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Forbes.com: Managing news and reports
How Employee Engagement Turned Around Campbell's

23 Jun 2009 | 1:55 pm

An interview with Douglas Conant, CEO of Campbell Soup Co.
Networks Are What Make Real Innovation Possible

15 Jun 2009 | 1:51 am

An interview with UC Davis professor Andrew Hargadon.
Diversity Helps Your Business--But Not The Way You Think

2 Jun 2009 | 12:30 pm

What people from different backgrounds really contribute.
The Leader's Lifelong Learner's Permit

1 Jun 2009 | 11:43 am

You should be educating yourself at every moment.
Your Business Can Inspire People The Way Nonprofits Do

28 May 2009 | 11:20 am

It's not so hard, if you do real good, as nonprofits do.

SmartBrief on Leadership
SmartBrief will not be published Friday

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

In observance of Independence Day in the U.S., SmartBrief will not be published Friday, July 3. -More-
6 ways to get your supply chain under control

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Creating an adaptable supply chain is an easy way to increase efficiency and lower costs, writes Ari Salonen. -More-
"Free: The Future of a Radical Price," by Chris Anderson

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Chris Anderson, editor of Wired and author of celebrated e-commerce tome "The Long Tail," is back with a new book arguing tha -More-
Aflac's Amos on managing risk

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Aflac CEO Daniel P. -More-
Will you be my banker?

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Peer-to-peer lending has been around as long as people have had rich uncles to ask for small-business loans -- but in the wak -More-

Leading Blog: A Leadership Blog @ LeadershipNow
What You Need to be Doing Now

3 Jul 2009 | 2:42 pm

Geoff Colvin, Fortune’s senior editor at large and author of The Upside of the Downturn, offers much to savor and chew on, but his list of five things this recession demands from a leader are essential. One of those behaviors is Be Decisive. He writes, “Leaders in a crisis must not lose their rare opportunity to act. The difficulty is that just when decisions are most easily accepted, they’re hardest to make. All business decisions are made with incomplete information, and that’s especially true in the heat of a crisis. At the same time the stakes are higher than usual. Every instinct…
10 Rules For Leading the Turnaround of a Declining Business

3 Jul 2009 | 10:44 am

I have been involved in turnaround situations at Topco Associates, Kayser-Roth Corporation, and Cordiant. The similarities between these situations were greater than the differences.In each case, they were companies that had fallen on hard times, but there was a belief that they could rise again like a phoenix from the ashes. Additionally, the fact that the companies were not doing well was by no means a secret to the employees, who were always eager to have the leadership that could bring it all back together and get things moving again. Here are my ten rules for a successful turnaround:…
Cast a Vote For the Best Leadership Blog of 2009

2 Jul 2009 | 1:23 am

Kevin Eikenberry's 3rd annual Best of Leadership Blogs competition is underway. We are honored that this blog has again been nominated as one of the 10 best leadership blogs on the web. Here is a list of the ten finalists: Leading Blog by Michael McKinney Great Leadership by Dan McCarthy Seth Godin’s Blog by Seth Godin Jon Gordon’s Blog by Jon Gordon Leadership is a Verb by John Bishop All Things Workplace by Steve Roesler Work Matters by Bob Sutton Leader Talk by Mountain State University Next Level Blog by Scott Eblin Leadership At Work by John Baldoni We appreciated all the support we…
First Look: Leadership Books for July 2009

1 Jul 2009 | 2:02 am

Here's a look of some of the best leadership books to be released in July. Why Loyalty Matters: The Groundbreaking Approach to Rediscovering Happiness, Meaning and Lasting Fulfillment in Your Life and Work by Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy with Luke Williams The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It by Christine Pearson and Christine Porath Performance Intelligence at Work: The 5 Essentials to Achieving The Mind of a Champion by Julie Ness Bell and Robin Pou Preparing for Leadership: What It Takes to Take the…
LeadershipNow 140: June 2009 Compilation

30 Jun 2009 | 11:09 am

Here are a selection of tweets from June 2009: Survive company mergers: Business leaders will soon see opportunities for mergers and acquisitions. FT: http://tinyurl.com/kth2e4 To lead you must come from a context larger than the self. What you don't know about Ed McMahon by @wallybock http://ow.ly/fNhY RT @innovate: "Know when to be stubborn and when to be flexible: Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible about tactics" - Jeff Bezos RT @scottmckain: It's the label on a wine bottle ... What can YOU do to get more business? http://budurl.com/smvp Now that's thinking! RT @MichaelHyatt: RT…

Management-Issues : News
Toxic shock

2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

Do you have toxic co-workers in the office? I'm not talking about the types who need to wear more deodorant during the summer months, but the type of guy whose departures is considered like a holiday by everybody else in the company.
The value of meaningful words

2 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

Where are we going to find managers and politicians who understand the value of saying what they mean and who are prepared to find the thread of meaningful words that will lead us out of the maze of lax-language that currently has us all hedged in?
Engage people by showing how their work contributes

1 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

One of the secrets to creating passionate, engaged employees and to motivate teams to top performance is actually very simple. Engage people's desire to contribute by showing them how their work is part of the bigger picture.
New beginning? What new beginning?

1 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

Many commentators would have you believe that we are witnessing a new beginning, that change is happening all around us. Well, I'm sorry to disillusion you, but I can't see that any substantial has changed as a result of the turmoil of the past 12 months.
Colorado loses the plot

30 Jun 2009 | 1:00 am

I'm sure that you've picked up the newspaper or turned on the evening news, only to ask yourself, "what on earth were they thinking?" or even "why weren't they thinking?" Here's a classic example.

How to Change the World
How to Achieve Revenue

GuyKawasaki

1 Jul 2009 | 10:59 am

The harsh reality of the startup scene today is that revenue is the best, and maybe only, form of funding. While many conferences focus on gaining the attention of investors, we’ve put one together that focuses on generating revenue. It’s called Revenue Bootcamp. It’s on Friday, July 10th, at the Microsoft Mountain View, California campus. Click here to learn more about it and to register. The topics include increasing traffic, selling advertising, and utilizing other revenue streams. There is also a keynote and booksigning with Chris Anderson, the author of Free: The Future…
Reality Check Now Available in French

GuyKawasaki

28 Jun 2009 | 7:39 pm

Vient de paraître en français: La réalité de l'entrepreneuriat Le guide irrévérencieux pour dépasser, devancer, distancer vos concurrents de Guy Kawasaki Publié en français par les Editions Diateino, avec l'aimable autorisation de Portfolio, Penguin Group. 26 euros. Ce livre, traduit par Marylène Delbourg Delphis, fait suite à L’art de se lancer, le bestseller de Guy Kawasaki traduit en 10 langues, paru en 2006 aux Editions Diateino. La réalité de l’entrepreneuriat, comme L’art de se lancer, est un livre de chevet pour tout entrepreneur, où qu’il vive. Ce livre vous…
Sites Used at San Diego Venture Group Speech

GuyKawasaki

25 Jun 2009 | 11:19 pm

These are the sites and applications that I used in today’s San Diego Venture Group speech about using social media as a marketing tool. Making Connections LinkedIn LinkedIn: Find References LinkedIn: Companies LinkedIn: Answers: Home LinkedIn: Jobs Home Jigsaw Spokeo Social Networking Facebook | Alltop Twitter / Home Twitter Corporate Examples JetBlue Dell Outlet Virgin America Amazondeals CirqueLasVegas Comcastcares Kogibbq Twitter Search Examples Monitor: guykawasaki OR alltop Monitor: comcast OR Directv Monitor: Starbucks VIA Search.twitter.com/ Camaro Camaro within 100 miles…
How Mayo Clinic Uses Social Media

GuyKawasaki

23 Jun 2009 | 4:57 pm

Over at the American Express Open Forum I posted an interview with Lee Aase. He manages syndication and social media for Mayo Clinic. In this interview he explains the history of Mayo Clinic’s use of social media and how effective this effort has been. If you’re considering social media for your organization, it’s a worthwhile read. Click here to read it.
How to Use Alltop to Add Content to Your Website, Blog, and Feed Reader

GuyKawasaki

21 Jun 2009 | 10:43 am

We’ve enabled people to access and repurpose the website and blog feeds that we’ve curated at Alltop: Widget. Create a widget of any Alltop site by going here. Then you can deploy these widgets in your blogs. These widgets display the five most popular stories from the respective topic. This is a great way to add fresh content to your website or blog with very little work. To see a list of “all the topics” that may be relevant, go here. RSS feed. Grab the RSS feed of any Alltop topic by clicking on the RSS symbol in your browser’s navigation area. Then you can…

Women's Leadership Exchange Blog
Let Your Mind Wander for Your Next Aha

20 Jun 2009 | 11:07 am

First, thanks for all the great comments on my last blog about the letting the joy of our personal lives interrupt our businesses. And I can't wait to hear more about Judy George's latest exciting venture in home furnishings that she shared in her comments... which leads me to today's blog. After a personally crazy week of the WLE Fort Lauderdale conference (wow, what great S. Fl women), a DC Advisory Board meeting of the extraordinary Center for Women's Business Research and 9 hours of flight delays due to weather, I am experiencing some R&R at the Turning Stone Lodge, Verona, NY (where WLE…
In the Midst of Work...Life Happens

27 May 2009 | 5:52 pm

I don't blog much about my personal life, cause it's my personal life....and like most of you, I want to keep it separate from the 24/7 work life we all live. But I am so excited that I am compelled to share my PL on my blog. My son Josh is getting married this weekend. Wow. I'm thrilled for him and his bride to be Cori. They've known each other since college and are finally formalizing their commitment to each other. I'm delighted that there will be a fabulous celebration to mark the occasion. I believe in celebrating. No matter what - a party is always in order. Even in tough times like…
Thinking Positive Yields Good News

2 May 2009 | 6:06 am

You may laugh at "The Secret" but I don't. If you're a skeptic, you might want to reconsider. There was a lot of good news this morning - H1N1 Flu outbreak in Mexico may not be as bad as once thought; Obama has a Supreme Court appointment to make and there's many great women candidates; The Yankees beat the LA Angels in a stunning comeback in the 8th and 9th innings (good news for Yankee fans - me); troubled banks are reporting profits; some economists are giving the President an A+ for his efforts to turn around the economy; entrepreneurs are figuring out ways to stay in business. Okay okay,…
Small is Powerful

21 Apr 2009 | 8:34 pm

After a hard day's work, I like nothing better than unwinding with a glass of wine and watching "American Idol". I love see non-celebs get their chance to courageously sing their hearts out to 10 million people on live TV, with the possibility of becoming a big star. Since it's one of the top shows, obviously others share my passion. What do I love about American Idol? It's a simple, and it's a "small" idea. "Small" town Americans change "small" detailsin how they present themselves - make-up, hair, glasses, clothes - and make "small" changes…
Expert Advice: Win By Taking Responsibility

3 Apr 2009 | 1:02 pm

I'm working on WLE's newest soon-to-be launched leadership program and in so doing, I'm reading everything relevant I can get my eyes on...Knowing my thirst for leadership material, WLE Cofounder Andrea March gave me a copy of a summer '08 Leader to Leader Institute publication. I was totally engaged by an article written by the brilliant Rosabeth Moss Kanter, prolific writer and Harvard leadership professor. Her article "Six Opportunities for Renewing America," while published in 2007, couldn't be more relevant. I want to share a few of the article's gems. Kanter shares the following. " In…

Learned On Women by Andrea Learned
On Reaching Today’s Sustainability-Minded Consumer

Andrea

1 Jul 2009 | 11:03 am

More and more, my personal passion for sustainable business practices is aligning with my knowledge of how women buy. But, as is my usual way, that is not to say I will lecture you on how to reach only environmentally-oriented women. Rather, I see my mission in serving as a bridge: between the behavior of the female consumer and that of men in the 21st Century (it’s less dissimilar than you’d think), and; between what we know about these more right-brain directed folks overall (no gender about it) and the expectations of the currently most critical consumer - the…
Feminine Sensibilities In App Design

Andrea

26 Jun 2009 | 7:23 am

Something is very different in designing and marketing gadgets and “apps” in today’s world. Performance, while important, is no longer king, and consumers demand that the darned things fit into or ease their lifestyles. Interestingly to me, that often means a re-think of a concept or product from its masculine beginnings toward the feminine sensibilities. Mind you, that means this is no simple “marketing to women” change. Instead, the thing to note is that lots of great products designed in years past came from minds mainly focused on performance, status,…
My Take: Bridging Old & New with Social Media

Andrea

24 Jun 2009 | 8:52 am

Christine (C.B.) Whittemore of Flooring the Consumer just published her interview with me for her series on Bridging Old & New. My use of social media is nothing groundbreaking, but perhaps I’m like the majority of you? I went into it with caution and parameters, and have been pleasantly surprised with the results (and fun new connections). Here’s one excerpt from the interview: C.B.: What 5 suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users? Andrea: 1- Don’t make it a bigger deal…
On Nurturing A Fresh Gender Perspective

Andrea

23 Jun 2009 | 11:17 am

Set in our ways and enmeshed in our day-to-day work lives, it can be very difficult to stay on top of larger cultural trends. My re-energizing trip to San Francisco last week for a building industry conference reminded me of how important it can be to put yourself into, and share your work in, random and new situations. Within those few days, I managed to have some incredible conversations and make great contacts with men and women who share my fascination with a big cultural shift: the changing gender perspectives in marketing and management. A few examples of what bubbled up: -…
Marketing to the Recession Era Parent: My Adweek OpEd

Andrea

15 Jun 2009 | 11:30 am

All things being equal, parental duties were beginning to be noticeably shared in the U.S. by mid-2008. Men and women were requesting more flexible work schedules and deliberately mapping out who does what chore at home - and seeming to take it in stride. It was tough enough with two working parents, but then came the recession. Now, there are a lot more laid off men, specifically, taking on the bulk of child and home care. So, how does this affect parental “consuming” and what does it mean for marketers? It was from that question that Carolyn Hadlock of Young and…

SmartBrief on Leadership
SmartBrief will not be published Friday

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

In observance of Independence Day in the U.S., SmartBrief will not be published Friday, July 3. -More-
6 ways to get your supply chain under control

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Creating an adaptable supply chain is an easy way to increase efficiency and lower costs, writes Ari Salonen. -More-
"Free: The Future of a Radical Price," by Chris Anderson

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Chris Anderson, editor of Wired and author of celebrated e-commerce tome "The Long Tail," is back with a new book arguing tha -More-
Aflac's Amos on managing risk

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Aflac CEO Daniel P. -More-
Will you be my banker?

1 Jul 2009 | 10:00 pm

Peer-to-peer lending has been around as long as people have had rich uncles to ask for small-business loans -- but in the wak -More-

Great Leadership
Best of Leadership Blogs 2009

1 Jul 2009 | 11:18 am

I'm honored to have been nominated for the third annual Best of Leadership Blogs 2009 competition, hosted by Kevin Eikenberry at Remarkable Leadership. Voting will take place during the month of July, with the winner being announced on Monday, August 3rd.Here's the list of 10 finalists:Leading Blog by Michael McKinneyGreat Leadership by Dan McCarthySeth Godin’s Blog by Seth GodinJon Gordon’s Blog by Jon GordonLeadership is a Verb by John BishopAll Things Workplace by Steve RoeslerWork Matters by Bob SuttonLeader Talk by Mountain State UniversityNext Level Blog by Scott EblinLeadership At…
ARGHHHHH! My new boss is 30-something with absolutely no leadership or management experience!

30 Jun 2009 | 6:13 pm

An email from a reader:ARGHHHHH!My new boss is 30-something with absolutely no leadership or management experience. We are a group of 10 field-based employees with backgrounds that range from brand new to the role all the way to PhD and everything in-between.This woman is driving us all nuts with her knee-jerk reactions (project assistant sends an email reminder about time cards; then so does she. One team member sends her snail mail to boss's old address and the entire team has to re-send our CURRENT address for an "up-dated roster" and 3 emails about timelines.)We are frequently…
A Conflict of Interest?

28 Jun 2009 | 6:00 pm

Sunday's Dilbert raises some interesting questions about potential conflict of interest in the leadership development profession. A long time ago, I worked on a project that really brought this to my awareness. One of our executives wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of his senior leadership teams. He wanted someone to come in from the outside and do an objective, accurate assessment. We looked at a lot of options, some of them being a few of the big executive search firms, like Egon Zehnder and Korn Ferry. I was really impressed with what they had to offer - solid competency models, an…
A Better Brand of Leadership

26 Jun 2009 | 2:43 am

Guest post by Dave Esler and Myra Kruger, authors of The Pursuit of Something Better: Is leadership defined solely by results? Most of the flood of leader literature makes that assumption. Leaders get things done. They win wars, championships, fortune, fame. They cure sick teams, organizations, whole countries. Not by themselves, of course – we followers have a limited role, as foot soldiers, employees, voters, or, as Michael Jordan once memorably described his Chicago Bulls teammates, “my supporting cast.” But the leader is that (usually) charismatic individual who is somehow able to…
Beware of Cult-like Leadership Development Programs

23 Jun 2009 | 2:45 am

I've been writing about wacky leadership development programs for a while now. These are silly, ineffective, but well intended programs designed to teach leadership using all kinds of "creative" training techniques. These programs, although a waste of a company's money, are basically harmless and can even be fun.What I'm about to describe isn't harmless or fun. In fact, these programs can be dangerous. They can cause serious emotional and psychological damage, lower employee morale and productivity, and expose a company to costly lawsuits.Do I have your attention? Good; then please read on.

Philanthropy Journal - Management/Leadership Articles
Developing a strategic agenda

11 Jun 2009 | 10:11 am

In the ever-changing world of nonprofits, a solid agenda for managing and governing strategically is critical.read more
Financial planning in a bad economy

5 Jun 2009 | 5:43 am

The Nonprofit Finance Fund offers tips to help nonprofits steer clear of financial disasters in a sour economy.read more
Holding on to top volunteers

22 May 2009 | 6:10 am

Since a third of nonprofit volunteers fly the coop after a year of participation, nonprofits need to take steps to keep volunteers involved. read more
Tapping endowments in a downturn

15 May 2009 | 6:34 am

As the economic crisis drags on, Terrie Temkin discusses when it’s appropriate for nonprofits to turn to their endowments for cash.read more
Board members’ role in down economy

24 Apr 2009 | 8:26 am

Barry Gaberman, board chair of BoardSource, offers tips for board members trying to guide their nonprofits through the economic turmoil.read more

Education Week: Leadership And Management
N.Y.C. Names School Board as Mayoral Control Lapses

30 Jun 2009 | 9:07 pm
N.Y.C. Education Board Votes to Reappoint Chancellor

30 Jun 2009 | 9:07 pm
Education Week's Online Professional Training: Build IT or Buy IT?

30 Jun 2009 | 9:07 pm
States, Districts in Delicate Dance on Stimulus

29 Jun 2009 | 9:06 pm

Striking the right balance on use of federal education aid requires accommodation on both sides—and produces some friction.
Book Closes on N.J. School Districts Without Schools

29 Jun 2009 | 9:06 pm

The Practice of Leadership
How leaders embed and transmit culture…

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:54 pm

Photo by kevindooley Culture is often defined as “the way we do things around here”. Organisational culture is the leaders responsibility as “culture is the shadow of the leader”. If this is true the question is how is the culture embedded and transmitted by leaders? Edgar Schein in his book “Organizational Culture and Leadership” provide some clues. In the book Edgar lists the following: “Primary Embedding Mechanisms What leaders pay attention to, measure, and control on a regular basis How leaders react to critical incidents and organizational crises How leaders…
Gary Hamel’s Nine Ways to Identify Natural Leaders

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:42 pm

Gary Hamel’s “Nine Ways to Identify Natural Leaders” provides some insight into the age old question “How do you identify leaders?” “The need to empower natural leaders isn’t an HR pipedream, it’s a competitive imperative. But before you can empower them, you have to find them. In most companies, the formal hierarchy is a matter of public record—it’s easy to discover who’s in charge of what. By contrast, natural leaders don’t appear on any organization chart. To hunt them down, you need to know . . . Whose advice is sought most often on any particular topic? Who…
Leadership as ‘Intentional Influence’

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:41 pm

The article “Leadership: Intentional Influence” from BusinessWeek provide an interesting discussion on the topic of leadership. Research by the company VitalSmarts uncovered the following key insights that help to understand why few leaders are able to exert influence. Leaders act as if it’s not their job to address entrenched habits. “Most leaders put a great deal of time into crafting strategy, selecting winning products, and engaging with analysts, shareholders, and major customers. But few realize the success or failure of their grand schemes lies in influencing the behavior…
Ten Fatal Flaws That Derail Leaders

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:40 pm

The Harvard Business Review provide a list of the “Ten Fatal Flaws That Derail Leaders” as follows: Lack energy and enthusiasm Accept their own mediocre performance Lack clear vision and direction Have poor judgment Don’t collaborate Don’t walk the talk Resist new ideas Don’t learn from mistakes Lack interpersonal skills Fail to develop others This makes a great “stop doing list” for leaders. Which one can you focus on improving over the next two weeks? Technorati Tags: Leadership, Business, Management, Flaws, Leaders Related posts:Leaders grow most in their areas of…
How interruptions drain productivity

George Ambler

17 May 2009 | 12:23 pm

Photo by underminingme Time is a leaders most valuable resource. The way a leader uses their time, demonstrates to the people around them what’s really important. The management of interruptions is critical to ensure you make effective use of this valuable resource. The article “Fighting a War Against Distraction” emphasise the devastating impact that interruptions have on our productivity: “The average knowledge worker switches tasks every three minutes, and, once distracted, a worker takes nearly a half-hour to resume the original task, according to Gloria Mark, a leader in…

Talking Story with Say Leadership Coaching
What the heck do you mean by ‘Achievable?’

Rosa Say

2 Jul 2009 | 4:00 am

We have all heard the conventional wisdom attached to smart goal-setting: Although they should stretch you, make your goals realistic, and make them achievable. I included an expanded checklist in my book, Managing with Aloha: “…you cannot choose a goal on the merit of the goal alone; it must be judged in the context of the employee who sets the goal and the mission that drove it. The relationship you initiated with Ho‘ohana is already paying you dividends here. The more you have learned about the employee you coach, the better you’ll be equipped to help him or her set goals that are:…
Do you Teach?

Rosa Say

1 Jul 2009 | 1:00 am

So many of us do. School was just the beginning. We teach at home, we teach at work, we even teach at play. We discover that often, the best way to learn is to teach what we’ve learned to someone else. Yes, teaching is a skill the successful will master. Teaching is a skill those who serve will master. Imagine learning to teach within the framework of the values of Aloha. I am so very pleased to offer you that opportunity today! Click on this beautiful badge designed for our Ho‘ohana Community by Jesse Petersen, and take a look...
Great Mantra: Make it Easy, Make it Hard

Rosa Say

30 Jun 2009 | 8:00 am

Quick review: We’ve been talking about banishing mediocrity (because it is THE biggest sin committed in business) and about creating energy instead (because energy generates to Ho‘ohana power). Energy is the greatest resource managers (who both manage AND lead) have at their disposal. No energy, no action. No action, no business life to speak of. And in my view, business, whether the business of work, or the business sensibility of life, is a great playground to Ho‘ohana within. Let’s dig into this a bit more. I’ll share one of my favorite mantras with you from an Alaka‘i…
Competing Strengths in The Battle of the Learner and Over-Achiever

Rosa Say

28 Jun 2009 | 2:09 pm

I have posted over at JJL today with an early wrap-up of the month of June. You will recall our learning theme there has been connected to the mid-year goal check that many of us will do when July arrives:Has our mid-year check given you more butterflies? Has it given you more stress, or anxiety about your goals? Or has it helped to know that you aren’t alone, and the best laid plans do go awry… we can simply make a new agreement with ourselves and move on, move better. Or maybe you’ve been one who has read different conversations here, and thought to yourself, “This is so cool, I…
Walking my Talk: A Letter to my Legislators

Rosa Say

26 Jun 2009 | 2:03 pm

In the past, I have urged you to be brave, and get involved in your community, both online and offline. Then a couple of days ago I posted a tweet on Twitter, after I had read this in our local paper: Hawaii lawmakers send governor bills to tax Internet transactions If you are a Hawai‘i resident, you can get this info here: Directory of House Representatives Directory of Senators If you are in another state or country, Google/search for it: Pretty easy to find.Briefly, there are two bills our Hawai‘i legislature has passed and I am hoping our governor will veto: From a summary by the…

Seth's Blog
What to do with special requests

Seth Godin

3 Jul 2009 | 2:20 am

The bike shop is busy in June. If you bring your bike in for a tune up, it will cost $39 and take a week.A week!What if someone says, "I have a bike trip coming up in three days, can you do it by then?"At most bike shops, the answer is a shrug, followed by, "I'm sorry, we're swamped."The problem with telling people to go away is that they go away. And the problem with treating all customers the same is that customers aren't the same. They're different and they demand to be treated (and are often willing to pay) differently.So, why not smile and say, "Oh, wow, that's a rush. We can do it, but…
The purpose of a book cover

Seth Godin

2 Jul 2009 | 3:11 am

(and I think it works for lots of products)Is the purpose of the cover to sell books, to accurately describe what's in the book, or to tee up the reader so the book has maximum impact?The third.It's the third because if the book has maximum impact, then word of mouth is created, and word of mouth is what sells your product, not the cover.Tactically, the cover sells the back cover, the back cover sells the flap and by then you've sold the book. If those steps end up selling a book that the purchaser doesn't like, game over. So you have to be consistent all the way through and end up creating a…
The risk/reward confusion

Seth Godin

1 Jul 2009 | 3:13 am

It's easy to to adopt the policy of avoiding risk at all costs, that whenever possible, the products you launch or the engagements you have should be flawless and without downside.Here's the problem: in most endeavors, a small increase in risk can double the reward. It's the second doubling of reward that brings serious risk with it. But the first leap is relatively painless.In the chart above, notice that going from point A to point B brings almost no incremental risk. It might feel scary, but rationally, it's not. Doubling reward again from B to C, though, brings significant incremental…
Malcolm is wrong

Seth Godin

30 Jun 2009 | 1:37 pm

I've never written those three words before, but he's never disagreed with Chris Anderson before, so there you go.Free is the name of Chris's new book, and it's going to be wildly misunderstood and widely argued about.The first argument that makes no sense is, "should we want free to be the future?" Who cares if we want it? It is. The second argument that makes no sense is, "how will this new business model support the world as we know it today?" Who cares if it does? It is. It's happening. The world will change around it, because the world has no choice. I'm sorry if that's inconvenient, but…
There's always room for Jello

Seth Godin

30 Jun 2009 | 2:41 am

This is one of the great cultural touchstone slogans of our era. A culture where there's so much to eat we need to try to find a food that we can eat even if we're stuffed.Often, we'll decide that something is full, stuffed, untouchable but then some Jello shows up, and suddenly there's room.Think about your schedule... is there room for an emergency, an SEC investigation, a server crash? If you took a day off because of the flu, is your business going to go bankrupt? Probably not.So, if there's time for an emergency (Jello), why isn't there time for brilliance, generosity or learning?

