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Johns Hopkins University Launches Climate and Energy Project
Originally posted at LeadEnergy.org This week, the youth energy and climate movement achieved a victory when Johns Hopkins University — one of the largest research universities in the world — announced a major new climate and energy plan, resulting in large part from student activism and leadership. Announced by JHU President Ron...
Round 2: Blankenship versus RFK Jr. on Mountaintop Removal
Ding ding ding!! It’s round 2 in the public debate between Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance and outspoken mountaintop removal critic. The Hill, a daily congressional newspaper in Washington DC, published a set of opposing op-eds yesterday just as the 5th...
Florida Students Start the Long Road to Their Student Green Energy Fund Campaign
{Written by Dan Cannon, Florida Organizer at the Southern Energy Network} Green Fees are becoming more and more common on campuses all across the country. A simple idea of young people putting their money where their mouth is by creating small campus fees that cumulate to eventually set aside millions of...
This Summer Filled with Solutions in Corvallis
x-posted from Solutionaries As communications director for Summer of Solutions, I’m featuring every program to paint a picture of the diversity of solutions young people are building across the country. The Summer of Solutions is a summer program designed to empower youth to create self sustaining community based solutions to environment and...
Avatar: the Problematic Environmental Blockbuster
{Written by Jenna Garland, South Carolina Organizer at the Southern Energy Network. Cross-posted from Southern Energy Network’s Blog} While visiting my parents recently, my mother treated me to a 3-D showing of Avatar at a theater close to where I grew up. I went in with a fair amount of trepidation. I’ve...
California Students- Ready to take on Big Oil?
Last Thursday, March 4, was a huge day for student and youth activism in California. Thousands upon thousands of students, labor unions, grandparents, entire elementary school classrooms, teachers, and concerned Californians (like me!) across the state rallied, marched, and generally rose some hell, to beat back massive tuition hikes and budget...
Women's Leadership Exchange Blog
It's a New Dawn, It's a New Day, It's a New Life For Small Business... and I'm Feeling Good
If you haven't listened to the song "Feeling Good" recorded by some of the greatest singers from Nina Simone to Frank Sinatra to Michael Buble,, it's time to go to You Tube and listen again. I'd like to make it the theme song for America's small businesses this year....
A Dream of Change: Guest Blog from WLE Growth Guru Jewel Daniels
A DREAM OF CHANGE, A FUTURE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT… ONLY ACHIEVED THROUGH A LIFE OF SERVICE By Jewel Daniels Thank you to the Martin Luther King Jr. observance day committee for allowing a me, a woman whose roots run through the south and across the waters of the Caribbean to find her way in...
I am watching the evening major network news coverage of the terrible crisis resulting from the earthquake in Haiti. It's a tragedy. And we must not shy away from watching it. The recession is nothing compared to the images you will see. Aid is coming in droves...especially from America. It is...
Two Ideas to Lift Your Spirits & Business UP
This time between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays can be wonderful or extremely challenging. This year most of us are experiencing "challenging". So far the shopping reports say spending this past weekend was UP a little from last year, but the per person purchases were DOWN. So how do we focus...
Learning Leadership from the New York Yankees
I'm in ecstasy. My NY Yankees won the World Series. And they did it 9 minutes before my birthday. I got the best birthday gift money can't buy. My happiness caused me to reflect about why I love the Yankees so much. The answer popped ino my...
Change the World by Changing the Gender Gap
Mathematics and statistics used to be boring to me. Then, my husband introduced me to the TV Show "Num3rs," which is about how mathematics helps solve crimes. It's an engaging show, based on true stories, about 2 brothers, one a mathematician and the other an FBI agent, who...
Survival Leadership
The Harvard Business Review—March 2010: Training and Development : Post # 3
“Leadership Lessons from India” (by Cappelli, H. Singh, J. Singh and Michael Useem)India’s leaders of its best and fastest growing companies put a high priority on training and development, a long view of leadership development, and place such development above short-term stakeholder interests. These leaders “create a sense of...
The Harvard Business Review—March 2010: Post #2
The BIG Idea: We need an industry dedicated to funding inventions that could transform the world. (“Funding Eureka” by Nathan Myhrovold)Just like venture capitalists provide a market for start ups, an invention capital system would accelerate technical progress. Currently, inventing is a cash-starved venture that is overly dependent on the...
