48 percent, believe in ghosts.• Twenty-two percent of Americans say they’ve seen or felt a ghost.• Women are more likely to say they believe in ghosts than are men.• More than half…

• Evaluating your leadership

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:44 am

  I am a perfectionist. I know I am and I have come to accept it. You would think that this would be okay and just make the caliber of my work better, but in the end being a perfectionist is just an annoyance to myself. I enjoy being in a leadership position because I like to have my hands in all aspects of a task or an organization, but what I'm realizing is that I'm having trouble with delegating. I don't give other people as many tasks to take on as I should because I don't trust that the work will get done on time or to the level of expectations that I would have for myself. So the result…

• 
  The Merrill Dubrow Blog

• No Surprise – Another Delay At The Airport . . . What Do You Do To Pass The Time?

  Merrill Dubrow

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am

  Okay, perhaps the story is a little comical (or at least to me). I was reading USA Today the other day and the article was entitled, "Air delays are worst at some big business-travel destinations". Okay, so here was the funny thing about that: I not only was at the airport – you guessed it. My flight was delayed.  No surprise – it happens to all of us. If you travel often, you have had tremendous delays and probably have some very funny and interesting stories. As I was looking at the best and worst on time arrivals I really began to chuckle. The reason was, I only…

• Do You Google Or Bing?

  Merrill Dubrow

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:37 am

  I have been using Google for a very long time. I do like the search feature and frankly never thought of using anything else . . . until now. For several years now, my home page has been Excite. In the upper left-hand corner both Google and Bing appear and I must admit after seeing Bing there for a while, and after a few friends recommend it I am using Bing a little bit. While I do find some of the searches more robust and on target I don’t use Bing all the time. I do find myself out of habit using old reliable Google. What do you use?  Have you tried Bing?  What differences…

• What I Try And Do Every Day.

  Merrill Dubrow

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am

  Some days I leave the office and ask, "What did I do today?" The day starts early–usually around 6:00 am and continues until around 5:00pm. Most days, time goes by very fast – sometimes so fast it’s a blur. And at times when I try and replay the day it is difficult to say I did this or that. I know there are a few things that I try and accomplish every day. I try and move the business forward. Try to see if anyone needs help. If anyone needs a set of eyes to review some tables, if anyone needs some assistance preparing a proposal, if anyone is too busy doing whatever…

• Attention Best Buy: Right Question, But You Need To Add Another One . . .

  Merrill Dubrow

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:41 am

  Okay, let me start by saying I shop at Best Buy. Yes I have a Rewards Card and use it often and yes I run (actually sprint) to the store every time I get a Rewards Coupon. I love the store and really enjoy shopping there. As you walk into the store you are always greeted by a greeter who welcomes you. When you are in the checkout line the cashier will always ask "Did you find everything that you were looking for?"  Great question–appropriate for sure. I am sure some customers say, "Well actually, I was looking for blank and didn’t locate it." Last week my son…

• Never Too Late To Try Different Things

  Merrill Dubrow

  28 Oct 2009 | 7:33 am

  Yes I am getting older. With each day, week and month that passes I do get a little older and perhaps – who knows? Maybe I’m even slowing down a bit. Regardless of that I say it’s never too late to do something that you wanted to do. It is NEVER too late to experience something that you want to experience. You want to: Learn how to ski  Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro  Travel to Australia  Participate in a triathlon   Run a 5k road race  Write a book I say do it, and do it now! Come out with a plan and make it happen. Remember you only go around once, so make…

• 
  Studentlinc

• 111 Learning Strategies

  timage

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am

  Leaders are learners.If you aren't putting anything in then you're not going to be able to take anything out. If you don't keep learning as a leader you will soon come to a place where you have nothing to offer your followers.GuideToOnlineSchools.com has compiled a list of 111 learning strategies. They write...Let's face it, sometimes real life is just too much. We've all been there, staring at the face of our boss or professor, knowing words are coming from his mouth, but hearing nothing, absorbing nothing, learning nothing. Well, we'd like to help you out with that.

• Relevant Leadership #3

  timage

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Relevant Leadership = Relevant CommunicationBy Kenton LeeCommunication is at the center of most everything that leaders do. Whether it is organizing an event with multiple parts, publicizing something to the community, or speaking one-on-one with someone on your team – leaders have to communicate their messages in ways that people can receive them effectively. What is one of the best ways to communicate? People want communication that is relevant to how they prefer to send and receive messages. But what is relevant communication?Relevant communication is finding the best way to communicate…

• The Leadership Assumption

  timage

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:38 pm

  As I write resources, articles and tools for student leaders, I write from the perspective of one overarching assumption:I believe that every person has the potential to make a unique contribution in service to both God and to the world. Each person is gifted to lead in some capacity. It starts with the ability to lead oneself and then transforms into the ability to lead others and focus on societal needs.Warren Bennis said, "What is true for leaders is, for better or worse, true for each of us: we are our own raw material. Only when we know what we're made of and what we want to…

• Relevant Leadership #2

  timage

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Relevant Leadership = Relevant MissionBy Kenton LeeRelevant leaders communicate a relevant mission to those around them.  This mission is the driving force behind all efforts and actions.  It is the “why” behind the “what”.  Mission is the purpose, the motivation, and the reason why we do the things that we do.So what is a relevant mission? A relevant mission is all about people. A relevant mission is something that impacts people outside of your team and involves people inside of your team. A mission that has relevance is a mission that means something, that has an…

• Relevant Leadership Series #1

  timage

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:25 am

  I'd like to introduce you Kenton Lee. Kenton has joined me in my work with student leaders on our University campus. Kenton was a superb student leader and now sits on the other side of the table. This year, Kenton has been working with our student leadership team and has been writing a series called, Relevant Leadership. I thought it would be great to share it with you through studentlinc. Relevant LeadershipAuthor: Kenton LeeWare going to look at what relevant leadership looks like in our lives, on our campus, and as you guys go out in the future in your careers and what God is calling…

• 
  Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog

• Deming: There is No True Value

  John Hunter

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am

  There is no true value of anything: data has meaning based on the operational definition used to calculate the data. Walter Shewhart’s Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, forward by W. Edwards Deming: There is no true value of anything. There is instead a figure that is produced by application of a master or ideal method of counting or measurement… no true value of the number of inhabitants within the boundaries of (e.g.) Detroit. A count of the number of inhabitants of Detroit is dependent upon the application of arbitrary rules for carrying out the count.

• Statistical Learning as the Ultimate Agile Development Tool by Peter Norvig

  John Hunter

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:12 am

  Interesting lecture on Statistical Learning as the Ultimate Agile Development Tool by Peter Norvig. The webcast is likely to be of interest to a fairly small segment of readers of this blog. But for geeks it may be interesting. He looks at the advantages of machine learning versus hand programming every case (for example spelling correction). Google translate does a very good job (for computer based translation) based on machine learning. You can translate any of the pages on this blog into over 30 languages using Google translate (using the widget in the right column). Via: @seanstickle…

• Management Improvement Carnival #80

  John Hunter

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

  Jamie Flinchbaugh is hosting Management Improvement Carnival #80 on his new blog, highlights include: A New Strategy for the Kaizen Blitz from Lean Homebuilding – on PDCA, kaizen, with lots of good comments To Err is Human…To Error Proof is Divine from Ankit Patel – fundamentals of error proofing from a new lean blogger Difference Between Inspect and Adapt and PDCA from Al Shalloway – yes, PDCA works even in non-deterministic systems Is the Answer Right There in Front of You? from Lean Laboratory – a great example and reminder on digging deeper into a problem Eliminating Tunnel…

• Russell L. Ackoff: 1919 -2009

  John Hunter

  31 Oct 2009 | 11:05 am

  We lost another of the absolutely best minds in management history, this week. Somehow, many managers, do not know of Russell Ackoff’s ideas. I find that amazing. Dr. Ackoff is one of two management thinkers that any manager, that is serious about improving management results in their organization, must study (the other is Dr. Deming). The Curious Cat management library includes many articles by Russell Ackoff. Transformation and Redesign at the White House Communications Agency by March Laree Jacques is a great articles exploring adopting his ideas. Like many management greats he had…

• Worker Retention at Zappos

  John Hunter

  29 Oct 2009 | 4:41 pm

  Tony Hsieh, chief executive of Zappos, spoke at a recent y-combinator event (two great organizations we have mentioned before). Facebook and Zappos’s Different Views on Worker Retention “We actually want our employees stay with the company for a long time, for 10 years, maybe their entire life.” … “We now provide mentorship and training so employees can join at the entry level and, over a period of five to seven years, have the opportunity and training to become senior leaders in the company,” he said. “Constant growth is what will keep them in the…

• 
  Team Building WNY

• Processing and Reviewing the Experience - Expert advice by Jennifer Stanchfield

  Michael Cardus

  22 Oct 2009 | 2:27 pm

  Jennifer Stanchfield has been sharing great advice on reviewing and processing for Team Building and experiential Learning, below is a short clip of her wisdom;A great way to engage participants in reflective conversation and meet the various learning styles of participants is to invite participants to leave their seats and blend dialogue with movement. Recent brain research makes a strong case for using active experiential methods in therapy education and training. Eric Jensen (1998), author of Teaching with the Brain in Mind, shares research that validates the use of movement and community…

• TeamBuilding from College Sports to Business Professionals

  Michael Cardus

  7 Oct 2009 | 8:50 am

  University at Buffalo, NY - Womens' Softball TeamHere the team is focusing on accountability for your role on the teamA Business Group in Rochester, NYEngaged in a closing activity that focuses on individual learning and how it can be applied to the team. Buffalo, NY Teacher In-ServiceFocusing on trust and effective communication to the teaching staff Leadership Educators in Buffalo, NYEngaged in a level 2 Rope Handcuffs activity.Level 2 focuses on the group working together to accomplish a challenging task. Team of Young ProfessionalsCorona of ConvergenceOnce you are in a department…

• Mistakes Managers Make in Hiring

  Michael Cardus

  3 Oct 2009 | 6:52 am

  Mike had a great mention in Tom Foster's Blog: Management Skills BlogHere is a short clip;In a comment yesterday from Michael Cardus, he ends with this statement. "As people we can pass judgment on a machines value, a dis-comfort comes from judging a persons value."And yet that is the task in the hiring process, to render a managerial judgment about a person's potential value to the organization. Why is this so uncomfortable?Here are the top five mistakes managers make in the hiring process.- Manager misses important information during the interview.- Manager misinterprets responses.- Manager…

• Collaboration Team Building Proposal

  Michael Cardus

  30 Sep 2009 | 8:50 am

  Sample Team BuildingFocus on Information Sharing Proposal All team building programs are customized and developed for your unique organization. The below is only a sample proposal. Contact us to discuss and create a customized indoor or outdoor TeamBuilding Program for your team!Team Building Information and Collaboration Program Overview;With the changes taking place within the organization communication and collaboration is being lost with the team members leading to a loss of trust and customer satisfaction.With an increase of inter and intra department collaboration and communication the…

• Googling job candidates

  Michael Cardus

  25 Sep 2009 | 2:41 pm

  I received an email from a friend who works for a company as there HR Person. She sent me a short clip of a blog from Punk Rock HR; post Interviews, Unemployment, and the Cloud. Here is a small piece of the blog: In my opinion, Human Resources shouldn’t be checking anyone out via Google or any other website. I’ve said this before: a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and the internet is neither reliable nor valid. You never know if the information is accurate. Also, f–k anyone from Human Resources or legal who wants to bring the holier-than-thou approach to the hiring process.

• 
  Leadership for Lawyers

• Visioncasting in Turbulent Times

  mark beese

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:42 pm

  These are tough times for law firm leaders.  Many firms have had one or more rounds of layoffs.  Attorneys are pressured to bill more hours and bring in more work.  Staff are being asked to do more work with fewer resources.   Attorneys and staff alike wonder if they'll still have a job next week, month or year.  Anxiety is high, even in the best of firms.  While there is a light at the end of the tunnel, some wonder if it is a freight train.  Managing partners and firm leaders have a lot to think about now, including changing client expectations, fee pressures and increased…

• Legal Marketing Conference Announces Speakers for Denver 2010

  mark beese

  1 Nov 2009 | 4:30 pm

  I am pleased that the 2010 Legal Marketing Conference will be held in Denver, Colorado from March 10-12, 2010.  This year the program will be a bit different from previous conferences.  American Conference Institute (ACI) has been hired to develop and manage the conference.  Recently they announced (on LinkedIn.com) a very interesting faculty, including: Sarah Andeen, Legal Business Analyst, Greenberg Traurig Jeff Baron, Director, National Pursuit Team for New Business Development, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Steven B. Bell, Director of Sales, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC…

• What's in the Marketing Budget for 2010?

  mark beese

  1 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pm

  Greenfield Belser asked CMOs at Amlaw 200 firms what they are planning for next year.  Here's a summary.  Read the full article here.  The top two marketing/business development projects are investing in social media (92%) and investing in client loyalty interviews (92%) When asked what marketers plan on doing differently, they indicated that they will "Focus on business development efforts" (15.6%) and "Client Centered business development efforts" (12.5%).  Taken together, they represent the largest category of "innovation".  "New enhanced ways…

• The Integration Imperative

  mark beese

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:02 pm

  Suzanne Lowe has recently published her new book, The Integration Imperative: Erasing Marketing and Business Development Silos - Once and For All - in Professional Service Firms.  In it, she featured a dozen case studies of how law firms, accounting firms and other professional service organizations have knitted together the marketing and business development functions.  Suzanne interviewed the staff and leadership of Holland & Hart about two years ago for the book, which resulted in one of the case studies.  A summary of the case study is the feature of her latest newsletter, which…

• Four Strategies to Thrive in a Downturn

  mark beese

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:26 am

  The Boston Consulting Group has four videos on "Winning in a Downturn, Accelerating in the Upturn" on the Wharton @Knowledge site.  The focus on (1) Generating Cash, (2) Finding Strategic Opportunities, (3) Managing in Turbulent Times and (4) Seeking New Sources of Growth.  A few take-aways: -  Leaders must listen (like never before) to employees, clients and the market to identify opportunities and possible land mines. -  Leaders must focus on maintaining trust (like never before) to keep key talent and teams together.  People may stay with a troubled company in a difficult…

• 
  Management Excellence

• Success is Often One Step Beyond the Expected

  We all intuitively know that one of the keys to success or at least one of the the cures for mediocrity is going that extra little distance that makes all of the difference in the eyes of our customers or audiences. Why then do so many professionals struggle to live by this simple but powerful approach?

