How blithely we celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. Sure there are parades, speeches and TV specials to recognize the ultimate sacrifice made by the faceless men and women who paid the ultimate price in the service of our country. But by May 31st we are back to our normal routines, with nary a thought given to the fact that they will never have a normal routine. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the most common mistakes first time leaders make begins with buying into the mythology of leadership greatness. The myth asserts that they must be charismatic, self-assured, inspirational direction-setters. They chart the right course and lead their team from the front. They have little time for self reflection or discussion. They never look back. They just go, go, go until the objective is conquered. Read the rest of this entry »
David Sokol, one of the Berkshire executives considered on the inside track to replace the Oracle of Omaha and Raj Rajaratnam, Galleon Group founder and former board director at Goldman Sachs, must hope that we were all born last night. They would have us, the SEC and the judiciary collectively believe that they did nothing wrong as they enriched themselves to the tune of millions of dollars in a matter of minutes based on non-public, inside trading information. Rat, er, Raj is already on trial. Sokol’s day is yet to come. Read the rest of this entry »
If you are looking for the single best tool to drive your individual and career development, look no further than your next job opportunity. Whether inside of your existing company or in a new company, a promotion or lateral, the power of job change to accelerate your development cannot be overstated.
The reason is simple. You get a do-over. Read the rest of this entry »
We can learn a lot about personal development by studying a length of rope. Ancient peoples figured out a long time ago that the strongest ropes were those made of twisted hides, sinew, hair, vines or whatever other natural material they could get their hands on. Chances are, they discovered this truth after a series of unfortunate events where single strand ropes sheared at inopportune times – “hey, there goes tonight’s dinner.” Read the rest of this entry »