HBR March: Getting out of the Recession
#1: Spotlight on powering out of the recessionThis month (March)the HBR spotlights on how businesses can “power” out of the recession. Several articles focus on this:• “Finding Your Strategy in the New Landscape” (Pankaj Ghemawat): To negotiate the difficult road ahead, companies will have to switch (even reverse) their...
The Three Laws of Performance: The Self-Led Organization
LAST POST concerning The Three Laws of Performance (Zaffron and Logan), which I highly recommend all leaders read. The Self-Led Organization: If you look at the history of the "organization," it has a legal origin dating back to the 1800's. The organization/company was originally formed as a legal entity...
The Three Laws of Performance: Future-based Language
Law #3: Future-based language transforms how situations occur to people.a. Allowing the current language to rattle around in your head (because the inner voice often gets stuck in an infinite loop) means that your future with that particular person is written in stone—a destined or “default future.” If the language...
The Three Laws: Taking Action to Resolve
Law #2: How a situation occurs arises in language.c. Actions to take in the second step (around how things occur in language):i. Be aware of any persistent complaints that rattle around in you.ii. Note: Complaints are your perception, NOT the facts.iii. Identify all four elements of your Racket: 1) Complaint,...
The Garlington Report (TGR)
I recently had the exclusive on-line pleasure of pay czar Kenneth Feinberg's company. Ok, that's not entirely true. It wasn't exclusive, and he wasn't in direct company. Feinberg was speaking to an audience hosted by Princeton University's Faith and Work Initiative, which is capably led by David W. Miller, PhD....
Blogger and entrepreneur expert Ben Cansocha posted a great feature earlier this month on the fallacies of working with passion. He cited a seemingly contradictory excerpt from Steve Jobs' now famous commencement speech first given at Stanford University and now passed along on the Internet like a prosperity gospel. Here...
Bold truth -- from an unlikely source
Rarely has a bold truth come ringing out of a Sunday talk show during the holidays. And rarely have so few words implicated so many with such little fanfare.As the usual year-end imagery gathers on TV and the Internet, it's highly unlikely the comments of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will...
Introducing the new Fleet BofA
Well, at least it's done. Bank of America Corp.'s board whiffed by selecting an insider/outsider, but thankfully, the publicly bungled succession process is finally over. Look soon for spin on the new Bank of America, which will resemble the old with a new "fleeting" influence. 'Fleeting' is a bad play...
The Bank of America Corp. (BofA) CEO search drags on. First the board said through a spokesperson that they were going to have a candidate in October. Then Thanksgiving came and went. Now the deadline is first quarter 2010. According to the Wall Street Journal, the bank's board is meeting...
Last week's headlines in The Wall Street Journal presented an all too familiar trend line. First came AIG's CEO complaining about pay restrictions while threatening to quit after only a few months in the job. He later retracted and said he was staying for now. Evidently the "war for top...
Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter
I just got back from a ginormous trade show, HIMSS 10 (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society). Overall, the event was well done and extremely well organized, with a number of education tracks that were truly educational (as opposed to ill-disguised vendor sales pitches so common in trade events.) I was...
“But, the photos are blurred!”
Years ago, I was producing a complete new set of brochures for a company and we were trying to break out of the shiny people stock photo ghetto….so I hired a top photographer who specialized in black & white “candids.” (Back then B&W was pretty rad all by itself.) We...
I Can’t Say This With A Straight Face
“Multi-platform communities based on branded content” “Leveraging its leading brands across its global footprint.” So, can you tell what this means? What company is doing this (big tip-off – the image)? Do you care? If you’re an employee of a company doing this – doesn’t it make you want...
“Let me try to find another one for you.”
You don’t need sophisticated systems to “manage customers” or detailed plans for customer loyalty creation. You DO need people with some common sense and common courtesy. This week, I had a wonderful service experience with Coldwater Creek – all because of one person, Terri. I had...
Some people complain (and I’m one of them on occasion) about all the junk and noise on the Web…but we also have unprecedented access to not just information but learning. We’re only ignorant – about virtually any topic – if we choose to be. (One of my pet...
“Wow, I really want to buy this soap!”
I might have said that – if there had been soap in the shower at Ojo Caliente. There I was – all relaxed and feeling oh-so-mellow – after hours of soaking, massage, salt rub and sauna. Then I get to the shower – and no soap…or shampoo…or extra towels. Not...