• Once More On the SoapBox: Strategy and the Leader

  There is no more mystical and in some cases mythical concept in all of business than the word, "Strategy." Perhaps because it has been long claimed by academics and expensive consultants and bandied about exclusively by executives in boardrooms, while everyone else waits for the CEO to come down from on high with the clay tablets and of course, clarity, firmly in hand. Here are some suggestions for beginning to take the myth out of strategy in your organization:

• Leading in the Trenches-Recovering from Trickle Down Project Management Chaos

  Project inflation…the spread of too many projects and the heaping of them upon the tormented and torn few is a formula for disaster. Unfortunately, work force reductions and pressures to reduce costs, improve processes and to innovate all fuel project inflation. Consider adopting a rigorous approach to project selection by asking and answering these following questions:

• Leadership Caffeine-Bringing Confidence Back

  Confidence is a powerful force in the workplace for individuals and for teams. It’s that extra-added something that allows us to look at the world through eyes that see opportunities to pursue, challenges that exist to be met and new heights within easy reach. Unfortunately, given the beat-down that most of the world has been taking for the past year or two, confidence is in short supply in the workplace. It's time to bring confidence back.

• Two Voices-Humility and the Effective Leader

  One of the true joys of my blogging experience comes from meeting and collaborating with some remarkable people. Mary Jo Asmus is one of those remarkable people. We collaborated a few months ago on Two Voices on: The Words of a Leader, and enjoyed the experience and the reactions so much that we vowed to do it again. Well, we're back. Mary Jo reached out to me a few weeks ago and raised the topic of "Humility and the Leader," and we were both so interested in exploring this issue that we went off to our separate corners and the output is reflected in the two posts below. While the posts don't…

• 
  Be Excellent

• Why Is Change So Hard? (Part 3 of a 4 part series)

  Skip Reardon

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:19 am

  The easy part in wanting to make changes (in business, or in your personal life) is identifying the problem or opportunity, and prioritizing what you might like to do about it.The hard part is taking action and changing the attitudes - and equally important, the behavior.Consider two key elements for making the change process happen: your underlying motivation and the decision process itself.Underlying Motivation - Centers on how dissatisfied you are with the current state of affairs, how strong is your vision of how things could be better or different, and the clarity with which you can see…

• Why Is Change So Hard? (Part 2 of a 4 part series)

  Skip Reardon

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:43 am

  So goes the phrase: "If nothing changes, nothing changes."According to John Kotter, (A Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management) there are eight reasons why change initiatives fail:Too much complexity Failure to building coalition and supportNot understanding the need for a clear visionFailure to clearly communicate the visionPermitting roadblocks and resistance to changeNot planning for short-term results, and not achieving themDeclaring victory too soonFailure to institutionalize changes in organizational cultureWhat to do about them? Establish a sense of urgencyBuild…

• Why Is Change So Hard? Part I

  Skip Reardon

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:39 am

  Many people don't like change. It creates uncertainty. People may instinctively feel that what's familiar is safe, and that change is risky - even when the opposite is true. Change can make even strong people feel insecure. Change, sustainable change is not easy to achieve. Change requires leadership -- at every level of the organization. First, it starts with recognition of why change is needed. Next, the leader (typically the CEO) must clearly articulate a vision of the goal and how to reach it. Then it is time to move from theory to action, from strategy to execution.This always requires…

• Reasons Why Strategic Plans Fail

  Skip Reardon

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:59 am

  In general, strategic plans can fail for two types of reasons: inappropriate strategy and poor execution.Inappropriate or ineffective strategies can occur due to:Failure to define objectives correctly Incomplete SWOT analysis with respect to the desired objectives Lack of creativity in identifying possible strategies Strategies incapable of obtaining the desired objective Poor fit between the external environment and organizational resources - infeasibility More often than not, however, it's not that the strategic plans fail - it's the execution that fails.Herea re some common reasons how or…

• The Five Secrets of High-Performing Organizations

  Skip Reardon

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:07 am

  The best performing small businesses have five factors in common:A strong leadership teamThe ability to attract and retain quality peopleA disciplined approach to their businessThe ability to strategically use technologyThe wise use of trusted outside providers Top-performing organizations rate not just a little better in these five areas -- but at least 100% better. This whitepaper looks at the results of the research, and identifies five factors that the top 25% of all high-performing organizations have in common. Download the whitepaper here, compliments of Six Disciplines.

• 
  SteveFarber.com

• My Discussion on Dubai Radio

  Steve

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:21 am

  I’ve just returned from my first trip to the United Arab Emirates where I spoke at the annual Leaders in Dubai Conference. It was wonderful to meet and listen to the other presenters, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Benjamin Zander, Gary Hamel, Chester Elton, Jack Perkowski and David Plouffe (I listened to Al Gore, too, but didn’t meet him. He had quite the security shield, so I’ll have to sign a book for him some other time. Har!). On the first day of the conference, I conducted a 3-hour MasterClass on Extreme Leadership, where I introduced the principle of Cultivating Love (as in…

• The Best Advice I’ve Ever Gotten #1

  Steve

  12 Oct 2009 | 1:47 pm

  During my days at the Tom Peters Company, I once gave an overview to prospective clients of Terry Pearce’s program, Leading Out Loud, which was all about authentic leadership communication. (And, to this day, probably the best program of its kind–offered nowadays by BlessingWhite). Afterward, one of the participants came up to me and said that, while he enjoyed my presentation–that I spoke well, used slides well, was funny and entertaining, etc.–he didn’t think I’d really modeled what I was teaching. Which is very tough feedback when the topic is…

• I’m In Great Company

  Steve

  5 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

  The management side of my speaking business has been through a couple of starts and stops over the last year or so, but I’m happy to announce that I’ve landed in the magnificent hands of the renown SpeakersOffice team. The legendary (in the speaking world, at least) Holli Catchpole and her gang are the best in the business. A cliched phrase, no doubt, but not in this case. As evidence, take a look at the exemplary company I’m in (the other speakers they manage, in other words): Tony Alessandra, Rick Barrera, Jim Cathcart, Lisa Ford, Keith Harrell, Art Holst, Scott Klososky,…

• Write Your Book; Get Paid Like This

  Steve

  3 Oct 2009 | 12:27 pm

  If you’ve ever had an impulse to write and publish a book, I urge you to act on it. Not because of the money or visibility. But because of the feeling you’ll get when someone, somewhere, reads your book and then sends you an email like this: “Dear Steve, The Radical Leap worked in reverse for me. I quit my job and literally walked out of my 35th floor corner office in downtown and entered the streets of Houston. By night fall I was either going to end up in a bar…or… Well, I ended up in a book store and ran across The Radical Leap. This was in 2004 and exactly…

• GTY In Action: The Fulfillment Fund

  Steve

  27 Sep 2009 | 5:11 pm

  I’ve just learned about an extraordinary organization in Los Angeles called The Fulfillment Fund, whose mission is “to mentor, counsel and guide disadvantaged high school students to achieve a college education.” Their focus is the LA area where the high school graduation rate is only around 50%. According to their website, the students in their program “defy this statistic by graduating from high school and going on to college. Most are the first generation in their family to reach this milestone.” The organization receives a lot of philanthropic help from the…

• 
  Unleashing Your Leadership Potential

• Leadership Thoughts on Risk

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:43 am

  In my most recent issue of our email newsletter Powerquotes , I shared this quotation from the legendary management thinker Peter Drucker.People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.There is a tremendous two fold leadership lesson here for us.First, for us personally.People often talk about level of risk taking as a matter of personal leadership style.  While it is true that we may have different levels of risk taking that are most comfortable fr us,…

• How Executive Coaching Can Help You and Your Organization

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:53 am

  Recent research on why leaders use executive coaching is instructive for all of us.  the research, cited here, includes the following reasons:1.  Sharpening the leadership skills of high potential individuals2.  Correcting leadership skill gaps3.  Improving success rate, or reducing risk of failure of new leaders4.  Correcting employee relations problems5.  Providing leadership skills to those who were promoted for strong technical skills.I challenge you to look at your organization and consider the reasons listed above and feel you don't have any of those…

• Engagement - a Leadership Imperative

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:39 am

  Last week in my Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential newsletter I wrote about four ways to engage your team (reading the article now would be a very good idea).Today I am co-facilitating a workshop for new supervisors called Bud to Boss and we are talking about, you guessed it, engaging team members.It is a topic all leaders should be thinking about it, because the more we can engage our employees, the more successful the organization will be, the more successful you will be, and the more successful your team members will be.Creating greater engagement is truly a "everyone…

• Leaders Get Off on the Right Foot

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:26 am

  As I write this it is a Monday morning at the beginning of a new month.  I suppose that is what got me thinking about this topic, but it is relevant any time.If you want to exhibit, show or have leadership influence, the simplest and perhaps best way to do that is get off to a good start.  Those that follow us are watching us and taking more cues from us than we realize - this is true at the supervisor level and in executive leadership.Think about what you can do to get your day, week, month, or project off to a good start.If you are passionate, excited and enthusiastic, great -…

• A Remarkable House Tour and a Goal Achievement Truth

  28 Oct 2009 | 6:01 am

  During our recent 16th Anniversary online party (you can watch much of it at RemarkableCelebration.com), I took a few minutes out from visiting with all of our expert guests to give people a brief tour of my office.  You can see that tour on the video above.  If you haven't watched it, invest the 2:34 now.The lesson that I share after the brief tour won't be mentioned in most organizational leadership development programs (though it is in those we design and facilitate).  It isn't a lesson that is about leadership style or a specific skill set.  It is a fundamental truth…

• 
  Survival Leadership

• Ensure Accountability—Increasing Team and Organization-Wide Performance

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am

  Over the next week I’ll be doing an in-depth review of Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Ask the Right Questions by Barry Cohen (McGraw Hill, September 2009). This is the THIRD of several posts on Just Ask Leadership: Ensure Accountability—Increasing Team and Organization-Wide Performancea. Getting co-workers and employees to solve their own problems, the author would argue, is important, no vital, to a successful organization. Setting up he CEO as THE champion knowledge oracle is not only unwise but short lived. Hero-based cultures only last as long as the CEO is right and erodes…

• Improving Organizational Vision

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

  Over the next week I’ll be doing an in-depth review of Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Ask the Right Questions by Barry Cohen (McGraw Hill, September 2009). This is the SECOND of several posts on Just Ask Leadership.Improve Vision: Gaining insights from all levels of the organization.a. Improving vision for an organization always starts with looking out at the ideal state: All things equal, in a year or two, where do you as a leader want to be? The author wants you to climb up on the mast of your ship and look out at the opportunities and threats. He also asks a lot of questions and…

• Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Ask the Right Questions

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:36 pm

  Over the next week I’ll be presenting an in-depth review of Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Ask the Right Questions by Barry Cohen (McGraw Hill, September 2009). This is a book worth buying and discussion with both senior and emerging executives.This is the FIRST of several posts on Just Ask Leadership.Introduction: If you have to give an answer or ask a question, just about any executive coach worth his or her salt would suggest asking the question. One distinct problem with very successful people is that they think they already know the answers…all of them! Just ask them. Think…

• HBR October: Turning off the Blackberry

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:32 am

  Harvard Business Review: This week, I’ll be reviewing the highlights of the October issue of the Harvard Business Review. Worth the read if you’re interested in managing risks in an uncertain economy. Suggest subscribing, especially for senior, strategic teams. Here’s the FINAL in a series of posts:Making Time Off Predictableby Perlow and Porter“24/7” and “Blackberry” have become synonymous and perpetuate a vicious cycle of being always “on" and available. Research by the Boston Consulting Group says that imposing strict rules about time off can make employees even more…

• HBR (October): About Mergers

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  Harvard Business Review: This week, I’ll be reviewing the highlights of the October issue of the Harvard Business Review. Worth the read if you’re interested in managing risks in an uncertain economy. Suggest subscribing, especially for senior, strategic teams. Here’s FOURTH in a series of posts:Mergers That Stick by Rosabeth Moss KanterIn recovery, mergers look like bargain basement acquisitions, but buyer beware! Without a heavy investment in social integration and motivation, many such mergers will turn out to be costly losses. On the other hand, taking time and money to respect the…

• 
  Learn This

• The Power of a Plan

  Mike King

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:15 am

  For many people, things they do at work seem to come quite naturally in their work but not so much in their personal lives. Especially when it comes to planning and seeing the power of a plan.  There is certainly power in having a plan for yourself, your life, your family, your health, your relationships and the hobbies you take on. Perhaps a plan for the way you are involved with your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues. What about using a plan for ensuring you get what is truly most important to you in your life? What about a plan that ensure you stay on track and that your plan is…

• The Pain and Joy of Do It Yourself

  Mike King

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:15 am

  You may have noticed the lack of updates lately and that is because we’ve moved houses and in doing this, I’ve taken on a significant amount of home improvements and some minor renovations which have been VERY time consuming to complete and finish on my own during a move.  In doing this, its been stressful, a challenge and I’ve had little rest and time to do what I normally do.  However, we’ve completed our move, settled into our new home, sold our old house and have only a few immediate things to finish. The Pain of Doing Things Yourself Well there is certainly a…

