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Brief, practical pieces on leadership, talent, succession, and the hard parts of running a business. Read in sixty seconds. Apply on Monday.
Instead of “Paper or Plastic?”, It’s Now “Print or Digital?”
In this post, we speak with Michael Romaner, Executive Vice President for Digital at Morris Communications. Morris Communications is a privately held media company headquartered in Augusta, Georgia with diversified holdings including newspaper and magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications and online services. Morris Publishing Group (the newspaper publishing…
Read the pieceDid Steve Jobs Leave You Frustrated?
In my previous post Why Are You Still Running On Your Hamster Wheel?, I referred to Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address (here’s the text version as well). As I write, this specific posting has been viewed over 12 million times, with millions more having viewed other postings of the same video. No doubt, many…
Read the pieceWhen Can You Smack Me Upside the Head?
In this month’s post, I give you permission to smack me upside the head (metaphorically speaking, of course) if I ever make it seem or if I ever suggest that leadership is easy. If you’re like me, your inbox is full of newsletters and email articles on leadership and management. Many I don’t read, because the…
Read the pieceWho’s More Lost: You or Your Luggage?
The man beside me at the counter was irate. He didn’t yell, but you could see by the expression on his face and by his body language that he was incredulous. We had been promised by the gate agent in Newark that our carry-on bags, which they required us to check at the gate, would…
Read the pieceAre H-1B Limits Compromising Competitiveness?
The immigration debate is certainly complex, but surely we can find a way to keep some exceptional talent from leaving the country.
Read the pieceA Prescription for Business Myopia
Dominic Barton, global managing director of McKinsey & Company and a Canadian who for 25 years has counseled business, public sector, and nonprofit leaders across the globe (he’s lived in Toronto, Sydney, Seoul, Shanghai, and now London), offers a thoughtful essay on Capitalism for the Long Term.
Read the pieceWho is More Effective, an Extroverted or an Introverted Leader?
The US business culture practically worships an extroverted leader. They are often viewed as the ones with the “right stuff”. At minimum, their brand of self-confidence can provide a feeling of reassurance, albeit a false or naive one at times. The result is that introverted leaders often feel that somehow they don’t have what it…
Read the pieceWhat, Me Worry?
72% of first-time front-line managers never questioned their ability to lead others: Read more
Read the pieceAre You Paying the Price for Your Slow Burn?
Nothing like an economic crisis to bring latent leadership issues to the forefront. If you were grooming and “weeding” your people during the good times, chances are you’re doing better than other leaders during these challenging times. If you weren’t focused on the quality of your people during the good times, changes are your suffering…
Read the pieceWhy and When Boards of Directors Let Their CEOs Go
Sure, numbers matter. But not hitting your numbers is only one reason Boards fire their CEOs. Trust or confidence in the CEO is crucial. Employee relations (both the proper and the improper kind) is a key concern to Boards. And there is the matter of responsiveness to customers. All are considered by Boards when determining…
Read the pieceWhat’s it like to lead and run the world’s largest company?
Check it out here.
Read the pieceReal Leaders Don’t Watch Movies
“I’m king of the world!” “Show me the money!” “You can’t handle the truth!” “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” “Go ahead, make my day.” Memorable quotes from memorable films. Love ’em or hate ’em, movies of all types end up in our collective consciousness. In reviewing a list of movie quotes…
Read the pieceSuccession Planning, Part 2: Remaining Basic Steps
In the month since my post about Basic Steps for Effective Succession Planning, global economic issues have continued to ripple onto our shores, as we wrestle with our own economic concerns. Now more than ever, companies need great talent to lead them effectively, and smart leaders are doing all they can (as they did during…
Read the pieceStaying relevant throughout one’s career
An article from the NY Times on why it’s important, now more than ever, to stay flexible and relevant in your career.
Read the pieceSuccession Planning: Some Basic Steps
Even with the crummy economy and high unemployment, smart leaders are still concerned about the potential loss of great talent from their companies. Whether you’re running a company, division, department, or a team, you need to plan for your future talent needs. And the sooner, the better. In this month’s 60-Second Email (TM) , we…
Read the pieceLost Jobs Aren’t the Problem. They’re the Symptom.
There used to be a time when if jobs were lost during a recession, there was the expectation that many of these same jobs would eventually return after the economy came back. These days, though, there’s a whole different feel about jobs returning. In a recent article, “5 Myths About How to Create Jobs” (link),…
Read the pieceIf Experience is the Best Teacher, What Did You Learn from the Great Recession?
“Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” – Winston Churchill. “Experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is high.” – Norwegian proverb If experience is, indeed, the best teacher, we’ve certainly had a post-graduate education this past year. And, yes, the tuition has been very high. So what did…
Read the pieceIs Failure Truly Not an Option?
“If an educated work force is the nation’s human capital, business is seeing a lot of subprime these days.” – from An Educated Workforce, Wall Street Journal, November 23, 2009 Recently the Wall Street Journal invited top CEOs and policy makers to Washington to discuss critical issues facing the United States. According to John Chambers,…
Read the pieceI’m No Susan Boyle or Captain Kirk
One clear impact of this recession is that people, businesses, and leaders are getting back to basics. People are questioning, and in some cases are being forced to question, what’s important in their lives. Businesses are examining their business models, delineating between what used to work in the past, from what must work in the…
Read the pieceLeadership Lessons from The Economic Meltdown
Issue: Corporate Extravagance & Excess during an Economic Crisis Leadership Lesson: Values flow from the top. Period. People grow numb listening to platitudes and well worn speeches. Look at what you say and how you act on a daily basis. What would your employees say about your integrity: “No question, he/she’s got” or “She/he likes…
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60-Second Read
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Brief, practical pieces on leadership, talent, succession, and the hard parts of running a business. Read in sixty seconds.