“What I Really Learned from Running 20 Companies”
Reading Time: < 1 minute The problem with taking advice from successful people is that their experience, like everyone’s, is a sample size of one. You can’t always be sure if a particular executive was smart or lucky based on just one company, or one career. This is why James Altucher who has run 20 companies and writes
Sins of Commission(s) – Transactional Leadership vs Transformational Leadership
Reading Time: < 1 minute One of the hardest things for CEOs to get right is how to pay people….but most of them would agree that variable commissions are essential to properly incent sales people. An Inc Magazine article looks at incentive compensation for sales people and suggests that in companies with good cultures that Sales
Do You Take Advantage of Chance Encounters?
Reading Time: < 1 minute Many of us can think of a chance encounter with someone that took an interest in us that led to a new job, career, spouse or destiny that we weren’t looking for or didn’t expect. Instead of waiting for that “big break” , why not make it happen. Check out this short article from Forbes that
20 Things for 20 Somethings – Leadership Lessons for the Next Generation
Reading Time: < 1 minute It can be hard to give the young people in your life advice because of the age difference. So here’s some advice from a younger person for his peers that I wish someone had given me. Pass on 20 things I Should have known at 20 to someone with more years ahead than
The Hazards of Autopilot (In the air and elsewhere)
Reading Time: < 1 minute The aviation industry has always been cutting edge when it comes to developing and using new technology, most notably the autopilot function in aircraft. But there are no unmixed blessings in life and technology is no exception. The Hazards of Going on Autopilot.” from the New Yorker begins by looking at the use
The REAL Joan Rivers
Reading Time: < 1 minute The unexpected death of iconic comedian Joan Rivers brought the usual torrent of information from celebrity sources that either did not know her, wish they did, wished they didn’t …or wished she knew them! One of the more thoughtful tributes to Rivers came from someone who actually knew her well.
Think Like a CEO: If You Build it, They MIGHT Come
Reading Time: < 1 minute Henry Ford once remarked that he didn’t do market research because if he asked people want they wanted they would have said a faster horse! He trusted his instinct as to what the customer would want even if they themselves could not articulate it today. He built it and they came. (Though
Coulds or Shoulds?
Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s amazing how a small change in how we ask a question can lead to a big difference in the answers. Researchers compared the impact on creative problem solving when a question we ask everyday was altered ever so slightly; in fact by changing only one word. A very short article summarizes their findings and
The Innovators: Knowing Where (and WHERE NOT to Play)
Reading Time: 2 minutes The art of competition requires a sense of where , and where not, to play. In the music business, it turns out that knowing what to play is equally important. Case in point: Jethro Tull, one of the most successful and enduring rock and roll bands in the world led by frontman Ian Anderson for nearly
Scored Recently?
Reading Time: < 1 minute First it was secretaries and receptionists, then it was caller ID, next it was voicemail. These are just a few of the obstacles which have kept us from connecting to decision makers whom we are convinced need our help; but for some strange reason think they have better things to