• Book Review: The Pursuit of Something Better

  Mike King

  22 Sep 2009 | 4:15 am

  Author: Dave Esler and Myra Kruger How an Underdog Company Defied the Odds, Won Customers’ Hearts, and Grew It’s Employees into Better People I was sent an advanced copy of The Pursuit and Something Better and while I generally don’t like to read new books until I’ve had them recommended and ravely reviewed by others first but I’m glad I didn’t wait for this book, its absolutely brilliant! I read it back to back with The Adversity Parodox and both books are now in my definite top 5 for business and personal development books.  The Pursuit of Something…

• Review: The Shadow Effect

  Mike King

  15 Sep 2009 | 5:15 am

  Review: The Shadow Effect with Debbie Ford I received a free copy of The Shadow Effect to review and am actually having a tough time reviewing it. The Shadow Effect is about discovering and knowing the so called, “Shadows” in our lives which are the flaws, the bad actions, the painful things, the adversities we’ve faced which we avoid and try to keep secret from the world around us.  Some of these shadows are outlined and they include how we sabotage ourselves of our desires, our feelings, our egos and our persona’s we display.  All these things we hide and reject…

• Resources August 2009

  Mike King

  10 Sep 2009 | 5:15 am

  Top Articles and Favorite Posts Armen (at Timeless Information) inspired me to build my own 100 lists ( 100 ways to be a leader and 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Mind ).  A few people have continued with the trend. Here were some new ones and a few I came across while browsing. 85 Ways to Motivate Yourself by Arswino. Not continued from the 100 lists, but this is a great one as well.  88 Important Truths I’ve Learned About Life 100 Clevel Ways to Change Your Habits and Improve Your Life – I found this stumbling and even though its not new, its a great article. 100 Ways to…

• 
  The Apathy Myth

• A Tale of Five Dinners

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:22 pm

  As a professional campus speaker, I am frequently asked to a dinner before or after my keynotes. Sometimes these are fun, rewarding experiences, with lots of laughs and good ideas shared. Other times, I want to take the fork off the table and jam it in my eye.Here are five very common dinners that I experience on a regular basis.The Dinner I LikeThe advisor asks if I want to go grab a beer or a bite to eat after the program. We sit there and have a really great conversation about Student Life, families, kids, football, Chris Brown vs. Rhianna, whatever. It doesn't matter what we eat, and it…

• An excellent video about how to confront

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:31 am

  I really love this video. Makes such a good point about keeping confrontations about "what they did" and not "who they are," using race as the example.Wanted to share it. Thanks to Steve Whitby for bringing this to my attention.* * * * * * * * * * Visit the Apathy Myth blog for college student leaders at http://www.tjsullivan.com

• Time to be thankful

  30 Oct 2009 | 8:20 am

  At your next meeting, start off with something different. Go around the room, and ask each member to share something for which they are thankful. Whether it's a friendship in the room, something your group has achieved this year, something in their personal life, the approach of basketball season, whatever.Have your officers go first to set the tone. Sure, there will be a couple of sarcastic, maybe even inappropriate answers as you go around the room, but that's OK. The idea is to focus on the good stuff your members get from being a part of your organization.If people don't know what to say,…

• Time to deliver

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:08 am

  Someone emailed me a question this week: "What is the best advice you can give to student organizations and student life people during this time of recession, slashed budgets, and depressing economics." My first reaction was to advise that people should keep their chins up and be optimistic. But, after more thought, here's my answer."It's time to deliver."No one cares about what you meant to do. No one wants to hear excuses. No one has any patience for people who whine, and under-perform.Shut up, put in the work, and deliver something. In a current economic climate where people are three…

• When you can't get anyone to run

  22 Oct 2009 | 1:16 pm

  If you hold an election, and no one runs for anything, does it make a noise?It's not uncommon for student organizations to struggle getting qualified candidates to run for offices. Perhaps your group's morale is low. Perhaps you don't have enough members to fill the positions. Maybe this year's officers alienated everyone. Or, maybe the position is perceived by your members as a thankless one.Here are a couple of steps for coping with the "empty chair" situation. First, the option I like the least...• Coerce someone into taking the position. This is my least favorite solution, because…

• 
  Lindsey Pollak Blog

• One Way to Help the “Lost Generation”

  Lindsey Pollak

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  A recent BusinessWeek cover story called today’s graduates “The Lost Generation,” citing statistics that young people who graduate in recession years continue to earn less over the long-term course of their careers. This weekend, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert addressed the same issue, writing: “These recent graduates have done everything society told them to do. They’ve worked hard, kept their noses clean and gotten a good education (in many cases from the nation’s best schools). They are ready and anxious to work. If we’re having trouble finding employment for even…

• Are You Building Your Career Pyramid?

  Lindsey Pollak

  18 Oct 2009 | 3:36 pm

  I had the complete joy today of having absolutely nothing to do. It was pouring rain, SeamlessWeb delivered bagels and coffee directly to my door, and my husband and his best friend had plans to watch nonstop football. So, I camped out upstairs in our apartment — computer turned off! — and read pretty much the entire Sunday New York Times cover to cover. In addition to reading Bono’s op-ed, a review of Gail Collins’ new book about women and, as always, the wedding announcements (“the sports pages for women”), I came across an interview with Carol Bartz, the CEO of Yahoo.

• Virtual Internships: A Growing Trend and Great Opportunity

  Lindsey Pollak

  14 Oct 2009 | 9:35 pm

  This is a guest post by my friends Lauren Porat and Cari Sommer, co-founders of Urban Interns. The job hunt is fierce. But a phenomenal new type of internship is on the rise, and it’s one that will boost your skills while at the same time allow you the flexibility of working from home and on your own clock. Employers are turning more and more to virtual interns, and we’re seeing a real rise in this on UrbanInterns.com. In fact, The Wall Street Journal published a story about this a few weeks ago. Other advantages of a virtual internship? You don’t have to go to school in a major city to…

• Recommended Event: Forté Forum Webinars: The MBA Value Proposition

  Lindsey Pollak

  13 Oct 2009 | 1:10 pm

  Thinking about an MBA? Participate in one or more of Forte Foundation’s webinars to help you get on track for an exciting career in business. Join the Forte Foundation, one of my favorite organizations, for an upcoming webinar to gain all the information you need to know about the MBA value proposition. Connect with MBA graduates working in non-traditional business careers, learn more about MBA programs abroad, and hear from women of color who’ve sought their MBA. The Forum webinars will put you in touch with successful businesswomen who can provide you with the answers you’re…

• Video: Tips for Studying Abroad

  Lindsey Pollak

  8 Oct 2009 | 5:14 am

  Studying in Australia still ranks as one of the best experiences of my life. I’d also credit it as an early indicator that I wanted to work for myself: While I was abroad I discovered that I loved building my own schedule, meeting new people and constantly adapting to changing circumstances. If you are considering studying abroad, check out this new video I recorded for FNC iMag on the campus of Columbia University. If you haven’t considered studying abroad, I hope it inspires some wanderlust! Image: Falling Pixel

• 
  The Student Affairs Blog

• Tuesday Tally - What's One Piece of Advice You Wish You Knew When You First Started College?

  nope

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:22 pm

  If you cannot view this poll click here.And here are the results from the last poll.

• There's a pit in my stomach...

  nope

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:25 am

  Well, tonight is our first lecture event in the lecture series sponsored by our Student Government Association and I have a pit in my stomach.  This "pit feeling" is probably familiar to many of you, as it's defined by the "advisor's dictionary of run on sentences" as..."that pit in your stomach when you know you've supported your student leaders all you can without doing the program for them but no matter how many times you ask about specific details you still know that they aren't going to have a good attendance and aren't prepared because it doesn't seem like they are always paying…

• Balancing demands: work vs. new baby

  nope

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:57 am

  On October 27, 2009 at exactly 4:36pm, I became a father for the first time.  The past week has been exhilarating, exciting, exhausting and elating.  But, now I'm back at work with a full slate of student appointments and meetings.  I'd love to hear advice from other student affairs pros about their first weeks after the arrival of a new baby and how you've balanced the demands of work and home.  All comments welcome. Here's a shot of the proud papa (me!) and our new little guy. Gary Alan Miller

• Going Beyond Expectations

  nope

  1 Nov 2009 | 1:58 pm

  I couldn’t have been in my graduate assistantship more than 24 hours when I first heard about these “expectations” that they had for me as a Graduate Hall Director. I had to chuckle, given that the only recollection of expectations I had experienced prior to that point were courtesy of Mad TV’s “Lowered Expectations” sketches. Don’t get me wrong… I had been given expectations prior to that in my roles on campus and in the classroom, I just hadn’t recalled covering them with such zest. We discussed the expectations of us (in our roles), expectations we had of each other (as a…

• The Value of State & Regional Professional Associations

  nope

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:59 pm

  I’ve had my fair share of memberships to national professional associations in my four+ years in student affairs, namely ACPA and ACUHO-I.  I’ve had the privilege to attend the national meeting of both organizations at least once.  Although I value what the national orgs do for our profession (especially publications and job placement), I must confess that at the moment I’m getting more professional development from my state association, WCPA.  Many of my colleagues belong to UMR-ACUHO, and likely feel the same way. Why I My State Professional Association No…

• 
  It's Getting Hot in Here

• Hey, Northwest Natural – LNG’s a Climate Crime!

  nickengelfried

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:05 pm

  Yesterday, the fight against new fossil fuel infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest rose to a new level.  For years, a remarkable coalition of activists – ranging from wilderness advocates, to small farmers and timber growers, to college students and climate organizers – has been fighting proposals by giant energy companies to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) into our region.  LNG is a foreign fossil fuel extracted from through basically the same processes as oil, with all or most of the attendant social and environmental costs.  Thanks to the energy-intensive process of…

• Hope and Action in Massachusetts

  craigaltemose

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:39 am

  Posted on behalf of Jay O’Hara of the Leadership Campaign   Copenhagen looms like Russia over Sarah Palin’s horizon, and it is easy to get discouraged that negotiations aren’t going to accomplish what needs to be done: our federal government will not pass laws that will meet the demands of physics and chemistry, our President is making speeches full of rhetoric and bereft of policy, and the tops of new mountains are being blown off. Now is the time for serious actions and strategies that advance our goals. In Massachusetts, students and community leaders have joined…

• Me, Nigeria, and Grenada? Thanks to you.

  jamiehenn

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:01 am

  It was a really powerful experience to sit up on stage at the 350.org press conference in Barcelona this afternoon with Ambassador Dessima Williams from Grenada and Dr. Victor Fodeke, the head of the Nigerian delegation, and talk to the media about the growing 350 movement. I started getting into climate activism when I was a college student in Vermont, mostly working with other students from the US. To be here in Barcelona, just a few years later, talking with the international press side-by-side with ambassadors from Nigeria and Grenada is honestly a bit hard to comprehend. Or at least…

• Looking for Climate Leaders? None here…yet

  Nick Magel

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:14 am

  Aliens at UN. Credit: Robert vanWaarden - vanwaardenphoto.com On the final day of the UNFCCC negotiations in Barcelona, the last meetings before the world turns it’s eyes to Copenhagen, the Avaaz Action Factory formed a coalition with the aliens from Planet B (you read that right). The aliens were on a dire mission to find climate leaders who are willing to do what it takes to achieve a fair, ambitious and legally binding climate treaty in Copenhagen. Unfortunately it looked like there were very few climate leaders at the Barcelona negotiations. The 10 aliens searched high and low outside…

• Are U.S. students ready to take a moral stand on climate change?

  Morgan

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:08 am

  This is a guest post by Jen Row ‘11 of Williams College. I am- as are a growing movement of over 80 people from around the world are beginning a hunger strike as a moral reaction to climate change.  The international Climate Justice Fast begins this Friday, November 6th and will continue throughout the December climate conference in Copenhagen. The movement is inspired by leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King who took personal non-violent actions to address gross injustice present in their societies. The US government’s inaction on climate could well go down as…

• 
  Managing Leadership

• Roundup: Catching up

  Jim Stroup

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:22 am

  A lot of interesting stuff has been going on over the past few weeks. A good bit of it touches on themes we’ll likely be visiting, here, soon, so let’s take a closer look at some of it: Daily reading. Almost every source cited here, today, is on my daily reading list, and if you are a serious-minded practicing manager, then surely Michael Wade’s Execupundit should be on yours. See what he has to say about getting to the heart of the matter, and about how to approach the question of why you are in charge. National moods. Please see this WSJ piece reviewing two books, one of which applies…

• Normalizing

  Jim Stroup

  9 Oct 2009 | 9:04 am

  As you develop your personal philosophy of management for application in your personal workplace circumstances, it is helpful to recall just how personal it really is. That is, while you may feel that your eyes are opening up to new ways of calculating outcomes and building relationships at work, and of perceiving comprehensive frameworks for determining the relevant factors and the necessary contributions and collaborations, your colleagues may be moving along a different track at a different pace than you. One of the most problematic consequences of following template approaches to…

• Philosophizing

  Jim Stroup

  8 Oct 2009 | 1:53 pm

  When you begin each interaction, encounter, or relationship at work with an examination of what result you want to flow from it you will eventually, as we have been discussing, find it necessary to investigate what your colleagues want to accomplish, as well. If you pair this with a resetting of the perspective from which you conduct your assessment, you will, as we’ve also noted, begin to discover new factors bearing on the issue, and new ways they can be employed to uncover new solutions and approaches. But you will be doing something else, as well: over time, you will be developing your…