The Long Tail
This blog is on hiatus, but you can follow me on Twitter and at DIY Drones, where I’m posting daily. I’ll use this blog for occasional longer pieces that don’t fit either of those two other spots....
For a recent speech to a travel company, we pulled together some data on the changing shape of travel due to low-cost carriers, online travel information and social-media driven word of mouth taking tourists beyond the usual top destinations. As......
Is this how the singularity happens?
This was one of those freaky moments when the future sneaks up and smacks you. I was on a plane earlier this week and took a break from work to watch the movie while they served dinner. It was Terminator......
Netflix data shows shifting demand down the Long Tail
A team at Wharton did some Long Tail analysis on the Netflix ratings data the company released for its Netflix Prize. Although I don’t agree with many of the conclusions in their paper (like some other academics, they got confused......
If you checked out today’s New York Times Book Review section, you’ll see that FREE made the list in its first week of eligibility. It’s #12, tied for #11 (that’s what that little asterisk means). We expect it to dip......
FREE on the Kindle (free); get it while it lasts!
You can get FREE free on the Kindle (and Kindle iPhone app if you don’t have a Kindle) now. It’s been up for a few days and the free offer will end on Wed, Jul 22nd, so get it now.......
Lead Change Group
“If people are going to do their best, they must be internally motivated” – Kouzes & Posner Leadership Challenge 4th Edition Real success in energizing an organization or a community or a tribe comes from a shared vision and spontaneous motivation. By “spontaneous” I mean “controlled and directed internally,” and “produced...
Character-based leadership creates energy. Character-based leaders lead out of who they are rather than their position. They don’t manipulate; they inspire. Their character, personality, gifts, values, beliefs and behaviors communicate to the whole team and other stakeholders that they are part of the team. They share the goals and objectives...
We have talked about vision in previous posts such as Energize, Mobilize & Guide, Related posts:Align your Vision and Purpose Own Your Vision Energize, Mobilize & Guide ...
Social media entered another dimension this past weekend. At least for me. It took on a third dimension, and a fourth! I met 13 members of the Lead Change Group face to face this past weekend at LeaderPalooza. The third dimension was the people. What a great group of new comrades-in-arms....
We’ve had several posts now about vision. Have you “seen” the common thread between them? We discussed the need to be able to articulate your vision in a way that makes your stakeholder’s salivate. We also talked about the value of a shared vision, how it energizes and mobilizes your...
We have talked about vision in previous posts such as Energize, Mobilize & Guide, and Related posts:Own Your Vision Shared Vision Core Purpose Interview ...
ManagingCommunities.com
When Should I Lift a Temporary Ban Early?
photo credit: me and the sysop When I called out to you for topics to write about, Alex asked me to touch on “the liberation of banned users before the appointed time.” If they have an appointed time, it has to be a temporary ban. I’m not a huge fan of...
What Would You Like Me to Write About?
photo credit: bionicteaching I was just pondering what I wanted to write about today and I thought it’d be a good idea to ask you: what would you like me to write about? What would you like my thoughts on? What can I help with? I want to know. Please let me...
My Presentations Are Now on SlideShare
As part of my work on my new about and speaking pages, I wanted to create a profile on SlideShare and upload all of my past presentations, making it easier to share them and share the style of my slides. Just in case anyone is interested, my username is iFroggy. Here...
photo credit: dan taylor I love yearly award programs for online communities. I think the act of rewarding your members through your own version of the People’s Choice Awards is a beautiful thing and something that, when done with care, can add a nice touch to your community. In October, we ran...
Fair Use for Forums (and How to Explain to Your Members That They Can’t Quote Entire Articles)
photo credit: Horia Varlan It’s important to be proactive on matters of content theft and copyright infringement. A large part of this is text quoted from other sources. With some exceptions (public domain works, works by the Federal Government, works released under alternative licenses to copyright, and more), you can’t allow...
photo credit: Gusjer You’ve got a brand new community on basket weaving. You badly want people to come to your site. So, you go to the largest basket weaving community on the internet and start discreetly inviting members. Maybe you instant message or e-mail them off site, so that the people...
Inside Personal Growth
Writer, cartoonist and musician, Elizabeth Wagele, began her artistic life as a musician at the age of four by picking out classical music on the piano and teaching herself to play the music she heard. She eventually studied music composition…...