CEO Blog - Time Leadership
Seeing What's Next

Jim Estill

1 Jul 2009 | 5:48 am

I am back in reading mode and am many blog entries behind on my book reviews. I love reading (thanks mom) and am inspired by good business books. They help me to grow. As I face business challenges, I often find a book gives me the needed ideas to shake me lose.I read an awesome book by one of the leading thinkers of our time - Clay Christensen called "Seeing What's Next - Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change".Christensen is great. He come up with the theory of disruptive innovation in his previous book - Innovators Dilemma.From Don Mitchell's review on Amazon (note the…
Inside the Mind of the Turtles

Jim Estill

28 Jun 2009 | 7:42 am

"Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out." - James Bryant ConantI usually do not read books about the stock market/trading etc. but I figure a change never hurts. It is apt that I would read it since I am staying in the Hamptons this weekend courtesy of my Oppenheimer broker - Kyle Wool (thanks Kyle)Inside the Minds of the Turtles by Curtis Faith is a book about risk, markets and trading. The Turtles are a group of traders who studied under Rich Dennis in the mid eighties. They were rampantly successful.The book emphasizes the need for risk taking (and as an…
The Second 30 Day Plan - The 5 Why's

Jim Estill

26 Jun 2009 | 8:53 am

I am officially done 4 weeks as Nu Horizons President and CEO today. I had a 90 day plan when I started. The first 30 days were "Listen and Learn". I found it very hard to sit back and not take action (and I admit, I did take action on a few things). The plan was to learn. The industry, although similar to my previous experience, was different. And even if the industry was identical, there would be clear cultural differences between any two companies that I needed to learn.So what is the second 30 day plan? The 5 Why's. We need to drill into why we do everything. The 5 Why's program is a…
Keeping the Millennials

Jim Estill

23 Jun 2009 | 10:07 pm

I read a great book by Dr. Joanne Sujansky and Dr Jan Ferri-Reed called "Keeping the Millennials - Why Companies are Losing Billions in Turnover to the Generation and What to do about it"My knee jerk reaction when I first got the book was to reject it. I thought "in this economy (even though I do see it improving), who would need to worry about recruiting and keeping staff." I thought "poor timing to release a book like this". I also tend to dislike books the categorize people and say all millennials do this or that. I know I am not typical of any group and I think most people are also…
Be content or should you be? Lao Tzu

Jim Estill

19 Jun 2009 | 2:56 pm

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize nothing's lacking, the whole world belongs to you" ~ Lao TzuUnfortunately I tend towards the discontented (not to be confused with malcontent). At one point in my life I thought "Why am I never happy with what is". After a few weeks, I realized this discontent is a source of power and success for me so I no longer fight it. It helps drive me.And at some level, the modest success I have does cause me to be content. I lead a charmed life and I know it.Week 3 at Nu Horizons draws to a close. It feels like longer. I…

The Tom Peters Weblog
233 And [Steadfastly] Counting

slides@tompeters.com

3 Jul 2009 | 2:38 pm

At 6 a.m. on 3 July, on NPR, I listened to about 10 people take turns reading a paragraph of the complete Declaration of Independence, 233 years old 18 hours thence. (I teared up, which surprised me—and then it didn't. What's not to tear up about the document and what it stood and stands for?) On 20 January I had also teared up, less for what Mr. Obama's taking the oath meant than for the spectacle of a peaceful transference of power ... AGAIN ... in what has become the most powerful and wealthy nation in history. As Iran and then Honduras have demonstrated in just the last few weeks,…
Link Roundup #3

slides@tompeters.com

3 Jul 2009 | 11:20 am

There are big changes adrift in the publishing industry and there's a lot of experimentation happening. One WOW! project is happening in Tom's neighborhood. At his favorite local bookstore, Northshire Bookstore, you can now find print on demand books. We're not sure how the experiment will turn out, but everyone at tompeters.com adores this cozy independent bookstore. If you're ever in Manchester Center, Vermont, stop by. Have you been tuned into the debate? Malcolm Gladwell reviewed Chris Anderson's book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Chris Anderson responded, in part. And Seth Godin…
May All the Gods Smile Upon Them!

slides@tompeters.com

29 Jun 2009 | 10:35 am

See directly above. It is the "control panel" of my new Black & Decker SmartBrew coffeemaker. One switch. Two positions. "On." "Off." I hereby declare that B&D not only wins Tom's User Friendly Grand Award—but retires the cup!! (Some of you snobs will go on & on & on about the limitations of my Dearest Delight. And I will reply with a smirk. In a blind taste test, my coffee will be as good as yours!) Posted by Tom Peters | Comments?
Speaking of Superb User-friendly Design (and Simplicity) ...

slides@tompeters.com

29 Jun 2009 | 10:30 am

Below you'll see ye olde fashion nubby scorecard pencil—directly from Fenway Park. Doesn't get much better than that, either! Posted by Tom Peters | Comments?
Speaking of Design:How to Spend $50,000

slides@tompeters.com

29 Jun 2009 | 10:20 am

If I had $50,000 to spend on the design of a new home—or smallish professional office building, here's how I'd spend it: Home: Interior designer: $25,000. Landscape designer: $15,000. Architect: $10,000. Logic: We live and work and play inside the dwelling (mostly) and outside the dwelling (some to a lot, depending on the climate). The skin that divides in from out, the architect's work, is a third-order concern. Office: Interior designer: $30,000. Landscape designer: $12,000. Architect: $8,000. Logic is pretty much the same, with a little added emphasis on…

Leadership Turn
Standards Are Relative

Miki Saxon

3 Jul 2009 | 5:30 am

I love it when readers call me (866.265.7267), even when the caller is irate, as happened yesterday. “Sue” called because she was extremely upset that I agreed with Dan Erwin’s comment that he raised his kids using the concept of ‘covenants’ as opposed to ’standards’, because covenants can be renegotiated whereas standards are set. Sue said that no society could function without some kind of absolute rules, the kind that gave continuity, and that if they changed at everyone’s convenience there would be chaos. My response was that I disagreed…
Hypocrisy Leads To A Cynical Future

Miki Saxon

2 Jul 2009 | 5:30 am

Last Thursday the John Ensign (US Senator) scandal triggered a post about the hypocrisy kids see these days in so-called leaders; not their lies, but their over the top do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do attitudes and actions. In response, Dan Erwin commented that rather than standards, i.e., set rules, he preferred to teach his kids about covenants, because “Legalism, in all its forms, is really death-giving stuff. I go back to covenant…covenants get renegotiated.” By definition, a covenant is “an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something…
Wordless Wednesday: How You Learn

Miki Saxon

1 Jul 2009 | 1:30 pm

Now check out my other WW: How To NOT Learn Your comments—priceless Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL Image credit: orcmid on flickr Tags: learn, Wordless WednesdayShare This
Ducks In A Row: Risk The Right Way

Miki Saxon

30 Jun 2009 | 5:30 am

I came across an old article I’d saved and thought it would be of great value during these trying times. Thinking about and understanding risk is important whether you consider yourself a risk-taker or not. Last year, Bill Buxton, researcher, professor, and author wrote a great column on risk in Business Week. “Entrepreneurs, like ice climbers, are often said to risk their necks. But there are ways to cut danger to sane levels—and some very good reasons to try.” People often comment that both groups are, politely speaking, nuts. After offering up a detailed explanation of…
To Hell With Morals, Let’s Talk Hypocrisy

Miki Saxon

29 Jun 2009 | 5:30 am

(Today continues a conversation initiated last Thursday and added to yesterday.) Everybody lies about sex. Those who aren’t getting any say they are and those who are getting it where they shouldn’t deny it. Governor Mark Sanford followed the same path of Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, Rudy Giuliani, John Ensign, David Vitter, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Helen Chenoweth (the first woman) and many more. But you know what? I don’t care. At least, not about the sex—or even the lies. Even the lies under oath, because I don’t believe that an oath is going to change…

Management Craft
How to be a change agent.

Lisa Haneberg

29 Jun 2009 | 7:25 pm

No THERE's a cliche phrase - change agent. Like most middle managers feel like AGENTS of change. Sure, we all instigate/catalyze changes from time to time. Some of us more than others. But most of the time, we are needing to pick up the ball - someone else's ball - and make it work.That's the nature of management - we make things work and we execute a vision, goal, strategy or change - many of them - that comes our way from somewhere else. The best middle managers get this and embrace this. It is what we do (and yes, we need to initiate changes, too)So I might reword change agent to be called…
Lead Big - Keynote - Your Thoughts?

Lisa Haneberg

29 Jun 2009 | 1:58 pm

I am working on a super-duper keynote talk about leading big and building the organization. Here are the main points. Your thoughts? I realize you cannot get the gist of it with bullet points, but do these seem like the right ones to you? What it looks like when leaders are actively building the organization. Painting the picture for what “build” and “lead big” look like in action and during normal business operations (critical thinking, collaboration, taking initiative, etc). Describing it with vivid specificity. Building the context for your leadership excellence. The importance of…
How to Launch an Idea

Lisa Haneberg

28 Jun 2009 | 6:53 pm

I love this post from Raj Setty called, The Three Stages of and Idea. Check it out. I would add a fourth potential stage called "stalled" (doubting, overplanning, false urgency) and it could go anywhere in the process.
Be the energy and go where the energy is.

Lisa Haneberg

26 Jun 2009 | 6:27 pm

I tweeted this: Go where the energy is. That's my motto. And fellow blogger, coach, twittering pal Rosa Say responded with a link to this amazing article all about how managers can create energy at work and why they ought to called, 3 Ways Managers Create Energetic Workplaces. I love this article, please check it out and then give her suggestions a try. Here is a snippet:If you are a manager (and all business owners are managers too) assume the role of energy creator in your company. Change the title on your business card to Energy Creator; come on, I dare you. Whatever you have there now is…
Face to Face Interviews - Apparently we don't pick the best people and meeting them in person does not help our odds of selection. Fast Company article.

Lisa Haneberg

21 Jun 2009 | 10:45 am

I was reading the latest issue of Fast Company on the plane on Saturday and found this article very interesting. It is called, It May be Wiser to Hire People Without Meeting Them. Hmmm. The gist of this piece is that, while we think that meeting a person in person will help us collect more information from which we can be MORE objective and make a better selection, this may not be the case. The article offers some fascinating research that showed that meeting someone in person did not improve selection in terms of job fit and success. Here is a snippet:Here's the reality: Interviews are less…

Slow Leadership
Taking a Break

Carmine Coyote

29 Jun 2009 | 7:27 pm

Carmine Coyote is taking a break. Read the full text of this article on the blog's website.
How Are You Feeling?

Carmine Coyote

29 Jun 2009 | 5:23 am

Surviving in a culture obsessed with emotions Have you noticed that the ‘appropriate’ question to ask someone today about a proposal is, “How do you feel about that?” Not, “What do you think of that?” or “Do you have any ideas on that?” At least on this, US, side of the Atlantic, we live in a culture [...] Read the full text of this article on the blog's website.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-28

Carmine Coyote

28 Jun 2009 | 7:49 pm

Too poor to divorce? Unexpected outcome of recession. http://bit.ly/xPyus # Thought for the week: Almost anything is easier to get into than out of. # Bankers take note: “Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells.” ~ John Paul Getty # Six Steps for a Better Working Life @ http://aclnk.com/ar1839187 # Good thoughts on [...] Read the full text of this article on the blog's website.
Intelligent, But Not Wise

Peter Vajda

26 Jun 2009 | 5:26 am

“While many of today’s leaders have lost their way due to moral and ethical missteps, just as many are facing a dead end due to their inability to see the big picture,” writes Peter Vajda. “These leaders are intelligent, but, unfortunately, not wise.” Read the full text of this article on the blog's website.
The History of Risk

John Fletcher

25 Jun 2009 | 5:54 am

“We need to re-think the culture of risk-taking,” writes John Fletcher. “In today’s bureaucratized and corporate world, individuals rarely suffer any major damage if the risks they take lead to disaster. Heads they win, tails we lose.” Read the full text of this article on the blog's website.

Three Star Leadership Blog
Summer Re-Reading Mini-List

Wally Bock

2 Jul 2009 | 12:08 pm

Here's my summer re-reading list. There are just six books. I think you should read every one, matter what else you read this summer. Even if you've read them before.
7/1/09: Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

Wally Bock

1 Jul 2009 | 1:15 pm

Every week I select five excellent posts from this week's independent business blogs. This week, I'm pointing you to posts on how to deal with a nutso boss, how not to fire someone, kindness, predicting leadership performance and Return on Investment in Interaction.
Productivity is a Characteristic of a Great Working Environment

Wally Bock

30 Jun 2009 | 12:09 pm

Productivity is one of the eight characteristics of a great working environment. People want to pitch in and be part of a productive team. If you're the boss, here are some things you can do to make your team more productive. They won't break the bank or turn your workplace into a slave ship.
Happy Birthday Eisenhower Interstate Highway System

Wally Bock

29 Jun 2009 | 3:05 pm

The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System has created changes far beyond what was imagined in 1956. It's also a good example of how innovation works.
6/28/09: Leadership Reading to Start Your Week

Wally Bock

28 Jun 2009 | 6:13 am

Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about old and new networks, Microsoft, Campbell's, CEO's and golf, and micro-distillers.

Life Beyond Code
The Three Stages of an Idea

Rajesh Setty

28 Jun 2009 | 12:41 pm

All of us get MANY new ideas everyday. Majority of these ideas will never see the light of the day.They die in our minds. But, some ideas we choose to pursue. How do we determine which ones to kill and which ones to pursue? It’s a million dollar question, really. Here is one model to think about what makes you pursue some ideas and what makes you abandon most of them. At each stage, there are a few attributes that become VERY important – so I have chosen to include a short note with each of the attributes in various stages. So, here is that simple model: 1.Think: This is where you…
The 6 Levels of Engagement in Online Conversations

Rajesh Setty

24 Jun 2009 | 1:40 pm

My new column was published today at Lateral Action. This is about the levels of engagement in online conversations. Social Media has lowered the barrier to initiate conversations. Unfortunately, most conversations initiated via social media go nowhere. I talk about how to elevate those conversations and convert them into real relatonships – online and offline. Here is the graphic that will summarize the article And here is the entire article: Lateral Action: The 6 Levels of Engagement in Online Conversations PS: Special thanks to my friends Brian Clark and Mark McGuinness for helping…
There is a book in your heart…

Rajesh Setty

22 Jun 2009 | 12:24 am

That was the topic of my presentation at the recently concluded #140Conf at NYC. It was also the day when my new book was released. The new book is titled: TH!NKtweet 140 bite-sized lessons for a fast paced world. The entire book was written on Twitter. This is probably the first published book that was entirely written on Twitter. I am fortunate to have Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) to write the foreword for the book. I am also thankful to all the wonderful people who provided advance praise for the book. You can also read the early reviews of the book here: TH!NKTweet: Early Reviews I am also…
Upbeat Blog Tour – First Wave

Rajesh Setty

19 Jun 2009 | 11:40 am

My friend Teresa Morrow is helping to organize two waves of Upbeat Blog Tour. This is the list for the first wave. Thanks to all those that are participating in the blog tour. 1. June 22nd – Starts with Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners writing a book review of Upbeat. 2. June 23rd – Melody Campbell at Small Business Guru will share a video review. 3. June 24th – Karen Pierce Gonzalez at Karen Pierce Gonzalez Public Relations will display a book review. 4. June 25th – Murali Mullani at Inspions will share a interview with Rajesh. 5. June 26th – Jeff Hurt…
Newsletter Topic: Please take me from P to Z or Ineffective pre-suppositions

Rajesh Setty

13 Jun 2009 | 12:59 am

For those of you who are joining late, I send out a newsletter every week. This week’s topic is: Please take me from P to Z or Ineffective pre-suppositions The newsletter will go out on Sunday this time. Apart from one article, I will include a few Aha-Moments (inspired by my close friend Bill Sherman) for the week and a couple of announcements. There will be more interaction with the newsletter subscribers than here. Occasionally there will be some pre-announcements of products and special discounts from me or my friends. There will NEVER be an obligation to buy or participate in…

Business Innovation Speaker and Consultant Stephen Shapiro
The Magic of Innovation

Stephen Shapiro

30 Jun 2009 | 7:00 am

In a previous blog entry, I discussed why watching “Pitchmen” (the Discovery TV show) can give you ideas on how to create more marketable solutions. [Sadly Billy Mays, the show’s co-star, passed away the other day] It is time to admit another guilty pleasure of mine. I also like to watch “Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.” [...]
InnoCentive’s Chief Innovation Evangelist

Stephen Shapiro

29 Jun 2009 | 5:00 am

I am thrilled to announce that as of July 1st, I will become the “Chief Innovation Evangelist” for InnoCentive. If you are not aware, InnoCentive is an incredible company that is changing the world. They are leaders in the Open Innovation space. If you have a problem you want to solve, you can post the challenge [...]
Innovation Blogs - We’re #15

Stephen Shapiro

26 Jun 2009 | 6:30 am

The blog you are reading is #15 on Blogrank’s list of innovation blogs. I am in good company, with Information Week and Richard Branson in the top 10. What I find interesting is that they know more about my website and traffic than I do. For example, I did not know that I am the #2 [...]
My New T-Shirt

Stephen Shapiro

25 Jun 2009 | 5:00 am

For any die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, the New York Yankees are the evil empire. Therefore, being a native Bostonian, this T-shirt makes me laugh. I particularly like it because it uses the suits from poker cards. This is perfect for me, the creator of Personality Poker.
Innovation Lessons from Around the House

Stephen Shapiro

24 Jun 2009 | 7:41 am

Last night I was hungry and decided to make some tuna fish. I opened my refrigerator and found an 18 ounce squeeze bottle of mayonnaise. As I started to make my meal, I realized that the mayo had expired 6 months ago. I guess I don’t use it very often because the bottle [...]

Orrin Woodward Leadership Team
America's National Anthem - Happy July 4th

Orrin Woodward

3 Jul 2009 | 6:03 am

Happy July 4th weekend everybody! What a great nation we are blessed to live in. I love America's National Anthem. I love this video about its creation also! Francis Scott Key penned the National Anthem during the war of 1812 against the English. On this July 4th, while eating your hot dogs, hamburgers, etc with friends, remember to thank our God for all of the brave men and women who sacrificed to give us our freedoms. This video quotes George Washington saying, "A Christian soldier will die on his feet rather than live on his knees." Amen…
Emmitt Smith - A Quest for Excellence

Orrin Woodward

30 Jun 2009 | 6:29 am

Emmitt Smith has always been one of my favorite athletes. His body may have been smaller than most other football running backs, but his heart was much bigger. Emmitt set the goal early in his career to break the all-time rushing record. This NFL video classic captures the essence of pursuing a dream as well as any video I have ever seen! There are so many incredible points for leaders in this video that I had to post it in its entirety. I would almost say, that if this video doesn't make you cry, that you are not in touch with your dream & quest for…
Ronald Reagan - National Association of Evangelicals

Orrin Woodward

28 Jun 2009 | 9:04 pm

Ok, I admit it. I miss Ronald Reagan. I miss his faith, courage, optimism, hope, and dreams. Leaders like Reagan filled American's with hope of what we can do together. Reagan created a common vision that surpassed party lines and made us all Americans and proud to be so! I am proud to be an American. Is our nation perfect? Absolutely not! Is there any nation that can say that it is perfect? We have imperfect people that have joined together under the American ideals of freedom, community, duties, love, faith, hope, love, and work-ethic…
Ten Conservative Principles by Russell Kirk

Orrin Woodward

27 Jun 2009 | 6:31 am

I have been reading and enjoying the books of Russell Kirk. I believe that Russell Kirk takes the great thinking from the Austrian School and tempers it with Christian principles. I encourage everyone to read the Conservative Mind, Roots of American Order, and any other book from Mr. Kirk. I am a proponent of change, but change must take into account an understanding of the existing order first. G. K. Chesterton said, "Never remove a fence line until you determine why it was put there in the first place." That is common sense to me and Russell Kirk is full…
Peter Schiff Analogies

Orrin Woodward

25 Jun 2009 | 1:16 pm

Here are some great thoughts and analogies from Peter Schiff. Mr. Schiff is a common sense thinker and a proponent of the Austrian School of Economics. I believe the Austrian School is the clearest thinking and historically accurate school of economics in the world. Ludwig Von Mises and Friedrich Von Hayek were original titans in an age of Keynesian copycats. Enjoy the video and think through the analogies for yourself. Education is not an option! God Bless, Orrin Woodward

Crossderry Blog
Last Day at SAP

Paul Ritchie

15 Jun 2009 | 7:20 am

It is hard to believe that this day has come…but it has. Monday, 15 June is my last day at SAP. I will join Mead Johnson — www.mjn.com — a pediatric nutrition company that was recently carved out of Bristol Myers Squibb. One of my first areas of focus will be the portfolio of activities required to execute Mead Johnson’s transition into a fully-independent public company. While my new role will not be SAP-centric, my new company uses SAP solutions as the backbone of its business technology strategy. That means I won’t be far from the SAP ecosystem, so…
PM Quote of the Day — J. W. Schopf

Paul Ritchie

26 May 2009 | 12:01 pm

For four-fifths of our history, our planet was populated by pond scum. Posted in Random Tagged: J. W. Schopf, PM Quote of the Day
Waterfall, Agile, now “Sim”?

Paul Ritchie

26 May 2009 | 1:34 am

Dan Woods in Forbes (here) highlights one of the emerging trends in development: user-interface simulation. This takes agile development a step further, because… [b]y creating a simulation of the user experience, instead of a full-working version, a team can avoid a large amount of work but still get a full test that can confirm requirements. Simulation accelerates the agile cycle by lowering the cost of each iteration and improving the quality of the feedback. At the end of several simulation iterations, designers have a rock-solid sense of what is needed. Simulation also provides a…
PM Quote of the Day — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Paul Ritchie

22 May 2009 | 7:57 am

Everything a human being wants can be divided into four components: love, adventure, power and fame. Posted in Random Tagged: adventure, fame, Goethe, love, PM Quote of the Day, power
CIO job rotation and commitment to IT value

Paul Ritchie

22 May 2009 | 3:33 am

Great interview by Linda Tucci at searchCIO.com (here) with Richard R. “Rick” Roy, CIO at CUNA Mutual Group about his experiences as a line manager and how they’ve transformed his IT leadership approach. This passage on a shared sense of urgency struck me: I think the other thing in operations is the sense of urgency. In your customer service centers, the phone rings and you either answer it within your service standards or not; you either resolve the question within your service standards or not, or pass it on to another level of service. IT operations has that flavor to…

uncategorized
big E big A

Troy Worman

18 Jun 2009 | 4:21 am

Been thinking about Enterprise Architecture lately… Looking for sample plans…
my work comes from questions

Troy Worman

15 Jun 2009 | 9:53 pm

“My experience has always been my ignorance, my admission and acceptance of not knowing. My work comes from questions, not from answers.” — Richard Saul Wurman
@

Troy Worman

4 Jun 2009 | 8:13 pm

a brief history. perhaps.
on success

Troy Worman

30 May 2009 | 9:49 pm

“A minute’s success pays the failure of years.” — Robert Browning
away we go

Troy Worman

24 May 2009 | 8:48 pm

What’s new at 826 National

MBA Depot - Latest Content
Articles: The House That Ogilvy Built

2 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am

Author: Kenneth Roman Source: strategy+business Subject: History, People Description: The legendary advertising innovator David Ogilvy created an enduring organization using culture, integrity, and charm.
Recommended Books: End of the Road: The True Story of the Downfall of Rover

2 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am

Author: Chris Brady, Andrew Lorenz Subject: Mergers & Acquisitions
Prospective MBA Resources: MBAs: Public Enemy No. 1?

2 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am

Author: Francesca Di Meglio Source: BusinessWeek Subject: Misc Description: The debate over business schools' culpability in the financial crisis rages on, with no clear end in sight.

The Chief Happiness Officer
Best resignation letter ever

Alexander

1 Jul 2009 | 4:07 am

Cat Sacdalan, a graphics designer, was unhappy at work. Not only that, her father had been sick, and the fact that she’d been working at home a lot to be with him didn’t sit well with some of her co-workers. Cat wrote me that: For 8 months I’ve been postponing my resignation. I’m guilty of some of those top 10 bad excuses. It’s amazing; it’s like you wrote down everything I felt (and more). I finally decided to quit when, last week, my boss told me that people have come up to him, complaining that I shouldn’t be compensated for working outside the…
Top quotes from the ippa conference

Alexander

30 Jun 2009 | 1:02 am

Happy at work in Philly The whole company (all 4 of us) were in Philadelphia for the ippa conference on Positive Psychology and we had a blast. This was the world’s leading conference on the topic with tons of speakers and 1500 attendees and we got to see all the big-wigs in the field, including Seligman, Zimbardo, Cooperrider, Csikszentmihalyi and Diener. Both Dieners in fact :o) My personal favorite of all the sessions was Ed Diener, who had the most new findings to offer AND was also an excellent speaker – something of a rarity at this very academic event. Here are some of the…
A phenomenal cesspool of incompetence

Alexander

19 Jun 2009 | 3:57 am

Clare over at “Thoughts from the C train” tells the story of one seeeeeeriously abusive customer: I got called that one time. Swear. Say it: Phenomenal Cesspool of Incompetence. It’s brilliant! I mean seriously, who can come up with that shit? Well I’ll tell you who . . . kind of. A little background. I’m a career banker, and I’ve always been on the operations side. Kind of a nuts and bolts of banking girl. I’ve also always managed people, which means the ugly situations get elevated to me. Once I had a customer who would send absolutely hideous…
Going to Philly and NYC

Alexander

17 Jun 2009 | 2:38 pm

In just 9 hours we (the whole company, ie. all 4 of us) fly to America to attend the ippa World Congress on Positive Psychology. After that we have some time in New York to meet with cool people and take in the city. 2009 has been amazing so far and there is much to celebrate – and a trip like this is a great way to do it. And remember, celebrating your victories is really, really important: Though of course it is possible to overdo it :o)
My job is…

Alexander

16 Jun 2009 | 1:30 am

Try it yourself: Go to google, type in “my job is ” and look at the suggestions. Here’s what I got: Yikes! I don’t mean to be hasty here, but maybe – just maybe – there’s room for improvement in some workplaces :o) Related posts Top 10 bad excuses for staying in a crappy job. How to know it’s time to quit. Top 10 signs you’re not happy at work. Google loves Denmark.

The Bing Blog
Au revoir for now

Bing

19 Jun 2009 | 7:51 am

As you may have guessed from yesterday’s post, I am at this very moment trying to tear myself away from life as I know it and suspend operations for a while. True, the world will not stop while I do. Ned and Ted and Len and Edna and Clarissa and Elizabeth and Otto will still need things immediately. The Flute Reamer Division will still have those transition issues. Bob may need a speech or two. The IR department will still worry about its upcoming presentation in Bophutswana. But all that will have to go on without me, I most dearly hope. Yes, I will have my BlackBerry. I will do my…
10 things you can do to prepare for vacation

Bing

18 Jun 2009 | 7:58 am

1. Send a memo to Bob, asking him if it’s okay for you to take two whole weeks together, and informing him of the date and perhaps asking whether it fits with his vacation plans. This will not only serve the function of informing him of your potential non-presence and coordinating it with his own, but also remind him that he, too, will be taking some time off and that others might be entitled to some also. 2. Inform your colleagues and, if you are a manager of some sort, your reportees that you will be away, telling them when, and making sure that your functions are covered during…
When do you tell your boss?

Bing

16 Jun 2009 | 8:48 am

There have been several kerfluffles around my office recently, all revolving around the same issue: What do you tell your boss and when? This would seem to be a simple question, but it’s not. First, it depends on the boss. Some guys (and in that category I, as always, include women guys) want to know nothing until it rears up and bites them in the butt, and then you should have told them. Others want to know what color tie or scarf you’re planning to wear next Thursday. And the target moves. On Monday, Chet may want to know everything. On Tuesday, you can’t rouse him from…
I love to watch

Bing

15 Jun 2009 | 7:22 am

My Friday post about the digital transition seems to have flushed a bunch of anti-TV folks out of their weedy, book-lined dens. This has stimulated my urge to defend perhaps the oldest friend I have in the world. This isn’t the first time. I live in a community where people at parties talk about how much they like that new program that’s on the air now: Friends. “Did you see Friends the other night?” they will inquire. To which I reply, “No, I’ve been awake for the last couple of years.” Equally daunting is the type who admits shamefacedly, “I…
You’re gonna love the digital transition

Bing

12 Jun 2009 | 6:16 am

Today we all become digital. Thanks to Congress, which passed a law mandating this transition a few years ago, all analog life in these United States will cease and everything will be transformed from waves and particles into bits and bytes. Anybody who doesn’t have a converter to make him or herself into a digital entity will simply disappear off the face of the earth. We’ve had plenty of warning time on this. In fact, the transition was supposed to take place over the winter, but it was clear that millions of Luddites, the clueless elderly and the occasional disassociated feeb…

Weekly Leader
Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 11 (Illusory control & power/Storytelling & organizational culture change)

podcast@weeklyleader.net

2 Jul 2009 | 11:56 am

This week Pam launches her research report of the week: Illusory control and power. Peter and Pam discuss Peter Bregman’s Harvard Business blog post about changing organizational culture through storytelling. Mary Michaela Weber delivers her ... Related posts:Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 10 (Part 2 Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers) Part 2 of Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 5 (Admiral Thad Allen) In 2006 UnWeekly Leader Podcast Episode 9 (June 17, 2009 – Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Capacity to Grow, Capacity to Change

podcast@weeklyleader.net

29 Jun 2009 | 3:27 am

As the future becomes more uncertain and change more disruptive, how do leaders understand how to grow their business? Just getting a bigger jar and filling it up is a less attractive option today. Recently, ... Related posts:Leadership Q&A: What’s On Your Checklist? “ How do Leadership Q&A: Leading through Issue Resolution Do you finWeekly Leader Podcast Episode 11 (Illusory control & power/Storytelling & organizational culture change) This week Related posts brought... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Take 5: Listen, Think, Prioritize, Act

podcast@weeklyleader.net

28 Jun 2009 | 9:12 pm

This post is inspired by an astonishing story from NPR’s On the Media podcast. If you want more detail than I provide here, you’ll find listening well worth your time, as is the related New ... No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Your Baby is Ugly

podcast@weeklyleader.net

26 Jun 2009 | 12:04 pm

Sitting in front of my old boss, days before my transfer to my new boss, I am engaged in what is commonly referred to in the military as the “out brief.” It is a mildly informal meeting ... No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 10 (Part 2 Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers)

podcast@weeklyleader.net

24 Jun 2009 | 9:36 am

Part 2 of Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers interview who shares his thoughts on using social media to lead and build a company as well as how he find work / life balance. Also, ... Related posts:Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 9 (June 17, 2009 – Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers Part 1) Part 1 of Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 11 (Illusory control & power/Storytelling & organizational culture change) This week Weekly Leader Podcast Episode 2 This week Related posts brought to you by Yet... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

BrainCram
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
Seven Steps to Solving Problems

Martin Rhodes

7 Apr 2009 | 11:45 am

No matter the scale of the problem, a simple problem solving method can help you find a solution. The Seven Step Method shown below. Although simple, is both methodical and effective. Define the Problem – Sometimes the presenting symptom is not the real problem. Be vigilant to find the core problem. Define Objectives and Performance Measures – You need an idea of the outcome you want. Knowing what a good job looks like helps you identify the performance measures you will need to decide when you have solved the problem. Identify the Boundaries and Constraints – Bounding a problem ensures…
Tips for critical thinking

Martin Rhodes

25 Mar 2009 | 2:23 pm

In this sound bite filled world, we are rarely given very much time to think critically about the information that we are presented with. The media presents the message they want to in a 30 second snap shots and move on to the next story before you question the message. Written articles are little more than hidden agendas presented in small visual fields primed for mental grazing rather than serious contemplation. Critical thinking is important to ensure you are not left thinking the same as everyone else and in the way that the media want you to. If we all think the same, then no-one is…
Eating the Big Fish: Adam Morgan

Martin Rhodes

24 Mar 2009 | 1:30 pm

In Eating the Big Fish, Morgan explains how “challenger brands can compete against brand leaders.” Morgan’s aims to provide a “magnetic compass” that will allow smaller companies (Small Fish) to compete successfully. That is, how to become a “challenger brand”? Morgan suggests that it is based on eight “credos”: Break with the immediate past – Forget everything you know and think again Build a lighthouse entity – Tell consumers what you are, don’t let them drive your activity Assume thought leadership of the category – Be the one…

ManagingCommunities.com
Community Members Are Sort of Like Customers… Except for the Always Right Thing

Patrick

1 Jul 2009 | 5:05 pm

I just sent a very frank, but polite message to a member who contacted me, mentioning a piece of spam that was posted on the forums, but using it to say that even with spammers like this, I have time free to bother good members who are trying to help (not his exact words, but [...]
Should I Republish the Old Episodes of The Community Admin Show?