• Comprehending

  Jim Stroup

  7 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pm

  When you are approaching interactions or assessing relationships at work, as we have noted, it can be useful to reframe the context in which you are considering these issues, to be sure you have developed the perspective that works best all around. Let’s take another very brief look at that. If you, per yesterday’s example, have an immediate need for a task to be performed, the easiest thing to do is simply to relieve that tension: issue an order to whichever appropriate junior first comes to mind, and forget about it until the deadline arrives. With so few factors impinging on the…

• Perceiving

  Jim Stroup

  6 Oct 2009 | 5:02 pm

  We’ve been talking over the past few days about the basis for establishing relationships and managing interactions at work. The basic premise is that you should always ask yourself what you want to accomplish, what objective you want to advance, what purpose you want to serve whenever you deal with coworkers – whether they are your peers, your juniors, or your seniors. Moreover, you should consider that question from their perspective as well. In doing so, you want to bring to light how your various answers can influence or alter your individual responses to the interaction. The ultimate…

• 
  Bird's Eye View

• Do Your Bit on Digital Veterans Day Nov 11

  Wf360

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:58 pm

  This is entirely awesome!  Talk about a global conversation...this is it! I've mentioned here that we advise MyVetwork, the online community for our Nation's military service men and women and their families.  Active Duty, Vets, all branches, all conflicts.  And their families and friends and supporters, too.  It's an amazing interactive community.   On November 11, a bunch of superstars from the worlds of marketing, the military, and technology, are staging Digital Veterans Day (we call it "DVD" for short).  It seems to get more remarkable every day.  Those of…

• Guestblog: First words you learn in the USA

  Wf360

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:01 pm

  How are you? Those are the first words heard by a newcomer to the United States of America. You can answer with “fine”, or you ask the counter question (“How are you?”) or the third way of responding is, you ignore it. Do you think people are really interested in you and “how you are” at this moment? No, I don’t think so...the question is more a friendly way of saying “hey.”  And a question like “How are you?” starts every conversation on a friendly basis. And that is a good feature. Or is it? I’m Max Kellner, an intern at Wf360.  I come from Berlin, the capital of…

• Guest blog: My conversations in Manhattan

  Wf360

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:25 pm

  I’m Daniela, coming from Berne, Switzerland and doing a four-week internship at the Wf360 Company. This is my first time in New York but I have already traveled around California and Florida. I have been in New York City for almost 8 weeks.I love it! This whole 24-hour lively atmosphere amazes me.I live in Chelsea right on 8th Avenue, at 25th Street. Even though the apartment is on the 18th floor I still hear every siren and every other possible noise coming from the streets.So I live directly “in it”. Sometimes when I watch TV I don’t know whether a noise comes up from the streets or…

• New York Marathon Conversations

  Wf360

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:04 pm

  As a New Yorker, I take a somewhat cynical view of Marathon craziness as it nears and seems to take over the City in terms of crushing crowds on the subway; people commandeering the sidewalk while gazing at a map; crowded restaurants.  You get the picture.  Actually, from an economic point of view the marathon is big business for Gotham and we welcome it.  There was lots of talk this year about it getting too big, too crass, too focused on elite runners.  But the fact that 42,000 people officially registered for the run argues that a lot of people think it is a great idea, indeed, to…

• Judith Fox And I Still Do

  Wf360

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:59 pm

  Wednesday evening, I went to a book signing as a favor to the photographer/writer Judith Fox, whose personal story of love and partnership is stunningly told in her powerful new book, I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer's. The signing was at Pfizer's headquarters in Manhattan and it was a rainy, unpleasant night.  I intended, by showing up, simply to add to Judith's audience and support her as a friend.  However, it became much more than that.  Judith spoke--movingly, as I knew she would--about the book and how important it is for this horrendous disease to be…

• 
  Management Skills Blog

• Important Role for HR

  Tom Foster

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:15 am

  From a comment posted yesterday by Michael Cardus on the flow of the hiring process. Background In his research on Time Span, Elliott Jaques observed an important role for the Manager Once Removed (MOR) in the hiring process. The MOR is identified as one stratum above the Hiring Manager and for most companies only gets involved in the last stages of the hiring process, for final candidate approval. Elliott was quite insistent that the MOR be the person at the front end of the hiring process, creating a qualified talent pool for the Hiring Manager to select from. Question: This flipping of the…

• Getting What You Designed

  Tom Foster

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:37 am

  Tyler thought for a minute. "If we did something wrong, then we have been doing it wrong for some time," he observed. "That's the way we have always hired people from the outside." "And how is that working out for you?" I asked. "Ten percent of the time, we get lucky, most of the time we get someone who is okay, and ten percent of the time, we get stung." "As you look at your process, who is the first person to touch the resumes on their way to the Hiring Manager?" "That's easy," Tyler replied. "HR." "And, you, you're the Manager Once Removed. When do you finally see the resumes?" "Well,…

• Finding Defects

  Tom Foster

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:33 am

  "What went wrong?" I asked. Tyler recounted the steps they used to qualify candidates. First, they killed a couple of trees printing resumes. Because there were so many, the stack was moved to the reception area. The large stack was divided in two, those from out of town were discarded, those in town were delivered to an area supervisor. The area supervisor was familiar with the job tasks, so that's where the first real cuts were made. The final forty resumes were delivered to the hiring manager. The hiring manager was very busy and a little put off by having to deal with forty resumes. He…

• Our Personal Cows

  Tom Foster

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:48 pm

  I don't often do book reviews, but this one caught my eye. Once Upon a Cow by Camilo Cruz, is a story about our own personal cows. The beginning parable is about a teacher and a student who journey to a small town, the teacher telling the student to look for the poorest home where they would seek refuge for the night. The two men stopped in front of the most dilapidated little shack they had ever set eyes on. The structure, at the point of collapse, belonged, without a doubt to the poorest of families. The walls stood as if only by a miracle, threatening at any moment to come tumbling down.

• Getting Back to Work

  Tom Foster

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:14 am

  From the Ask Tom mailbag: Question: I've been in charge of a project for nearly a year. I go away on vacation and come back to rumors about me all over the place and it appears my boss gave my project away to someone else. I confronted him about it and he still says I am in charge so I boldly take charge. I think things are going ok again, until I find out both my boss and the "substitute" project manager are undermining my authority behind my back. Response: Politics uncovered. This is a script from Dunder Mifflin, but it's not funny when it's your job being worked around. You are either…

• 
  Cali and Jody

• Introducing…Michael Barata!

  Cali & Jody

  1 Nov 2009 | 8:57 pm

  Michael makes his first ROWE trip! Originally uploaded by Results-Only Work Environment Hey, ROWE world! First, I just want to thank Cali & Jody for all they have done, and continue to do, and for giving me this incredible opportunity to be part of the ROWE movement! That’s right – I have recently jumped on board as a ROWE facilitator and am anxiously looking forward to spreading the word about ROWE, as well as helping organizations migrate from those soul-crushing traditional work environments into an engaging and productive ROWE. The journey… It was late 2007, I…

• A Taste of ROWE: The “No Interruptions” Experiment

  Cali & Jody

  26 Oct 2009 | 8:19 pm

  One of the big complaints we hear from working people is that they’re constantly dealing with constant interruptions. Like, constantly. It never lets up, does it? If it’s not the “emergency” meeting, then it’s the daily fire drill or the coworker or manager who stops by your cube for “just a quick question.” As the saying goes, “This should only take a moment.” So here’s an idea to bring to your boss (or try yourself if you’re a manager) that will give you a taste of what life can be like in a Results-Only Work Environment.

• Let the Workers (and their Computers) Work

  Cali & Jody

  19 Oct 2009 | 8:40 pm

  Great piece from Slate’s Farhad Manjoo about the tyranny of corporate computer control.  If you’ve spent any time in corporate America, you know the IT drill: You’re blocked from Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc. You can’t use popular browsers like Firefox. You can’t share documents using Google docs, IM or other programs that foster collaboration. As Manjoo points out, part of the rationale for these policies is security, which is completely understandable. When we’re out talking to business leaders, this is a common concern. But equally common is the…

• ROWE for Churches – It’s Happening

  Cali & Jody

  12 Oct 2009 | 12:21 pm

  Over the last few years, we’ve heard rumblings from people that wonder how ROWE would work for schools, churches, nursing homes, and fire stations.  Wondering is one thing…taking action is another.  In the end, it takes one person with the passion for making change to get something started, and that’s what Lee Grooms did.  Lee is an employee at Grace Seattle Church.  He contacted us recently to share what’s been happening there since they’ve become a Results-Only Work Environment.  Here, in his words, is his story: “When I first came across the idea of…

• Gen Y Wants Balance . . . Even in Sour Times

  Cali & Jody

  4 Oct 2009 | 8:08 pm

  First, a shout out to Lisa Belkin of the New York Times who wrote about ROWE on her blog - the Motherlode. She highlights ROWE as a bright spot in an otherwise disturbing trend: The American Society of Human Resource Managers found that while the number of companies offering things like flextime, part-time and telecommuting schedules had been increasing steadily leading up to the down-turn, the latest measure showed a drop of five percent. We recently wrote about Eli Lilly becoming part of that five percent drop. We see this trend growing, especially among larger companies in older sectors…

• 
  The Enlightened Manager

• The Well Rounded Leader: Fitting It All In

  Cheri Baker

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:36 pm

  Good Morning Enlightened Leaders! I hope that this post finds you well, and that my USA readers enjoyed thier Halloween weekend.  I seem to be coming down with the flu, so I'm writing you from a NyQuil induced haze, surrounded by my favorite fuzzy blanket, and with my two tabby cats dozing beside me.  I have a fever, and they are using me like a convenient space heater. One of the upsides of being sick is that because there is only so long you can sleep, it tends to give you some thinking time.  And today I've been thinking about this idea of building a well-rounded,…

• The Power of Observation

  Cheri Baker

  23 Oct 2009 | 5:23 am

  Sometimes it's good to shake things up a little.  You never know when your latest leadership insight is going to come, and sometimes it's those non-work activities that spark your thinking.  Have you ever gotten into a rut when you just work and work and not much else?  Hobbies are important, as are outside interests.  Are you enriching your life (and your brain) through activities that have nothing to do with your job? My new hobby is roller derby - a sport I find both amusing and challenging.  I ordered some skates and protective gear, and…

• Do It Yourself Training & Coaching - Request for Ideas

  Cheri Baker

  21 Oct 2009 | 4:21 am

  Good Morning Enlightened Managers! It's hard to believe it's almost Halloween already.  The leaves are falling, the wind is blowing, and we're enjoying that characteristic Seattle rain.  I'm still getting settled after our move from Woodinville to Seattle, but so far I love being downtown.  I attended a great business meeting yesterday on using video for training and development, and it was a ten minute walk instead of a one hour drive.  Heavenly! One of the concequences of being in crazy-moving-land has been the delay of my new website launch - but…

• Cubicles and Productivity

  Cheri Baker

  19 Oct 2009 | 7:46 am

  Do you work in a cubicle or noisy office environment?  Sound expert Julian Treasure says that open office plans reduce productivity by over 60%.  You can see the short video here: I used to do HR in a cubicle, believe it or not.  Nothing like having a deep conversation with a manager who is about to fire someone when job applicants can hear you talking on the other side of the cube wall.  What I do remember most about the experience is that feeling of always being "on display" and the sense that I could never fully relax or focus on my job. If your team works…

• Goals - Should they be Individual or Shared?

  Cheri Baker

  13 Oct 2009 | 9:24 am

  Hello Enlightened Managers, One of the things I've been thinking about lately is the relationship between individual and team goals.  Goals are important.  I like to think of the results I want to achieve as a target, and each goal as an arrow that I get to launch at that target.  Sometimes one strong goal can get us exactly where we want to be.  Sometimes our goals lack direction (focus) or power (effort) and they land outside the center circle. We need our goals to be both focused and powerful.  Otherwise we won't get the results we want. So then I ask…

• 
  Women in the LEAD

• Stepping Up Into Leadership

  maureen simon

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:02 pm

  It is amazing to think that we all live on the same planet.  The more research that I do on feminine attributes and the differences between masculine and feminine communication the more I realize that it is a miracle that the planet holds as much peace as it does.  In the past twenty years or so, we have read many works telling us what we already knew.  Men and women communicate differently.  In her book, The Female Brain, Louann Brizendine cites very specific chemical and hormonal differences between men and women that specifically affect language and communication,…

• WOMEN: Time-Tested Leadership Advice

  Debbe Kennedy

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:48 pm

  There is some advice and counsel that passes the test of time. Peter F. Drucker, well-known as the father of modern management, left a lasting influence on my development as a leader. Today, his wisdom continues to guide leaders all over the world. Harvard Business Review celebrates his contributions in their November 2009 edition: The Drucker Centennial: What Would Peter Do? How his wisdom can help you navigate turbulent times.Personally, I always loved his straight way of talking. I saw him once look out at an audience of many hundreds of people, all clinging to each word he spoke. He…

• When True Passion Guides Our Life

  maureen simon

  27 Oct 2009 | 6:11 pm

  When true passion guides our life, things feel good, stuff gets accomplished and our boat floats down the river.  We have to get real about this topic, because we often don’t have a good balance or discretion about what really feels good.  Women in particular-placate, please, and build peace—these are great attributes as long as we don’t lose ourself and what we love to be and do in the process. Passion is a huge indicator, if you know when your life is juiced alive and ignited you have reached a place where doors will fling open, opportunities will present themselves and…

• WOMEN: Changing from Within

  Debbe Kennedy

  25 Oct 2009 | 8:13 pm

  Today, I woke up once again realizing my role is not to take on the world. It is to remember I was put here do my part --- to contribute something significant in my own right. Significant has different definitions for each of us. However, once we have this realization of purpose, what we do is significant. Remembering this reality always leads me to a kind of perpetual self-examination. The great sages, scholars and doers passed on knowledge of this great human need: Plato proclaimed, "A life unexamined is not worth living." Lao Tze also urged us to spend time in reflection.