Podcast 162: The Career Within You with Elizabeth Wagele
Some of you might be entering into a new career, and others may be many years into your careers. My interview with Elizabeth Wagele the author of “The Career Within You” focuses on a tool called the enneagram designed to…...
Deb and her husband/partner, Ed. are the authors of sixteen books on personal development, meditation and social action, many published in over seventeen languages; and they have led meditation retreats and personal development programs worldwide for over 25 years. They…...
Podcast 161: Your Body Speaks Your Mind with Deb Shapiro
I have had the wonderful pleasure of being able to interview Deb Shapiro again. My first interview was with Deb and her husband Ed about their new book entitled “Be The Change”. In this podcast I will be speaking with…...
As CEO of Cause Alliance Marketing, Jeff facilitates collaborative cause-related marketing programs that address social issues while addressing the business objectives of alliance partners. He currently serves as President of the Conscious Capitalism Alliance, ...
Podcast 160: Working for Good with Jeff Klein
I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Jeff Klein at the recent Innovation and Humanities Conference in Orange, CA. It was an inspiring to hear him speak, and I was very impressed by his message and passionate delivery. I subsequently…...
Orrin Woodward Leadership Team
American Freedom & Austria's Experience with Totalitarianism
Freedom isn't free and people who treat it lightly are likely to lose it. Throughout the history of mankind, people have yearned to be free from the yoke of tyranny and oppression. Freedom is a blip on the screen of a long history of corruption and tyrannical power grabs. History...
Self-Deception & Leadership Results
Results in life are inversely proportional to the level of self-deception. I know that statement can sound harsh, but hardly anything amazes me more than the self-deception levels obtained by would-be leaders. In a desire to protect their fragile egos, potential leaders would rather destroy their businesses than confront the...
Dreams Do Come True - IAB Top 10 Leader & Paul Pilzer
I am finishing reading Paul Pilzer’s book Unlimited Wealth for the second time after nearly 17 years and cannot help pondering the changes in my life from the first time I read Pilzer’s book. I read it the first time back in 1993 on a Saturday afternoon, completing it in bed...
Personal Financial Revolution Webinar
Stephen Covey states to begin with the end in mind. What is the end in mind for your finances? Is it net worth or is it quality of life? Chris Brady and I are going to do a live webinar on Friday, February 26th at 7 pm to share our...
Seven Principles of Effective & Defective Confrontation
Dr. Joseph Mattera sent me this article and I had to repost it with my comments. Dr. Mattera is one of the clearest thinkers in the field of leadership and Christianity in my opinion. Leadership is about influence and community, making promises, following through, encouraging one another and resolving conflict...
The Center for Social Leadership
The Center for Social Leadership (CSL) is making a difference in our world by teaching people to accept responsibility and lead in their communities. We need more organizations to develop private solutions to our world's challenges instead of government solutions that cause more troubles than they solve. Albert Jay Nock taught...
Women on Business
It’s an old, stale trick. You call a well-know crowd pleaser you’d like to have as keynoter for your next event and ask her if she believes in “free speech”. When the answer is a predictable “yes”, you offer her the opportunity to come and deliver a speech – for...
Why I Chose to Become an Entrepreneur
Post by Veronica Eyenga, contributing Women On Business writer People choose to become entrepreneurs for many reasons. For women, those reasons run the gamut and encompass everything from the need for more schedule flexibility to experiencing a glass ceiling. In my case, I was unsatisfied working for someone else. I had a...
What is Your Business Committed to?
Are you committed to your business? That’s an obvious “yes” or you wouldn’t put out the welcome mat each morning. What is your business committed to? This is a different question. Is your business committed to fulfilling your initial start-up vision? Is your business committed to fulfilling a perceived need? ...
Challenges Facing Women in Business
Post by Veronica Eyenga, contributing Women On Business writer Inevitably, all business owners will face challenges now and then. However, women business owners tend to face them a little more often than their male peers. This does not mean that women business owners cannot be successful; statistics show that the success rate...
Leverage the Social Web to Define Your Personal Brand
Personal branding is absolutely essential in the world of the social Web. The first place potential employees look to learn about you (after reading your resume) is the Internet. Your Twitter stream, Facebook profile, LinkedIn profile, and so on all offer a glimpse into who you are as an employee...