Patrick

26 Jun 2009 | 8:03 am

From November 18, 2005 through January 20, 2007, I hosted The Community Admin Show, a podcast about random community management related issues. I tackled all sorts of issues, talked about resources and even had some fun features, like what we can learn from Jack Bauer and Dr. Gregory House about community management. Another great part of [...]
Dealing with Suicide On Your Online Community or Forums: How You Can Help and Protect Everyone

Patrick

22 Jun 2009 | 1:29 pm

As a community manager or administrator, the situations we have to deal with are as varied as life itself. For all talk about the online and offline worlds being different, at the end of the day, they have more in common than they do dissimilar. Unfortunately, this is not just the fun, easy parts of [...]
Ask Hunch: Should I Become a Forum Moderator?

Patrick

17 Jun 2009 | 3:10 pm

So, I was taking a look at Hunch, a site created by Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, that claims to be a “decision-making tool that gets smarter the more you use it.” Out of curiosity, I punched in the word “forums” to see what would come up. The first result was “Should I become a forum [...]
Blog World Expo 2009 20% Off Discount Code: IFROGGYVIP

Patrick

15 Jun 2009 | 11:42 am

A few days ago, I mentioned that I would be attending Blog World Expo 2009 in Las Vegas from October 15-17. I’m happy to say that I’ve got a coupon code to share that will save you 20% off of the current rate. When purchasing through their site, use the coupon code IFROGGYVIP. Their rates [...]

Tim's Blog
Just Let Me Pay Dammit…

Tim

2 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am

There is a very real risk of me sounding like an old fart, but this whole “free is the future” thing is undoubtedly the dumbest debate since the “branding gives you bigger orgasms” thing from last year. Chris Anderson’s new book, “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” which is not all free (Hyperion; $26.99) and apparently (I haven’t read it) full of stuff like this… Journalism as a profession will share the stage with journalism as an avocation. Meanwhile, others may use their skills to teach and organize amateurs to do a better job covering their own…
The Start of the Circle.

Tim

27 May 2009 | 10:25 pm

I just left this comment over at Bob Hoffman’s blog who wonders why people take marketing and ad people for idiots. I understand what he means and have suffered the ‘retarded eight year old look’ from accounts people as I talk about wacky things like creating cohesion through word of mouth and earning the respect of clients to deserve their business as they babble to me about financial snapshots and forecasts. Anyway here’s what I wrote, tell me what you think… Finance, Operations, Production and Engineering exist to manage the existing business. They are all the…
Me? Think too much? Nah…

Tim

9 May 2009 | 6:57 am

I visited some clients of my wife’s the other day who have the most incredible garden. Apart from the fact they bought and renovated a twelfth century castle here in the west of France (which is a big feat) the most impressive thing is the garden around it. The castle itself was a wreck with pig sheds tacked onto it by centuries of farmers whose priorities didn’t reside in the history or beauty of the site but, well, with their pigs I guess. Once all of the rickety iron and rusty machines were cleared out the castle needed serious work by serious tradesmen and all of that is nice…
English Has Gone Global.

Tim

29 Apr 2009 | 10:40 pm

Roger Cohen from the New York Times uncannily summarized a conversation I had yesterday (except far more elegantly). Yes, English has gone global and no, differences between cultures have not been tapped out like nails which poke up a little too far in the parquetry. Read on… A poet friend, Vincent Katz, was over for dinner the other night and asked me with a twinkle in his eye if I was “knackered.” Katz came to poetry via rock ’n roll, and to Oxford via the University of Chicago, and along the way he picked up some English vernacular. “Knackered?” The word — meaning more…
Facebook, what Facebook?

Tim

18 Apr 2009 | 12:01 am

The problem with being right too early is that you pass for a idiot. Ah, the insufferable conversations with the geeks and new gurus about the net worth of Facebook. I almost long for that time machine I invented when I was eight so I could re-live the stupidity of it all and at least have a giggle this time around. I published a post called Air on this blog on July the 10th, 2008. Here are the juiciest bits for those who define too difficult as moving a cursor and clicking: Here’s my take…the internet contains a wealth of information with billions of people clicking around on it and a…

Lead on Purpose
Leadership and endurance

Michael Ray Hopkin

1 Jul 2009 | 10:03 pm

Success is a marathon, not a sprint. The only way to truly prepare for a marathon is to train, to practice, to run. You need to get out on the road. You need to put in the miles. It takes time, it takes effort, and sometimes it hurts a lot. As the marathon runner Juma Ikanga said after winning the New York Marathon: “The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare.” You can want to win more than anyone else in the world; yet if you do not want to put in the work to prepare, it will not matter. A great example of enduring leadership was Samuel Adams, one of the Founding…
Knowledge is power

Michael Ray Hopkin

30 Jun 2009 | 8:37 am

To what do you attribute your success? This question was answered in a very interesting fashion on a on a podcast where Dr. Paul interviews Dayna Steele, a lively author and former rock-n-roll disk jockey in Houston. In the interview Dayna talks about meeting and associating with rock stars like Jon Bon Jovi, Sammy Hagar and other rock legends. She provides interesting insight into their lives, how they think and what drives them. In her book Rock to the Top Dayna talks about what drives these famous rock stars to be successful. What most caught my attention was her answer to the question…
Guest Post: Leadership Lessons from a Kindergarten Class

Michael Ray Hopkin

25 Jun 2009 | 9:35 pm

Today’s post comes from Jim Holland. Jim’s passion is enabling product marketing teams. With over 20 years of technology experience, he has a fresh and unique perspective in guiding and managing product teams and has a knack for synthesizing conceptual ideas and turning them into reality. Enjoy the post and don’t hesitate to tweet your comments to Jim directly. What can a classroom full of bright-eyed and energized kindergartners teach you about leadership? A lot! My wife is a gifted Kindergarten teacher. She’s a tuned-in educator who engages each child with the attention of a ninja…
Forward progress

Michael Ray Hopkin

22 Jun 2009 | 5:46 am

A key axiom for today’s leaders is that forward progress comes through hard work and persistence. This applies not only to your progress as a leader, but also to the progress of the people you lead. The ups and downs of daily interaction can inspire or drain, depending on your attitude and perseverance. To make progress you have to look at each situation and determine what you can do improve to your success given the circumstances. As Tom Peters says so frankly, “Only those who constantly retool themselves stand a chance of staying employed in the years ahead.” You need to…
Realities of change

Michael Ray Hopkin

20 Jun 2009 | 2:00 am

I’m out camping in the mountains this week, far away from the connected world, so I “pre-loaded” my blogging gun with a link to a great post. Today’s link comes from Mark Sanborn. Change is a constant part of growing, whether it be personal growth or growing an organization. In his post The Realities of Change, Mark presents ten truths to help you progress in your career.

The Recovering Leader
Monday LeaderTip: Leadership and Community

david@leadershipunleashed.com

28 Jun 2009 | 8:46 pm

The members of a true community behave in a way that says, “I watch out for you." A leader who takes seriously their organization’s responsibility to contribute resources and time to their community enriches life for everyone. Yet in the fray of crisis and drive for results, it’s easy to put off until tomorrow the needs of those just beyond our front door. Take time to define what you consider to be your own community, and do as much as you can to help. When you make it your mission to support the success of your community, the rewards can be the most gratifying of your…
July Poll: Do People in Your Organization Tell the Truth?

david@leadershipunleashed.com

28 Jun 2009 | 5:58 pm

Ever thought about how candid you and your people are with each other?Avoiding candor -- quite common in organizational cultures -- is a barrier to sustainable success. Flattering, people-pleasing or avoiding overt conflict are among the ways people tend to gloss over the truth in order to get ahead, or simply get along. Yet research shows an organization or team is much more effective when its people are expected to be very straightforward with each other.Take this poll...then you'll see how others responded!David PeckExecutive Coach and PresidentLeadership Unleashed Quizzes by Quibblo.com
Are You a Manager or a Leader: The Survey Results Are In (Part 1)

david@leadershipunleashed.com

28 Jun 2009 | 4:33 pm

This month I wanted to take a sharp look at key distinctions between manager and leader. I developed a 20-question survey (“Are you more of a manager or leader?”) that received 126 responses … and the results are in. I invite you to read through them, reflect on them, discuss them, pass them along, comment here on the blog, and/or email me.Given the volume of information, I’m breaking it up into four blog posts covering five questions each, over the next few weeks.Below you’ll see the percentage of respondents for each survey question. Also, highlighted in yellow, you’ll…
Monday LeaderTip: Leadership and Self-doubt

david@leadershipunleashed.com

21 Jun 2009 | 8:49 pm

It's not unusual for highly-talented people to feel their success is a sham, and leaders are no exception. In fact, our recent leadership survey* revealed that almost a third of respondents secretly feel like a fraud. When made aware that many successful people share this issue, some stick with it, imagining it helps drive their ability to achieve. I suggest to clients that success is driven by competence, training, listening / learning, and experience, despite (and not due to) any self-doubt. Once you recognize that you may be operating with self-doubt, or an all-out sense of being…
Begin with the End in Mind: Leadership in U.S. Healthcare Reform

david@leadershipunleashed.com

21 Jun 2009 | 10:51 am

18 Factors for a United States leadership role in health care. When beginning an initiative, it’s important to design the end state first. Some call it vision. Others call it target environment. Why? If you jump to the details, the funding, or the “how” of it too soon, particularly when the issues are as complex as those related to health care reform in this country, then you get unfocused and mired in useless debate. Rhetoric / conjecture become the substance rather than the side show. Shockingly, that’s where we are already on the topic of a new U.S. health care system,…

Virtually Ready
Twitter Trivia Treats & Facebook Fan Freebies from Virtually Ready

admin

15 Jun 2009 | 1:25 pm

Virtually Ready now offers Twitter Trivia Treats & Facebook Fan Freebies for our fans and followers! From time to time, in addition to social web tips & updates, we’d like to offer special giveaways to provide a helping hand and support our fellow members in the business community, especially those of you who are just getting started or need a little boost for your social web presence. Our first giveaway was via Twitter for a choice of one of the following: Custom Twitter Background, Custom Squidoo Lens or Custom Facebook Page. The winner was Keith Carson, owner of Carson…
Virtually Ready, Inc. is Top 100 Home-Based Business Contestant

admin

10 Jun 2009 | 6:40 pm

Virtually Ready, Inc. is very excited to be a contestant in the StartupNation “Homebased 100 Competition”, celebrating America’s most outstanding home-based businesses and the people behind them. We invite you to visit the link below and cast your daily vote for Virtually Ready. The top 100 winners will be published in mid-November. If we are chosen, we will receive priceless exposure in the media and be positioned to take your business, along with ours, to the next level. Show your support for us by submitting your daily vote to: Vote for Virtually Ready ___________…
How Does Your Web Presence Represent Your Business?

admin

5 Jun 2009 | 12:58 pm

When new visitors arrive at an office or call on the phone, a Receptionist often makes the very first impression of the company they represent. Are they too busy on the phone to greet you when you walk in the door or when you call or are you greeted with a pleasant smile and promptly attended to? Today, first impressions are also portrayed by your company website and your social networking profiles. When people visit your website or profile, they often make an immediate decision as to whether or not they want to further explore what you have to offer. Creating an inviting, seamless…
Five Notable Facebook Limitation Facts

admin

29 May 2009 | 9:48 am

Be A Fan! If you are on Facebook, you may or may not be aware of the following five notable Facebook limitation facts that exist as of this date: 1) You can have up to 5,000 friends on a personal profile. 2) You can belong to 300 groups max. 3) If you manage a group, you can no longer send messages to your members after you reach 5,000 members. 4) You can “be a fan” of 500 pages max from your personal profile. 5) If you have a Fan Page, there are no limitations to how many fans you can have . - NOTE: “Facebook Pages allow artists, businesses, and brands to showcase their…
Virtually Ready Takes On Social Web Presence for John Taglieri LIVES Project

admin

26 May 2009 | 11:49 am

When musician John Taglieri asked Virtually Ready to customize and expand on his social web presence for the new LIVES EP & book project, we were very happy to work with him. “Working with John is always a great experience, so I was eager to get started on the project right away”, says Lisa Duhamel, owner of Virtually Ready, Inc., a virtually operated web presence solutions company based in Land O’ Lakes, FL - just outside of Tampa. Knowing that the social web plays a very important role in online strategy, John already had a significant following on MySpace and he had…

The Practice of Leadership
How leaders embed and transmit culture…

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:54 pm

Photo by kevindooley Culture is often defined as “the way we do things around here”. Organisational culture is the leaders responsibility as “culture is the shadow of the leader”. If this is true the question is how is the culture embedded and transmitted by leaders? Edgar Schein in his book “Organizational Culture and Leadership” provide some clues. In the book Edgar lists the following: “Primary Embedding Mechanisms What leaders pay attention to, measure, and control on a regular basis How leaders react to critical incidents and organizational crises How leaders…
Gary Hamel’s Nine Ways to Identify Natural Leaders

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:42 pm

Gary Hamel’s “Nine Ways to Identify Natural Leaders” provides some insight into the age old question “How do you identify leaders?” “The need to empower natural leaders isn’t an HR pipedream, it’s a competitive imperative. But before you can empower them, you have to find them. In most companies, the formal hierarchy is a matter of public record—it’s easy to discover who’s in charge of what. By contrast, natural leaders don’t appear on any organization chart. To hunt them down, you need to know . . . Whose advice is sought most often on any particular topic? Who…
Leadership as ‘Intentional Influence’

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:41 pm

The article “Leadership: Intentional Influence” from BusinessWeek provide an interesting discussion on the topic of leadership. Research by the company VitalSmarts uncovered the following key insights that help to understand why few leaders are able to exert influence. Leaders act as if it’s not their job to address entrenched habits. “Most leaders put a great deal of time into crafting strategy, selecting winning products, and engaging with analysts, shareholders, and major customers. But few realize the success or failure of their grand schemes lies in influencing the behavior…
Ten Fatal Flaws That Derail Leaders

George Ambler

15 Jun 2009 | 1:40 pm

The Harvard Business Review provide a list of the “Ten Fatal Flaws That Derail Leaders” as follows: Lack energy and enthusiasm Accept their own mediocre performance Lack clear vision and direction Have poor judgment Don’t collaborate Don’t walk the talk Resist new ideas Don’t learn from mistakes Lack interpersonal skills Fail to develop others This makes a great “stop doing list” for leaders. Which one can you focus on improving over the next two weeks? Technorati Tags: Leadership, Business, Management, Flaws, Leaders Related posts:Leaders grow most in their areas of…
How interruptions drain productivity

George Ambler

17 May 2009 | 12:23 pm

Photo by underminingme Time is a leaders most valuable resource. The way a leader uses their time, demonstrates to the people around them what’s really important. The management of interruptions is critical to ensure you make effective use of this valuable resource. The article “Fighting a War Against Distraction” emphasise the devastating impact that interruptions have on our productivity: “The average knowledge worker switches tasks every three minutes, and, once distracted, a worker takes nearly a half-hour to resume the original task, according to Gloria Mark, a leader in…

Maximize Possibility
This Week's Featured Possibility Maximizer: Tom Foster's Management Skills Blog

Rainman

2 Jul 2009 | 10:20 am

Every week I like to feature a resource that will help you to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. This week I would like to share with you a blog that I have enjoyed following since I dove into the HR and Talent Management blogging world. The Resource: Tom Foster's Management Skills Blog What it Covers: Tom's blog draws heavily from his consulting practice and life experiences to share insightful and demonstrative stories for managers to learn from to improve their skills. Tom covers a wide range of management topics in his blog including, but not...
The Rainmaker 'Fab Five' Blog Picks of the Week

Rainman

29 Jun 2009 | 2:09 pm

With all the great posts hitting the Blogosphere this past week on the topics of leadership development, talent management, and human resource management, I would like to point you to five blog posts that I consider to be the best of the best for the week of June 22nd to June 28th. Tyler Cowen, Fast Company: One Lesson From the Crisis: It's Time to Create Your Own Economy - Fast Company columnists Tyler Cowen wants you to learn a lesson from the current economic crisis. Cowen suggests you rethink the traditional economic definition of personal production and start to create...
This Weeks Possibility Maximizer: My Daily Insights Motivational Quotes

Rainman

25 Jun 2009 | 9:56 pm

Every week I like to feature a resource that will help you to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. This week I would like to highlight a motivational email newsletter that helps me get each day off to a great start. The Resource: My Daily Insights Motivational Quotes What it is: My Daily Insights is a daily newsletter that delivers an inspiring and motivational quote to your email inbox each morning of the business week. As a special treat, every Friday a moving story submitted by a subscriber is featured, which adds a nice element of...
The Rainmaker 'Fab Five' Blog Picks of the Week

Rainman

21 Jun 2009 | 8:20 pm

There were a lot of great posts hitting the Blogosphere this past week on the topics of leadership development, talent management, and human resource management, I would like to point you to five blog posts and a bonus blog post series that I consider to be the best of the best for the week of June 15th to June 21st. Alison Green, Ask a Manager: How the Recession has Changed Hiring for Employers - Alison gives us a first hand account of how the recession has changed the hiring landscape for employers. With this in mind, Green shares her advice...
This Week's Featured Possibility Maximizer: Dan Schwabel's Personal Branding Blog

Rainman

18 Jun 2009 | 9:33 pm

Every week I like to feature a resource that will help you to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your life at work. This week I would like to highlight one of my favorite blogs on one of my favorite subjects: Personal Branding. The Resource: Dan Schwabel's Personal Branding Blog What it Covers: Naturally Dan's blog is focused on personal branding. However in the process of exploring all the various facets of personal branding, Dan also posts compelling content on a range of interesting topics such as social media, marketing, professional networking, interpersonal communication,…

800 CEO Read Blog
100 Best at WriteMind Institute

Todd S.

2 Jul 2009 | 2:48 pm

One of the stops on our tour for The 100 Best Business Books of All Time was Asheville, North Carolina. Jonathan Flaum was kind enough to host an event at his WriteMind Institute that combined his views of the world with the meta-themes we found throughout The 100 Best. Jonathan in this video clip talks about wisdom in decision-making using the story of Moses. I promise you’ll enjoy it.
The Heart of Marketing: Book Review

Roy

1 Jul 2009 | 9:46 am

I just finished reading the book The Heart of Marketing: Love Your Customers and They Will Love You Back by Judith Sherven, PhD & Jim Sniechowski, PhD. and I just thought it was what marketing books have needed for a long time…. a breath of fresh air. Many companies in today’s business world have lost sight of what is most important to their customers and for their company internally and that is feeling the pulse of a heart beat. Actually caring about people, yes, people and not ideas, not money, not computers, etc. People. It’s a simple task but one that has been…
I Hate People!

aaron

30 Jun 2009 | 10:10 am

Marc Hershon and Jonathan Littman have been hard at work promoting their new book, I HATE PEOPLE!, Kick Loose from the Overbearing and Underhanded Jerks at Work and Get What You Want Out of Your Job. You may recognize Jonathan Littman for co-authoring a few 8CR favorites, The Art of Innovation, which is featured in the 100 Best, and The Ten Faces of Innovation which we’ve written about periodically over the years. The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek have both run reviews of the book, so feel free to check them out when you have a minute. As a special offer, I will send a free copy…
Harvard Business Review Is Bringing It

Todd S.

26 Jun 2009 | 7:59 am

Recent travels has allowed me to catch up on some magazine reading and my biggest surprise was continuing evolution of Harvard Business Review under Adi Ignatius. Take the articles by Niall Ferguson and Dan Ariely in the July/August edition. These two authors certainly have higher institution credientals to belong on the pages of HBR with Ferguson at Harvard and Ariely at MIT. And their research certainly fits the profile of the magazine. But it’s the style and composition that is so refreshing. While the audience is clearly business executives, the pieces read like articles you would…
The Brand Bubble in strategy + business

dylan

24 Jun 2009 | 11:10 am

We were big fans of last year’s The Brand Bubble: The Looming Crisis in Brand Value and How to Avoid It, by John Gerzema and Ed Lebar—so much so that it took home the 800-CEO-READ Business Book Award in the Advertising & Marketing category. We also published a manifesto from Mr. Gerzema over at ChangeThis about How Business Speculation in the Consumer Marketplace Threatens Our Economy. Well, the issue has certainly not resolved itself, and John and Ed are still sounding the alarm—most recently in the latest issue of strategy + business with an article simply titled The…

The Long Tail
Dear Malcolm: Why so threatened?

Chris Anderson

29 Jun 2009 | 3:31 pm

It’s now clear that the bane of my next year will be questions about the future of the newspaper industry from journalists. I don’t blame them—newspapers are indeed one of the industries most affected by Free (although that’s just one manifestation of their larger problem: having lost their monopoly on consumer attention). And neither I nor anybody else has any good answers, other than the newspaper business is probably going to shrink but not go away, and that the business model will have to change. But since journalist Malcolm Gladwell has somewhat parochially decided to make the…
Corrections in the digital editions of Free

Chris Anderson

24 Jun 2009 | 10:36 am

As some of you may have seen, VQR rightly spotted that I failed to cite Wikipedia in some passages in Free. This is entirely my own screwup, and will be corrected in the ebook and digital forms before publication (and in the notes, which will be posted online at the same time the hardcover is released), but I did want to explain a bit more how it happened and what we’re doing about it. First, as readers of my writings know, I’m a supporter of using Wikipedia as a source (not the only one, of course, and checking the original source material whenever possible). I disagree with those who…
Waste is Good. FREE excerpt in Wired

Chris Anderson

22 Jun 2009 | 10:33 pm

We published an excerpt from the book in Wired this month. Here’s how it starts: “In 1969, the Neiman Marcus catalog offered the first home PC, a stylish stand-up model called the Honeywell Kitchen Computer, priced at $10,600. The picture shows an aproned housewife caressing the machine, with this tag line: "If she can only cook as well as Honeywell can compute." That image should be on every cubicle in Silicon Valley; it's a testament both to what technologists get right and what they get badly wrong. To their credit, they understood that Moore's law would bring…
My Free speech from last weeks Wired Business Conference

Chris Anderson

22 Jun 2009 | 1:50 pm

I cover competing with free, free gaming models, the newspaper free vs paid debated (actually free vs. freemium) and the antitrust implications of free The slides are below, with apologies for the messed up typeface. It didn’t look that way on the day: Other speeches from the conference are here
FREE publication is a month away! 150 books to give away now.

Chris Anderson

16 Jun 2009 | 6:20 am

The hardcovers of FREE: The Future of a Radical Price just came in and they look great. Pub date is July 7th in the US and July 2nd in the UK. We’ll be announcing the many ways in which you can get bits versions of the book (audio, ebook, web) for free around pub date, but in the meantime, it’s time to start giving away some good old atoms! With The Long Tail, we gave away 200 books to the first bloggers who asked for them and promised to review them (the “long tail of book reviewers”). That worked great, but times have changed. So this time, we’re going to go all full-spectrum on…

Pink Slip
N.U.N.A.

3 Jul 2009 | 2:09 am

Well, yesterday brought the news that we're creeping closer and closer to an "official" unemployment rate of 10%. As an aside, this bit of joy wasn't the lead on NBC Nightly News. Nor was the Marine's new anti-Taliban mission in Afghanistan. Nor was it an update on the goings on in Iran. Nor Air France's latest announcement on the June 1st crash. Nor the Vanity Fair tell-all on Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign. No, first up was , wait: I'll give you a hint: ABC, simple as Do-Re-Mi. Yes, you have no doubt quite smartly guessed that the most important news story of the day was…
Ya got your small companies, ya got your big companies

2 Jul 2009 | 1:05 am

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal had a little article on large company refugees who are finding asylum, as it were, in small companies. I've always thought of myself as a small company person, because I did spend more than a few years during my full time career in companies that were on the smallish side. And most of the companies I work for now are smallish - some even downright small, small. (Is 4 person small enough for you?) But I did log more than a few years in biggish companies - some even downright big, big. (Is 30,000 employees big enough for you?) So I do get what works when…
Bereavement 101

30 Jun 2009 | 10:39 pm

The other day, my sister Kath was on HuffPo reading Maureen Orth's column on the death of Michael Jackson. Anyone familiar with Ms. Orth's work on Jacko might know that her piece would not be a swooning paean. In fact, she starts out by saying that when she first heard the news, she thought it was a publicity stunt. But my purpose is to neither bury MJ nor to praise him, but to note that, while Kathleen was reading Maureen, she noticed a banner ad for a course offering a bereavement certificate. (Alas, when I looked at the article, something else was being flogged: boring old GE Healthcare.)…
Take my dummy, please

30 Jun 2009 | 3:00 am

In the beginning, was the clown. But the clown didn't provide quite enough horror. So there was the ventriloquist dummy. I haven't thought of the ventriloquist dummy in many a year. Maybe not since I last turned my eyes and covered my ears to avert the specter of Ricky Lane and Velvel on the Ed Sullivan Show. (The horror. The horror.) And, not that I have an obsession with Ricky Lane and Velvel or anything, but I just googled "them" and an old Pink Slip post came up #1. (The horror. The horror.) But then there was that recent The NY Times article on Kentucky's Vent Haven Museum,…
RunPee...because

29 Jun 2009 | 2:55 am

There are seemingly no end to the iPhone apps out there, which is one of the things that makes the iPhone just so darned desirable and appealing. And when Apple says "Apps for everything," they really do mean apps for everything. The latest app for everything that's come to my attention - thanks to my friend Valerie - is something called RunPee. I'm not all that taken with the name, since it's not all that clear from the name exactly what you'd be signing up for. But apps do not live on name alone. (I think "PeeBreak" or "MoviePeeBreak" would be better, but…

Ed Batista: Executive Coaching & Change Management
A Week in Point Reyes

Ed Batista

3 Jul 2009 | 12:08 pm

Every year Amy and I try to get up to Point Reyes, and at the end of June we spent a week at a cottage up on the ridge in Inverness. We'd hike all day, pick up some amazing local produce (like Marin Sun Farms steaks), grill dinner on our back porch, and collapse, exhausted. And then do it all over again the following day.One of our favorite hikes up there is the Tomales Point Trail. This stand of cypress is all that remains of the Lower Pierce Point Ranch, about 2/3 of the way from the trailhead to Tomales Bluff. I always wonder what it was like to live here 120 years ago: We made it…
Cross-Cultural Communication: Individualism vs. Collectivism

Ed Batista

22 Jun 2009 | 8:04 am

How do cultural differences affect communications across a cultural divide? Specifically, how does a culture's individual or collective orientation affect communications? I've written before about the primary dimensions of cultural difference identified by Geert Hofstede. One of the key dimensions is individualism vs. collectivism, which Hofstede defines as follows: The degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look…
Leading is Lonely and Other Thoughts

Ed Batista

19 Jun 2009 | 11:39 pm

I recently rediscovered these lines in a notebook from 2007:Leading is lonely.Information-gathering is not decision-making.Position power is not influence.When I wrote them I had just begun working with a number of prospective leaders among my students at Stanford, and I was reflecting on my own leadership experiences, particularly the period just after graduation from business school. At that time I went from reporting to an organization's leader (in my last job before school) to being a leader on my own, reporting directly to a Board of Directors, and these three lessons stand out among…
Some Inspiration from Corey Ford

Ed Batista

19 Jun 2009 | 5:36 pm

One of the great satisfactions of being a coach is the opportunity to work with some truly extraordinary people who are seeking to experience as much as possible in life and to fulfill every ounce of their potential. Corey Ford, who's appeared here before, is one such person, and I enjoyed another thoughtful conversation with him yesterday.I learned that back in March he'd been invited to give the keynote address at the annual banquet of the University of North Carolina's Morehead-Cain Scholars Program. The program--whose motto is "Create an extraordinary life"--offers high-potential…
Self-Coaching Guides: Communication, Leadership, Motivation, Change, Learning and Happiness

Ed Batista

14 Jun 2009 | 11:45 pm

Several students I worked with in the Leadership Coaching class at Stanford this year raised the question of how to "self-coach" after graduation--how to continue the process of personal development without the resources of a graduate program at their disposal.Much of the writing I've done here over the past 5 years has been aimed at helping people do just that, so I've created a series of "Self-Coaching Guides" on the topics of Communication, Leadership, Motivation, Change, Learning and Happiness.I don't intend these brief guides to provide the definitive word on such expansive subjects,…

Mavericks at Work Blog
The 10 Questions Every Change Agent Must Answer

Bill

18 Jun 2009 | 10:54 am

As leaders, we have no control over how fast markets grow or how wisely banks lend. But we do control our own mindsets and “animal spirits”—the phrase coined by John Maynard Keynes in the depth of the Great Depression. If all you’ve got is a spreadsheet filled with red ink and dire forecasts, it’s easy to be paralyzed by fear and resistant to change. But if you can summon some leadership nerve, then hard times can be a great time to separate yourself from the pack and build advantages for years to come. Indeed, when it comes to creating the future, the only thing more worrisome than…
Navigating Risk: Of Sinking the Boat, Missing the Boat, and Rocking the Boat

Bill

18 May 2009 | 8:58 am

Over at Practically Radical, I’m continuing to make a case I’ve been making for months—that a down economy can be a great opportunity to try something different or start something new. My latest source of inspiration and evidence? A great column by James Surowiecki in The New Yorker, which distinguishes between two types of risks that executives face—trying something that doesn’t work (”sinking the boat”) and not trying something that would have worked (”missing the boat”). To me, though, the real opportunity is to recognize the power of…
MBAs vs. Entrepreneurs: Who Has the Right Stuff for Tough Times?