• What Really Lights your Fire?

  maureen simon

  24 Oct 2009 | 7:01 pm

  Each of us has the ability to make a huge difference in our world! As my favorite Irish poet John O’ Donohue has written in Anam Cara: “… There is a unique destiny for each person. Each one of has something to do here that can be done by no one else. If someone else could fulfill your destiny then they would be in your place and you would not be here…” Photo by: J Fouchaux  Having grown up in an Irish family and community… I must admit I do love the directness of the Irish. John’s statement is direct and fairly opinionated but opens many questions in my own mind. I have…

• 
  Speak for Success: Helping Women Lead and Inspire Blog

• Graduates Speak at Military Conference

  22 Oct 2009 | 3:23 pm

  by Lana Zakary Culliver This month members of the Speak for Success Women’s Leadership Institute Graduate Speaker’s Bureau spoke at the 1st Annual Health and Wellness Fair for Female Veterans,Reservists and Active Duty Military Personnel and was held at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center. Graduates Rosie Frausto, Erica Green, Julie Solis and Ruth Batton spoke on the subjects of Assertive Communication and the importance of Self Care.The event was organized by Jillian Carrick, Military Liaison and Victim Advocate Coordinator at the San Diego Family Justice Center, and featured other…

• Interview with Marcus Buckingham - Finding Your Strongest Life

  14 Oct 2009 | 5:49 am

  By Dana Bristol-SmithAnother ripple of the Oprah Effect touched me last week when I was given the opportunity to interview Marcus Buckingham, best-selling author and management guru, about his newest book Find Your Strongest Life - What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently. I was thrilled to ask how his findings and the Strong Life Practice can help women who have overcome adversity (isn't that all of us?). He has some very practical suggestions that ANYONE - man or woman, can use to really zero in on how to live a happy and successful life. Being a researcher, Marcus has…

• Women Making a Difference

  7 Oct 2009 | 4:26 pm

  by Dana Bristol-SmithOur graduates have reached over 1500 people in person since they started their outreach programs this year. They've been invited to be guest speakers to inspire and empower others! In my recent conversation with Marcus Buckingham about his new book Find Your Strongest Life (interview article coming soon!) he was so intrigued by our graduates that he is going to come and meet them next month!Lana Zakary Culliver our graduate mentor has compiled the following summary of where our graduates have spoken. Here it is!The graduates of the Speak for Success Women’s Leadership…

• The Oprah Effect on Me

  28 Aug 2009 | 9:14 am

  By Dana Bristol-SmithIt all started with Oprah. January 2007 on a Saturday afternoon I got a call completely out of the blue from a writer from O Magazine---yes, that O Magazine---Oprah! My first thought was who is this really? Which friend was playing a joke on me? I think I even asked her that question and she replied that she was in fact a writer for the magazine and she had found an article I had written, and she wanted to interview me. Would she be able to schedule a time over the weekend to do so? Well of course I said yes! We could speak on Sunday morning. After the shock wore off I…

• Words Can Hurt and Words Can Heal

  22 Jul 2009 | 11:41 am

  By Dana Bristol-SmithWe’ve all heard the saying sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. I don’t know who came up with it but it is a big fat lie! As I’ve been learning about domestic violence, one of the things I hear that it typically starts with words – words like you aren’t good enough, smart enough, dumb or stupid. Words can frequently be used to control behavior, to isolate the person from friends and family. Words can escalate into threats of bodily harm. All of this can go on for days, weeks, or even years before physical abuse starts. In some…

• 
  Women on Business

• 3 Websites you already know about

  Linda Smith

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:34 pm

  Or you might not…I don’t want to be presumptuous.   I love discovering new-to-me things.  When I received my laptop as a Valentine’s Day gift from my husband a few years ago, it virtually opened up the world.   My local world is somewhat isolated by current necessities and I felt cutoff and frustrated.  I had tried starting one little business after the other, but when you are tied to your home as caregiver for someone it limits what you can do.  The laptop changed all that.  I discovered new markets, new places to communicate and met many interesting people. In my…

• Coaching as an Asset to your Business Development

  Monica S Flores

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:14 am

  How does your business make a difference in the world? In 2006 I began an intensive coaching process with Rob Seidenspinner of Sage Circle Coaching. Rob is a personal and professional coach and I was looking for specific insights into how my personal “story” was influencing my business outcomes. The benefits I’ve seen are as follows. Not all of these are directly attributable to coaching, but I would say that the business-related items are attributable to my own personal goals, which the coaching relationship helped me clarify. 1. Development of a mission statement to help me…

• Interview with Prominent Radio Show Host and Entrepreneur, Sharifah Hardie

  Kristin Marquet

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:12 am

  Kristin: Sharifah, why don’t you give us some background information on your entrepreneurial journey? Sharifah: I am a single mother of two and began my online experience as a way to provide for my children. After surviving several crushing disappointments including two failed marriages, being laid off six times, homelessness, the death of a close friend and the struggle to provide childcare for my children while I worked, I was determined to succeed. Kristin: What are some of the projects you are involved with currently? Sharifah: I am currently host of “Ask Sharifah Radio” at…

• Vitamin D may be Part of the Key

  Sarah Present

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:13 pm

  In a continuation of the thoughts from last week regarding keeping sickness at bay in the work place, vitamin D can be added to your healthy “to do” list.  Numerous studies and articles are focusing in on the positive effects of Vitamin D and its correlating preventative action against colds and flu viruses.  One of the studies reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine examined the vitamin D levels of close to 19,000 people and their respiratory infections.  They found that the individuals with the lowest vitamin D levels were over 1/3 more likely to state having a recent…

• Winning at the New “Mommy Track”: The rise of the “Mompreneur” Part II

  Maribeth Kuzmeski

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:41 am

  Creating Your Current and Future Powerful Connections List Last week I had you ask yourself, How many powerful business relationships do I have? If you haven’t already considered this question, I encourage you to consider it now. Creating a clear list of the people you need to connect with will give you a clear path as to where you should focus your time and energy. This is the critical foundation to the relationships you are beginning to establish and grow. Create your current and future Powerful Connections list. Set a goal to increase your list of important business connections from five…

• 
  NinaSimosko.com

• Are We a Woman’s Nation?

  Nina

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:53 pm

  When we look at the facts and figures it seems clear that women are not just transforming the workplace, they are transforming the entire country. The recent Shriver Report indicates that for the first time, half of US workers are female – and in 40% of American families those women are the primary breadwinners. With more and more men forced to stay home, more and more women are bringing home the bacon. Women are more likely than ever to head their own families. They’re doing it all—and many of them have to do it all. When they work, it’s no longer just for “the little…

• Which Women Make Your Top 50 Thinkers List?

  Nina

  14 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pm

  Last year I was predictably disappointed by the small number of women representatives on the Thinkers 50 list. I felt that we really needed to add more women to the Top 50 thinkers list. This year, Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove have included FIVE women – up from four – with Renee Mauborgne, co-author of the best-selling management book Blue Ocean Strategy, ranking with W Chan Kim at number 5. Both Lynda Gratton of London Business School and Rosabeth Moss Kanter edge up a place in the rankings, and Tammy Erickson and Barbara Kellerman enter the list for the first time. But surely there…

• It's Time for the Do-able Strategy

  Nina

  29 Sep 2009 | 11:30 pm

  Every organization has politics. Every business has a power base and a structure. And every organization has internal and external barriers that need to be straddled, worked-around or overcome. This often means that success comes not from following the rules but from delivering outcomes. And this also means that success also comes with inherent failure – after all, governance processes are in place for good and valid reasons. But as we reach the last quarter of the year, leaders will be turning their attention to closing what business they can before the year end, as well as planning for…

• Striking the Right Balance

  Nina

  6 Jun 2009 | 10:14 pm

  Balance by KarolusLinus President Obama recently sparked an interesting dialogue about empathy when he stated that he would nominate a Supreme Court justice “who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract theory. … It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives,” to replace the outgoing Justice David Souter.  In short, he wants someone with judicial empathy.  This has caused outrage from some and applause from others.  Regardless how you feel about this issue, it is interesting to see so much attention being paid to empathy…

• Understanding the Leadership Contract

  Nina

  11 May 2009 | 6:00 am

  It doesn’t matter whether you are a chief executive or a newly hired intern, it is up to each and every one of us to tap into our drive, our ambition, and our creativity to transform our work and the business of business. We do this by taking on the responsibility for both actions and results. We do this by reaching out to members of our village – drawing them in, sharing a vision and encouraging them to build on, and take ownership in, the opportunities for transformation. But in amongst all this, we must also understand the nature of the implied leadership contract. I was reminded of…

• 
  The Glass Hammer

• Giving for Good: Philanthropic Wealth Management

  No Byline

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  By Elizabeth Harrin (London) Most people associate fund management with the hard-edged side of financial services. But it’s not all about fighting over the top stocks and knowing which off-exchange trading venue is hot. There’s a whole industry around getting the best out of other people’s money – philanthropic services. “Our role is to offer guidance and support to our donors in every aspect of their charitable giving,” says Elizabeth Brown, Vice President of Philanthropic Services at the Marin Community Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the U.S.  It…

• Why Aren’t There More Women on Corporate Boards in Australia?

  No Byline

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  By Andrea Newell (Grand Rapids, Michigan) In a previous article, we illustrated the positive impact that women can have on corporate boards, and how gender diversity on corporate boards translates into better business performance. While the number of women on corporate boards in the United States is still low, the representation of women on corporate boards in Australia is so dismal that Premier Anna Bligh called for Australian corporations to follow the example of the Australian government and set targets to increase the number of women on corporate boards. The Australian government is…

• Voice of Experience: Sabrina Callin, Managing Director, PIMCO

  No Byline

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City) “I think I ordered my first application to Harvard and Stanford’s Business Schools when I was roughly 10 years old,” said Sabrina Callin, a PIMCO managing director based in the firm’s Newport Beach headquarters. “My parents were both educators, and instilled a strong work ethic and belief in me that I could do anything I wanted to do. As a result, I was motivated from a young age by the ability to have an influence and make things happen.” During her undergrad years at Texas Christian University—a school founded by her father’s ancestors back…

• Innovation: Finding the Way Out of the Recession

  No Byline

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  By Elizabeth Harrin (London) The U.S. may have turned the corner and be on its way out of the recession, but what else is coming out of the recession? A new frugality? Consumers who will never invest in luxury products again? Not so. In fact, recessions have a history of giving us new and exciting things. The iPod was a product of the last recession, and this downturn also looks to be providing organisations with some great opportunities. Julie Meyer, founder and CEO of Ariadne Capital believes that one of the things businesses could benefit from is the shift towards what she calls…

• Ask-A-Career Coach: Don’t Forget To Share Your Success

  No Byline

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart™ I am often asked for my biggest networking pet peeve. One of my tops, if not the top, is when people whom I have helped don’t let me know what happened. The best time to look for a job is when you have one. We all know that instinctively. Yet, when most job seekers get a job, the first things that go out the window are the good job search strategies that won them the new job. Now I’m not saying that you start posting your résumé updated for your new position while you fill out your new hire paperwork, but I am saying that you…

• 
  RoundPegg

• Hiring is Hard. Here’s Proof.

  brentdaily

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:10 pm

  photo by dbking Hiring is a headache. Dr. John Sullivan’s latest post at ERE pulls together a ton of shocking numbers that should convince you we need to find a better way. 50% new executive turnover — nearly half of new executive hires quit or are fired within the first 18 months at a new employer (Source: Corporate Leadership Council). 50% of the processes users (both managers and new hires) later regret their “buying” decision (Source: The Recruiting Roundtable). In addition, 25% of new hires later regret taking their new job within one year (Source: Challenger, Gray) 66%…

• Employee Retention - Good or Bad?

  brentdaily

  31 Oct 2009 | 11:03 am

  photo by antkriz Dueling philosophies on hiring and employee retention at the latest Web2.0 conference (via WSJ Blog). Mark Zuckerberg touted the Facebook culture of hiring entrepreneurially inclined  people who burn brilliantly and then fade away (presumably of their own volition).  Tony Hsieh of Zappos provided the counter philosophy of finding the folks who fit the culture and aspire to stick with the company for 10 years or more. Who is right? Both.  The key that makes both of them right is that everyone is aware of the culture.  Each CEO knows exactly what they’re looking for…

• The Worst of Times

  brentdaily

  25 Oct 2009 | 3:18 pm

  photo by photomish dan A sobering article from the Economist illustrates how unhappy people currently are with their jobs.   When the economy turns expect to see a massive surge in voluntary turnover.  The article included some alarming numbers from the US-based Center for Work-Life Policy: Between June 2007 and December 2008 the proportion of employees who professed loyalty to their employers slumped from 95% to 39%; the number voicing trust in them fell from 79% to 22%. Employers have the upper hand these days, but what good is that if nobody is willing to bring their best?  Quality work…

• Re-Interviewing

  brentdaily

  6 Oct 2009 | 3:26 pm

  photo by phineas h Interviewing is hard enough. But, last week I had a great meeting with a forward-thinking, culturally aware Corporate Development officer.  He was touting the benefits of re-interviewing. Put simply, it’s the company taking an active interest in the employee’s career development. It’s something he does every 4-6 months.  And its purpose is to probe into whether people are getting what they need out of their job.  Whether they are heading in the right direction.  Whether there is anything that is preventing them from fully engaging in their job. The…

• Sales People Are People Too

  brentdaily

  23 Sep 2009 | 1:41 pm

  photo by AMagill Neil Davidson at Red Gate Software had a great post the other day on their new approach to compensating salespeople.  In sum, they’ve stopped assuming salespeople are only motivated by money and have begun compensating them like everyone else. Not only has this cut down on the time it takes to manage the process, but it has eliminated unintended, but perverse, incentives and helped to align their sales team with the rest of organization. As Neil’s post mentions, fear is not a good motivator.  And as I noted a few weeks ago, neither are extrinsic rewards. Sales…

• 
  Emmanuel Gobillot

• play can save lives

  19 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm

  Yesterday I posted an item on how fun can change behavior. In response one of my contact at BT plc passed on to me this link to the playpump system. This is how a simple insight (fun can change behaviour) can be turned into a life saving solution

• No pain plenty of gain

  18 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm

  Why is it that we believe that we cannot gain without pain. Why is fun at work valued only as a balance for hard work? Can we change behaviors and achieve better results through fun? Seems like we can indeed.