Resources For New Entrepreneurs
If you have always thought about becoming an entrepreneur, or have recently started your own business, there are many resources you can use to help guide you. I have gathered together some of the sites that I visit and that I think are useful for those interested in taking the...
The Tom Peters Weblog
There are a few books by Cool Friends: Jason Fried has written Rework with David Heinemeier Hansson, his co-founder at......
The Little BIG Things is now available as an audio download through Amazon.com (although the link points you to Audible.com......
The video series continues with Tom describing a meeting with Barry Gibbons, former chief of Burger King. Asked to speak......
The Little BIG Things is available as an audio download. At iTunes ($26.95), from Audible.com ($30.61/$7.49 [promo]), and other places......
We have a book! The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence. It's for sale in stores! It's for......
We thought you might enjoy reading an early review of The Little BIG Things by Stefan Stern, management writer for......
Biz Money Matters
Seth Godin @ The Art of Marketing
submit_url = "http://blog.tonyjohnston.biz/?p=2375"; SETH GODIN was the BIG DRAW at The Art of Marketing Conference held in downtown Toronto on March 2, 2010. Sponsored by Microsoft Dynamics CRM, this Conference drew an audience of 1,600 people to to hear six internationally renowned thought-leaders and bestselling businessbook authors...
How to Succeed Like TIFFANY & CO.
submit_url = "http://blog.tonyjohnston.biz/?p=2350"; Want more revenue? Well then, make your offerings stand out more, so much so that your customers and prospects see what you have to sell as head and shoulders above the competition. You can do this if you harness the power...
submit_url = "http://blog.tonyjohnston.biz/?p=2259"; It’s hard finding ways to beat the competition let alone keep up with them, especially in the challenging economic times we have today. So, if you get a chance to hear about key business strategies that ambitious companies intend to follow in...
Biz Owners: Can $’s Buy You Happiness?
Motivation (yours, mine and everyone’s) is ‘the’ bedrock issue when it comes to business. That’s because in capitalism and the study of it (economics), there’s nothing more fundamental. As business people / managers / owners, we’re all focused on motivation: how to motivate ourselves? / how to motivate staff?...
Debt Chickens Coming Home to Roost
Today’s online newspapers have real drawbacks. First, they don’t let you to scan all the news. Second, all too often important articles in the print edition never make it to the paper’s website. And let’s not forget how fewer and fewer people are getting real newspapers delivered these day. As...
Risk, Character & New Year Resolutions
It’s January 2010. Welcome to the second decade of the third millennium! To those of you who made New Year resolutions this year, good wishes and good luck achieving your goals. Given that only two weeks has passed since we sang Auld Lang Syne, I trust you ...
Generation Y Journey
How Can Managers Better Connect With Young Employees
Ryan Paugh, co-founder of Brazencareerist.com, recently asked several Gen-Y's this very question. Ryan is sitting on a panel thisyear at SXSW to discuss "Why Gen Y Wants to Work With You, Not For You." (He'll be accompanied by four other Gen-Y bloggers—Elysa Rice, Sydney Owen, Nisha Chittal and Ben Smithee). ...
Strategic Review of Generosity
This morning, I was listening to WNCI’s Morning Zoo with Dave and Jimmy when a listener called in looking for some advice. SCENARIO: Husband calls into WNCI asking for help in settling a dispute between his wife and him. The married couple’s dog needs $800 worth of medical procedures to...
Lessons in Retail Customer Service (Listen up Macy's!)
We hear every day about the impact of the recession on retail sales. Blah-blah-blah… One of the key measures we hear about monthly is Retail Sales (YOY, month to month, season to season). Retailers employ teams of marketers, advertisers, branders, strategists, consultants, auditors, whatever else to squeeze every dollar possible...
Long ago, a teenager learned his calling in life. As a young entrepreneur mowing yards, washing cars, and painting just about anything, the young boy quickly understood that waiting for the phone to ring wasn’t making him money. The public needed to be informed of the services he offered and...
I’ve been in the foursquare game for a few months now (I’m actually a Superuser – I got the badge to prove it…). I’m not real sure why I use it so much though. There are very few players and venues in Columbus, OH using it, the badges...
Networking is a fundamental aspect of career success. For someone like me who has goals of leading a company, writing a book, and serving on the board of a major non-profit organization, it requires having relationships with many diverse people. Over the last 5 years, I’ve attended dozens, if not...