Bill

4 May 2009 | 12:00 pm

The one growth business in this shrinking economy is speculation about where MBAs and other elite students will flock now that Wall Street is a vast wasteland. “What will new map of talent flow look like?” wondered a piece last month in the New York Times. The tentative answer: towards government, the sciences, and teaching, “while fewer shiny young minds are embarking on careers in finance and business consulting.” Just five days after that article, the Times was at it again, chronicling the difficult career choices for business students, including one former Goldman Sachs intern…
Should Your CEO Take a Pay Cut? It Depends on What You Value

Bill

16 Mar 2009 | 11:12 am

My friends at the Washington Post, where I am a member of the “On Leadership” panel, asked me to weigh in on a sports-related question, which is really a leadership question: In this period of March Madness, should big-time college coaches take a pay cut to respond to tough times for their colleges? You can read my Post essay here, but what follows give you the essence of it. Consider these two scenes for a revealing look at the face of leadership in difficult times—and a surprising twist on how we read those faces. Back on February 21, after his team beat the visitors from the…
Innovation with Sole—Fluevog’s Open-Source Footwear

Bill

7 Mar 2009 | 7:30 am

Over on Practically Radical, I just posted a video blog on a smart idea for tough times. Legendary shoe designer John Fluevog invites customers to submit sketches of their dream shoes, and then he makes and sells the best of them. It’s a great source of creativity in a moment when we could all use more of it. Remember, people don’t have to work for you in order to work with you. You can see the video blog here.

Sanders Says
Feed your mind good stuff - a manifesto

Tim Sanders

2 Jul 2009 | 2:27 pm

If you feed your mind poison, you'll eventually poison your mind. Today, it's easy to feast of negative news, gruesome events and scare-talk. The commercial media has no incentive to be uplifting. Bad news draws headlines. Macabre coverage goes viral. Social media is much the same -- other people's fears surround you like sharks, circling your psyche. Think about the number of negative events we could obsess in, if we cared to: GM goes bankrupt, millions lose their homes and savings, record setting deficits, tragic deaths...etc. And then there is the economy, rife with layoffs,…
What if Chris Anderson's new book were accidentally Free?

Tim Sanders

1 Jul 2009 | 2:34 pm

Yesterday, Seth Godin took on Malcolm Gladwell over his review of Chris Anderson's new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. He said, "Malcolm is wrong." He went on to support Anderson's view that information will eventually be free, and that's a good thing. Wow, an intellectual battle brews!The Twitter-sphere lit up, because it was a battle of the giants (mr blog versus mr mega-best seller). I tweeted that I would read both party's posts on Anderson's book, then step in. And I intend to, eventually. Along the way, I was tripped up by something Anderson says in Free: “In the…
Tuesday Twitter thoughts (volume 2)

Tim Sanders

30 Jun 2009 | 9:42 am

Here's my latest installment of Twitter thoughts. With each passing week, I'm learning more about social media and what it can mean to our biz/personal lives. Here's four thoughts from last week: 1. Follow everyone back (except spammers). Initially, I resisted this, but thanks to @fayfeeney, I've learned its considered common courtesy. To follow one back is a sign of respect and acceptance. My stream is much more interesting and diverse now that I'm following more people. Also, I follow back everyone who RT's me or talks about me. I use Tweetdeck to monitor "Tim Sanders"…
Lifting the experience (still) counts!

Tim Sanders

29 Jun 2009 | 10:53 am

Last week I gave a speech for a few hundred franchise owners of the nation's leading home restoration brand. I connected with the brand's guiding philosophy that the customer wants more than service, they want/need a great experience. You can imagine that having your home restored after a disaster can either be a terrible experience, a long drawn out experience or a wow experience that helps put your life back together. If it is the latter, you tell your friends and maybe even your insurance company. I focused my remarks on how, through business design, the customer experience can be…
Best of the week

Tim Sanders

28 Jun 2009 | 2:06 pm

On Sunday, I am grateful for many things. As a rule I spent at least 80% of gratefulness time focusing on people. The remaining time is spent appreciating experiences and acquisitions. My best of lists will always highlight things or experiences you can have too!In no particular order: 1. New iPhone apps. Love this week's additions. TweetMic looks very promising. It allows me to record and Tweet any length of message. Hmmm, maybe I'll Tweetcast future talks! Taxi Magic is another must-have app, it locates a taxi for you anywhere/anytime. That can be a lifesaver! Finally, World Cup…

Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog
Jobless Recovery: An Oxymoron

John Agno

3 Jul 2009 | 5:38 am

The depth of this recession, plus widespread expectations that unemployment will keep rising into 2010 and remain high thereafter, may exert a powerful drag on the recovery. Shortly after the 1990-91 recession, consumers went out and bought houses, cars and other expensive goods on credit, noted Richard Curtin, director of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey. That helped boost job growth in construction, manufacturing and other industries. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product. However today, Americans have abruptly switched…
Job Test Ruling's Impact

John Agno

2 Jul 2009 | 6:11 am

The Supreme Court's recent landmark employment-discrimination ruling might prompt employers to use tests more in making hiring and promotion decisions. But it has others scrutinizing their existing tests to ensure they are free of bias. "There's going to be a re-evaluation of what additional tools are available to employers," says Maria Konev, human-resources manager at Liquid Transport Corp. of Avenel, NJ. Ms. Konev says she sometimes uses personality tests to help choose between equally qualified candidates for jobs or promotions, and would like to use tests more frequently. Following…
Why Every CEO Needs a Coach

John Agno

29 Jun 2009 | 5:52 am

Every Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is "on the stage" the majority of his or her work life but needs pre-performance quiet and confidential time to be creative, bounce their ideas off someone in a safe environment, and explore the unintended consequences of their future actions. Engaging in a personal coaching conversation is a refreshing opportunity where the CEO can be completely open and creative in a confidential and safe place. When asked what was the best advice he ever received, Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google, recognized it was from John Doerr, who in 2001 said, "My…
Team Cultural Fit

John Agno

28 Jun 2009 | 6:17 am

The recession has forced companies to be more competitive than ever; employees and managers have to be extremely customer-oriented and at the top of their game. What this means is that all new hires have to be star players. The have to be able to hit the ground running and get up-to-speed almost immediately, because the company doesn't have the luxury of waiting. They have to be ready, willing and able to play their position well and know how to play on an All Star Team...putting in the extra effort required in practicing their intercommunication skills to allow the team to…
Cash Remains King

John Agno

27 Jun 2009 | 5:58 am

The nation's monetary base--consisting of bills and coins in circulation plus banks' deposits at the Fed--has climbed 114% over the past year through May. For comparison, the biggest annual increase before this crisis, going back as far as 1960, was a little under 16%. Whether it's voluntary frugality or under the coercion of creditors, Americans have abruptly switched from living beyond their means to saving more and working down the debts they incurred during the bubble years. Normally, consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product...and...when you're…

SustainableWork
Boomer Biz

12 Jun 2009 | 8:02 pm

80,000 Americans turn 60 every single day*I look at the financial mayhem that just befell the world, and I know that it is hitting all parts of society hard.I think the style of entrepreneurship that I've written about here is especially suited to boomers. I think that there is a clear need for information about slow paced startups that offer not only a realistic return but importantly, a path for the new entrepreneur to make a contribution to their communities. There is a real potential for creating millions of new small businesses from within this demographic. Scaled right and planned…
Smaller. Cheaper. Faster. How about for rural economic development?

5 Jun 2009 | 9:43 pm

Inc. Magazine has just given their June cover story over to Paul Graham and his wonderful Y Combinator startup machine.I've written about Paul Graham a number of times in the past and linked to his sites, which I'll do again at the end of this post. You should know about Mr. Graham and his model for doing - not talking about - actually doing, economic development.The cover story is titled "The Start-Up Guru. Paul Graham has launched 145 companies. His formula? Smaller. Cheaper. Faster."In a great story written by Max Chalkin, he opens with the this position: "Graham's system generates scores…
Bootstrapping as a weapon of mass reconstruction

29 May 2009 | 7:03 pm

I've been fortunate to meet many new people through this writing who are working on entrepreneurship issues.A new friend of entrepreneurs caught my attention this week. She is Sramana Mitra, a tech entrepreneur and a columnist for Forbes. Ms Mitra has a Masters degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, has founded 3 companies, and consults with Silicon Valley VCs. Importantly, Ms. Mitra has been writing a series of books under the theme of 'Entrepreneur Journeys'. Her second volume in the series was recently released under the title "Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass…
Boomer Entrepreneurship Renaissance

17 May 2009 | 8:02 pm

A short post this weekend, but something near and dear to my heart.If we boomers are going to have to work longer, why not work at something we love through our own small businesses?The most recent Kauffman Foundation Index of Entrepreneurial Activity found that the highest rates of entrepreneurship came from people age 55 to 64. Boomers had the highest rate of business creation of any age group in 2008. The only other demographic with higher startup rates were immigrants. Both good stories needing attention.The Kauffman story breaks down new business startups into high and low income types…
The essence of the leader

3 May 2009 | 7:03 pm

I've run C-Corps, S-Corps, LLCs, and sole proprietorships. Right now, I have the opportunity and good fortune to help run a non-profit. In that day job, I'm helping organize Co-ops. Structure, structure, structure. It defines a lot of what works and what doesn't work once the rubber meets the road.This is not a piece about legal structures however. Structures don't make organizations work, leaders do. I've been thinking about what connects leadership across all the kinds of enterprises I've had the opportunity to participate in. Fortunately I don't have to think too hard. One simple thing…

Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter
Marketing Profs Should Know Better

mary

30 Jun 2009 | 8:09 am

After all, it’s a marketing professionals web site. Lots of good info, different perspectives, something for everyone. EXCEPT…when I want to read a “premium” article. I can sign up for a free two-day trial - but they still want all my info (in multiple “continue” screens), including credit card info - so at 12:01 a.m. the day after expiration, they can charge the card. Yes, I get they want to get paid and what they offer has value…but… Why not give me a password that’ll expire and let me read the content right then? Then, I’d be far…
What’s Wrong With Publishing

mary

29 Jun 2009 | 1:27 pm

…and meanwhile as the both the publishing and advertising industries run around screaming and acting in blind panic… Last night as a friend and I were bemoaning the loss of some good magazines and kvetching the reason we don’t read others…she noted that “I don’t want to pay to read ads that someone else has already paid to place.” Hmmm….could it all come back to: a. knowing your target market; b. offering quality? Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, publishing, target marketing
Americans Will Buy ANYTHING

mary

25 Jun 2009 | 7:48 am

I’ve always wondered what the Chinese must think as they make things like truck balls and hats that (literally) look like a pile of crap. “Man, these silly Americans will buy ANYTHING!…Hey, wait a minute, we keep loaning money to these idiots…” The other day I was browsing the aisles of Talin Market, a locally-owned, wonderfully eclectic supermarket - with foods and items for all over the world. As I was happily pondering the miscellany in the kitchen equipment section…I happened onto the Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl. Yes, I could buy my very own plastic bowl,…
Why Getting an MBA Is Like Drivers Ed

mary

24 Jun 2009 | 10:13 am

Way back in the dark ages, I took Drivers Ed. Here in NM this meant taking the class when I was 14; getting my full-fledged license when I was 15. Nobody failed the class, yet saying we could drive was a very optimistic overstatement of our ability to (somehow) keep the car on the road. And parking? Yikes. My poor Mom nearly had at least two heart attacks (My Dad wouldn’t even ride with me.) But there we were - all freshly minted “drivers” - on the road with everyone else. I recalled that experience in talking with a friend last night. He noted that - funny - when he got his…
12 Ways To NOT Survive The Recession

mary

23 Jun 2009 | 8:07 am

You’ve already read about eleventy billion tips on how to survive it (including posts here). However, apparently many aren’t reading them. I’m truly amazed (maybe I’m clinging to some girlish naivete), how many ginormous/small/micro companies (and their employees) still treat their customers like an irritating distraction. So, based on my own experience, here’s a list for those folks who apparently DON’T want to survive. 1. Never, ever, under any circumstances answer your phone. And make sure you have a very long and detailed instructions message before…

The Trump Blog
Real Estate Investing: Creative Ways of Selling a Home to a Buyer

2 Jul 2009 | 8:58 am

by Tina Merritt Many residential real estate investors have found that in a buyer's market, the buyer's have a buffet to choose from and the sellers are always looking for new and innovative ways to stand out as the better choice in the line. Sometimes, offering creative ways of financing can open the property up to a new consumer or offer attractive financing terms the competition may not be offering. Below are a few examples of these creative financing terms. Rent with the Option to Buy. Commonly known as a Rent-Option, this type of financing usually has the buyer sign a lease…
Michael Jackson

30 Jun 2009 | 1:38 pm

by Donald J. Trump There’s been a lot of coverage on Michael Jackson, and rightly so. He was the most amazing performer I have ever seen, and I have seen most of the greats. I knew him personally as well, as he lived at Trump Tower and stayed at my Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach. He stayed there when he and Lisa Marie Presley were married, and they were obviously a romantic item. They had a great time and we loved having them as guests. Michael Jackson was a shy person which made his gift as a performer even more astonishing. I remember thinking, “This quiet guy is going to bring…
Wrestling, Ratings and Guerrilla Marketing

29 Jun 2009 | 4:15 pm

by Donald J. Trump Guerilla marketing is a term that was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book of 1984, Guerilla Marketing. This is a form of advertising and promotions that depends on the unconventional. Imagination is key, and a big budget isn’t always necessary. Entrepreneurs use this technique, and it’s considered to be non-traditional--just what entrepreneurs are known for being. A very good example of this would be the June 22nd WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) event that drew 6.8 million viewers. That’s a 25% increase in viewers from an earlier broadcast in…
Focus On Business

26 Jun 2009 | 8:21 am

by Donald J. Trump The following question was submitted to "Ask Donald Trump" by a Trump University member. What methods do you use to help you focus on the many projects and businesses that you have? In the morning I review the newspapers, national and international, and watch the morning news. I pay attention to anything that might have an effect on my many businesses and make mental notes about that. It gets my mind going for what I need to address that day, and gives insight into developing situations that might also affect my businesses in the future. This provides an immediate focus.
Donald Trump's Biggest Challenge

23 Jun 2009 | 4:34 pm

by Donald J. Trump The following question was submitted to "Ask Donald Trump" by a Trump University member. What was your biggest challenge as one of the top entrepreneur’s in the world? In the early 1990’s I was many millions of dollars in debt, the markets weren’t doing well, and newspapers had reported my demise, that I was finished. But I didn’t believe it for a second. I focused on the solution, not my problems, and refused to give up. I became more successful than I had been before. Related Posts Real Estate Investing and The Global Economic Crisis The…

Management IQ - BusinessWeek
Twitter Advice from Comcast

Jena McGregor

2 Jul 2009 | 2:45 pm

Today's New York Times has some good advice for professional users of the popular micro-blogging service Twitter. It features the 24-year-old Bonnie Smalley, a customer service representative for Comcast, one of the earliest corporate adopters of using Twitter to help resolve customer service issues. (It had to try something new, after all--the cable provider's service reputation has long been notoriously poor, inspiring its own hate sites and even violent acts by angry 75-year-old women.) Here's a summary of the tips Smalley (Twitter name: comcast bonnie) offers: --Use a "console"…
Zicam Maker Takes Cues From J&J

Arlene Weintraub

24 Jun 2009 | 7:47 am

A product recall is every company's worst nightmare. But for tiny Matrixx Initiatives (MTXX)--maker of Zicam cold remedies--the June 16 recall of two of its products was particularly painful. The company's herbal nasal gel and swabs, recalled because of reports that some patients lost their sense of smell after using them, accounted for 40% of Matrixx's $112 million in sales last year. Matrixx's stock dropped a sickening 70% to $5.78 on the day of the recall. Luckily, Matrixx's acting president William Hemelt had a lot of advice from three board members who know a thing or two about…
Wal-Mart's New Doyenne of Diversity

Matthew Boyle

23 Jun 2009 | 10:06 am

Wal-Mart’s new CEO Mike Duke took another step towards delivering on his promise to promote diversity at the Bentonville-based retail giant on June 22 by naming L. Mecole "Cole" Brown to oversee the company’s diversity efforts. Wal-Mart hired Brown in 2002, and she was named vice president of employment practices in 2007. She replaces Charlyn Jarrells Porter, who held the post from 2004 until she announced her retirement in March. Brown’s promotion comes on the heels of Duke’s creation of a global women’s leadership council comprised of senior leaders from the 15 countries in which…
Biotech M&A Poised to Soar

Arlene Weintraub

18 Jun 2009 | 10:41 am

Drug company CEOs will be driven to look for more M&A opportunities, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan. In the first half of the year alone, Merck bought Schering-Plough, Pfizer bought Wyeth, and Roche bought the portion of Genentech that it didn’t already own. But there’s plenty of opportunity—and free cash—for more such deals. And Frost predicts that those holding the money the will be looking very closely at opportunities in the beaten-down biotech industry. What’s so attractive about biotech? For one, the barriers to entry are much greater than they are for…
Young Exec Looking for Adventure? Tough Luck

Diane Brady

17 Jun 2009 | 9:18 am

As further evidence that leaders are nervous, multinational companies are planning to send fewer employees on global assignments this year. According to an annual survey of 180 corporations by Brookfield Global Relocation Services, more than two-thirds said they will decrease or, at most, maintain expatriate levels. Interestingly, those that do relocate employees are increasingly turning to older and more experienced workers. Only 9% of expatriates in surveyed companies were 20 to 29 years old -- the lowest in the survey's 14-year history. The number of female expats is also down to 20%, from…

Management by Baseball
Part I: Switch-Pitching: When S.O.P. Kills Innovation, & Why That Can Be a Good Thing

j

14 Jun 2009 | 5:43 pm

In Baseball (and all other endeavours), managers benefit from pattern-recognition, noting what works and what doesn't and generally avoiding repeating efforts that mimic or parallel past failures. If you know the printer you send your four-color glossy work to and that does a great job of it is also always late with mediocre product when you send them a two-color job, it doesn't serve you well to send them your two-color work again. Though, volume discounts aside, it probably doesn't mean you should stop sending them the four-color jobs at which they excel. No big epiphany, that. We managers…
Provoking Thought by Baseball... Gender-Targeted Style

j

25 May 2009 | 3:54 pm

From an anthropological perspective, one of the most amusing aspects of the American culture's marketing subculture is the idea that gender (in this case, male<--->female) makes for great marketing. In small, pre-industrial societies, the concept is very powerful. In large, diverse, cultures where the means of communication have been industrialized and work categories are less strictly gender-based, the differences (for marketing purposes) between males and females is blunted. That hasn't stopped the publishing industry from pursuing the idea that almost any idea worth peddling is worth…
Joe Maddon: When Genius Screws Up, It's Time to Tighten the Screws

j

17 May 2009 | 3:42 pm

She had an unequalled gift... of squeezing big mistakes into small opportunities. -- Henry James (Bill James' brother) The prologue to today's horsehide struggle between the Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Rays, featured Rays manager Joe Maddon & his staff making a big, honking, impossible-to-hide error. Now, given that a manager in Baseball makes a couple of hundred decisions per game, it's never gonna happen that a manager will get through a whole game without making a less-than-optimal decision and beyond extraordinary when none of those decisions turn out to have been in error. Just…
Doug Glanville, The $250 Million Eddie Haskell & The 21st Century Ghost Dance

j

11 May 2009 | 5:51 am

The regularly insightful Doug Glanville usually casts new light on old subjects, and that's great. But his last op-ed for the New York Times actually uncovered a baseball technique I never ran across or read about (greater), though I've seen it a lot in business and the military. And why it seems to be overshadowed in this Moment of Manny Métier Meltdown is very illuminating about the state of our National Psyche. But first to the practice. Glanville calls it "tipping," though it's not the pitcher inadvertently giving away what kind 'o pitch it's going to be ("tipping his…
Caffeine Jihads, Barney Rubble & Monetizing Ethics

j

27 Apr 2009 | 6:24 pm

"You can have money piled to the ceiling but the size of your funeral is still going to depend on the weather." --Chuck Tanner Baseball attracts as many deranged and bad ideas as non-baseball business...it's just rare in baseball when one sticks. When one does, it's more often for a short-term financial benefit (for example, collusion in boycotting individual or whole cadres of talent, or having interleague games and stats count as league games and stats) than for purely emotional and fact-challenged reasons. Which is why I'm skeptical that the proposal of a pair of distinguished,…

Great Leadership
Best of Leadership Blogs 2009

1 Jul 2009 | 11:18 am

I'm honored to have been nominated for the third annual Best of Leadership Blogs 2009 competition, hosted by Kevin Eikenberry at Remarkable Leadership. Voting will take place during the month of July, with the winner being announced on Monday, August 3rd.Here's the list of 10 finalists:Leading Blog by Michael McKinneyGreat Leadership by Dan McCarthySeth Godin’s Blog by Seth GodinJon Gordon’s Blog by Jon GordonLeadership is a Verb by John BishopAll Things Workplace by Steve RoeslerWork Matters by Bob SuttonLeader Talk by Mountain State UniversityNext Level Blog by Scott EblinLeadership At…
ARGHHHHH! My new boss is 30-something with absolutely no leadership or management experience!

30 Jun 2009 | 6:13 pm

An email from a reader:ARGHHHHH!My new boss is 30-something with absolutely no leadership or management experience. We are a group of 10 field-based employees with backgrounds that range from brand new to the role all the way to PhD and everything in-between.This woman is driving us all nuts with her knee-jerk reactions (project assistant sends an email reminder about time cards; then so does she. One team member sends her snail mail to boss's old address and the entire team has to re-send our CURRENT address for an "up-dated roster" and 3 emails about timelines.)We are frequently…
A Conflict of Interest?

28 Jun 2009 | 6:00 pm

Sunday's Dilbert raises some interesting questions about potential conflict of interest in the leadership development profession. A long time ago, I worked on a project that really brought this to my awareness. One of our executives wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of his senior leadership teams. He wanted someone to come in from the outside and do an objective, accurate assessment. We looked at a lot of options, some of them being a few of the big executive search firms, like Egon Zehnder and Korn Ferry. I was really impressed with what they had to offer - solid competency models, an…
A Better Brand of Leadership

26 Jun 2009 | 2:43 am

Guest post by Dave Esler and Myra Kruger, authors of The Pursuit of Something Better: Is leadership defined solely by results? Most of the flood of leader literature makes that assumption. Leaders get things done. They win wars, championships, fortune, fame. They cure sick teams, organizations, whole countries. Not by themselves, of course – we followers have a limited role, as foot soldiers, employees, voters, or, as Michael Jordan once memorably described his Chicago Bulls teammates, “my supporting cast.” But the leader is that (usually) charismatic individual who is somehow able to…
Beware of Cult-like Leadership Development Programs

23 Jun 2009 | 2:45 am

I've been writing about wacky leadership development programs for a while now. These are silly, ineffective, but well intended programs designed to teach leadership using all kinds of "creative" training techniques. These programs, although a waste of a company's money, are basically harmless and can even be fun.What I'm about to describe isn't harmless or fun. In fact, these programs can be dangerous. They can cause serious emotional and psychological damage, lower employee morale and productivity, and expose a company to costly lawsuits.Do I have your attention? Good; then please read on.

CIO - Blogs and Discussion -
BREAKING: What can be learned from the authorize.net fire?

Storagepipe

3 Jul 2009 | 12:19 pm

If you’ve been having trouble buying things online this weekend, you’re not alone. read more
Only two companies to achieve growth in the IPC industry

Rebecca Choi

3 Jul 2009 | 7:19 am

According to the financial reports released by global industrial PC suppliers as of May 31, EVOC remains in the rank of the world's top three. read more
The SAP Help Ecosystem: A Paradigm in Crisis

mkalsi

2 Jul 2009 | 1:02 pm

From cumulusIQ Blog earlier in the week. read more
9 Ways to Boost Productivity with MS Word

Jen Darr

2 Jul 2009 | 12:10 pm

Desktop application consultants rarely come across a question that hasn't been asked before. Experience and stats prove that most users have problems with the same general areas of an application. read more
Counterfeiters, Pirates and Organized Crime

2 Jul 2009 | 8:33 am

There is a threat difficult to quantify or even detect, one that has not yet grabbed the headlines or captured the imagination, and yet is relentlessly and efficiently looting, pillaging and plunderin read more

Mission Minded Management
Esther Dyson, Thought Leader on Engagement, Leadership, and Accountability

Michelle Malay Carter

29 Jun 2009 | 7:39 am

I read Art Kleiner’s strategy+business interview with Esther Dyson, a thought leader in the field of high tech innovation. Some thoughts from this article parallel what I’ve been saying here at Mission Minded Management. (Emphasis added) On Engagement “The really good marketers will become much more clever about what they do, and engage with people more effectively. Conventional media will lose a lot of those marketers, because the marketers don’t need the media as much anymore. Coca-Cola used to need Time magazine or television to reach consumers. Now Coca-Cola…
Check Your Perceptions at the Door, If You Can - A Friday Fascinating

Michelle Malay Carter

18 Jun 2009 | 10:42 pm

Mission Minded Management is all about debunking the widely held misconceptions that prevail about work, human capability, and what causes most dysfunction at work. Hint: I’m OK. You’re OK. Let’s fix the system. A few weeks back I wrote a post called, Is the Story You are Telling Yourself Helpful?, and I’ve since found a video clip that powerfully illustrates one point I was making in that post. Sometimes we see what we expect, not what really is. There is power in what we expect or know to be “true”, and we must be mindful of the “stories”…
Requisite Felt Fair Pay - Key Elements, Principles and Texts

Michelle Malay Carter

17 Jun 2009 | 10:01 pm

The following is part thee of a three-part post on Felt Fair Compensation. See Part 1 and Part 2 here. This Felt Fair Pay series was authored by my colleague, Barry Deane of PeopleFit Australasia. My hat is off to him for addressing the topic so thoroughly and for backing it with historical data and research citations. Key Features Remunerations systems based on the Requisite Organization body of work have the following key features: Organizational levels are assigned to specific and objectively-defined ‘levels of work’ Specific remuneration limits are assigned to each organizational…
Is it Possible to Agree on What Fair Pay Is? Science-Based Felt Fair Compensation – A 60 Year History

Michelle Malay Carter

16 Jun 2009 | 10:07 pm

The following is part two of a three-part post on Felt Fair Compensation. See Part 1 here. This Felt Fair Pay series was authored by my colleague, Barry Deane of PeopleFit Australasia. My hat is off to him for addressing the topic so thoroughly and for backing it with historical data and research citations. Over 60 Years of Research Lord Wilfred Brown and Dr. Elliott Jaques investigated this matter (among other organisational and leadership matters) as part of an extensive piece of workplace-based research known as the Glacier Project (UK 1948 to circa 1976). The following quotation is…
The Predictable Outrage over Outrageous Executive Pay

Michelle Malay Carter

16 Jun 2009 | 10:05 am

The following is part one of a three-part post on Felt Fair Compensation. This Felt Fair Pay series was authored by my colleague, Barry Deane of PeopleFit Australasia. My hat is off to him for addressing the topic so thoroughly and for backing it with historical data and research citations. Paying Executives More For Less? Interest in what is seen as excessive executive pay, has been gathering over a number of years now – at least ten years. The current financial melt-down provides emphasis as attempts are made to reconcile excesses of pay with business results. Could We Ever Agree on…

Management/ Leadership
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…
How CIOs can survive this downturn

Judi Hasson

1 Apr 2009 | 11:17 am

These are tough times for businesses and that probably includes your office, too. Many companies are reevaluating what the CIO does and whether the job needs to be restructured in order to get the most out of this executive. Gary Beach, publisher emeritus at CIO magazine, offered advice to those in this position at the annual State of the CIO conference in Florida. According to the Miami Herald, his most critical piece of advice is for CIOs to become business strategists, instead of the technology go-to guy. Here are a few other tips…
Stay focused when times get tough

Judi Hasson

4 Mar 2009 | 11:06 am

Anyone in an IT shop has to feel the winds of change right now. Companies are being asked to do more with less, and IT shops are being asked to do much more. While it may be hard, it is time to focus, according to the experts in a recent CIO.com article. When dot-coms went bust in 2000, executives were not prepared. But with a little experience under their belts and a new downturn to face, "focus is the name of the game," says Susan Cramm, founder and president of Valuedance, an executive coaching firm specializing in IT leadership, "especially when people and money are tight." To ease staff…
Microsoft lays off H-1B workers

Judi Hasson

27 Jan 2009 | 1:27 pm

Microsoft Corp. is laying off 5,000 workers over the next 18 months, including a "significant number" of foreign workers. Although Microsoft hasn't detailed how many foreign workers would lose their jobs. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a leading critic of the H-1B visa program, has urged Microsoft to protect the jobs of U.S. workers over foreign workers. In a letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Grassley demanded that U.S. workers get priority in keeping their jobs. He argued that the company has a "moral obligation" to protect U.S. workers. But there is nothing in the law that requires a…

CIO.com - CIO Role
Green IT to Be an Antidote for CIOs

1 Jul 2009 | 9:00 pm

The ongoing economic recession can help drive adoption of green IT within the data centre, according to a report from Datamonitor.
Save Mart Grocery Chain Sees Savings in Open Source

28 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Open-source software is not only as good as proprietary vendor software in many cases, it’s better — and certainly a lot cheaper, according to James Sims, vice president of information technology and chief information officer at the grocery retailer, Save Mart.
Virtuoso Travel Network Picks Liquid Computing for Data Center

28 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Virtuoso, an online network for luxury travel, chose a unified computing infrastructure from Liquid Computing instead of shopping for the technology from larger vendors, such as Hewlett-Packard and Cisco.
Microsoft Extends Dynamics Service Pack Support

24 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Microsoft Dynamics ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) users now have more flexibility in deploying the vendor's service pack updates, which are periodically released to address bug fixes and make feature improvements.
How to Save Your Strategic Rights

23 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

The CIO of Santander Consumer USA convinced the business to keep him on the strategic team.