• First do nothing

  8 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm

  Often I am asked what is the main thing or the first thing or even the one thing (any permutation is possible here) leaders should do to become more successful. Having failed many times to come up with something clever I now have my answer!

• the leadership song

  27 Sep 2009 | 5:00 pm

  don't worry this is not a blog entry about some new chant that leaders must sing to be effective but rather a simple analogy to help you prioritise

• The biggest con on planet business

  8 Sep 2009 | 5:00 pm

  Following on from my post on incentive pay a lot of people have asked me about my view of performance management, so here goes - no performance management system I know of actually helps manage performance.

• 
  RapidBI - leadership models, thoughts and tools

• The new training (learning and development) manager on the block

  rapidbi

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am

  you have been asked by your line manager to take on the role of company trainer. You accept. But what does this mean? You know that trainers teach people things they have not done before. So being a trainer is about sharing your experiences and skills

• New situational based leadership 3.0 for 2010 and beyond

  rapidbi

  1 Nov 2009 | 2:55 am

  New situational based leadership 3.0 Until recently the old models around leadership were based on one-2-one relationships, when communication were focused on face-to-face discussion and in the main technology was limited to the telephone. Much of management and leadership was done in ‘real time’ and face to face, however here in the ‘naughties’ times, needs and [...]

• About this site – learning lessons

  rapidbi

  30 Oct 2009 | 2:25 am

  Hi all A quick update. As you explore you may find some pages returning a “404″ error – page not found. Over this past week we have been changing our server platform and on ‘go live’ we have run into a number of problems. We hope to have them sorted soon. sorry for any inconvenience caused Mike =============UPDATE=============== Looks like we [...]

• Don’t let SEO burst your budget

  rapidbi

  11 Oct 2009 | 11:09 pm

  Low cost or no-cost SEO. Practical solution: The challenges for new startup & existing firms: How are we going to get seen on the web to market ourselves?

• Innovation, the first step – dare, change, take a risk

  rapidbi

  6 Oct 2009 | 1:16 am

  Innovation is about the first step Innovation is the buzzword of the late naughties, but what does it mean? “Innovation is the act of introducing something new“   Often we focus on the act of creating, indeed many training and development programmes look to developing creativity in order to create innovative cultures. Is this right? Innovation can mean two very [...]

• 
  Rich Gee Coaching

• 3 Powerful Tips To Energize Your Team.

  Rich Gee

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  It’s Friday. It’s been a hard week and you’re looking forward to the weekend. Doesn’t your team feel the same way? Here are some quick leadership tips to energize your troops and make them feel like a million bucks: Call them at home. Tell them how much you value their work. Make it a quick call – no more than 2-3 minutes, no business talk. Tell them that you really appreciate their service and how important they are to the company. This simple reach-out will power them for another 100,000 miles. Send them a card. Not a Hallmark card — a simple Crane stationary…

• iPhone “Blowback”.

  Rich Gee

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:23 am

  Why does everyone hate the iPhone all of a sudden? I have some ideas why: The iPhone CHANGED THE GAME. People don’t carry their laptops as much as they used to. It also forced all the other companies to get their butt in gear to compete. Think about it — most smartphones before the iPhone sucked. The iPhone is HUGE. I go to airports and see EVERYONE using the iPhone for movies, music, business, calls, etc. The Google Droid is coming out. Congratulations! I am so happy there is a valued contender to the iPhone. The winner will be the consumer when competition rears its ugly head.

• Leadership Secrets From A Maestro.

  Rich Gee

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:55 am

  Have you ever wondered what it’s like to conduct a word-class professional orchestra? By Roger Nierenberg at The Washington Post It takes many years, however, to master that complex and delicate relationship between maestro and orchestra. For the inexperienced conductor standing on the podium, it can be a lonely and isolated experience. If he looks to the musicians for any support or encouragement he will find none. They have, after all, spent a lifetime of practicing to play as perfectly as they can. The same perfectionism that served them so well in honing their own skills is…

• Sunday Funnies.

  Rich Gee

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

• Take A Vacation From Your Problems.

  Rich Gee

  31 Oct 2009 | 4:07 am

  The great psychologist Dr. Leo Marvin gave his patient Bob Wiley some sage advice (on a prescription pad) in the movie: What About Bob — “Take a vacation from your problems, Bob.” You should too. With the economy, unemployment, increased work pressures, etc., it’s hard to focus – it’s hard to relax – it’s hard to think and act strategically. In times like these, we tend to think short-term and tactically. Not long-term and strategically. In times like these, companies don’t have a real handle on what’s going on – so all the…

• 
  Sales Management 2.0 Podcast

• Terri Levine and “Sell Without Selling” – Episode 26

  brad@salesmanagement20.com (Brad Trnavsky & Jerry Kennedy)

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:45 pm

  This was a special episode for us, as it marked the return of sales coach and author Terri Levine.  Terri was here to discuss her book “Sell Without Selling: Lessons From the Jungle for Sales Success” and to raise awareness about Reflexive Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a devastating disease that causes excruciating pain in its victims.  Not only is Terri donating all the proceeds from the sale of her latest book to support a child suffering from RSD, she’s matching the sales, dollar for dollar, out of her own pocket.  Talk about a HERO! Terri struck a chord with us by…

• Randy Illig and “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play” – Episode 25

  brad@salesmanagement20.com (Brad Trnavsky & Jerry Kennedy)

  21 Oct 2009 | 12:09 pm

  This was a great episode for us, as we had the chance to catch up with a true thought leader in the sales profession: Randy Illig.  Randy has over 25 years experience in business, ranging from accomplished salesperson and general manager to successful entrepreneur (CEO) and board member.  He is currently CEO of ninety five 5 and is a member of the leadership team at The Sales Perfomance Group, a division of FranklinCovey.  Randy has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Ernst & Young “CEO under 40″ award for innovative management philosophy and…

• Sales and Social Media With Alejandro Reyes (AKA Successfool)-Episode 24

  brad@salesmanagement20.com (Brad Trnavsky & Jerry Kennedy)

  13 Oct 2009 | 1:18 am

   This week, we had the chance to catch up with Alejandro Reyes, aka the Successfool.  Alejandro is a social media rock star, and he’s been on the scene since 2006 (an eternity in the online world).   Alejandro’s drug of choice is people; he gets really excited about helping people follow their passions and making a great living using social media and the internet.  Alejandro’s big question for salespeople is simple: how can you use social media and personal branding to differentiate yourself from your competition? Let’s face it: in today’s economy, there…

• Is It Coaching, or Is It Training? – Episode 23 with Terri Levine

  brad@salesmanagement20.com (Brad Trnavsky & Jerry Kennedy)

  8 Oct 2009 | 11:25 am

  So, what’s the difference between coaching and training anyway?  That was the topic of our conversation with Master Coach, CEO and entrepreneur Terri Levine, The Guru of Coaching and owner of The Coach Institute.  And what was the answer? According to Terri, coaching has the intent of inspiring and improving the recipient, as opposed to training, which in Terri’s mind is an activity that involves teaching and instructing (in other words, telling).  And Terri contends that sales coaching can take place in a group environment just as effectively as in a one-on-one setting. When…

• Motivating Sales People in Tough Economic Times with Jim Keenan – Episode 22

  brad@salesmanagement20.com (Brad Trnavsky & Jerry Kennedy)

  27 Aug 2009 | 9:24 am

  Image by Text 100 via Flickr What motivates sales people?  How do great sales managers keep their teams motivated in tough economic times?  Those were the topics we discussed with Jim Keenan in this episode. Jim Keenan is the Regional Sales Leader for Emerging Service Providers at Avaya and author of the popular sales blog asalesguy.com.  He’s also the former CEO of CreateBuzz, the 2007 runner-up of Mashable’s Open Web Awards for Best Niche Social Network.  Jim has been a sales guy from an early age; Jim uses the same people skills today that he used to get out of trouble as a…

• 
  EveryJoe

• Chick of the Day: Keira Knightley

  Wil Reagan

  7 Nov 2009 | 1:21 am

  She is young, hot, successful, and English. It is Keira Knightley. With an actor father and a playwright mother, her path was laid out before her from an early age. At 3, she requested an agent and began acting. She’s appeared as the damsel in distress in Pirates of the Caribbean, a medieval guerrilla terrorist in King Arthur, and all around bounty hunting badass in tight jeans and a thong in Domino. We’ve seen her show that Keira Knightley can master classic work through her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and be an athlete in Bend It like Beckham. Her androgynous looks…

• The Best Starting Time for Fitness is Now

  Kris Jones

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:43 pm

  If you’re like many, you wait for the right time to begin the fitness regime in your life.  November isn’t a good working out month for you.  Neither is December what with all the holidays and eating, but after New Year’s day, you’re going to begin the path to fitness realization, right?  And then somehow, you never do and your elaborate plan falls to shambles.  Why is this so? A life of health and well being doesn’t revolve around any particular starting date or need a warming up to get to.  It should be, well it should be your life.  Any delaying of a…

• Manny Ramirez to Return to the Dodgers

  Stephen Kersey

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:55 pm

  Manny Ramirez decided to take the money. Ramirez picked up his $20 million option to stay with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He could have tested free agency but the slugger will take the sure thing. If the Dodgers had a choice, they probably would have liked Ramirez to opt out. The 37-year-old wasn’t too dominant last season. He hit .290 with 19 homers and 63 RBIs. The most noise he made was when he was suspended for testing positive for PEDs. Ramirez also angered a lot of people with his antics — as is usually the case. As the saying goes, it’s just Manny being Manny. Going…

• Tyler Hansbrough Impressive in Debut

  Stephen Kersey

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:55 pm

  Tyler Hansbrough, who is regarded by many as one of the best players in college basketball history, was able to make his debut for the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. The former North Carolina star was very impressive in his 14 minutes of action. Going up against the Washington Wizards, Hansbrough had 13 points and five rebounds. He was 3-for-7 from the field and 7-for-10 at the line. The Pacers ended up blowing out the Pacers 102-86. The Pacers were led by Danny Granger’s 22 points, six rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks. TJ Ford and Dahntay Jones had 18 points for…

• Now Playing: “The Men Who Stare at Goats”

  Jeanne Dupuis

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:41 pm

  Have you seen the promos for the new movie The Men Who Stare at Goats?  The name is so cheesy and so are the trailers but I can’t help but be intrigued, especially when you consider the cast. The movie stars Ewan McGregor as “a reporter who delves into the world of psychic military regiments during the Iraq War.”  I’m not completely sure how goats are involved in the storyline but I do know that the cast is rounded out by George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges. It looks like a dark comedy and it’s supposedly based on a real story that seems far fetched enough to be…

• 
  Inside Personal Growth

• Podcast 135: Kabbalah: The Power To Change Everything with Yehuda Berg

  Greg Voisen

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:35 pm

  This is a great interview with a wonderfully knowledgeable author, Yehuda Berg, who has tremendous passion for helping people understand Kabbalah and how it can help them transform their lives positively. In my interview with Yehuda, we explore the wisdom of Kabbalah which explains how the world operates according to universal spiritual laws that, like gravity, influences our lives every day at every moment, whether or not we are aware of it’s existence.  The amazing thing is that these spiritual laws affect our lives in a far more profound way than physical laws do. We learn how to…

• Podcast 134: Inner Productivity with Chris Edgar

  Greg Voisen

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

  Author Chris Edgar was an attorney with a busy career before starting an inner journey toward peace, happiness and spiritual awakening.  His new book entitled ,”Inner Productivy-A Mindful Path to Efficiency and Enjoyment in Your Work“, is about cultivating what Chris refers to as “inner productivity”–the mental and emotional state that allows you to get the most done and find the most enjoyment in your work. Inner Productivity-A Mindful Path to Efficiency and Enjoyment in Your Work helps the reader develop the mental discipline they need to get the most out of…

• Podcast 133: Free To Love, Free To Heal with David Simon M.D.