Positive Thinking - Justified Lions
Keep Asking Yourself Is What I Am Doing Now Productive?
Staying organized and focusing on tasks at hand can be very tough. I know for me that is one of the things I struggle with often. Things can get really messy if you have tasks that are not arranged by high priority to low or even worse no...
Positive Reinforcement As A Leader
(photo credit: Woodruff Photography) Positive Reinforcement On January 23rd 2010 I had the privilege in help organizing and speaking at a Social Media Event in Virginia Beach. The event had many different specialty fields in marketing and a diverse audience that all came together for one main event. It was a long journey from September 2009 to...
Without Suffering There Would Be No Compassion
Without Suffering There Would Be No Compassion A Quote from one of my favorite movies “A Walk To Remember” Jamie: Without suffering there would be no compassion. I love this saying because it shows us another perspective outlook on why do people suffer. The age old question has always been why,...
Do You Have A Champions Creed?
When I was in High school, at every prep rally right before a big football game, our whole school would recite a motivation creed to get the whole school pumped up. The creed went something like this: I am Somebody I will strive I will persevere and I will win because I am somebody Now the whole entire...
7 Tips for Daily Positive Thinking & Motivation
The Power of Positive Thinking Below I will outline 7 powerful positive thinking tips to help you with your motivation and drive on a daily basis. Studies show that people who participate in Positive Thinking lead more successful and happier lives than people who don’t. The biggest difference between Success and Failure...
Inspire Others To Have Confidence By Becoming A Leader
(photo credit) “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves” Break The Mold Don’t wait around for change to happen, step it up and make things happen. Create an atmosphere of positive confidence that shines forth not only within your self but...
Phil Dourado » Leadership
Why case studies shouldn’t be taken literally
I’ve always had a problem with Harvard and other academic organizations’ ‘case studies’ approach to learning how to lead and run a business. The problem is that people treat it as a blueprint. There’s the other problem which is it takes them so long to produce the...
Letters to the President: keeping in touch with what’s real
Every day, President Obama reads ten letters from the public in order to stay in tune with America’s issues and concerns. This clip reminded me of the importance of communicating, unmediated, with customers and employees to stay in touch with what’s really happening. Yes, OK, from ...
Who are you? In six words or less.
Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a story in six words and eventually sent this in to the magazine that challenged him to do it: For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. Isn’t that evocative, sad, moving, all in just six words? It’s prompted a couple of people since...
Why you have to practise leadership
“There is an ancient saying that knowledge is only a rumour until it is in the muscle.” I noticed that on the ‘Embodied leadership’ course description over at Roffey Park’s centre in the UK. I don’t think I posted on it here before. Hope not. It’s true isn’t it:...
“We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from life.” – William Osler Just came across that and it’s a reminder of something good leaders know and do – contribute and serve. The ridiculous attempts to save ‘bonus cultures’ and...
101 ways to be a remarkable leader
Kevin Eikenberry has a nice free short-read pdf ‘101 ways to become a remarkable leader’ on his website. As you’d expect, you have to fill in some info to get it. Each of the ‘ways’ is just one headline, so not a great time-consumer. First ten of his...
Blog - Just Ask Leadership, Executive Coaching - CO2Partners
You work so hard, for some it is easier no doubt, to become knowledgeable. You learn to speak, to emulate you parents beliefs - religious, political, cultural, to understand relativity, quadratic equation, the system of government and how it was designed to work and then how it actually works. You...
Let the Crazy Out a Little at a Time!
All leaders bring unique characteristics and histories with them on the rise to the top. Like you and me, they're human. Sometimes, though they want to forget or hide parts of their past, of themselves--the parts they find embarrassing or unbefitting their current position. The more they try to hide...
Dan Pink - Interview on Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Gary B. Cohen: Dan, thank you for your willingness to share your thoughts with the readers of the Just Ask Leadership Blog. Your new book, Drive: The Surpising Truth About What Motivates Us, is a terrific read. I will be doing a full review of the book later this month...
Great Leader vs. Great Manager Is There A Difference?
When you are confident that you are a good Manager, does that mean that you are automatically a good Leader? Leadership should not be considered to be the same as management. They are different, yet not in the way most people presuppose. Leadership is not something that requires a specific...
Is Your Leadership Encouraging Screen or Face Time?