CIO.com - Leadership
Users Tackle Business Transformation in Parallel Teams

23 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Quintiles Transnational CIO Bill Deam engages teams to map and perform business workflows.
Survey: Hong Kong CIOs Focus on Profitability, Performance

23 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Fifty-three percent of CIOs in Hong Kong underline their key focus in increasing profitability and performance through IT, said IDC Wednesday.
7 Tips for Keeping IT Employees Upbeat

14 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Staff morale is critical to ensuring that productivity and retention levels remain high. Here are seven tips for maintaining an upbeat work environment and sustaining employee morale.
The Truth Shall Set You Free

14 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

John Halamka offers five tips for managing events when things go wrong.
Sales Calls without PowerPoint: Why High-Tech Sales Gurus Go Low-Tech

8 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

The new low-tech trend in high-tech sales? Salespeople at Software AG, Borland and Symantec are ditching PowerPoint and engaging with customers using a whiteboard and markers. Here's a look at Software AG's strategy.

CIO.com - Leadership
Users Tackle Business Transformation in Parallel Teams

23 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Quintiles Transnational CIO Bill Deam engages teams to map and perform business workflows.
Survey: Hong Kong CIOs Focus on Profitability, Performance

23 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Fifty-three percent of CIOs in Hong Kong underline their key focus in increasing profitability and performance through IT, said IDC Wednesday.
7 Tips for Keeping IT Employees Upbeat

14 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

Staff morale is critical to ensuring that productivity and retention levels remain high. Here are seven tips for maintaining an upbeat work environment and sustaining employee morale.
The Truth Shall Set You Free

14 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

John Halamka offers five tips for managing events when things go wrong.
Sales Calls without PowerPoint: Why High-Tech Sales Gurus Go Low-Tech

8 Jun 2009 | 9:00 pm

The new low-tech trend in high-tech sales? Salespeople at Software AG, Borland and Symantec are ditching PowerPoint and engaging with customers using a whiteboard and markers. Here's a look at Software AG's strategy.

IMD Business School - News
Martin Laan praises responsible leadership emphasis in MBA 2009 program

29 Jun 2009 | 11:28 pm

"A friend once said that to prove to yourself that you are still alive and kicking, you need to stay unpredictable," says 31-year-old Martin Lään, a native of Estonia. "So when I reached a point in my life and career where I wanted to test myself and seek answers to fundamental questions, I decided to do something surprising." After several years in the diplomatic service - most recently with the Permanent Mission of Estonia to the UN in Geneva - Martin’s "something surprising" was to participate in IMD’s MBA program.
Nandan Nilekani to join Indian government

29 Jun 2009 | 11:27 pm

As has been reported in the press, Nandan Nilekani has stepped down as Infosys Co-chairman. He is set to take over as the Chairman of India’s national project for creating a database of citizens. Nilekani will have the rank of a cabinet minister.
Orchestrating Winning Performance Newsletter

26 Jun 2009 | 6:51 am

IMD has published its annual Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP) Newsletter. The newsletter includes analysis from Professors Bettina Büchel, Martha Maznevski, Stuart Read, Didier Cossin and Don Marchand on the respective streams they covered in the program as well as comments from OWP participants.
IMD recognizes participants for lifelong learning

25 Jun 2009 | 6:18 am

Ten OWP participants were recognized with IMD lifelong learning certificates as the result of having attended at least four IMD programs. Bettina Buechel, Professor of Strategy and Organization at IMD and Director of the Orchestrating Winning Performance program, and John Evans, IMD’s Customer Experience Manager, presented the participants with the certificates and acknowledged their commitment and investment in lifelong learning.
Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke outlines leadership lessons in OWP address

25 Jun 2009 | 6:17 am

Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP) serves as a platform for executives to become recharged by new ideas and inspirational speakers. This certainly rang true for participants after they listened to Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke’s keynote address on the lessons from a career in leadership.

IMD Business School - Tomorrow's Challenges Articles
Africa in the 21st century's global economic paradigm - The good governance challenge

3 Jul 2009 | 5:50 am

In the course of the years of decolonization (early/mid 60s) through to the early 70s, Africa was seen by foreign multinationals and investors as the most promising continent of the "Third World" and was consequently the focus of much business attention. Business ties were encouraged and "promoted" by European governments, notably the Belgians, British and French, by means fair and foul - more often than not the latter.
Invest in human capital during the crisis - The keys to coaching, developing, retaining and sustaining talent

3 Jul 2009 | 5:47 am

Executives around the globe have responded to the economic crisis by reviewing their systems for managing human capital. The smartest of them are not simply asking questions about their current investment and how it could or should change, but reassessing matters in strategic terms. They recognize that effective people management systems - those which put the right people into the right jobs at the right time and for the right costs - have a central role in supporting the firm’s business model.
Business lessons from a world-class athlete - Develop the motivation of a champion

26 Jun 2009 | 1:55 am

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is the fastest man in human history after setting three world records at the Beijing Olympics last year. Reaching the heights that Bolt attained required motivation, critical thinking and focus. Even more important, it required turning early setbacks into advantages, turning weaknesses into strengths and developing the motivation required of a world champion. These three attributes are lessons that can apply to those working in business.
Cluster companies in China’s Zhejiang Province - Part I: Strength in numbers

26 Jun 2009 | 1:48 am

To many of us, an industry cluster suggests the grouping of a few major firms in a region or country. But in China industry clusters operate on a far greater scale. In the first of three articles, Professor Jean-Pierre Jeannet explores the nature of industry clusters in China’s Zhejiang Province...
Reinventing the managerial mindset - Keys to surviving and thriving in volatile times

19 Jun 2009 | 7:25 am

Big change in an organization’s environment requires big, thoughtful, responses. The bigger the change, the more we need a willingness to reconsider every attribute of an organization’s business model. We live in a world of great volatility and surprise, as evidenced by the current financial crisis that is impacting markets around the world. At such times, I believe we need to reconsider the very core elements of the managerial mindset: the starting assumptions that we hold regarding customers, employees and objectives; the way we make strategic choices; and our basis for taking the firm…

thoughtLEADERS, LLC Blog
How "This Will Only Take a Minute" Destroys Your Projects

29 Jun 2009 | 3:42 pm

I'm sure you've said it as often as I have: "This will only take a minute..." Five hours later, you're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.Humans are notoriously bad at estimating how long something will take. On top of that, we try to make our problem solving too complex when things go wrong. When these two dynamics combine, our projects go flying off the rails like the first This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.
How The Wrong Pricing Approach Is Killing Your Business

25 Jun 2009 | 7:53 am

Bob Barker used to point out when the price was right but what happens to your business when the price is wrong? Getting pricing wrong is one of the biggest and costliest mistakes you can make and that applies whether you're a sole proprietor or a Fortune 500 company.First, a little pricing math. Let's say you sell a widget for $100 and your gross profit on said widget is $30. After taking out 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 Slowly Destroying Your Network?

22 Jun 2009 | 6:09 am

Web 2.0. Social networking. LinkedInPlaxoTwitterbarf. Blogaroni and cheese. Some people would have you believe we've entered a new era of business where the rules have fundamentally changed. I'd submit that the rules are the same and the way we're behaving is self-defeating.One of the most valuable resources you have as a professional is your network. All the people you meet in your This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.
Grow Your Business and Career by Asking for Help

15 Jun 2009 | 4:47 pm

It's hard asking for help. Getting rejected stings. But by not asking, you're probably missing out on some great opportunities.I don't know about you, but when I was growing up I was a little bit of a dork. Okay, okay... a HUGE dork. I sold comic books (and incidentally made 100x what my contemporaries made in allowance but that didn’t stop them from teasing me). I weighed 98 pounds and my nose This is only the beginning of the thought... Please click the article headline above or go to http://thoughtleadersllc.blogspot.com for more.
Advance Your Career With Strategic Planning

8 Jun 2009 | 5:28 am

Every day organizations spend time refining and rewriting their strategic plans. It's part of the rhythm of business. But how often have you applied the basic principles of strategic planning to your career? Say what? You haven't? You're missing out on one of the most powerful tools out there.Don't worry - this isn't some high falootin' strategery post. I'm not caffeinated enough to write 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)
How much does Henry Kravis get?

25 Jun 2009 | 12:30 pm

Talk about a complex story reported completely different ways. What's a poor blogger to do?The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has buried their original Money and Investing cover piece, "KKR Stock is Coming, via Europe" on http://www.wsj.com/ -- to the point where it appears they're intentionally trying to de-emphasize the original story even if that's not true. Here's their version (requires
In the nick of time

18 Jun 2009 | 7:48 am

It's about time someone at a local leadership level woke up and did something in the public's interest.DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis has asked the county's development authority to delay a decision that would have rewarded $52 million in tax abatement to an out-of-town developer trying to finish the next great mixed used park in northeast Atlanta. See the AJC's coverage by Ty Tagami at http://
Au contraire, Mr. Rattner

11 Jun 2009 | 7:05 am

Tuesday's selection of Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. to be Chairman of the "new GM" is starting to make a little more sense after reading today's story http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/business/11auto.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1244728921-+2dCjpiPUSmxex6n6dmDWQ by Michelle Maynard at The New York Times.Auto Czar Steve Rattner was behind the decision to appoint Whitacre, according to the Times.
Incredibly good take -- wish it were ours

10 Jun 2009 | 1:43 pm

http://www.businessweek.com/print/managing/content/jun2009/ca2009065_772331.htmI don't normally fully endorse other POVs, but this fellow consultant is really on to something here. Those holding senior-level management and leadership positions would be well versed to read AND apply these points.
Big search firms live on -- for now

10 Jun 2009 | 6:56 am

Love 'em or hate 'em, the large retained executive recruiting firms remain standing. Two in particular, Spencer Stuart and Heidrick & Struggles, are active at the highest levels, making daily headlines with General Motors (GM), AIG and Freddie Mac.Spencer Stuart is remaking the GM board after the company named Edward J. Whitacre, Jr. chairman. See yesterday's post for our POV on this latest

Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By
The Truth About SPIN

Waugust

3 Jul 2009 | 12:53 am

"We didn't actually overspend our budget. The allocation simply fell short of the expenditure."AnonymousAs the elephant appears different to blind men, each touching a different part, so too are there many ways to view the circumstances we find ourselves in.Or is there only one way, only one truth
Groups: The Power of "Many"

Waugust

2 Jul 2009 | 2:45 am

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."Margaret MeadAmerican Cultural AnthropologistChange the world. And we're just talking about changing our business.Are you part of a "small group of thoughtful, committed citizens" in your business?
Time: The Clock is Ticking

Waugust

1 Jul 2009 | 6:38 am

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend."TheophrastusThird Century BC Greek PhilosopherIf people were worrying about time 300 plus years before the birth of Christ, you know what they think now. But worrying and taking action are two different things.And talk about limited resources. 8,760 hours a year, no more nor less, of which conventional wisdom says 2,000 will be devoted to work.Most of my clients worry quite a bit about conserving and managing cash, human resources, facilities, equipment, etc. but I don't see the same concern expressed about time management.How about you?
The Theatrics of Business

Waugust

30 Jun 2009 | 7:50 am

"I don't necessarily agree with everything I say."Marshall McLuhanCanadian Educator, Philosopher, ScholarI think this is one of those truths you don't think about that is nonetheless true.Do you honestly believe and mean everything you say and do, or is some of it said for affect?How do you keep track of what you mean versus say/do for reaction?
The Fine Ethical Line

Waugust

29 Jun 2009 | 7:33 am

"The most dangerous untruths are truths moderately distorted."Georg Christoph LichtenbergMid 18th Century German ScientistWe've covered this before and the comment consensus is that there can be no gray area; you either are truthful or you're not. But I don't see things that clear cut in the real world. Call it what you will, white lies, bending the truth, distortions, etc., accidental or purposeful, is ingrained in business and I'm not talking about the blatant Enron stuff. Day-to-day seemingly minor distortions, sometimes with negative consequences, sometimes not.Do you see it?Do you do it?

DrivenLeaders.com - Anthony Portuesi
The Foundation of Management - Free eBook!

Anthony Portuesi

28 Jun 2009 | 7:33 pm

No One is Born Knowing How to Manage There was a time when the term “manager” suggested someone who controlled. Today the manager must facilitate. In the past, the manager kept people in line. Today the manager must lift people up. In our rapidly changing world the manager’s most vital role is to make sure every employee is performing at the highest possible level. And today, how well you perform this vital role determines your success. “Today’s manager must emphasize vision, not supervision.” - Jack Welch Jack Hayhow is back at it again, this time with his latest…
Is Your Business Leveraging the Power of Social Media?

Anthony Portuesi

25 Jun 2009 | 4:51 pm

Social media has been the hot topic for some time now, seemingly expanding its reach each and every day in various capacities. For marketers, these social platforms have already been marketing game changers, providing endless opportunities for connecting with consumers in deeper and more meaningful ways. Social networking sites (“Member Community” sites) eclipsed E-mail in global reach at 68.4% vs. 64.8% in February 2009. And even more significant, in only the first few months of 2009, the reach of these sites is growing at a brisk pace, faster than any other online sector. – The…
10 Tips on How to be Taken Seriously as a Leader

Anthony Portuesi

21 Jun 2009 | 1:21 pm

Earning credibility and being taken seriously continue to be challenging issues for many Gen-Y employees as they step into roles of increasing responsibly. In preparation for advancement, many training programs focus solely on building “competencies,” the cornerstones to success. I agree the ability to negotiate, communicate, influence, and persuade others are indispensable qualities when it comes to leading successful teams. And there is no doubt that enhancing these skills builds one’s credibility and sets the groundwork for long-term success. However, for Gen-Y Leaders, the risk of…
The Leader’s Lifelong Learner’s Permit

Anthony Portuesi

8 Jun 2009 | 6:09 pm

This past week I connected with Sangeeth Varghese, founder of LeadCap, a leadership organization building future leaders in India, and the author of Decide to Lead. Sangeeth and I both subscribe to the belief that in a world of continuous change, one the most valuable skills is the ability to learn. Below are some of his thought provoking comments recently published on Forbes.com, pertaining to leadership and being a lifelong student. You should be educating yourself at every moment. Learning is like the weather. Everybody talks about it, but nobody does much about it. True leaders, though,…
Free Webinar: How to Use Facebook for Business

Anthony Portuesi

1 Jun 2009 | 2:06 pm

It’s a fact. The Facebook phenomenon isn’t slowing down (at least anytime in the foreseeable future), as the site continues to hold its ground as one of the fastest growing websites year after year. According to Alexa.com (as of May 2009), Facebook is ranked number 4 for traffic on the internet, with users spending over 25 minutes on the site viewing the 13,000+ applications as they connect to friends, family and business associates. With numbers like that, it’s easy to understand why more and more businesses are leveraging the power of Facebook to connect with their…

Leadership Institute of Indianapolis
Protected: June 18th Telecall: “When Your Prospect Goes Silent”

Bill Caskey

22 Jun 2009 | 6:58 am

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My Idea of a Great Leader…

Brooke Green

23 May 2009 | 7:00 am

With the addition of The Leadership Institute of Indianapolis (www.leadershipinstituteofindianapolis.com) to our company offerings, I have been drawn lately to blogs (www.punkrockhr.com) and articles (www.mindtools.com) regarding leaders. It’s no accident that many catch phrases have been created about management and leadership. * Top down leadership * It starts at the top * “With great power comes great responsibility” - Spiderman * Sh** rolls downhill They are all true. What is amazing to me is that the “leaders” are usually oblivious to how what they say and…
Leadership Podcast: What Motivates Your People?

Bill Caskey

2 Apr 2009 | 9:32 am

In this podcast, we talk about motives and preferences. And we move through some of the Hogan Motives Inventory. The goal here is to help our listeners understand what drives people to their behavior. We also promised in this cast a PDF file. Go ahead and download it. Then use it to assess yourself first. Then use it with your people. Feel free to make a copy of it and ask your people to rate themselves. High Level Leadership Assessment. (Right click and save). This isn’t quite as good as the full Assessment, but not a bad start. This comes from the Hogan Assessment that we use in…
Just a Temper Problem? Think Again.

Bill Caskey

1 Apr 2009 | 6:53 am

This is a series written to help leaders understand what derails them and their management team. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting the entire list of eleven derailers from the Hogan Assessment. Derailer #1: Excitable John was a VP of Sales for a large manufacturing company in Chicago. He had been with the firm for fifteen years, as it had grown modestly. One thing the CEO noticed over time was John’s inability to keep good people around him. He would hire a salesperson—a top producer—who would be there for a couple of years and then move on. John had been asked about…
Your Intent Matters When Everyone’s Scared

Bill Caskey

24 Mar 2009 | 9:01 am

On our sales training side, we teach the concept of “high intent.” It is simple and quite elegant. It means that your intent in any given circumstance will govern your behavior and ultimately, your outcome, in that transaction. A low intent–where all of your energy is created around ‘how can I win in this?’ - produces low results. In the NY Times this weekend, there was an article about businesses who are changing course in order to save it. Restaurants who are adding new items to their menu, manufacturers who are changing their lines to make other stuff and…

Mitch's Blog
Do Black People Celebrate The 4th Of July Holiday?

Mitch

3 Jul 2009 | 6:54 pm

I used to play a lot of email chess against an older gentleman from England. We used to talk about a lot of different topics, and pretty much nothing was off limits, though we’re talking about political and religious topics. Then one day he surprised me with an intriguing question: Do black people celebrate the 4th of July holiday? I had to think about that one a little bit. Believe it or not, this isn’t such a cut and dry answer as most of America, that non-minority part, would believe. Think about it this way. When Independence Day came about, black people were slaves. So, there…
Talking To The Big Wigs About Health Care

Mitch

1 Jul 2009 | 1:28 pm

Last night I had a pretty good honor bestowed upon me without anyone really noticing it other than me. I went to a political fundraiser, which doesn’t happen all that often, and it was at someone’s house, which would be even rarer. The only other political fundraiser I’d ever been to was held in the ballroom of some hotel, and someone else paid for me to go. Actually, the same thing happened this time around, only it cost my benefactor a lot more money. To preface this, I’ll say that I don’t belong to any political party. I’m totally independent, but when…
Of Course Things Haven’t Changed That Much,…

Mitch

29 Jun 2009 | 6:28 pm

It’s been an interesting week, for sure. We had the passing of Michael Jackson, my favorite musician of all time, and someone who was able to break down the barriers of race and potentially bring people closer together around the world. But the week began with a poll conducted by CNN which indicated that blacks in America (they’re running that theme again this month) overall don’t think much has changed for them since President Obama was elected president. As a matter of fact, some of them think things have gotten a little bit worse. It’s an interesting thing to look…
Social Media, SEO & Your Business In 90 Minutes

Mitch

27 Jun 2009 | 8:20 pm

I’m going to be doing a webinar on the topic of Social Media, SEO & Your Business In 90 Minutes on June 30th, which is this Tuesday, starting at 11AM. It’s happening because of the second of two interviews I gave, which was on social media. As some of you know, I have a second company called SEO Xcellence, which does search engine optimization and things related to it. Well, one of my friends listened to the second interview on social media and wanted me to do a webinar with her. Okay, I’m actually doing the webinar, but it’s her software. Her name is Renee…
No Respect For The License

Mitch

27 Jun 2009 | 6:42 am

I am an independent consultant. I also have a business license and a federal tax ID number. This means I’m actually a corporation, a legitimate business, and not just a temporary employee for anyone. I state this because in the last week I’ve talked to two companies, one that contacted me first, and one that was really keen on my working with them, which came crashing down because they didn’t want to work with me unless I became their employee. The one guy, who was actually a very nice guy, said that if I weren’t an employee, it meant they couldn’t control me.

Bait, Tackle, Ice, Advice & Beer Blog
Most important leadership skill today

1 Jul 2009 | 5:11 am

If you don't subscribe to the Leadership Smartbrief you're a fool. This was published in today's.What is the most important leadership skill in this difficult economic environment? Motivating the organization to higher performance levels in the face of recession. 36.22% Maintaining customer confidence in a world of uncertainty. 20.67% Cutting expenses without cutting muscle. 20.10% Increasing market share as competitors recede. 11.86% Husbanding financial resources for an uncertain future. 6.61% Steering clear of government interference. 4.55% What it takes to lead: Nearly 1,400 people…
Aliens and Leadership In Leadership

30 Jun 2009 | 8:13 am

Have you ever been in a meeting, maybe at work or at the PTA or the local chapter of a Menudo Fan Club (don't judge me), when you are listening to the person in charge and think, "there is no possible way that this person is for real. This is an alien. No resident of planet Earth would take this seriously." But you still sit there and listen and perhaps even nod your head from time to time. You know that for the time being, this person is your leader, and also that it is generally frowned upon to stand in a crowded room, point your finger at the presenter, and accuse them of being another…
The Friendly Skies?

26 Jun 2009 | 9:59 am

I read an article recently on Yahoo.com about the top 7 things that passengers do to annoy flight attendants. I actually appreciated the article because, as a frequent flier on multiple airlines, I could empathize with (and yes laugh at) many of the things on the list. Since my husband has elite status on 2 major airlines, for about the 7th year in a row, and a friend of mine works for a major airline, I even forwarded them the article knowing they would also get a good chuckle out of it!However, in fairness to us lowly passengers and in light of the fact that I am currently sitting on an…
The Highest Common Denominator

15 Jun 2009 | 12:02 pm

I was thinking about how the basics in life are the basics in business….being honest and consistent in your business practices and brand-messaging. Don’t over-promise…over-deliver. These sorts of thoughts run through my head all the time. I don’t separate my life into work and other. Work is one of the ways I invest my time as I live my life. As such, I don’t have one set of values for work and another set for the rest of the time. It’s hard work finding customers. I want to keep them. It’s too expensive to just work with people once. I feel the same way about my friends.
Breaking through the clutter: Two inspiring ads

12 Jun 2009 | 11:06 am

Ah, advertising. It takes more than just an ad degree and a catchy jingle to mount a successful ad campaign these days... But exactly how much more? While searching the web this week, I found two great examples of exactly what lengths advertisers are willing to go to in order to break out of the white noise and gain recognition. Whether it's building a cult following with coordinated dance moves or building a brand campaign around an interactive digital aquarium, these marketers realize that straight-forward ad campaigns are a thing of the past.And I for one couldn't be happier.This Weeks…

The Merrill Dubrow Blog
Six Months In The Record Books And Six Months To Go! How Do You Feel?

Merrill Dubrow

1 Jul 2009 | 7:40 am

As you read this posting, the year is half over. You have heard over and over how difficult and challenging the economy is and how that has affected all of our businesses. So how do you feel about things? How is the morale of your team? Is your strategy working? Are you ahead of budget? Are things getting better for you? For us, we have had a pretty good year. For some reason the economy hit our company hard in August and September of 2008. Since then we have responded nicely, picked up some new clients and are really focusing everyone on delivering more insight to our…
Attention Sports Fans: What Do You Think About These Athletes Wearing These Uniforms?

Merrill Dubrow

29 Jun 2009 | 5:19 am

With free agency and large contracts, loyalty with athletes and teams in some ways is a thing of the past. I grew up watching Carl Yastrzemski, Larry Bird, George Brett and Brooks Robinson. What did they have in common? Yes they were all great players, but they also all played for one team. Yes one team–something that current great players like AROD, Shaq, Manny Ramirez and many others can’t say. The question is, what athletes wearing what uniforms make you feel a little uneasy–make you feel very uncomfortable? As I write this posting, there is a chance that Brett…
Okay. I Am Ordering. What Am I Getting For You?

Merrill Dubrow

26 Jun 2009 | 7:01 am

So I probably have your attention with the title of this post. You probably are thinking I am buying you something but have no idea what that is. Well here goes. Yes I am ordering. We are in a restaurant or a bar and having a fun time with friends. What are you drinking? Rum and Coke Vodka on the rocks A Mojito Tequila shot White Russian Long Island Iced Tea Dirty Martini Piña Colada Mudslide Beer Wine Champagne Seven & Seven If you were taking my order, it would most likely be a beer and almost…
Brush With Fame - What Do You Do?

Merrill Dubrow

24 Jun 2009 | 6:55 am

Over the last few months I have been on a plane with Bobby Knight, Penn Jillette and a number of other celebrities. For those of you who travel I am sure you have experienced the same or have seen famous people in a restaurant, bar or in a hotel. For me I didn’t say anything to Penn Jillette who actually is a very large man and was traveling with his wife so I didn’t want to impose on their family time. I did on the other hand say hello to Bobby Knight and mentioned I was a fan and actually did shake his hand. When I was younger I would ask for autographs a lot. But it was only at…
Attention Baseball Fans: True Or False

Merrill Dubrow

22 Jun 2009 | 7:23 am

David Ortiz is 33 years old? False. No chance. For the record I love Big Papi and he has been the face of the Boston Redsox for a bunch of years. Yes his bat speed has slowed down and yes it has something to do with his age. Roy Halladay wins 24 games? True. He is the most dominating pitcher in the American league and is unhittable most nights! Manny Ramirez’ current suspension will keep him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame? False. This is what I read according to the L.A. Times: no trace of hCG was found in Manny Ramirez’s urine, but a prescription for the drug is what led to…

"are you ready to lead?"» "are you ready to lead?" -
Anything’s not on the menu.

Raj Menon

29 Jun 2009 | 9:42 pm

I am the one behind the wheel. My role is to get us to the destination. All they have to do is to decide on a place to dine. I can understand if the confusion is due to the countless cuisines to choose from or maybe due to our various taste palates. No, that’s not why a simple decision to choose a restaurant turns into a long and overdrawn process for my friends, while I aimlessly drive around. We are too considerate. We want to be non-imposing. So instead of being forthright about our preference we respond with, “I don’t know.” “What do you like?”…
The Power of Apologies

Raj Menon

12 Jun 2009 | 12:00 pm

We all make mistakes all the time. But not all of us realize that we have. Even when we do, how many of us are comfortable with apologizing and making amends before it is too late? Anytime I see someone who puts his/her guilt, pride, ego and other emotions aside to take the time and pain to say “Sorry” or send apologies and are willing to take baby steps towards redemption, I am impressed. This post is the 2nd of my Communicate Your Way To Success series. I believe success comes to those who realize their mistakes early on, are self-critical, does not hesitate to apologize and…
Keep me posted.