  Greg Voisen

  30 Oct 2009 | 8:37 pm

  In my interview with Dr. David Simon, we explore his new book entitled, “Free to Love Free to Heal: Heal Your Body by Healing Your Emotions”. The purpose behind writing this book was quite simply to help people identify and release the impediments in their ability to give and receive love. Our ability to give and receive love influences every aspect of our life, including our health.  Dr. Simon shows you how to identify and release the core beliefs and painful memories that contribute to emotional distress and physical illness–freeing you to heal and move beyond the…

• Podcast 132: Love Yourself with Larry Crane

  Greg Voisen

  26 Oct 2009 | 8:42 pm

  “Love Yourself and Let the Other Person Have it Your Way” by Larry Crane is based on the teachings of Lester Levenson and the technique he developed called the “Release Technique”.  Levenson was a very intelligent man, as a matter of fact he was a physicist and engineer.  Intellectually he was brilliant but emotionally he longed for happiness and love.  Levenson came to the end of his rope, when his health started to fail him and he knew he needed to do something. He realized that to increase love in his life he needed to let go of the non-loving feelings.  Sounds…

• Podcast 131: Love Your Body, Love Your Life with Sarah Maria

  Greg Voisen

  26 Oct 2009 | 7:01 pm

  Sarah Maria is beautiful and she used to suffer from negative body obsession.  It is difficult to believe that this outgoing, gregarious woman though that she was too fat. Her new book entitled, “Love Your Body, Love Your Life“, is as much about her personal journey as it is about providing both men and women with the tools to help end this obsession. In our interview together we discuss the five steps to end negative body obsession and start living happily and confidently.  Sarah says if you are struggling, you are not alone.  80-90 percent of women and a growing number of men…

• 
  First Friday Book Synopsis

• Pave your own yellow brick road

  Bob Morris

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm

  In Arlene Johnson’s most recent book, SuccessMapping®, she identifies “eight success blockers” and then devotes a separate chapter to each of the eight steps that will avoid or overcome those barriers. It is helpful to think of the process of personal development as a journey of discovery as well as a sequence of specific achievements. I agree with Johnson that many (if not most) of the most valuable lessons will be learned from delays, mistakes, and even failures. Indulging my passion for metaphors, I also suggest that there will be dead-ends, dry wells, detours, and an…

• From War to Wall Street

  Bob Morris

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:56 am

  Yiu Can't Predict a Hero In You Can’t Predict a Hero, Joseph J. Grano, Jr. provides a riveting, at times refreshingly candid memoir in which he shares the career and life lessons that he has learned throughout several decades of corporate leadership and public service. He served in Viet Nam as an officer of Green Berets, was severely wounded, returned to the U.S. (after six years of military service), bringing home with him “not just maturity, but a body full of shrapnel and enough broken bones and torn muscles, tendons, and ligaments to quality me as 60 percent disabled. Instead of a…

• Is listening an endangered skill?

  Bob Morris

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:35 am

  Harvard Business SchoolHere is an excerpt from an article Harvard Business Review’s Bronwyn Fryer posted at the Harvard Business bog. If you wish to read the complete article and/or sign up for daily alerts, please visit dailyalert@email.harvardbusiness.org. Is listening important? “Yes, of course,” you say. But then why would anyone pay thousands of dollars to hear someone speak, and then not listen? I recently attended the PopTech conference in Camden, Maine, a mind-bending affair attended by several hundred idea junkies, each of whom paid several thousand dollars to…

• The CEO as symphony conductor

  Bob Morris

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:01 pm

  Roger NierenbergRoger Nierenberg is a distinguished conductor of major symphony orchestras throughout the world. He is also the author of Maestro: the Surprising Story About Leading by Listening in which he suggests all manner of parallels between a CEO and a symphony conductor. In my opinion,Maestro is the best book on the essence of leadership that I have read in recent years. Nierenberg provides the material in the form of a business narrative, a sub genre that writers handle effectively (he does) and the basic situation is quite simple: a senior-level executive is struggling without much…

• Paul Johnson: Master Chef of the Intellectual Feast

  Bob Morris

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:17 am

  Born in 1928 in Manchester, England, Johnson is an English Roman Catholic journalist, historian, speechwriter, and author. He was educated at the Jesuit independent school Stonyhurst College, and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He has more than more than 40 books in print that include: Heroes(2007) Creators (2006) George Washington: The Founding Father (2005) Intellectuals (2003) Napoleon (2002) The Renaissance: A Short History (2002) I have just re-read Creators in which Johnson examines 17 exemplars of what he characterizes as “creative courage”: Chaucer, Dürer, Shakespeare, Bach, Turner…

• 
  TradePub: Executive & Management

• Government Technology

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:50 pm

  For over 18 years, government IT executives have relied on Government Technology as a trusted source for current news, innovative trends, and best practices on how others have successfully leveraged technology in advancing the digital future of their agencies and departments.Request Free!

• Government Technology's Public CIO

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:50 pm

  Government Technology's Public CIO delivers thought-provoking editorial insight on the unique management, technology and leadership challenges facing C-level executives across the entire public sector enterprise. Government Technology's Public CIO's exquisite design and award-winning editorial are unmatched in the industry.Request Free!

• Success in the New Economic Reality

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pm

  Learn about the importance of seeing clearly, thinking clearly, and acting clearly. Find out how SAP software and services can help your clear enterprise thrive regardless of the economic climate at any particular time.Request Free!

• Time to Change: New Thoughts on Supporting Business Change

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pm

  Organizations need to create new processes, products, and services faster than the competition – but not by putting their mission-critical procedures and management capabilities at stake. They must assess and manage risk across their existing and new extended business network. Winning teams cultivate relationships by improving communication and collaboration with suppliers, customers, and other partners and moving from adversarial, low-collaboration models to cooperative, mutually beneficial arrangements.Request Free!

• Hospitals & Health Networks

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:20 am

  Hospitals & Health Networks chronicles the values and ideas that drive the new era in health care. H&HN is the place leaders turn for new insights and to recharge their imagination. H&HN stands for stewardship, creativity and results. It delivers short, high-impact reporting and analyses on trends and issues that interest health care executives and emerging leaders. H&HN covers the trends that drive strategic decision-making in health care provider and payer institutions across the country.Request Free!

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  Hire and Retain Top Talent

• Choosing Recruiters: Mistake #1 – No Systematic Process

  Barry Deutsch

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:52 pm

  CEOs and Senior Executives in our survey assumed that all retained executive recruiters must have a rigorous process to help clients hire key executives that will deliver expected results. How many times have you crossed your fingers in the hope that the recruiter you hired will hit the bullseye? Conversely, how many times have you felt like you’ve thrown good money down a dark hole – never to see an appropriate outcome? After all, if you visit the recruiter’s website, doesn’t it always identify that the recruiter has a “process” to do search. This assumption…

• The Real Purpose for Checking References

  bradremillard

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:56 pm

  In just about every in-house company workshop we conduct on hiring, ( See our University for workshops), sooner or later the topic of reference checking comes up. Usually someone will ask, “Isn’t reference checking a waste of time? After all, the person is only going to give you  someone that will say positive things.”  As with many hiring managers today they are checking references the same way they have been for the last 50 years. This comment is valid if you are going to do the standard reference check. You know, the one that asks the same questions Moses asked when he checked…

• 2 Questions to Ask Sales People

  bradremillard

  29 Oct 2009 | 9:25 am

  One of the most frequent questions we get on hiring is, “What do I ask sales people to get past the BS?” For many, hiring sales people is difficult. The fact is most sales people think they can sell anything, when in fact the sales processes are so different, many don’t actually sell as much as take orders. Here are two screening questions I use to at least eliminate sales people that embellish and claim to be hard charging. 1) “Give me an example of where you demonstrated high initiative?”  Seems to me like a simple question, yet most sales people can’t…

• The Top Ten Mistakes Executives Make in Choosing Recruiters

  Barry Deutsch

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:47 pm

  How do you pick the right recruiter? How do avoid making a mistake in selecting such an important trusted advisor? In a survey project conducted over 3 years with 425 CEOs and Senior Executives we identified the Top Ten Mistakes that are made in choosing executive recruiters. We took on this survey project after hearing over 25 years horror story after horror story from companies who had retained recruiters to help fill critical positions. We began to wonder why so many CEOs and Senior Executives were frustrated by the process of choosing and working with executive recruiters. In my following…

• Number 1 Biggest Hiring Mistake Radio Show

  bradremillard

  27 Oct 2009 | 6:05 pm

  This mistake just by itself leads to so many problems in the hiring process it is no wonder only 56% of hires are successful. In a research project we commission of over 130 companies and 230 executive hires we identified the 10 biggest mistakes companies make when hiring. There wasn’t even a close second. This one mistake is so powerful it impacts, sourcing, interviewing, references, compensation, title and on-boarding. It is truly the powerful hiring mistake.  We give you the simple, but not necessarily an easy, solution that all companies can do to ensure they don’t make this mistake.

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  N2growth Blog

• Politically Correct Thinking

  admin

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:03 am

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth  The institutionalization of “Politically Correct Thinking” in the corporate world has done more to harm operating businesses than just about any other social and/or cultural influence in recent times. As a CEO Coach I am often asked to provide counsel on the political hot potato de jure, and let me be perfectly clear that it is not only possible, but preferable, to successfully handle highly charged political topics without being politically correct. If recent economic, political, and financial circumstances in this country…

• Focus on Performance

  admin

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:03 pm

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth  Today’s message is going to be direct, and to the point…focus on performance. One of my pet peeves is the voluminous amount of management speak and self-help propaganda currently in circulation designed to codify a lack of performance. I’m an individual that believes in clear and direct communication, so I’ll spare you the rhetoric and just do what I do best…simplify the complex. You see, the formula for success, what truly differentiates you, is really quite simple…you either PERFORM or your…

• Seth Godin gets it wrong

  admin

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:21 pm

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth Order Phentermine Order Proscar Order Biaxin Order Lexapro Order Soma Order Xenical Order Adipex Order Zoloft Order Propecia Order Paxil Order Wellbutrin Order Diflucan Order Valium Order Prozac Order Effexor Seth Godin authored a recent post (”When data and decisions collide“) in which he cited a few examples in which data proves not only to be counterintuitive to our natural instincts in decision making, but he alleges that data is also more accurate as the basis for sound decisioning. While this may be true in certain…

• How’s Your Attitude

  admin

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:02 pm

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth  “How’s Your Attitude?” Show me a CEO with a bad attitude and I’ll show you a poor leader. While this sounds simple enough at face value, I have consistently found that one of the most often overlooked leadership attributes is that of a positive attitude. As a CEO, how can you expect to inspire, motivate, engender confidence, and to lead with a lousy attitude? The simple answer is that you can’t…it just won’t work. CEOs with bad attitudes will not only fail to engage their workforce, but they will…

• Ideas Don’t Equal Innovation

  admin

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:05 pm

  By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth I had a long conversation today with a client discussing creativity, ideas, innovation, branding and the like. As a result of our conversation, I decided to dust-off an old post, give it a few updates, and pass along my thoughts, which can be best summarized as “Ideas Don’t Equal Innovation.“ It is my hope to help dispel the myth that ideas are inherently good things. Let me state right from the outset that I place little value on ideas. Not only do raw ideas have little intrinsic value, but they are often very costly.

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  Big Red Tomato Company

• Peanut Butter Cookies

  Matthew Needham

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  It’s the weekend, go on treat yourself to this tasty snack with this really simple recipe. Total time about 10 minutes. Ingredients: 345g/12oz peanut butter 225g/8oz white sugar 1 large egg Method: Preheat the oven to 170° c / 350° f Combine the ingredients Dollop teaspoonfuls of the mixture on to a greaseproof sheet on a baking tray Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven Enjoy!

• What’s your Twitter name?

  Matthew Needham

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Many Big Red Tomato Company followers are already connecting with us on Twitter. (over 100 in the last week!). But it occured to me, that many of you would also like to connect with other users of this site. So, in the comments section below, please leave your username – leave a link so it’s easy to add as many of you as possible. Hopefully we should be able to connect with a few more people who are interested in leadership and lifestyle. Don’t forget to follow us @bigredtomato !

• Site Update: October Monthly Round Up

  Matthew Needham

  30 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  This month I’m trying something new. I’m going to look back at what’s happened with The Big Red Tomato Company site  in the previous month. If you’ve missed some articles, you can catch up here. This month, we’ve done: Writing Leadership – we’ve written about The Rise of the New Leader,a guest post by Malcolm Follos, an Interview with the authors of the Power of Strategic Commitment and an article on How to achieve your dreams Lifestyle – we’ve written about my stay at the Midland Hotel Morecambe , included my speech from a CIMA new members…

• I Dreamed a Dream – What’s your Dream?

  Matthew Needham

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  What’s your Dream? In April 2009, a UK TV Talent Show, ‘Britian’s Got Talent’, allowed 48 year old spinster Susan Boyle to realise her dream to be a professional singer by singing in front of a live audience. What’s your Dream? - to retire early? - to live abroad? - to spend more time with the family? - to set up and run your own business? Here’s how you can achieve your dreams. A dream is more likely to happen if you write it down: Dream – Do you have a dream chart? Is this up to date and current? Have you have updated the pictures or statements for…

• How to manage sickness absence

  Matthew Needham

  25 Oct 2009 | 8:00 pm

  Today is Monday. Did everyone turn up today? One of the biggest problems facing any organisation, large or small is the management of staff absence. According the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, in 2006, sickness absence cost the UK economy £12bn. In small organisations, the cost of sickness absence can be far more than financial. Loss of knowledge, disruption and impact on customer service can all have a major impact on business survival, especially in these challenging times. How you manage sickness absence is critical to miminsing business disruption. First of all, it is important…

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  Lead Change Group

• The War on Apathy Continues …

  Mike Henry

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:30 am

  We have seen the enemy… Do you ever get tired of going through the motions? You know what I mean. In a bit of passive aggression, we give less than our best because our heart is just not in the activity.  We do what we have to and no more.  Can you think of times when you’ve done this? (Be honest!) Well, I’ve done it and I’ll probably do it again, but I’d like to confess that I hate it.  The struggle isn’t in the project or the work, but in my heart.  Why would I do a good job at something I like and a poor job at something I don’t like?  You…

• War With Apathy

  Mike Henry

  27 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

  In a discussion a few days ago, Mandy Vavrinak made an observation that I promised to write about. She has a knack with words and can typically apply precise wording to a particular effort or idea. She said I was “at war with apathy.” The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines apathy as: A lack of feeling or emotion A lack of interest or concern Wikipedia defines apathy as: Complete lack of emotion or motivation about a person, activity, or object; depression; lack of interest or enthusiasm; disinterest. Defining my passion has always been difficult for me.  I guess I’m…

• Bulls Eye Leadership

  Mike Henry

  23 Oct 2009 | 7:37 am

  This past Tuesday, I had the honor of being interviewed by a fellow member of the LinkedIn Lead Change Group, David Porter (@BullsEyeLeader on Twitter) of Bulls Eye Leadership fame. David and I have been talking about what kind of difference faith should make in the life of a leader. Any leader who claims to hold certain religious beliefs (mine are well documented) should have the integrity to lead according to their beliefs and should also be transparent enough for outsiders to be able to notice. David is an excellent interviewer. He asked piercing and meaningful questions that interested…

• Can You Act Contrary to Your Values?