Is your obsession with order driving your company to input more data and generate more reports? Is it distracting your employees from delighting your customer?Yesterday, a hundred megabyte drive was sufficient storage; today it's in the terabytes. The drastic reduction of costs associated with data storage is allowing companies to...
Questioning Tip: killing questions
You ask the question: "What has brought you to your knees?" A pause fills the room like when you're giving a speech and have a momentary lapse lasting 5 seconds that seems like 5 minutes and you say, "ahh." Feeling compelled to break the silence you begin to speak and...
Dot Connector
Inspirational Quote about Challenge and Controversy [via Martin Luther King, Jr.]
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King Jr. See also:6 Techniques I’ve Used To Challenge Conventional Thinking [Reposted from Unconventional Thinking, the blog of Mark Stevens]... Inspirational...
Can You Please Help Me Raise $600 Dollars in the Next 6 Days? [Tax Deductible]
Hi All, I am trying to raise at least $600 in the next 6 days for the House of Hearts Charity Bonspiel (i.e. curling tournament) that I am in this Thursday, March 18th – Sunday, March 21st. I’m posting this in Unconventional Ideas for one reason – a great fundraiser that...
Unconventional Ideas Update for 2010-03-12
What is foursquare? The "location based service" for your phone that improves your local knowledge: http://su.pr/9SbPC2 # Facebook Connect: 10 Great Practical Uses from CNN, Redbull, and more: http://su.pr/4UI1Un # Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving [Video from Sir Ken Robinson] http://dotconnectorblog.com/Dp9s # Inspirational Quote about Change [via Marcus Aurelius] http://dotconnectorblog.com/eQ7s # Unconventional Ideas...
Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving [Video from Sir Ken Robinson]
As you may know by now, I’m a huge fan of unconventional thinking and finding new ways to spark creative thinking. Creative problem solving is the “secret ingredient” to running and growing a successful business and realizing your full potential. Last week, Stuart Davis, Chief Marketing Officer at Quicken Loans, shared...
Inspirational Quote about Change [via Marcus Aurelius]
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it. – Marcus Aurelius...
Unconventional Ideas Update for 2010-03-05
Worst customer service response ever? You have to read this. From a vice president no less. Caution: extreme language. http://su.pr/1RPV9W # 7 Leadership Training Tips from Barack Obama http://ow.ly/1mTWfT # Leadership Skills: Unconventional Thinking [Mark Stevens Interview - Part I] http://is.gd/64liw # Inspirational Quote about Choices [via Flora Whittemore] http://dotconnectorblog.com/xr6T # Mental Focus –...
Linked 2 Leadership
Managing Mondays: More Done in Less Time
How are you possibly going to get everything done today? The answer is simpler than you might think: It’s Focus. We have all been there: that place of dread; that place of being overwhelmed; that place where life seems a bit too challenging. It may be a mounting pile of work, a project needing completion,...
Articles of Faith: Move That Stone!
—————————————————————————– This post is part of our Sunday Series titled “Articles of Faith.” We investigate leadership lessons from the Bible. See the whole series here. Published only on Sundays. —————————————————————————– HEALING AN ORGANIZATION: MOVE THAT BUS (…er…STONE….) Have you ever watched that American TV reality-show series on Sunday evenings on ABC called Extreme Makeover Home Edition? This is...
Strategic Leadership Execution
Letter From the Editor 2009 is gone. For many, it was a real bummer. Many lost their jobs, their homes, and their sense of financial or job security. I heard yesterday someone say that their retirement funding account, called a 401k, looked more like a “101k.” Perspective The L2L Group on LinkedIn has...
Is Leadership a Popularity Contest?
Greetings Leaders! There has been a lot in the news lately about President Obama and his declining popularity ratings. In California, according to the LA Times, Governor Schwarzenegger has the approval rating of only 27% of the people. If you turn to Congress, it is faring no better with the Washington...
Leadership Lessons from Cinderella
Last weekend, my husband and I went to see the local high school production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. As I watched, I couldn’t help but notice some connections between the fairy tale and some important leadership behaviors. Let’s start with Cinderella’s stepmother. She clearly favors her biological daughters over her stepdaughter. This happens in...
Leadership Trust: Your Secret Judgement
How can you be telling me this now? I was counting on you! If you had only told me this when you first knew! I can’t believe you waited this long! It’s never fun learning a secret that’s been kept from you. It makes you feel left out of the group...