Raj Menon

8 Jun 2009 | 5:28 pm

“Keep me posted.” How often do you hear that in a day? Whoever you are, whatever your role, there is always someone asking you to keep him or her posted. Frankly, I am sick of it. My job is turning out to be just that. I can’t “do” anything because I am always on the phone or meetings or writing minutes of the meet to keep everyone abreast of what’s happenning. Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s part of good communication to keep my stakeholders in the loop. But at a point when it seems like a full time job (and I end up writing about it on a…
Kindle Subscription is ACTIVE

Raj Menon

7 Jun 2009 | 11:10 pm

Dear Kind(le) people, I am happy to announce lap31.com’s entry into your world. You can now subscibe to “are you ready to lead?” on the Amazon Kindle Store. Like those KIA sales ads on TV, “please don’t you leave (the Kindle Store) till you see me (my blog)”. To subscribe, click here. Thanks.
Communicate Your Way To Success:Telecon Etiquette

Raj Menon

31 May 2009 | 9:04 pm

Did you know that the majority of a manager’s time should be spent on communication? This is true for anyone in a leadership role, those who are expected to “talk” and “hear” more. But are we? I don’t think so. All around me, I see a disconnect in communication. “Communicate Your Way To Success” will be a bi-monthly series targetting different facets of communciation. It is your one-way pass to success. My phone “rings off the hook”, literally. I have a team located in a different continent and I am on teleconferences (telecons)…

Studentlinc
Halfway Point

timage

30 Jun 2009 | 10:32 am

Today is the last day of June 2009. While it might not be the literal halfway point of 2009, it is the end of six months with six months to go. With the year half over, it's good to do a little bit of reflection - both looking back and looking ahead. EXERCISE:Take a half-hour today to ask yourself the following: 1. What worked in the first half of 2009 and what didn't? 2. Who are the people that I need to invest in during the second half of the year? 3. Where do I want to be in my life (productivity, accomplishments, goals) when December 31, 2009 rolls around? 4. When will I actually…
Let Them Lead

timage

21 Jun 2009 | 9:28 am

Students learn to become student leaders by leading something.If your "student leaders" gather together for regular "student leader" meetings - have they really led anything yet?If you pass out "student leader" t-shirts to your "student leaders" - have they really led anything yet?If you hand your "student leaders" a book on "student leadership" - have they really led anything yet?What you will discover is that the REAL "student leaders" will appreciate the meetings, the t-shirt, and the book at the beginning. But they will…
Leadership Fundamentals: Which 3 Would You Choose?

timage

4 May 2009 | 2:46 pm

John Ryan has recently written an article in Forbes.com where he lists his "Three Fundamentals Of Effective Leadership." Ryan starts the article by saying:Through more than 40 years of service in the military, in higher education and with nonprofits, I've been privileged to work with and learn from superb leaders, from the young instructors who taught me how to fly airplanes for the U.S. Navy to the very smart group of corporate chief executive officers I met during a recent business trip to Asia. These talented people have differed widely in their personality traits and life…
The Principle Of The Path - Book Review

timage

4 May 2009 | 1:59 pm

I listen to Andy Stanley a couple of times a week. He's well-represented on iTunes through his various podcasts. Some of his audio downloads are sermons, some are talks he gives to select groups of people, and some are fantastic leadership podcasts that are practical and applicable the minute you stop listening.Not only is he a fantastic speaker, but he's a great writer. Perhaps that's because he follows the sage writing advice that simply says to "write like you talk." His conversational style, insightful stories, and practical application that hits you right where you…
Now Is A Good Time To Evaluate Your Experience

timage

22 Apr 2009 | 1:36 pm

Did you learn anything this year?My hope is that you have taken the time to think about your student leadership experience. I am amazed at how many students will invest an entire year in student leadership and then just walk away. Do you know how many valuable lessons you might have if you just take the time to think about what you've just experienced?You may find yourself sitting in an office somewhere trying to interview for a position. The interviewer will ask you about the experience you just had in student leadership. What will you tell that person?Everyone can have an experience.

Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog
Computer Network Operations Center Failures

John Hunter

3 Jul 2009 | 12:06 pm

Obviously many businesses are now dependent on computer Network Operations Centers (NOC). Some of these data centers can cause millions of dollars in lost sales each minute if they fail. So sound engineering, including off-site redundancy is critical. Authorize.net is a recent example of such a failure, Authorize.net Goes Down, E-Commerce Vendors Left Hanging Payment gateway service provider Authorize.net has been down and out for several hours… That has big implications: since the service is used by tens of thousands of e-commerce vendors to accept credit card and electronic checks…
Management Improvement Carnival #68

John Hunter

1 Jul 2009 | 8:08 pm

The Curious Cat Management Improvement Carnival began in 2006 with the goal to provide links to interesting blog posts for those interesting in improving the practice of management. Reward: Creativity’s Forbidden Fruit by Matt May - “Kaizen does not attempt to light a fire under people. It lights the fire within them.” Elegance and Encapsulation by Pete Abilla - “Encapsulation is an elegant and simple principle to ease the burden on your customer by subtracting or covering the unnecessary and adding the meaningful.” Deming’s Theory of Knowledge by Marc…
Toyota Develops Thought-controlled Wheelchair

John Hunter

30 Jun 2009 | 7:23 pm

Toyota has developed a thought-controlled wheelchair (along with Japanese government research institute, RIKEN, and Genesis Research Institute). Honda has also developed a system that allows a person to control a robot through thoughts. Both companies continue to invest in innovation and science and engineering. The story of a bad economy and bad sales for a year or two is what you read in most newspapers. In my opinion the more important story is why Toyota and Honda will be dominant companies 20 years from now. And that story is based on their superior management and focus on long term…
The Myth of the Genius Programmer

John Hunter

29 Jun 2009 | 5:36 am

Nice talk on fear of looking foolish. The speakers discuss the idea that visibility is good. Don’t hide. Make everything visible and the benefit from many people’s ideas. The talk focuses on software development but is true for any work. “criticism is not evil” - Very true. “At Google we are not allowed to submit code until there is code review.” At the bottom line they are repeating Deming’s ideas: improve the system - people are not the problem, bad systems are the problem. Iterate quickly. Related: 10x Productivity Difference in Software…
Google Innovates Again with Google Wave

John Hunter

25 Jun 2009 | 9:47 am

Google Wave is a new tool for communication and collaboration on the web, coming later this year. They are developing this as an open access project. The creative team is lead by the creators for Google Maps (brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen). A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. You really have to watch to understand what it is. This is a long webcast (1 hour and 20 minutes) and likely will be best only for those interested in internet technology solutions. But it also provides…

LeaderCast
A Leader Must Have Vision

Peter

2 Jul 2009 | 7:25 pm

Leaders need to have vision to avoid being in a fog Photo by Philipp Klinger (No sun anymore on Cape Cod) A leader’s primary objective is often simply to lead and direct people. But it is vital to recognize other aspects a leader must also focus on. One such important area is having a vision.Having a vision means planning ahead, it means having a goal or idea for the future.It means that there is an overriding objective that the leader is trying to attain. Every leader, no matter what occupation they have or role they play should be working towards their objective. Having a vision gives…
The Importance of Short Term Goals

Peter

1 Jul 2009 | 10:57 pm

Using short term goals you can reach even the most lofty goal Photo by Kevin Steele You may be great at putting together a lofty vision that encompasses your long term goals, but what are you doing to reach them? Do you have steps and short term goals to help you reach your final objective? Long term goals are great, but as long as you don’t have a step by step plan for getting there, you probably won’t get there. Setting several short term goals that lead you to accomplishing your final objective is the best way to stay focused and on track. In a great book I was reading called Axiom by…
4 Great Roles for Every Great Leader

Alex

1 Jul 2009 | 7:22 pm

A short clip on the four roles of a great leader.
5 Questions That Help You Succeed

Alex

30 Jun 2009 | 8:23 pm

photo by striatic Success is defined as “the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted” in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, and there are 5 key questions that you must ask yourself if you want to succeed. These questions will help you start thinking of what needs to happen for success to be part of your life. 1. What is God’s will? To truly be successful in life, you must follow God’s will. The desire to accomplish things should come from him. Think about what God has in store for you in life. No one can become successful in life without…
In What Areas can a Life Coach Help me?

Peter

30 Jun 2009 | 12:56 am

What Arenas in your life need Help? photo by Héctor de Pereda The Arenas of Life These are just a few of the areas in which people live their lives. You may feel a need to hire a coach to help you set and achieve goals in one or more of life’s “theaters of operations.” Or you may need to learn to balance the conflicting needs and opportunities these areas of life present. Read over this list, and consider whether you are living to your full potential in your life. Note: This list is not meant to be exhaustive; you may need help in other areas as well. Aesthetics: Enjoying…

Team Building WNY
Creativity and the needs for standardization

Michael Cardus

3 Jul 2009 | 7:23 am

clipped from theleanthinker.com“standardizing” is simply setting down what we believe is our best shot atwhat should work. Once reality sets in, there are nearly always things nobodythought of – opportunities to learn. Capturing those moments is impossible ifthere is no consistent baseline in the first place.And, just for the sake of argument, let’s say that the process, as designed,works pretty well. The question must then be asked: “Are we able to provide ourcustomers exactly what they need, exactly when they needed it, on demand,one-by-one, perfect quality, in a perfectly safe…
Leadership Development Program

Michael Cardus

30 Jun 2009 | 5:54 am

Leadership Development ProgramLeadership Development Program Overview:The organization has a need for leadership development.The leaders will benefit from the ability to effectively delegate tasks and hold others accountable for success and failures. Additionally the current leadership has an unknown fear to take risks that may move the organization to a new level.Program Objectives:The objectives for this project include;· Leadership Development· Task delegation· Calculated risk taking· Agreement to decision making within team· Accountability of actions within the Leadership Team·…
Corporate Team Building - Low Ropes Course Conference Center

Michael Cardus

26 Jun 2009 | 5:45 am

Create-Learning led a 2-day corporate team development program for 70 team members. Below are photos from our time together. The program was held at a Corporate Conference Center that was accessible to the Buffalo NY and Rochester NY employees.The quotes and italics are comments that the participants made about the program.A piece of a large Corporate Personality Puzzle - I like the Buffalo and Rochester overlapping circles and the idea of collaboration amongst offices.Much of the program focused on how individual strengths add to the team. Developing an understanding that Gen-Y, Gen-X, and…
Quantum Theory & Business Ethics

Michael Cardus

23 Jun 2009 | 7:54 am

I am so pleased to see the Multi-verse being used for ethical models of business.Perhaps now we can begin to explain how the 2 Slit experiment with wave vs. particle function applies to leadership?came across a link to this from http://twitter.com/corvidae on twitter-Michael Cardus is the founder of Create-Learning-Team Building, an experiential based training and development consulting organization, as well as a blogger for TeamBuilding NY. Mike specializes in team development and leadership development consulting and training, creating team-building programs that retain talented staff…
Leader is to Manager as Stapler is to Staple

Michael Cardus

23 Jun 2009 | 4:30 am

Managers lead and innovate while staying within the boundaries set by their organization. For people to be innovators they must have a solid idea of the boundaries. A manager knows what the boundaries are and is able to innovate and improve existing processes within the system. Leaders are thought to be outside the boundaries, this is not true. Many leaders are working within confines of organizations and systems that have clearly defined boundaries. Once a leader begins to work with a team the management becomes evident. Leaders do manage and managers do lead. The term manager has gotten a…

Management Excellence
The Fourth of July in America

...And after you've marveled a bit at what our founding ancestors managed to pull-off, you might just want to pop a copy of The Sandlot into the VCR (my copy is still on VHS) and marvel at a nation that can produce baseball and hot dogs and Ray Charles and the sheer joy of freedom in spite of our many and recently very visible imperfections. The movie goes best with a cold lemonade next to you.
Leadership Caffeine: Strengthen Your Leadership Foundation

The best leaders in my opinion are guided by a strong sense of duty and responsibility. The individuals that succeed in motivating, inspiring and even changing the lives and careers of others operate with an underlying philosophical foundation that they draw upon to remain focused and steadfast in pursuing their daily activities. Everyone else sort of wanders through the leadership woods, reacting more on instinct than acting as if they are being guided by a stronger sense of purpose and duty.
Collaboration and the Leader

Many leaders are lousy collaborators. It doesn’t seem to matter that they spend a great deal of time encouraging, coaching and facilitating collaboration between their team members and across functional boundaries. When it comes time for Leader A to work with Leader B on something other than getting other people to do things, the dynamics get interesting and the output is often disappointing.
The Seven Critical Conversations of Great Firms and Great Leaders

You learn a great deal about an organization’s current state, near-term prospects and about the health and effectiveness of a firm’s leaders by looking for and listening to the quality of the conversations in the working environment. There are at least Seven Critical Conversations that I observe taking place over and over again in organizations that that are either successful or improving. These same conversations are often nowhere to be found except perhaps behind the closed doors of a firm’s leaders in less successful firms or organizations that are struggling and sinking.
Leadership Caffeine for the New Week: Power-Washed! Guest Post

One of the challenge that many leaders face in their seemingly endless string of days of teaching, leading, motivating, supporting, challenging and guiding their colleagues is how to refresh and recharge. It's an important topic and one that is under-represented (in my opinion) in the leadership literature, including my own. It’s difficult to be “on” all of the time, and for leaders, the stress fractures show through usually in the form of snapping or growling at someone. While never good form, the momentary break from behavior is indicative of the need to take a few deep breaths or to…

Be Excellent
Strategic Planning Retreat? Don't Skip This Year's!

Skip Reardon

2 Jul 2009 | 12:17 pm

This Year's Management Off Site: Necessary or Negligent?That's the title of a new article from Harvard Business Publishing, which offers up the pros and cons of scheduling the "annual planning retreat" during times of economic uncertainty.The pros?• Hunkering down is not a strategy. • Management alignment is critical and at risk.• Creativity is more important than ever.• Pure ROIThe cons?• Managers are talking more than ever now.• It wouldn't be prudent to spend money on a hotel, food and facilitator.• It sends a bad message to those still on-site.BOTTOMLINE: The authors suggest…
Execution of Strategy Requires Change

Skip Reardon

1 Jul 2009 | 4:47 am

The successful execution of strategy ultimately requires a change in the behavior of employees.New research conducted over the last two decades has produced a more accurate view of human behavior change resulting from an integration of psychology (the study of the human mind and human behavior) and neuroscience (the study of the anatomy and physiology of the brain).An article titled “The Neuroscience of Leadership“, from Strategy+Business provides an interesting discussion on organisational change, some of the interesting points raised in the article are:Some key points from the…
2009 Is Half Over - How To Improve Your Strategic Planning Process

Skip Reardon

30 Jun 2009 | 7:39 am

Hard to believe - but 2009 is now half over, which means it's time to assess how your organization faired so far.The most important thing to do is step back and improve your strategic planning process.Even top performing companies undertake a time-consuming strategic planning process that unfortunately leaves many executives frustrated with the results.This sense of disappointment was captured in a recent McKinsey quarterly survey of nearly 800 top executives:Only 45 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the strategic-planning processMoreover, only 23 percent indicated that…
Linking Strategy And Execution - A Parallel Universe?

Skip Reardon

30 Jun 2009 | 5:23 am

In their book "The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage" (Harvard Business School Press), Harvard professors Dr. Robert S. Kaplan and Dr. David P. Norton (creators of the balanced scorecard) offer their lastest insights concerning the "rules" of successful strategy execution.The failure to balance the tensions between strategy and operations is pervasive. Breakdowns in a company’s management system, not managers’ lack of ability or effort, are what cause a company’s underperformance. By management system, they're referring to the integrated set of…
The Power of External Accountability Coaching

Skip Reardon

30 Jun 2009 | 4:45 am

Let’s consider what accountability is, and how we can build an organizational culture that encourages it.Be definition, accountability is being answerable or responsible for something. Accountability opens the door to ownership – not necessarily financial ownership -- but certainly emotional ownership, where someone acknowledges they’re responsible for some aspect of the organization.Accountability is not something you “make” people do. It has to be chosen, accepted or agreed upon by people within your organization. People must “buy into” being accountable and responsible. For…

Center For Leader Development
Bad Leadership

Scott J. Allen

3 Jul 2009 | 6:37 pm

Barbara Kellerman, author of Bad Leadership needs to add a new category. Cheaters. This is an interesting (and unfortunate) compilation of leaders who have cheated and in the process lost the trust of constituents, and undermined their ability to effectively lead. - Scott J. Allen “I don’t want to blow up my time in politics,” he told the AP. “I don’t want to blow up future earning power, I don’t want to blow up the kids’ lives. I don’t want to blow up 20 years that we’ve invested. But if I’m completely honest, there are still…
National Leadership Symposium

Scott J. Allen

12 Jun 2009 | 5:04 pm

A note from John Ogle at National Association for Campus Activities: We want to remind you to register for the 2009 NCLP/NACA National Leadership Symposium by the early registration deadline of June 4. For details, please read the attached brochure or go to http://www.naca.org/Events/Pages/nls.aspx. Space is limited. We look forward to seeing you this summer! So don’t wait - get in on the savings now and register by the early registration deadline.
Journal of Leadership Education

Scott J. Allen

8 Jun 2009 | 7:08 am

We are excited to announce the publication of the special issue of the Journal of Leadership Education (JOLE) highlighting current issues and challenges in the field of leadership education. You can access the full issue from the link in the middle of the editor’s introduction: http://www.fhsu.edu/jole/issues/current.html or the full PDF at the following: http://www.fhsu.edu/jole/issues/JOLE_8_1.pdf The issue highlights challenges in theoretical foundations of leadership education, evaluation and assessment, curriculum and pedagogy, and faculty development. The issue also includes three…
Businessballs.Com

Scott J. Allen

4 Jun 2009 | 5:50 am

I stumbled upon businessballs.com the other night and was really impressed with the amount of information they have provided (free of charge). It is pretty incredible. There are a number of links that relate nicely to the study and practice of leadership development. Check them out when you have the chance. - Scott J. Allen belbin team roles and personality types theory bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains experiential learning - and guide to facilitating experiential activities conscious competence learning model
Do The Test

Scott J. Allen

31 May 2009 | 11:37 am

This is an interesting video to include in a discussion on leadership. I will often include it in a discussion on the topic of feedback. After all, it is difficult for anyone one of us to see the whole picture. See what you think! - Scott J. Allen

SteveFarber.com
Another Extreme Leadership Educator

Steve

17 Jun 2009 | 9:48 pm

I wrote recently about principal, Jim Wipke, and his endeavors to bring Extreme Leadership into the world of education. Well…here’s evidence of his influence on another teacher in a very personal, direct way. The following email is from Paul Godwin (posted here with his permission). I don’t share this to toot my own horn–even though it sorta does, I guess–but more to give you a glimpse into the quality of heart that resides and thrives in the world’s great teachers. And also to underscore something I’ve come to understand about my own work: more…
An (HR) SOS From Ireland

Steve

1 Jun 2009 | 2:01 pm

The following note from Ireland came to us via the Greater Than Yourself site. The writer is specifically asking about GTY as a solution for some far-reaching (heart-wrenching) challenges, and it’s a good question. But I’d like to open it up to any and all solutions. So…what advice do you have for our Irish friend? Would GTY be part of the solution? If so, why? If not, why not? What other ideas or words of counsel or encouragement can you offer? Please comment below: “I am an HR Director in a software company in Ireland. Due to recession, societal meltdown and a…
The GTY Principal (Wipke)

Steve

26 May 2009 | 1:35 pm

I’ve always yearned for the principles of Extreme Leadership to find their way into the world of education, and–little by little–it’s starting to happen. I’ve written before on this blog about elementary school principal, David Pinter–and he continues to be a deep source of inspiration, to be sure. Recently, I’ve also come to know Jim Wipke, who is the principal of Crestview Middle School in the St. Louis area. Jim and his team have been applying The Radical Leap, The Radical Edge, and–more recently–Greater Than Yourself to the way the…
Julie’s Question

Steve

26 Apr 2009 | 3:04 pm

There’s an excellent GTY conversation taking place over at HarvardBusiness.org. What follows is a question left by Julie Engel Manga and my response to it. What do you think? Julie says: “I am very happy to see this discussion. One note: The GTY project is discussed as an “action” or project. I suggest that while clearly this kind of commitment must show up in action that it is, as importantly, an orientation toward others and the world. It implies a certain kind of relationship with others and the world. Given this, I suggest that it’s useful to consider that…
6 Steps on Harvard Business

Steve

23 Apr 2009 | 10:32 am

The Harvard Business site has posted my article on Greater Than Yourself, in which I outline these 6 steps for getting started with your GTY Project: 1. Choose Wisely 2. Open the Door and Invite Them In 3. Hook Them Up 4. Sing Their Praises 5. Practice Tough Love 6. Demand the One Commitment Please go on over to their blog to read the details and participate in the conversation that’s started over yonder. Technorati Tags: greater than yourself, leadership, mentoring

Unleashing Your Leadership Potential
Friday Inspiration for Leaders - Signing On To Revolution

3 Jul 2009 | 3:13 am

233 years ago tomorrow, 56 men, ranging in age from 26 to 70, leaders every one, signed a piece of paper. They signed it because they believed in a vision of a better future.When they signed it they knew they could be convicted of treason against the country of their birth.Yet they signed a Declaration of Independence.Of course for those of us in the United States this story might be more significant, but the lesson need not be missed by anyone from any background or heritage.They showed innovative leadership when they signed a document that changed the world. And while in…
Leading Into the Unknown

2 Jul 2009 | 3:26 am

As leaders we all know that we are leading people into the future. And while the future is always murky, and we are never exactly sure what our desitiona will look like, few of us lead the way Amelia Earhart did.72 years ago today she and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator. (Image courtesy of The New York Times and their On This Page service.)Reading this this morning challenged me, and I believe it should challenge all of us leaders.Are we stretching our vision far enough?Are we trusting…
Your Leadership Vote Counts!

1 Jul 2009 | 6:11 am

We've annouced the 2009 Best Leadership Blog contest,and here is my short video to tell you why you should vote! You've got nothing to lose, and much to gain! See the list of nomiated blogs and place your vote today!
What is The Best Leadership Blog in the World?

30 Jun 2009 | 3:16 pm

This is the third year in a row we have asked this question - What is the best leadership blog in the world?. But rather than to just ask the question and answer it ourselves, we searched for the best, asked colleagues and others for the best and compiled a list.This year 40 blogs were nominated. We then took the difficult step of taking 40 gems and finding the 10 best.It is these ten that we offer to you for your reading and learning pleasure.And we humbly ask for your help in determining which will be crowned as the Best Leadership Blog of 2009.Here is the…
A Public Lesson in Change Leadership

29 Jun 2009 | 6:11 pm

Last week The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a big change to the Academy Awards process - next year there will be ten nominees for best picture rather than five.The last year that there were more than five nominees was 1943 (Casablanca won that year by the way). While the number of nominees fluctuated between 8-12 prior to that, since 1944 there have always been just 5.This story made the top page of USA Today Section D last week, and I predict not too much will be mentioned about it for awhile, until about the first of February (the nominees…

Survival Leadership
Buying Success Insurance

3 Jul 2009 | 8:58 am

4. So, what can a CEO do to ensure that this misguided thinking and resulting failure don’t take place?a. Be aware of the problem and its enormous cost to the organization. Treat it like any other $2.7 risk to the company. b. Buy insurance…some form of on-boarding process.Hire a coach who's worked with executive on-boarding before. It's the best investment (and cheapest) to insure the risk c. Engage Human Resources. HR should not just in hiring executives, but also make sure there’s an orientation/on-boarding process in place before executives arrive. Oftentimes, it’s up to the…
You're Both Wrong!

2 Jul 2009 | 9:24 am

This is the third of a number of posts about on-boarding for executives:3. Who is at fault for this failure rate?a. The company or organization thinks: We invested a lot in this executive. He or she will figure out what has to be done.b. Incoming new executives think: I’ve done this before; I’m smart enough to figure it out. What got me here will get me to the next level. Everyone wants to see some immediate results.c. WRONG! A pox on both houses.(This Q&A appeared in CEO Magazine in June, 2009)
The Cost of On-Boarding if NOT Done Right

1 Jul 2009 | 1:58 am

This is the second of a number of posts about on-boarding for executives:2. What are the stats regarding such on-boarding when it goes bad?a. In his book, The First 90 Days, Michael Watkins of the Harvard Business School states the blunt, disturbing truth: “Studies have found that more than 40-50% of senior outside hires fail to achieve desired results. Estimates of the direct and indirect costs to a company of a failed executive-level hire range as high as $2.7 million.”b. In my experience as an executive coach, I’ve watched new executives come in like a freight train, turn the place…
On-Board Coaching Starts Here

30 Jun 2009 | 6:37 pm

On-boarding is a critical issue for executives matriculating from other companies. Because the failure rate is so high (40-50% within two years), it's an important topic for all companies. This week and next will be devoted to this topic of executive coaching.This is the first of a number of posts about on-boarding for executives1.What does on-boarding mean, relative to new executives?a. Whenever you bring a new executive (or anyone for that matter) into a company, it’s as if he or she were entering into a tribe. Such tribes (companies and organizations) all have a distinct culture and…
Ken Blanchard Praises Transparent Leader

30 Jun 2009 | 6:21 pm

This is the final post regarding The Transparent Leader:Ken Blanchard, national bestselling leadership author, has just endorsed my newest book, The Transparent Leader, focused on the success of women:“Steve Gladis knows that honest and open communication between people is the key to successful working relationships. The Transparent Leader is a story about how simple it can be to improve your leadership style by learning to listen to, trust, and open up truthfully to those around you at every level. Read this book and be a better leader!”- Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute…

Learn This
Appreciative Inquiry – Tools and Methods

Mike King

2 Jul 2009 | 4:15 am

In my last article I introduced appreciative inquiry and some background for the methods and why it is useful. This article I share some of the tools and methods that can help you perforce or apply appreciative inquiry in areas of your life. Since I have really only looked at how appreciative inquiry is used for strategic planning and thinking, that is what I am going to angle the methods for this article as well, but keep in mind these could easily be adjusted for other purposes. So, again the method is to discover what makes an organization “alive” in the sense of its life…
Appreciative Inquiry – Introduction

Mike King

29 Jun 2009 | 4:15 am

I mentioned a course I was in a previous article about strategy that I learned some new things at. Well that course was for strategic planning but the focus of it was doing so with the system of appreciative inquiry. I found this method to be a valuable way of enabling change and questioning using tools and methods that were highly engaging and potentially, relationship builders. That specifically interested me and so I’m determined now to learn more about it, utilize it and activate change around me as a result. What is Appreciative Inquiry Appreciative Inquiry is a method or…
How to Choose Your New Mind Pattern

Mike King

24 Jun 2009 | 4:15 am

I’m happy to present this guest article by Arswino of Inspiration and Motivation Blog. It’s on a subject I very much love and think it to be a great set of questions and starting tips to help guide you to the mind pattern you want to have. Thanks Arswino! Here it is… How to Choose Your New Mind Pattern How do you get your new mind pattern? How do you choose a new thought to replace the limiting old thought? Next are some clues to help you do this, to create your new mind pattern. 1. Be real, concrete, and comprehensive. To do this, it means you must write it down…
So Many Joys in Life

Mike King

22 Jun 2009 | 4:15 am

I’ve been quite consumed lately by the many activities I’m involved in and commit to as you may have noticed from my lack of updates here. Work of course is busy for me as always (and yes, I’m grateful that it is, since so many people are not finding that recently), and my side business of graphics and animation has been exceptionally busy the last few months with good size jobs and back to back projects. This isn’t normal for me and I’ve taken on some projects that have been consuming much of my spare time. Its often these rushed periods in life that really make…
The Art in Creativity

Mike King

1 Jun 2009 | 4:15 am

I’ve been thinking and writing a lot more about creativity lately and today my thoughts brought me to the subject of art. Art is one of those things that seems so subjective and person its hard to really define. Most people when they think of art, think of the traditional styles of art, like drawings and paintings, perhaps music or even sculptures. To me, art is much more than that, it is not in the things you produce as an artist but actually in the process of creation. Art, therefore, is really anything that is created. It is still subjective since it is a personal…

Ed Gerety's Dream Big Blog
Jump!

Ed Gerety

18 Jun 2009 | 7:16 am

Jump: to take eagerly; to enter into something with vigor My little girl Shannon is two-and-a-half years old and I just started teaching her how to swim. This basically means me getting into a pool with her while she floats around with a swim bubble strapped to her back. Recently, she has discovered the game of going to the side of the pool and then jumping into my arms. The first time that she did it I could see the fear in her whole body. She was scared, nervous, wondering how I would ever catch her. When she finally did jump and landed into my arms her whole face turned to shear joy and…
What’s On Your List?