  Mike Henry

  21 Oct 2009 | 11:10 am

  You have probably heard the David Campbell quote: “Discipline is remembering what you want.”  We all have more wants than we can keep up with.  That’s why tools like Getting Things Done (the book and system by David Allen), PDA’s and note-taking applications exist.  We forget what we want.  Our higher, more important values typically are not front of mind.  Over time, we make a series of choices from a limited menu, only to regret later never completing the truly important things.  We forget what we really want.  Do you ever do that? Plan to Remember…

• Leadership Development Carnival

  Mike Henry

  10 Oct 2009 | 6:30 am

  Last Sunday, Becky Robinson of Mountain State University’s LeaderTalk Blog posted the October Leadership Carnival on Endurance.  Becky compiled several posts on endurance, perseverance and leadership in general.  She linked to several wonderful posts and many great friends I’ve had the pleasure of “meeting” online in the last few months.  It was my first time to submit as well. You can follow Becky on Twitter (@LeaderTalk) and you can even follow the whole list of bloggers on Twitter using this list she compiled on TweepML.  Check it out! Related posts:Leadership…

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  The Corner Office

• Don't Make Your Customers Deal With Your Problems

  Steve Tobak

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:10 am

  Some small businesses almost effortlessly put customer's needs and problems first, while others let their drama and dysfunctions dictate how they do business. Like it or not, customers get dragged along for the ride. In a competitive market, that's no way to get repeat business.

• Why Diversification Is No Panacea

  Steve Tobak

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:05 am

  How is a company supposed to reduce its risk when one customer can devastate its business? Some throw around "diversification" like it's an antidote to risk, but as a risk aversion strategy, diversification is no panacea. It carries its own risks, tradeoffs and hurdles that can be insurmountable.

• 10 Aspects of Executive Presence

  Steve Tobak

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  What constitutes executive presence, that indefinable quality that great leaders possess? Is it about poise and sophistication, use of body language or gestures? Can it be learned, does it develop on its own, or do you have to be born with it? And how do you know if you've got it?

• Poll: What’s the Etiquette for Social Media and the Workplace?

  Christine Lee

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

  When hotelier Chip Conley posted pictures from his Burning Man trip on his Facebook page, some of his employees complained that they were inappropriate for a CEO. We’ve covered the fracas in A CEO’s Dilemma: Should I Take My Burning Man Pics off Facebook? Now we want to hear what you think about social media [...]

• Galleon Scandal Snags Top IBM and AMD Execs

  Steve Tobak

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:35 am

  Hector Ruiz, former CEO of AMD and president of Motorola, and Bob Moffat, Sr. VP at IBM, were among top executives caught up in the largest insider trading scandal in decades. The question is why would top executives risk their careers by committing fraud? One theory suggests it's the testosterone.

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  Crucial Skills

• How to Address Workplace Bullying

  Kerry Patterson

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:10 pm

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kerry Patterson is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. READ MORE   Dear Crucial Skills, I just left a job I loved because I am older and the young team I worked with never seemed to accept me. Unfortunately, even when the manager said I was a victim of new employee hazing, the problem was not addressed. Since I made the choice to leave, would it be appropriate to write a letter to the administrator? I don’t want to be seen as a disgruntled employee but it is a hostile environment and some of the young…

• Addressing Inappropriate Work Attire

  Joseph Grenny

  27 Oct 2009 | 4:07 pm

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joseph Grenny is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, I need advice on how to have a conversation with a subordinate about her provocative attire. It’s tricky because her clothes are clean and very nice—just more revealing than is appropriate for our office. To make it more complicated, I’m a man and I’m wondering if that should make the conversation any different than if she had a female supervisor. Her attire is holding her back from progressing and limiting how…

• Kerrying On: Stay Away from the Churning Waters

  Kerry Patterson

  20 Oct 2009 | 4:15 pm

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kerry Patterson is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. READ MORE Listen to Kerrying On via MP3 Listen to Kerrying On via iTunes When my best friends and I were kids growing up along the shores of the Puget Sound, the water was our favorite playground. It’s a good thing, because we certainly had a lot of it. It fell from the sky in unrelenting sheets of cold misery until it eventually gathered about us in a giant recreational hodgepodge of lakes, streams, and inlets. Hardly a summer day passed that we…

• Working with a Difficult Employee

  Ron McMillan

  13 Oct 2009 | 4:16 pm

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ron McMillan is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, When I recently assumed my current job, I “inherited” an employee who has a long history of bad behavior such as being rude, stirring up trouble, and refusing to work with coworkers as a team player. How do I confront this person when the whole department has played into his behavior for years?Inherited Employee Dear Inherited,“Inheriting” an employee with a history of bad behavior is a concern for any…

• From the Road: What Happens in Training, Stays in Training

  Steve Willis

  7 Oct 2009 | 12:26 pm

  ABOUT THE EXPERT Steve Willis is vice president of professional services at VitalSmarts. READ MORE Hardly a training goes by that a participant doesn’t invoke the training version of the Vegas rule: What happens in training, stays in training. Let me explain.Too often, trainers think the beginning of their course is the beginning of their participant’s learning experience. But if you think about it, the learning experience begins way before 8:00 a.m. on the first day of class (or 8:20, if your classes are like mine). When participants reach the class, they’re actually…

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  Mountain State University LeaderTalk

• Transparency

  Rebecca Robinson

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:25 am

  My neighbor stopped me on the stairs to ask how I'm doing. Two weeks ago my husband got news of a long awaited transfer, and she knows we have been busily preparing for the transition. "It's hard," I said. "I know," she answered. "I told my husband that when we moved here, it was one of the most stressful times I can remember, and it was just the two of us then. I can't imagine what it's like with all your kids. I think I read that moving is on the top of the most stressful life events list." So this morning, I took at look at a life events…

• A Special Request

  Rebecca Robinson

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:14 pm

  Not long ago, many of you helped us celebrate 100 posts at the LeaderTalk blog. Now that we are starting our second half year in this space, we would like to get to know who are readers are. I would appreciate it if you could take a moment — right now — and send me an email at brobinson@mountainstate.edu. Tell me where you live, what you do, and what draws you to read this blog. If you feel like it, tell how old you are, what kind of leader you are, and some goals you have for the future. As we plan for the future here at LeaderTalk, we will use this information to help make sure we…

• The November 1st Leadership Development Carnival

  Rebecca Robinson

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:09 am

  The Leadership Development Carnival is up at Great Leadership by Dan, and it's a great one. I am excited to take some time to read over the posts, and excited to be included again in this month's carnival. If you are new to blog reading or writing, you may not know about carnivals. A blog carnival is a compilation of posts on a specific theme or topic. It's a great place to get learn new things about your favorite topics of interest and find new blogs to read. Anyone can contribute, so it's the perfect opportunity for someone just starting out with blogging to get some…

• DEL Students in the Spotlight | Barbara Julian Garner

  Rebecca Robinson

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:13 am

  Recently Barbara Julian Garner joined 14 other individuals in the inaugural cohort of Mountain State University’s Doctor of Executive Leadership program. These 15 students are the leaders among leaders, paving the way for others who enroll in the program. Over the next months, we will introduce you to the students of our program and give you a glimpse into their lives as leaders. When Barbara Garner announced her intention to earn a doctorate, curious friends and family members wondered at her decision; at age 61, many of her peers are looking toward retirement. But Barbara is excited and…

• Be Who You Are

  Rebecca Robinson

  28 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am

  Steve Roesler, one of my favorite leadership bloggers, is the CEO of his own business. His frequent updates are always practical, and reflect the wisdom of his 30 plus years of experience with executives. Another favorite, Mary Jo Asmus, owns a leadership solutions firm, Aspire Collaborative Services. She has a special focus on soft skills needed for leadership success and has a unique way of challenging leaders to be thoughtful in their relationship building on the job. Wally Bock gathers the best from the business press about leadership, top stories from the news, and highlights from…

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  Mary Jo Asmus

• A Professional Action Plan Example

  Mary Jo Asmus

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:19 am

  In all of it’s glory, I’ve provided an example of a professional action plan that illustrates the previous three posts: Ghoul or Goal, the Key to Your Action Plan Your Professional Development Action Plan: Planning the Action Steps Deciding on Measures and Target Dates for your Professional Action Plan I apologize for the look of this action plan as my skills with WordPress are still evolving, and cutting and pasting tables wasn’t working too well for me. There is one additional column that I like to use in my action plans that I couldn’t fit into the tables below due…

• Deciding on Measures and Target Dates For Your Professional Action Plan

  Mary Jo Asmus

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:55 pm

  I hope that the previous posts on setting goals and planning the action steps helped you to create two foundational pieces for your written professional development plan, or to coach someone else in creating their plan. Many great professional development plans get lost and forgotten in the minutia of everyday work life.  It helps to have measures (“metrics” is another term, but may be too exact to be useful in this context) and target dates to achieve the actions – otherwise, what use is planning? Measures Some of the actions in a professional development plan can have pretty…

• Your Professional Development Action Plan: Planning the Action Steps

  Mary Jo Asmus

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:19 am

  Last week’s post on action planning was about how to set a professional development goal for you or to coach others in this. Once a goal is set, action steps to meet the goal must be considered and captured on the plan. Most people like that part, but often find it difficult, particularly when the goals are about such things as “executive presence” or communication. After all, these are things that the individual may have needed to work on for a long time, they just haven’t known how. Also, at times the actions will be out of their comfort zones (such as an introverted leader who…

• The November Leadership Development Carnival is Up!

  Mary Jo Asmus

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:43 pm

  Dear Readers, Make sure you head over to Great Leadership. Dan McCarthy has hosted yet another great Leadership Development Carnival. Lots of great reading there, and all of my favorites; I’m sure they’ll become your’s as well.  Thanks Dan, for all the care you put into this Carnival!

• Goal or Ghoul? The Key to Your Action Plan

  Mary Jo Asmus

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:15 am

  Happy Halloween! It’s a great day to talk about a scary topic: setting professional development goals for yourself or for those you lead. I thought it might be helpful to write about how I coach my clients to set their own professional development goals. Executive coaching uses a process, begining with action planning.A written action plan becomes a reference document that is used as the foundation for the professional development work with a client, and is used to obtain the sponsor’s (mentor or manager) approval for moving forward in the coaching engagement.   The first step in…

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  All Things Workplace

• Behavioral Change: Fun Theory Part 3

  Steve Roesler

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am

  When it comes to going viral, Volkswagen and their ad agency DDB Stockholm appear to have hit the jackpot. Their new campaign, "The Fun Theory", is a series of experiments captured on video, to find out if making certain activities more fun can improve people’s behavior toward the environment. By the way: it's an actual contest as well. You can enter your own fun theory video and win some decent money. Among the experiments: does turning a set of subway stairs into a real-life piano encourage people to use them? The answer is "yes": 66% more. Another experiment asks whether making a trash…

• Behavioral Change: Fun Theory Part 2

  Steve Roesler

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:18 am

  People love to have fun. The comments, emails, and tweets about The Piano Stairs confirmed that folks would be much more inclined to change their behavior if there was some fun involved. So, to reinforce the notion, here's Part 2. It involves a common dilemma: How do you get people to want to throw away their trash in public places and keep things nice and clean? I give you: The World's Deepest Rubbish Bin

• One More Time: What Do People Want At Work?

  Steve Roesler

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am

  Getting the very best (or most) from employees has become the holy grail of business. Millions of  dollars are spent to determine how to achieve a state where workers function at high levels of productivity and, supposedly, satisfaction. Every employee survey I've seen over the past 30 years shows the same results as this, conducted in 2007 by Towers Perrin. The survey population was 90,000 employees, worldwide.What do Employees Want? The #1 element on a global level was an employee's belief that senior management was interested in his or her well-being. Imagine. Employee's relate their…

• Changing Behavior: The Fun Theory

  Steve Roesler

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am

  That headline ought to confuse the search engines. Why does nearly every corporate meeting about "behavioral change" end up with some kind of a solution that involves sanctions or carrot-and-stick incentive programs that can only get bigger and more expensive to have any impact over the long run? Which leads me to: "How can we make something so much fun that people can't not do it?" Here's a look at The Fun Theory in action:

• Leadership, Choices, Decisions, Relationships. . .

  Steve Roesler

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm

  What you put into your mind will determine your thoughts. Here's the best way to jump-start your thinking for the week: The November Leadership Carnival, compliments of host Dan McCarthy. Scroll through the topics and the authorities behind them, and bump up your leadership game:Start off with Wally Bock presenting Let’s hear it for the role models posted at Momentor.Next up is Mary Jo Asmus presenting Choosing posted at Mary Jo Asmus.Anne Perschel presents Never Waste A Good Recession posted at Germane Insights.Steve Roesler presents Team Leaders: Do You Do This? posted at All…

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  The Practice of Leadership

• Leaders Take Risks!

  George Ambler

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:01 pm

  Photo by schoschie   The act and practice of leadership is a risky undertaking. Leadership is the act or bringing about positive change. This requires leaders to initiate, to blaze new trails, to venture into the unknown and unexplored terrain. All of this entails risk. Kouzes and Posner in their bestselling book, “The Leadership Challenge” describes it this way: “Leaders are pioneers – people who are willing to step out into the unknown. They are people who are willing to take risks, to innovate and experiment in order to find new