Ed Gerety

28 May 2009 | 11:23 am

I just finished reading, “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch. If you have not already read it, it is a must read. “The Last Lecture” is now one of my top ten favorite books of all time. One of my favorite quotes in the book is, “It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.” When I think of the magical moments of my life and dreams that have come true I can see that there was nothing forced or controlled. I allowed the moment or the event…
Playing Big in the Game of Life

Ed Gerety

23 Apr 2009 | 7:52 am

I had the opportunity to present a four hour leadership training in San Francisco, California this past Sunday to an elite group of student- athletes representing every school in the PAC 10 conference. It was inspiring to be in a room filled with NCAA champions, Olympians, and future professional athletes. The focus of the training was to teach them the principles and skills that are essential to being an effective leader. During one of the breaks, one of the student -athletes came up to me and asked me the following question. “Ed, what if you are afraid of sharing your goal/dream with…
A New Level of Performance

Ed Gerety

17 Mar 2009 | 10:10 am

One of my passions is reading great books on leadership and peak performance. I love to learn about how individuals and organizations are able to overcome challenges and produce extraordinary results.My new favorite book is by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan titled, The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life (J-B Warren Bennis Series). The book is inspiring and well – just awesome. Here’s why. What makes this book unique is that it does not give you steps, strategies, or secret tips about success. It is a hands-on practical approach to living…
Work Hard, Play Hard…There is no ‘Someday’

Ed Gerety

12 Feb 2009 | 8:10 am

I went away for a few days with my family up to North Conway, NH in the White Mountains. While I was there I took some time to go skiing. It’s one of my favorite activities to do and it always re-energizes me and helps me look at my life from a different perspective. I was reminded on this trip that it is just as important to play hard as it is to work hard; to carve out that time in my life to do the things that I am passionate about and to do the things that I love to do. I find that when I do that I am not only re-energized but inspired and present to what really matters in my…

youthmania.net
Prakash Mundhra, CEO of Sacred Moments

Subrat

30 Jun 2009 | 10:48 am

Prakash Mundhra, an MBA from SCMHRD, Pune has chosen Entrepreneurship as his career rather than joining any Companies. His company“Sacred Moments” manufactures ‘Blessingz’ Diwali Puja Kits. The kit has 32 items essential for the Diwali Puja, packed and labeled in a way people could not have imagined. Most of the clients of his company are corporates, even his clients include Former Vice President- Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhavat, Mr. Ashok Hinduja and Smt. Rajashree Birla. “Entrepreneurship has its own share of fun and sorrows which one can never experience in corporate…
123greetings.com,Online Card Company

Subrat

29 Jun 2009 | 2:37 am

People generally go shops to buy Greetings card for their friends, but now this problem has been solved by 123 Greetings.com that provides online Greetings cards to users. It provides various types of cards on every occasions. You can also get Birthday card, Rakshya Bandhan card, Valentine card, Friendship card and also funy cards. It is the world’s leading online destination for human expressions reaching over 120 million unique users annually. Drawing from its tag line “Giving Life to your Expressions” the service inculcates a sense of personalization that relates to the…
LetzKnow.Com, An Integrated Student Information Network

Subrat

29 Jun 2009 | 2:20 am

Letzknow.com is a Students Network founded by a group of Students of VIT, Velore. The website provides all informations regarding Campus news, Festivals News in colleges across India, Competitions news and Workshops news. The motto of this website is to connect millions of Indian Students through the power of internet. To bridge the gap between aspiring students and College events happening across the nation. To digitalize the plethora of student projects carried out by students, faculty and research scholars. And to make them available for free. The website founded by Manikandan HK &…
Sixer Sports, Connects people to Sports

Subrat

29 Jun 2009 | 1:04 am

Sixer Sports is an online platform to connect Indian sports fans. s the best way to stay in touch with other sports fans and discover the events unfolding in sports world.The services are free for everyone. The website provides all informations regarding sports. Even it provides information on Tenis, Hockey and other sports. Using this website a sports fan can find, join and connect with other sports fans. One can also create his own page and share his sports life by uploading his pictures, videos. Its members can upload sports news that can be read by other sports fans & they…
Kunal Sinha, Founder & CEO of Healthcaremagic.Com

Subrat

29 Jun 2009 | 12:45 am

Healthcare is a big problem in India. To solve this problem Kunal Sinha, an Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur founded an Online healthcare solution company with the help of his friends. Before starting this Online healthcare service he was working in IBM. He founded his first startup company TechUnified in 2000. He transformed the company from a pure services company to a banking and telecom product company and was instrumental in getting his company acquired by a public listed entity. HealthcareMagic is the world’s first portal allowing a live interaction…

Lindsey Pollak Blog
Next episode of 30/20 Vision Radio Show: Monday, June 22nd at 5pm ET

Lindsey Pollak

21 Jun 2009 | 9:43 am

Please join us for the next edition of 30/20 Vision, the monthly radio show for twentysomethings who wish they had a few big sisters to clue them in on the ins and outs of life after college. The show will feature your regular hosts, thirtysomething authors Christine Hassler, Alexandra Levit and me. It will air live Monday, June 22nd at 5PM ET. We’ll be talking about our relationships with MEN over the years — this should be a fun one! Hope you’ll join us live on Monday or listen to the replay.
Guest Post: Gen Y, Body-Build Your Resumes!

Lindsey Pollak

16 Jun 2009 | 8:33 am

Today I’m pleased to share a guest post from Chris Perry, a Gen Y Brand and Marketing Generator, a Career Search and Personal Branding Expert and the Founder of Career Rocketeer, the Career Search and Personal Branding Blog. Whether you know it or not, we Gen Yers have a competitive edge over older job seekers in the career search. We are less expensive to hire, we are more impressionable (not having already settled into one company culture or way of doing things), and we have grown up with ever-changing technology, having become fast learners as a result. However, the major obstacle…
Seeking volunteers for a college student focus group in NYC

Lindsey Pollak

14 Jun 2009 | 8:46 pm

I’m working on a project with a corporate client in NYC, and we are seeking college student volunteers to participate in a focus group to gather student opinions in the area of marketing. I will be moderating the focus group and would be super grateful for your participation. Participants must be available to devote two hours on Tuesday, June 23rd, from 6:30pm- 8:30pm OR Wednesday, June 24th, from 6:30- 8:30pm, to offer their candid opinions in a group setting. The focus groups will be held in midtown Manhattan. The group will be anonymous — any information recorded from these…
Career Clippings: What I’m reading

Lindsey Pollak

3 Jun 2009 | 7:18 pm

Two weeks ago I moved into a new apartment and office, so life has been a bit chaotic. One of the areas where I’ve fallen behind is my reading. I currently have a stack of clipped articles, tagged magazines (so old media, I know) and a “favorites” file full of bookmarked articles I’ve come across online but haven’t had time to read. Here is a chunk of my current “to-read” list. I hope this will guide you to some interesting content. And, if I never make it to the bottom of my stack, hopefully you can share your thoughts with me on what you’ve…
Welcome to my new website and blog!

Lindsey Pollak

1 Jun 2009 | 6:08 am

Today marks a new month and a new design for LindseyPollak.com! I’m excited to share this new website and blog design, which features more career advice videos, more social networking opportunities, more information about my campus and corporate speaking and — coming soon — audio downloads. Many thanks to Scott Weiner of Brandwagon for all of his creativity and hard work. I hope you enjoy the new website and please share any feedback you have!

The Student Affairs Blog
Over the Hedge?

nope

2 Jul 2009 | 11:38 am

As the father of a 3 ½ year old, I have found myself increasingly taking life lessons from children's movies. The 300 or so times I have watched Cars have taught me that if you go fast and turn right hard enough, you'll start going left, and that it's better not to be a “one man show.” Up reminded me to value my family and to never give up on my dreams. Then there's Over the Hedge...“Spring has arrived and an array of creatures sleeping in a large tree trunk has awakened from their winter hibernation. This group of unusual creatures, porcupines, possums, a squirrel, a skunk, has formed…
Online Branding Quick Tip - Is Your School's User Name Available?

nope

2 Jul 2009 | 11:19 am

Here's a handy tool that can be useful for students, higher ed professionals and student affairs offices alike. It's namechk.com. What this convenient little web tool does is allow you to check the availability of "vanity" profile names on more than 50 social media sites at once (not that you intrinsically would want to be involved in that many sites), including facebook, twitter, linkedin, and many others.Is your office starting a facebook page or maybe you've been thinking about opening a twitter account? Enter the profile name you hope to use into namechk.com and find out if it's…
Tuesday Tally - For Your Student Affairs Job, Which Web Tools Do You Use Regularly?

nope

2 Jul 2009 | 7:59 am

If you cannot view this poll click here.And here are the results from the last poll.
Integrating Public Service into the College Experience

nope

30 Jun 2009 | 7:38 am

Crossposted at Future Majority.One of my favorite aspects of blogging and working in student affairs is learning about various programs and initiatives that infuse civic engagement and service-learning into the college experience. Dickinson College in Pennsylvania is prepared to announce the implementation of a public service fellowship program which will serve as one of the best examples yet of an institution linking its values with President Obama's call for public service. From the soon-to-be-released release: After four years of high school, not all students are ready to continue with…
Tweet...tweet.... anyone out there?

nope

29 Jun 2009 | 9:31 pm

Here on campus we are recovering nicely from a busy orientation season and are starting to reflect on our successes, failures and ideas for the future. One of the biggest new things we tried this year was use of Twitter for orientation in a few different ways.First, we set up a Twitter account that we used as a staff communication tool. This was a closed account where only our orientation leaders and department staff could "follow" and we just used it for quick and simple communication, announcements, reminders, etc. Next, we set up an "Off2BSC" account that was posted for freshmen,…

It's Getting Hot in Here
Tom Friedman Called Us Out

dannymarx

2 Jul 2009 | 1:29 pm

Jessy Tolkan rallies the crowd on Capitol Hill as the House votes on ACES inside As a young person, you care about global warming. You know that a clean energy economy will create millions of jobs and pathways out of poverty, reduce pollution, and save the planet. And you are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Right? Well, Thomas L. Friedman, the popular New York Times columnist, isn’t convinced. In fact, Friedman concludes his latest column* by calling us out! He writes: “Attention all young Americans: your climate future is being decided right now in the…
The Breakup

Alisha Fowler

2 Jul 2009 | 10:54 am

Join ACE this July 4 as we break up with oil! Declare your Independence from Fossil Fuels and Sign the Declaration: www.climateeducation.org/petition Posted in Climate Policy, Youth Leaders
Sacrificing the Moral Highground: A Satirical Article on How We Got to Where We Are

craigaltemose

1 Jul 2009 | 8:33 pm

The below article is an attempt to use a satirical historical comparison to demonstrate how we have drifted away from moral messages that convey our values and the seriousness of the situation in favor of treating a societal evil (emitting greenhouse gases) as a trade-able commodity that has a rightful place in our society. “Cap and Trade Bill Passes House, Democrats Attack as Assault on Economy” June 26th, 1859 The United States House of Representatives, in a victory for the nascent Republican Party, narrowly voted to substantially reduce the amount of slaves in the United…
Attention Tom Friedman: We The People Includes You

Alexander M. Tinker

1 Jul 2009 | 12:09 pm

Tom Friedman’s piece in yesterday’s New York Times gets a few things right: Waxman-Markey (ACES) is disappointingly weak thanks to the GOP’s unwillingness to find solutions, we must strengthen and pass it through the Senate, “We The People” owe it to the future to rise up like never before to make this happen. But he narrows “We The People” to mean We The Young People. I’ve got news for you Mr. Friedman – young people are rising up like never before to make this happen. We’ve been to DC twice and stormed Capitol Hill with young lobbyists to counter dirty energies hired…
There’s Food, Not Bombs! There’s a Garden on the White House Lawn!

Caroline Howe

1 Jul 2009 | 12:07 pm

He listened! Obama listened! We chanted during PowerShift’s march on the Capital Coal Plant and even later that night outside of the While House calling for “Food, Not Bombs! Plant a Garden on the White House Lawn!” It sounded good, and I remember seeing the lights go on in an upstairs window as we sang late at night, but maybe that was just a twinkle in the White House’s eye. Either way, I just learned that Obama did plant a nice big vegetable garden on the White House lawn in March, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Gardens, and things are coming up…

Managing Leadership
Independence Day

Jim Stroup

2 Jul 2009 | 11:38 am

The evolving debate over the difference between us and the animals proceeds apace. Animals are now regarded as having true communication ability including language, generationally transmitted culture, even a wide range of what we had previously imagined to be solely human emotions. My personal favorite has always been the putative distinctions having to do with tools, and what they suggest about foresight and intelligence. We have long known that many animals both use and make tools. Recently, we even learned that some birds, presented with challenges regarding how to obtain food, have solved…
Leadership asylum

Jim Stroup

1 Jul 2009 | 1:16 pm

John Dryden, in “All for Love,” had one of Marc Antony’s generals say this about him: I love this man, who runs to meet his ruin; And sure the gods, like me, are fond of him: His virtues lie so mingled with his crimes, As would confound their choice to punish one, And not reward the other. We’ve talked here before about this – the idea that the presumptively great virtues inescapably come with equally great vices. Where this is the case, it seems, sadly, that the former inevitably succumb to the latter. It is the person’s vices that ultimately determine his or her fate; the…
Leadership landscape

Jim Stroup

29 Jun 2009 | 11:46 pm

The first thing that should cause us to question the value of the current dialogue about leadership in our organizations is the wide variety of peculiar sorts who appear in it. Bear in mind that this dialogue, peopled with so stunning an array of protagonists, is conducted everywhere from major consultancies and universities to the best-selling business books. But this landscape we attempt to navigate with their aid is, indeed, littered with peculiar fellows. Here are just a few that have made appearances in the past year or so: The chieftain The governor The authoritarian The shaman The…
Trumpets

Jim Stroup

28 Jun 2009 | 11:46 pm

The issues we’ve discussed here over the past weeks revolve around ill-considered or non-existent premises for individual leadership. These, as we’ve attempted to show, result in attempts to unthinkingly apply antiquated models today, or in dreamy notions that are propelled to our attention with great fanfare and excitement, but that then, lacking foundation, simply drift pointlessly and aimlessly away. There is one thing we do fairly consistently, though. As we develop leaders in accordance with each succeeding leadership enthusiasm, we encourage them all to rely unquestioningly on those…
Echolalia

Jim Stroup

26 Jun 2009 | 9:19 am

That’s the word of the day: echolalia. It is used generally to refer to the reflexive repetition of what one has just heard (see here for such a use of it, but also here for more specific definitions). There are two ways otherwise normal people can find themselves falling into this peculiar habit. One is through discipline; the fully aware, intentional regurgitation of something you may not fully agree with, but which advances a larger cause you do believe in. An example of this was given by a colleague of mine a few years ago. Every morning over coffee we would have our daily good-natured…

Bird's Eye View
The Good Guest Communicates

Wf360

2 Jul 2009 | 11:54 am

Today's Tiffany & Co. ad in the New York Times caught my eye. In truth, their Times ad almost always catches my eye at least for an instant because Tiffany's deal with the Times is that every day a Tiffany ad is placed in the upper right hand side of page A3, the first inside page of the center section of the Times. Yes, yes, I know that in not too long there may be no daily Times delivered to my door. There may be no Times that I enjoy as much for the tangible feel of the thing in my hands as for the extraordinary writing of its journalists. But I digress. Today's…
What Are the Kids All Talking About?

Wf360

1 Jul 2009 | 2:08 pm

One of the amazing senior execs at the Inner Circle I’ve been talking about for the past couple of days is Kenny Miller, EVP and Digital Creative Director of MTV Networks. Kenny is an acknowledged genius at driving digital innovation and the development of new brands and businesses. He’s specifically interested in casual gaming, social media programming and whatever else may strike him and his team as sufficiently interesting to connect with the MTV community sensibility. Kenny Miller, center, at Inner Circle - June 2009Kenny’s travels across the new media landscape are impressive…
More Inner Circle Comments

Wf360

30 Jun 2009 | 12:37 pm

Yesterday's blog mentioned the recent Inner Circle gathering I facilitated among an extraordinary group of senior executives, over breakfast at the New York Stock Exchange. Our topic was "New Media" and it's safe to say there is no consensus on where "new media" is headed, thus what the sure fire investments are and which will turn out to be duds. So everyone was keen to learn others' perspectives, hoping to find a possible new concept on which to build a strategy.Here are some random observations and new items/services shared by attendees.One mentioned…
Inner Circle Comments

Wf360

29 Jun 2009 | 1:02 pm

Our Inner Circle met last Friday at the New York Stock Exchange, co-hosted by Scott Cutler, EVP of the NYSE, and me. The topic was the impact of new media on business, communities, the world, and the group of 15 we gathered to discuss it represented a breadth of expertise seldom seen in one place at the same time. It was great fun--and thrillingly instructive--to facilitate this group: Tina Brown, the genius behind TheDailyBeast.com; Kenny Miller, EVP and Digital Creative Director of MTV; Esther Dyson, investor extraordinaire and Board Director of an impressive array of…
Governor Guilt

Wf360

26 Jun 2009 | 10:50 am

OK, it's probable just me. But I can't help it. First the shocking news about the poor judgment (understatement in the extreme) of Governor Mark Sanford of South Caroline in not only disappearing for days without notifying his staff of his whereabouts, then revelation that he was in fact not hiking in the Adirondacks as his staff first announced, but rather visiting his mistress in Buenos Aires. And now news that his trip to Argentina was paid for with state funds. Mark Sanford But what really gets me crazy is the statement issued be his office that reveals the greatest sin of…

Management Skills Blog
Bringing Value as a Manager

Tom Foster

2 Jul 2009 | 1:57 am

Rafael chuckled. "Alright, so the first step is to identify the problem. When my team asks for help, instead of me, giving the answer, I should ask them to clearly describe the problem." I was trying to stay out of the way, trying not to lead the witness. "Yes?" "And the second step," Rafael continued. "The second step, but the problem is, sometimes you can't go to the second step. Because sometimes, the problem isn't the problem. I mean, sometimes, the problem is only a symptom. You have to figure out what is causing the problem. That's the key, the cause of the problem." "Write that down.
Coaching for the Solution

Tom Foster

1 Jul 2009 | 1:49 am

"Watch what my mind thinks?" Rafael mused. "Okay, how do we do that?" "What's the purpose here?" I asked. "If we know the purpose, we can figure out what we need to do." "Well, the purpose is to create a different response, I can make, when my team asks me to solve a problem. The response has to be helpful, like a coach. You want me to step through how I would solve a problem and then teach it to them," Rafael stopped, and smiled. "As we do this, would it be helpful to write it down, so we don't forget," I prompted. "We could do that," Rafael replied. "Okay, what's the first step?" "Well,…
Watching Your Mind Solve Problems

Tom Foster

30 Jun 2009 | 4:58 am

"What is the new response? When my team lands the problem on my desk, what is my new response?" Rafael asked. "First, your response cannot be to give them the solution. That's what has created this dependency in the first place," I replied. "But you cannot leave them twisting in the wind. Your response has to be helpful." "What, do I give them hints, start a little guessing game?" "Hardly, we need to create something solid, that you can consistently use, as a coaching tool. Tell me, Rafael, how do you solve problems?" Rafael stopped. His eyes glanced at the ceiling. "I don't know, I guess it…
Beginning, as a Coach

Tom Foster

29 Jun 2009 | 2:24 am

You may wonder where the stories for this blog come from. They come from you. But the stories in the blog are only one-sided, you miss the rich discussion attached to the real conversations. We created Working Leadership Online for you to specifically explore your management reality. Since we began the program in February, we have had 89 Field Work Reports with 320 Comments posted. You see numbers. I see deep discussions and insights. I see people thinking through their management and leadership challenges. Next week, July 6, we kick off our Summer Coaching Series. I would love to see you…
Training the Team?

Tom Foster

26 Jun 2009 | 1:00 am

"You trained your team not to solve problems," I stated flatly. Rafael pushed against the table. There was a little teeny tiny vein in his forehead that was beginning to show. "By giving them the answer, I was training them not to solve problems? Ridiculous!" "Say that again." "What? By giving them the answer, I was training them not to solve problems?" Rafael loosened his grip on the table. His head slowly moved from side to side. "So, it was me after all." __ I would like to thank Jim Heller and his two TEC groups in Milwaukee for their kind hospitality last week as we explored the research…

Cali and Jody
Scream It From the Rooftops

Cali & Jody

1 Jul 2009 | 9:58 pm

As some of you may know, the Families and Work Institute is a leading research entity in the field of work/life balance. They recently held their annual Legacy Awards dinner, and asked leaders in the work/life arena to share what their wish is for work/life. Their responses are on their blog, and they’d also like to hear from others. Their question: What is your wish? How can we achieve a better fit for life on and off the job? In our quest to make ROWE the status quo, we’d like to ask for your help in sharing your thoughts about ROWE with the Families and Work Institute on their…
Let’s Hear It!

Cali & Jody

24 Jun 2009 | 8:30 pm
Summer Hours: The Insanity Continues

Cali & Jody

23 Jun 2009 | 7:53 pm

It’s toward the end of June, and those companies that were thinking about whether or not to implement “summer hours” have either done so by now or are still hemming and hawing. The Summer Hours phenomenon never fails to amaze us. Every spring, planning committees come together to make the life or death decision of whether to allow employees to take every Friday, or 1/2 days on Fridays, off of work. After 43 meetings, endless hallway conversations, writing and rewriting of guidelines, and 72 signoffs, the decision might be made to maybe trust a handful of employees to…
What Hard Times Reveal

Cali & Jody

9 Jun 2009 | 6:39 pm

Forbes.com recently published some interesting survey data from consulting firm Towers Perrin about How Workers Feel Right Now. Here are the numbers: Engagement is up one to two points from 2008 Efficiency is up eight points The feeling that management is giving people a clear sense of direction is down from 71% to 63% Understanding of company goals fell from 79% to 69% Understanding of department goals fell from 83% to 71% If you look at what’s happened to the economy and the workplace in the past years, these numbers make sense. It’s a snapshot of downsizing, fear, and…
Today Only: Leave the Office Early

Cali & Jody

2 Jun 2009 | 12:11 pm

Happy “Leave the Office Earlier Day”! Yes, you read that right. “Leave the Office Earlier Day” is indeed today, and it’s actually included in Chase’s Calendar of Events as a holiday. What does it mean? “The idea isn’t really to duck out of work after lunch, of course; rather, it’s to stick to a sane and sensible eight-hour day, allowing you to devote the extra time to your friends, family, and fun.” Instead of give you our take on this insanely idiotic day (woops - guess that was a taste of our take), we asked a few people that…

The Enlightened Manager
The Emergence of Something Special - Coming Soon.

Cheri Baker

6 Jul 2009 | 5:34 am

In business, there are the questions that seem obvious but are anything but. One of those questions is "Who do I serve?" It is rarely as simple as it seems. Over the past three years, I've been serving leaders and teams inside organizations, while enjoying the comraderie and discussion here on the Enlightened Manager. One of the things I've realized is that there are a lot of leaders in the world who are left to struggle internally with little support from their organizations. For every leader with a fantastic mentor and resources, there are…
The Smart Manager's Guide to Social Media.

Cheri Baker

29 Jun 2009 | 5:00 am

Twitter. Facebook. Spoke. Linked In. It's enough to make your head spin, right? I've made use of a lot of these tools for both fun and to promote my consulting practice, and so I've picked up a few tips that I'd like to share with you. There is a ton written about how to use these tools, so I'm not going to go there. But a few thoughts for those of you dipping your toe into social media. 1) Never post anything that you wouldn't want written on a postcard and mailed to your boss, future employer, client, or…
The Devastating Consequences of an "At Will" Firing.

Cheri Baker

26 Jun 2009 | 5:10 am

I got a call this week from a manager I know who was shocked to get called into a meeting with his boss last week and to be summarily fired from his job of six years. No warnings. No documentation. And worst of all? No reason. "This is an "At Will" state" he was told, "We don't need to give you a reason." Then he was walked to his desk so he could pack up his belongings in full view of his team. Then he was stripped of his badge and marched out the front door. I'm always flabbergasted when a company makes a…
Employee Motivation: Rethinking Maslow

Cheri Baker

24 Jun 2009 | 5:00 am

Leaders, I'm doing some work this week to prepare for new workshops on the subject of unlocking employee motivation. So while I'm working on those concepts, I figured I'd share some of what I'm thinking and see if you have any feedback to offer. When I took leadership classes in high school and college, there was a big focus on Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. You can read about the hierarchy here, but in a nutshell the model says that human needs are satisfied in a certain order. For example, you probably are not focused on living up to your potential…
The Art of Enabling Others to Act

Cheri Baker

22 Jun 2009 | 8:34 am

Good Morning Enlightened Leaders, Today's post is a little story about something I learned this year while participating in the Leadership Tomorrow program in Seattle. The program takes about 80 so called "up and coming" leaders and puts them through 9 months of learning opportunities in the area of community leadership. The program uses the book "The Leadership Challenge" by Kouzes and Posner as the central text. For more information on LT, click here. In this book there are a set of "leadership behaviors" that participants are…

Women in the LEAD
WOMEN: Real things haven't changed

Debbe Kennedy

3 Jul 2009 | 1:50 pm

Sometimes we make things very complicated when we think of the strengths and requirements of leadership in both our work and lives. The most important attributes that distinguish us in our unique roles are timeless and simple qualities that make a leader stand out from the rest. Right now, it seems the whole would could benefit from some of these simple qualities in leadership.As you know, I often turn to stories of women and men that came before any of us. Their wisdom and contributions transcend time and distance...and they left their wisdom in our care to apply to a new time. Often I find…
For What Have I Been Chosen?

maureen simon

23 Jun 2009 | 7:40 am

As John O Donohue the famous Irish writer said, “…to be born is to be chosen. No one is here by accident”. I love that thought because it deepens my inquiry as to why I am actually here! I also find the statement to be bold. Irish writers are not afraid to be bold or to think outside of the box! I know that there are many arguments that can and have been made regarding John’s statement above, but I totally agree with his wise words. The above quote comes from John’s stellar work Anam Cara (soul friend in Irish). In Anam Cara John goes on to write,” This selectivity intimates a…
WOMEN and MEN: Among my FATHER's treasures

Debbe Kennedy

20 Jun 2009 | 8:15 am

This story came to my mind today as I've had the experience I describe this week. I wanted to share it. There is a picture of my dad just across the room from where I sit at my desk in my office. He was in his 30s in the picture. It is a serious picture...not quite a smile rests on his face. But in his eyes there is a bright, hopeful glint of a visionary man. He was a man with deep beliefs...a man who demonstrated he was courageous in many ways.He also was a vulnerable man, who riddled his life with mistakes he didn't intend... And like many of us, he had a hard time forgiving…
AN AIM IN LIFE

maureen simon

19 Jun 2009 | 10:23 pm

“An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding; and it is not to be found in a foreign land, but in the heart itself.” Robert Louis Stevenson I guess I’ve always been pretty clear about why I’m here. My journey began years back at seventeen years of age when I chose to study human services and community organization. My heart has always been with people. My dream has always been to be a part of maximizing human potential in every possible way. I have dedicated my life to this aim. However, each day and each year of my life sure as…
WOMEN: Traveling LIGHT Leaves Room for Possibilities

Debbe Kennedy

12 Jun 2009 | 10:54 am

It seems that in the past months, I have somehow managed to cram my days and nights with so much. Not intentionally, but with all the wonderful possibilities that life has to offer ---- and the many needs that come into focus --- and the adventures there for the taking, it is easy to get your priorities out of whack and your life on overload. Can you relate? As I ask the question, I can almost feel the swoosh of air falling over me in the silence as you all collectively say, "YES!" Today, I opened a favorite book, Stretching Lessons by Sue Bender. She tells this story about a…

Women on Business
Juliet Was Wrong

Susan Gunelius

3 Jul 2009 | 2:58 pm

Guest post by Jennifer Tanzi (learn more about Jennifer at the end of this post) Names matter … especially when it comes to your online business. High atop her balcony, the love-struck Juliet laments her lover’s problematic surname, declaring, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” While technically she’s right, you wouldn’t want to put Juliet in charge of your online branding efforts. In fact, when it comes to your online business, choosing a domain name is the first big step — and truly the most critical — in securing your brand and growing your business. So what…
Kill Your Little Darlings

Susan Gunelius

3 Jul 2009 | 11:41 am

Post by M.J. Ryan, contributing Women On Business writer William Faulkner once said that writers needed to “kill their little darlings.” It’s a message about how, in order for inspiration to enter, we need to let go of the ideas we’re so in love with to make room for something better. It’s a willingness that everyone in business needs these days. I was reminded of this when I read a story on why J.P. Morgan did better in the financial meltdown than other investment banks. The article points out that the CEO Jamie Dimon is known not only for holding strong opinions, but letting go…
Live your Plan A

Monica S Flores

2 Jul 2009 | 9:11 am

“Make it a lowercase ‘A’ if you have to, but live your Plan A. Anything else belittles the importance of life.” – Vin Diesel, actor Lately I’ve been musing on my own quality of life and what it means to me to be alive. Every day when I wake up, I am so grateful and thankful for yet another opportunity to do what I love. As I understand it, if I’m still alive, then I still have work to do. If you’re still alive and if you’re reading this blog, you have work to do — your work is still in process… and I don’t mean dreary,…
Has Email Marketing Become Obsolete?

Kristin Marquet

1 Jul 2009 | 2:59 pm

Even though we are bombarded with thousands of emails per week, email marketing has not become obsolete. In fact, email marketing is one of the most effective ways to stay in touch with existing customers as well as attract new customers if it used correctly. However, many business owners waste countless hours putting together email marketing campaigns with weak copy, bad graphics, and inadequate offers, which end up in the trash bin. So what’s the point of spending countless hours and money on marketing that isn’t going to work? To prevent your emails from getting tossed in the trash…
Prisoners making great workers in New Zealand

Allison ONeill

1 Jul 2009 | 3:00 am

Ex- prisoners can struggle to find employment once they are back in the real world again. Faced with the benefit they find themselves turning back to crime to be able to afford to live. The cycle continues – back behind bars they go even if they sincerely wanted a fresh start and a life free of crime. They need employers that are willing to give them a chance. Getting a job could turn their whole world around as they form a new identity – that of a hard worker and EX-crim. A lot of employers are too scared to give prisoners a go. They worry they’ll steal, take drugs at work, scare the…

NinaSimosko.com
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…
We Are Only What We Do…

Nina

20 Apr 2009 | 10:05 am

A recent series of articles from Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper featured Isadore Sharp’s new book, Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy. One thing that struck me when reading this was an expression that too many leaders don’t internalize nor demonstrate as often as they should: “We are only what we do, not what we say we are.” Of course, there are many variations of this mantra: “Walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk” or “Actions speak louder than words.” But when reading this piece, it hit me. These are not just…
Seventh Annual American Business Awards(SM)

Nina

8 Apr 2009 | 3:05 pm

The Stevie Awards has named nine executives who will chair specialized final-judging committees for its Seventh Annual American Business Awards. I am proud to say that I have been selected as the chairwoman for the Management category. The American Business Awards (www.stevieawards.com/aba) are open to all organizations operating within the U.S.A. - public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. Entries will be accepted through April 30 in dozens of categories from Executive of the Year, Company of the Year, and Best New Product or Service to Best Web Site and Best Annual…
Are Hackers Our Future Heroes?

Nina

2 Apr 2009 | 11:04 pm

There is no doubt that we are facing challenging times. Within many workplaces we are losing experienced workers as they are either retrenched or retire, replacing them, if at all, with the sea of less experienced Generation Y. This is part of a structural realignment that has been underway now for some years, with many Western countries facing the situation where population is both shrinking and aging: Think of 20-somethings as a single work force, the best educated there is. In Japan, that work force will shrink by one-fifth in the next decade — a considerable loss of knowledge and…

The Glass Hammer
Happy Summer! We’re Off to Watch Some Fireworks…

No Byline

2 Jul 2009 | 3:00 am

Since the 4th of July holiday is upon us in the States, we are taking an extra day or two to soak up some sun, sit on the beach, and get some much needed R&R. We’ll see you all back here on Monday. But, for those of you not in the States or who are wishing for more of the good reads on The Glass Hammer, we hope that you will take some time to dig into our archives and read some of our more popular articles like these articles on work/life balance, career, professional development, and networking advice, news on women in the Fortune 500 and professional services, the…
Ask-A-Recruiter: Discussing Salary Requirements During Job Interviews

No Byline

1 Jul 2009 | 3:00 am

Contributed by Kunjal Tanna, Team Leader of the Huxley Associates New York Global Markets. I am a trained lawyer who has been laid off from a bank during the economic shake-up. I had been with the bank for 10 years and during this time I have amassed a salary of almost $200k and an additional 10 days of vacation. I would like some advice on how I should handle the salary questions that will be asked at interview, I don’t want to sell myself short but I also don’t want to price myself out of the market. I would also appreciate some guidance on how to negotiate my vacation package. Firstly,…
Financial Technology Industry Leaders Gather in New York for SIFMA

No Byline

30 Jun 2009 | 10:00 am

By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City) Investor transparency, risk management, increased regulation, and “do more with less”: those were the buzz words on everyone’s lips when top executive women and men in financial technology gathered at the SIFMA Technology Management Conference and Exhibit held June 23rd – 25th at the Hilton in Midtown New York. Over the three days, speakers and attendees alike examined the issues in depth, including: Balancing Conflicting Forces of Tighter IT Budgets and Ever-Increasing Demands for Greater Productivity. Noted industry powerhouses such as Anna Ewing,…
LGBT in the Workplace: One Executive Woman’s Story

No Byline

30 Jun 2009 | 3:00 am

As women in the workplace trying to break the glass ceiling in Corporate America and professional services, we certainly have our challenges. But, imagine if, on top of those, you felt like your brain was out of sync with your body and you had to hide that fact from co-workers and friends. Today, as our last piece covering LGBT issues in the workplace, we share with you the challenges faced by a now-female executive who transitioned from being a male executive while trying to maintain a high-powered IT career. “Transitioning in the workplace is much like a chess game,” explained Meghan…
Voice of Experience: Shannon Schuyler, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

No Byline

29 Jun 2009 | 10:00 am

by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City) While studying at the University of Michigan, Shannon Schuyler, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at PricewaterhouseCoopers, had hopes of one day becoming a sportscaster. She would never have predicted that she would end up spearheading the Corporate Responsibility (CR) effort for one of the world’s largest professional services firms. Then again, this is a woman who once taught English to inmates at a maximum security prison in Michigan for college credit in lieu of classes, and who has built a successful career around taking the…

RoundPegg
Return on Brain Waves (ROBW)

brentdaily

25 Jun 2009 | 10:45 am

We’re all in the same business. We may produce different things, but that doesn’t change anything. With off-shoring and 100-years to optimize the process, production is a commodity. Everyone can tap into efficient, quality production (lead-laden toys notwithstanding). In fact, we’ve been in this business for a half-century and we aren’t getting any better at it. We are all in the people business, of course. Your job is to turn brain waves into cash (hat tip). If you thought you’d misplaced your competitive advantage, you’ll find it there. photo by…
Promoting Experience, Not Abilities

brentdaily

23 Jun 2009 | 9:53 am

It never ceases to amaze that seemingly progressive companies still have, ahem, ‘guidelines’ for how long an individual must be in a particular role prior to being considered for a promotion. Unless you’re running a prison, time should have no bearing on your decision to move someone beyond their existing role. (Though in fairness, it may feel like just that to the people in the organization.) photo by daniel james I touched on how ridiculous this practice is by equating to the sports world several months ago, but I wanted to take a deeper look at why this practice is…
Leaders Adjust to Their Followers

brentdaily

18 Jun 2009 | 10:13 am

photo by annadriel A recent Towers Perrin post reveals a conversation the author had with former NFL coach Tony Dungy. Football is known for its gruff, abrupt, in-your-face style of ‘leadership,’ but Tony Dungy was far from that. He succinctly states his philosophy to leading and getting the best from his players three points (from the post): His parents were both teachers and they believed that it was their responsibility to make every student an “A” student. But not every student learns the same way, so you have to tailor your style to each individual to bring out the…
Job Descriptions - Show, Don’t Tell

brentdaily

16 Jun 2009 | 4:13 pm

A job description recently landed in my inbox. It was a unique opportunity! (Naturally.) Followed by a lengthy description of the product being built and the initial customers. All of which is fine, but let’s pretend it’s a cocktail party. The guy that just sidled up to you loves himself. He can’t stop talking about his new jacket. It’s so unique, so expensive, so sought after. He barely stops to acknowledge that you are there. He may ask you a question or two but they’re likely leading questions that get him onto a topic he wants to talk about…
What Employees Want From Jobs

brentdaily

11 Jun 2009 | 9:41 am

photo by jspace3 Thanks to Lijit I can see what folks are searching for when they arrive. “What Employees Want From Their Jobs” has been hitting the top of the charts frequently lately so here goes: It depends. Horrible answer, but people are all working for different reasons. The best employers try to get to the bottom of what indviduals want rather than looking at their workforce as a single entity. I’d recommend you start by asking them. Ask them repeatedly and don’t accept their first few answers. Most people haven’t actually thought much about…

Emmanuel Gobillot
Leadership fact: Goldfish + Ocean = Death

29 Jun 2009 | 5:00 pm

What do your mistakes say about you? There are 3 types of mistakes we make as leaders and send powerful messages to the people we lead.
Part 2 would you work for no pay - the results are in!

25 Jun 2009 | 5:00 pm

Personnel today has announced that some BA staff have indeed elected to work a month for no pay ( http://tinyurl.com/laz9ft ) about 800 of them (out of 40000 asked that's still a significant number I guess).
Would you work for no pay?

23 Jun 2009 | 5:00 pm

A couple of weeks ago, in an effort to cut costs and weather the recession storm (storms - never a good thing for an airline) British Airways announced that it would ask its staff if they were willing to forego a month's worth of salary. if you CEO asked you to forgo a month's salary for the good of the business what would you do?
Do we need another hero?

3 Jun 2009 | 5:00 pm

In arguing that we don't need another hero, Tina, and Ivana, are in good company echoing, as they do, thoughts expressed in President Barack Obama's call of 'we are the ones we have been waiting for' or Mahatma Gandhi's 'be the change you want to see in the world'. Yet, it is also hard to ignore that in testing times calls for heroes have never been so lud or that indeed, in my own field of interest, business leadership, personal heroics seem to be a requirement to anyone wanting to be recognized
Rituals help you lead in uncertainty

25 May 2009 | 5:00 pm

One of the paradox of uncertain times is that the less clarity we have the more we demand it. For leaders this seems like an impossible task to fulfill. How can you (except for lying which is not a sustainable strategy) give people even more clarity when you have less as each day passes? The good news is that you don't have to.

Leadership Expert
Leadership Culture

admin

29 Jun 2009 | 5:23 pm

Leadership Culture – What is leadership culture, which does your organisation have? Edgar Schein (1985) defines Leadership culture in an organization as being comprised of three elements: Basic assumptions, value and artifacts – with basic assumptions being the most important and in-grained element, and artifacts being the most superficial and easy to change. Basic Assumptions in Leadership Culture Basic assumptions evolve in a company after an action is repeatedly performed. These basic assumptions become part of our perception of our collegues and processes, and are so…
People Leadership

admin

27 Jun 2009 | 5:36 pm

People & Leadership. Two words that are undeniably related. People & Leadership are almost the same thing. Without people, leadership is an empty characteristic. Alternatively without good leadership, no amount of people can help an organisation to meet it’s corporate goals. If you’ve landed on this page, you’re probably looking to either develop leadership in other people, or develop your leadership over those people. People Leadership – Developing Leadership In Others Developing leadership in others takes time and energy. There are no quick fixes in the…
My Journey & The Secret To My Success

admin

6 Jun 2009 | 5:33 am

Welcome! If you are interested in attracting wealth and success into your life using the law of attraction, then I’m confident you will find my own personal development story of at least ‘some use’ in your own journey. It’s a little longer than my average post, but you owe it to yourself to read it all and learn from my experience! About 11 months ago I was in a terrible place. I felt like I was going absolutely nowhere. After being an employee for so long, I had become conditioned to feel like this was my only route – my only choice. It turns out I was thankfully mistaken Whether…
Leadership vs Management – Analysis

admin

26 May 2009 | 2:34 am

Leadership and management as concept are both completely intertwined with the idea of self-investment. All excellent managers and leaders regularly invest in themselves. Managers have often sought out useful leadership books and learning material that will help them along the path to happiness and leadership. The current industry leader is The 11 Forgotten Laws, which is widely respected by leadership professionals such as myself. It’s generally seen as an essential and core ‘crash course’ in the laws and secrets you need to know to further your leadership & career and…
Leadership Styles – Autocratic vs Democratic vs Bureaucratic

admin

25 May 2009 | 3:23 pm

Research and investigation into different management leadership styles has been fragmented and inconsistent. The key to good leadership development is a good knowledgebase. That’s why we bring you an in-depth look at 3 key leadership styles that will highlight the benefits and shortfalls commonly associated with each. We won’t just be covering the leadership development theory; this article will also help to describe some of the practical issues that arise in the workplace as a result of implementing these styles, and I hope you find this ‘down-on-the-ground’ view will help you…

RapidBI - leadership models, thoughts and tools
Behaviours of the best coaches

rapidbi

3 Jul 2009 | 2:21 am

They can: Listen fully and with real interest and concern for the learnerCommunicate a genuine empathy and understandingAdjust to another environment, terminology and work habitsSet challenging yet realistically high expectationsDiagnose accurately ?what is going on’ and see ways forwardDevelop a shared interest in the learner and their issuesExperiment and explore, suspending judgements Find patterns in [...]
Seven ways to manage a consultant

rapidbi

2 Jul 2009 | 2:21 am

Check the consultant’s credentialsClearly specify your needsEnsure a positive organisational fitClarify evaluation arrangements and outcomesMonitor closely – especially new consultantsGive clear feedback to the consultant throughoutBe prepared to ask awkward questions Source: Phil Lewis &
The STRETCH model of coaching

rapidbi

1 Jul 2009 | 2:21 am

S et the contextT ransfer issues to the learner – ensure ownershipR evisit what outstanding performance looks likeE stablish what’s in it for the learnerT ake time to agree what specifically must changeC atch them doing something right – praise and rewardH ave time set aside to celebrate success Source: John Burdett
Seven levels of interest in your own development

rapidbi

30 Jun 2009 | 2:21 am

I have development needs, but I’m not interested in working on them.I have development needs, but I don’t know what they are.I have development needs, I know what they are, but refuse to do anything about them.I have development needs, I know what they are, but I need a push to do anything about them.I [...]
Seven principles when helping people to learn

rapidbi

29 Jun 2009 | 2:21 am

People know more then they think they knowEveryone has resources for improving performanceUseful questions are worth more than commandsEach person is responsible for their own contribution to the organisationEvery set back provides a learning opportunityExperiments precede learningChallenging but achievable goals bring out the best in people Source: King and Eaton

Rich Gee Coaching
Thwart Bad Management: EQ vs. IQ.

Rich Gee

30 Jun 2009 | 8:59 am

Is your typical communication channel to your direct reports not working? Are people dropping the ball, doing the wrong thing, or not understanding your stated vision for the company? Your EQ might need a little polishing.
How To Deliver Incredible PowerPoint Presentations.

Rich Gee

27 Jun 2009 | 7:50 am

There are so many bad ways to use PowerPoint (or Keynote if you own a Mac) when you deliver a presentation. Again, let's cut to the chase — here are my 5 Must Do's when it comes to delivering a presentation.
How To Make Incredible PowerPoint Presentations.

Rich Gee

25 Jun 2009 | 9:32 am

There are books and workshops and creative consultants that expound on the RIGHT way to use Powerpoint (or Keynote if you own a Mac). Let's cut to the chase — here are my 5 Must Do's when it comes to a presentation:
Another Thank You!

Rich Gee

24 Jun 2009 | 4:00 am

Greenwich Chamber Lunch Colleagues Unite! Great location, great food, and most of all - a great audience! Thanks again for making my workshop an interactive and memorable experience.
Thank You.

Rich Gee

17 Jun 2009 | 5:01 am

50+ attendees for a late night workshop - thank you for coming! I also thank the Wilton Library and Sally Gemmill who put on a perfectly run event - Kudos!

Sales Management 2.0 Podcast
Episode 17 – Steven Bachert: Stop “Handling” Objections

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

1 Jul 2009 | 8:32 am

Steven Bachert wants you to do something that, at first blush, may surprise you: he wants you to stop “handling” objections. Steven Bachert is an accomplished executive and leader in the software industry with a 20-year track record of executive sales and operations management success. He has driven large and smaller/start-up organizations to superior performance. His executive management experience covers multiple functional areas. He has a proven track record of building, developing and leading successful professional service, channel/alliance, sales and marketing teams,…
Episode 16 – Joel D Canfield and the Human Connection

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

23 Jun 2009 | 7:16 pm

Have you ever found yourself wondering what’s missing from your business relationships? Joel D Canfield suggests that the missing element might be making genuine connections with other human beings. In a world that’s increasingly driven by technology, numbers and bottom-line results, Joel would like to see businesses get back to the basics of human relationships. Joel D Canfield is an author and award-winning speaker on how customer-centric thinking is your primary tool to achieve your goals. He has written two business books, 49 Commonsense Business Observations, The…
Episode 15 – Colleen Stanley on Building High Performance Sales Teams

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

16 Jun 2009 | 9:50 am

When Brad was in the hospital with his wife while she was giving birth to their second daughter, Jerry had the chance to chat with Colleen Stanley about how to build a high performance sales team. Colleen Stanley is president of SalesLeadership, Inc. She is a monthly columnist for national Business Journals, co-author of ‘Motivational Selling‘ and author of ‘Growing Great Sales Teams: Lessons from the Cornfield.’ Colleen is a popular speaker for Vistage International, Women’s Leadership Exchange and was the featured speaker on sales for the 2006 New York Times…
Episode 14 – Karl Goldfield on Selling for Startups

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

10 Jun 2009 | 8:20 am

Karl Goldfield is a whiz at helping startup companies generate revenue, and in this episode he shares valuable tips for salespeople working for startup companies and the people who manage them. Karl is the Sales Evangelist, a startup sales mentor and the host of Sales Evangelist TV. He also writes a blog and is a regular contributor to the Sales Bloggers Union. Karl is passionate about developing teams for emerging companies. For the past fifteen years, he has shown the ability to deliver beyond expectations through continual innovation. By establishing a plan, then testing the boundaries…
Episode 13 – Christian Maurer on Training in a Sales 2.0 World

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

2 Jun 2009 | 4:11 pm

How should we be training sales people in the new era of sales, Sales 2.0? What are the initiatives and topics we should focus on? That was the topic of discussion for Christian Maurer, the Ultimate Sales Executive Resource. Christian is an independent consultant, trainer and coach with a proven track record of helping to increase the productivity of large, global B2B sales organizations. For the last ten years, Christian has consulted and coached hundreds of sales executives and managers on how to plan and execute customer centric sales strategies by focusing on process management…

Slacker Manager
Corner Cubicle Management

Phil Gerbyshak

3 Jul 2009 | 7:08 am

Friend of Slacker Manager Scot Herrick is on vacation this week, so he asked some of his favorite Cubicle Warriors to share their insights with his readers. I was one of the contributors, with an article titled Managing from the Corner Cubicle. I shared 4 reasons why it’s better to work in the corner cubicle than the corner office. Visibility Accessibility Knowledge gathering Dive in when needed Read the details of Managing from the Corner Cubicle and leave a comment with your thoughts about cube life. Cubicle Left photo credit to Kenner Post from: Slacker Manager
Best Leadership Blogs 2009

Phil Gerbyshak

2 Jul 2009 | 12:20 am

Kevin Eikenberry is holding a fantastic contest to select the best leadership blogs of 2009. He’s picked the best of the best, and though I don’t agree that all blogs are leadership blogs, the ones selected are outstanding. Without further ado, the nominees are: Leading Blog by Michael McKinney Great Leadership by Dan McCarthy Seth Godin’s Blog by Seth Godin Jon Gordon’s Blog by Jon Gordon Leadership is a Verb by John Bishop All Things Workplace by Steve Roesler Work Matters by Bob Sutton Leader Talk by Becky Robinson Next Level Blog by Scott Eblin Leadership At Work by John Baldoni…
Teambuilding 101

Phil Gerbyshak

1 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am

I recently had a webinar about my new book Help Desk Manager’s Crash course, and many of the participants wanted to know more about teambuilding. I thought it’d be nice to share my primer here, and then dive a little deeper into activities that work, and finally into how to teambuild with peers and up the organization. Go first - As manager, you have to go first, show that you’re vulnerable, that you’re human, and that your team can trust you. If you aren’t willing to go first, why would anyone else want to contribute? Share something folks don’t already…
Upbeat Winners: Please Email Me

Phil Gerbyshak

30 Jun 2009 | 8:58 pm

If you were someone who won a copy of Rajesh Setty’s new book Upbeat, please send me a note at phil.gerbyshak @ b5media.com with your address. If you sent it already, I lost it. I tried to contact you, but I failed and it bounced back. Thanks again to Raj for sharing your book! Helen, who commented on Justin’s suggestion (in addition to another entry later in the contest): “It’s the GRATITUDE ATTITUDE — I LIKE IT Justin !!!” Angela Marasco, who shared 3 tips: “I have three top ways of staying upbeat! 1. I have a “no negativity” office policy! Only positive thoughts…
Act Like An Owner

Phil Gerbyshak

30 Jun 2009 | 12:22 am

Many years ago, I worked for a company in Menomonee Falls called Strong Capital Management, since acquired by Wells Fargo. It was one of the most interesting places I’ve ever worked, with as many unwritten rules as written rules. I got a great background in the stock market, in customer service, and lifelong learning at Strong. It was the place that’s molded who I am more than any place else I have ever worked at. While I didn’t agree with everything the firm did, I am grateful for the opportunity I got to work there. One of the biggest things Dick Strong, the founder/owner of Strong…

Inside Personal Growth
Podcast 94: The Best Kept Secret to Permanent Weight Loss with Dr. Barnet Meltzer

greg@eluminate.net (Greg Voisen)

28 Jun 2009 | 5:33 pm

I recently had the pleasure of meeting both Dr. Meltzer and his son Jordan, and what a wonderful father-son team. I went to their offices located in Del Mar, CA and got to spend a little time getting to know the men behind this great weight loss program. Much of the weight loss program is centered around what is referred to in the book as the Light Your Fire program. This is a program designed to help you boost your metabolism and keep it there. As is stated in the book, two out of three Americans are either overweight or obese. We are all aware of the epidemic but what are we doing about…
Podcast 93: Make Every Day a Friday with Marina Spence

greg@eluminate.net (Greg Voisen)

28 Jun 2009 | 4:02 pm

Marina Spence has written a wonderful book for women who are seeking ways to find a new career. Her book,”Make Every Day a Friday“, helps navigate women through the maze emotionally and spiritually as they explore their options. Marina says that career dissatisfaction is at an epidemic level. According to a Reuters survey, 60% of workers in the United States have either recently made a career change or are planning one. If you are in this group, then I highly recommend that you read “Make Every Day a Friday.” Marina states that if women have a more fulfilling career,…
Podcast 92: Lead Well and Prosper with Nick McCormick

greg@eluminate.net (Greg Voisen)

23 Jun 2009 | 9:41 pm

Do you want to to become a better manager of people? Then you will want to listen to my podcast with author Nick McCormick. Nick is the author of a new book entitled, “Lead Well and Prosper, 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager”. In my interview with Nick we will explore the challenges that most managers have in learning how to become more effective at managing people. In this simple to read book, filled with examples, you will be able to understand more fully the skills necessary in becoming a great manager. Each chapter starts with a humorous, true to…
Podcast 91: A Return to Healing with Dr. Len Saputo

greg@eluminate.net (Greg Voisen)

23 Jun 2009 | 9:27 pm

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Book Expo of America in New York City, and while I was at the conference, I attended a book signing by Dr. Len Saputo. I was certainly intrigued by the title of his book, ” A Return to Healing“, and wanted to learn more about Dr. Saputo’s philosophy on the subject. I know that I can honestly speak for most Americans that health care is a topic that gets a lot of attention in the news, but very little seems to happen relative to reform. I now know after reviewing Dr. Saputo’s book and learning more about his ideas for…
Podcast 90: Be Yourself Everyone Else Is Taken with Mike Robbins

greg@eluminate.net (Greg Voisen)

12 Jun 2009 | 5:59 pm

If you truly want to meet an authentic person, then I recommend that you make an attempt to reach out to Mike Robbins. Mike is the author of a new book entitled, “Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken: Transform Your Life with the Power of Authenticity“. In my interview with Mike, we explore what helps to make a person more authentic through his five principles of authenticity: 1) Know Yourself 2) Transform Your Fears 3) Express Yourself 4) Be Bold 5) Celebrate Who You Are. When you first read the principles you might think, “well this is…

First Friday Book Synopsis
Q #210: Which are the most highly regarded books on the subject of success?

Bob Morris

3 Jul 2009 | 12:01 pm

There is someone else far better qualified than I am to respond to that question. Tom Butler-Bowen is the author of five volumes in the 50 Classics series. He selected and then discusses primary sources for five subjects: prosperity, psychology, success, self-help, and spirituality. In each of the five volumes, he provides a brief bio of each author, then examines several key ideas and explains the enduring significance of the given work. Here is a representative selection of authors and 50 works featured in 50 Success Classics: Horatio Alger, Ragged Dick (1867) Chin-ning Chu, Thick Face…
Q #209: Which are the most highly regarded books on the subject of spirituality?

Bob Morris

3 Jul 2009 | 11:54 am

There is someone else far better qualified than I am to respond to that question. Tom Butler-Bowdon is the author of five volumes in the 50 Classics series. He selected and then discusses primary sources for five subjects: prosperity, psychology, success, self-help, and spirituality. In each of the five volumes, he provides a brief bio of each author, then examines several key ideas and explains the enduring significance of the given work. Here is a representative selection of authors and 50 works featured in 50 Spiritual Classics: Black Elk, Black Elk Speaks(1932) Carlos Castaneda, Journey…
Q #208: Which are the most highly regarded books on the subject of self-help?

Bob Morris

3 Jul 2009 | 11:42 am

There is someone else far better qualified than I am to respond to that question. Tom Butler-Bowdon is the author of five volumes in the 50 Classics series. He selected and then discusses primary sources for five subjects: prosperity, psychology, success, self-help, and spirituality. In each of the five volumes, he provides a brief bio of each author, then examines several key ideas and explains the enduring significance of the given work. Here is a representative selection of authors and 50 works featured in 50 Self-Help Classics: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (c. 120-180 AD) The…
Q #207: Which are the most highly regarded books on the subject of psychology?

Bob Morris

3 Jul 2009 | 11:38 am

There is someone else far better qualified than I am to respond to that question. Tom Butler-Bowdon is the author of five volumes in the 50 Classics series. He selected and then discusses primary sources for five subjects: prosperity, psychology, success, self-help, and spirituality. In each of the five volumes, he provides a brief bio of each author, then examines several key ideas and explains the enduring significance of the given work. Here is a representative selection of authors and 50 works featured in 50 Psychology Classics: Eric Berne, Games People Play (1964) Albert Ellis &…
Q #206: Who is Tom Butler-Bowdon and why is he important?

Bob Morris

3 Jul 2009 | 8:38 am

For whatever reasons, Butler-Bowdon is not as well-known and as highly-regarded in the United States as he is elsewhere, notably in Europe and especially in the UK. He is the author of each volume in the 50 Classics series. He selected and then discusses 50 primary sources for each of five subjects: prosperity, psychology, success, self-help, and spirituality. For those seeking guidance to the books that offer inspiration and thought-provocation in one or more of the five subject areas, know of no one else who is better qualified than Butler-Bowen is to provide it. In each of the five…

TradePub: Executive & Management
Global Pensions

2 Jul 2009 | 4:50 pm

Readers of Global Pensions invest globally and need to know what their peers around the world are doing. The only publication which does this is Global Pensions. By combining a focus on regional pensions news with in depth analyses of innovative and modern investment products, Global Pensions allows the decision makers from these schemes to be influenced and informed about current trends affecting their counterparts all over the world.Request Free!
Human Resource Executive

2 Jul 2009 | 1:20 pm

Written primarily for vice presidents and directors of human resources, the magazine provides these key decision-makers with news, profiles of HR visionaries and success stories of human resource innovators. Stories cover all areas of human resource management, including personnel, benefits, training and development, HR information systems, relocation, retirement planning, workplace security, and healthcare.Request Free!
CIO Insight

1 Jul 2009 | 3:50 pm

CIO Insight provides CIO's and other senior-level technology decision-makers with progressive articles, interviews, surveys and proprietary research on technology strategies and cost-cutting techniques through the lens of experienced industry insiders and professional veteran journalists versed in technology and management issues.Request Free!
10 Ways Predictive Analytics Can Help You

1 Jul 2009 | 9:50 am

In this recorded webcast from SPSS Inc., you'll discover ten ways predictive analytics will make it easier for your organization to:Gain a more complete view of your businessFind hidden value in your dataBuild stronger customer relationshipsReduce your exposure to risk and fraudAnd much, much more...Learn how to become a Predictive Enterprise – watch the webcast today!Request Free!
A Smarter Start: Preparing Data with SPSS Statistics Base

1 Jul 2009 | 9:50 am

This webcast will walk you through some of these techniques so you can be certain you are getting the best information from your data. If you want to understand the full capacity of SPSS Statistics for preparing and validating data, you'll want to view this webcast.Request Free!

Hire and Retain Top Talent
Can Your Company Save Thousands Through HR Outsourcing?

admin

2 Jul 2009 | 4:33 pm

Listen to our podcast from our Live Internet Radio Show on LATALKRADIO.com regarding HR Outsourcing. Can your company save thousands by outsourcing HR. Jeff Stinson, President of Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO), discusses all the reasons if you are a CEO you should consider this option. HR is becoming more and more complex. The legal fees companies are paying can often be eliminated with a littler prevention. Jeff has been a VPHR for a Fortune 500 company and he brings that expertise and knowledge to this show. Investing 50 minutes to listen can save you thousands. To hear our…
Hiring Frustration #3: Exaggeration and Lies

Barry Deutsch

30 Jun 2009 | 1:21 pm

In our workshops for hiring managers that we teach to improve hiring accuracy and effectiveness, the vast majority of hiring managers and executives will tell us that they believe 100% of all candidates exaggerate and embellish their accomplishments and achievements. This feeling comes true when greater than 50% of all managerial and executive hires fail in their first 12 months (usually it’s in the first 3-4 months) due to the inability to achieve the desired results. This inability stems from exaggeration and embellishment in the interview. We documented this failure rate and the causes…
Top Strategy in a Down Economy: Upgrade Your Talent

Barry Deutsch

23 Jun 2009 | 8:40 am

One of my favorite authors, speakers, and bloggers, Mitch Gooze (and an award-winning International Vistage Speaker) recently posted a recommendation on his blog VALUE ACCELERATION (you should be subscribing to Mitch’s Blog in addition to our Hire and Retain Top Talent Blog) about taking advantage of the down economy to upgrade your talent. Vistage International is the premier International CEO and Senior Executive Organization for learning and personal growth. Barry Deutsch, his partner Brad Remillard, and Mitch Gooze are a few of top Executive Speakers. The title of the Blog posting was…
Hiring Top Talent Requires a Process

bradremillard

18 Jun 2009 | 11:21 am

We have discovered that in many companies the hiring process is random, unstructured, and often the people are not highly skilled at hiring. It is no wonder that for many companies hiring top talent is a challenge. Most companies typically have very sophisticated processes and procedures for just about every activity except hiring. This in our opinion includes the Fortune 500. So often it is assumed that the hiring manager or a colleague has hired so many people they must be good. We conducted a recent, non-scientific survey of CEOs and Key Execs. We asked, “How many of you have…

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