Read more about the article Does Leadership = Communication? | Use this Communication Matrix

Does Leadership = Communication? | Use this Communication Matrix

Funny goofy guy with a bull hornYou need Leadership Skills to ascend to the C-Suite

A young friend of mine called me recently and said he was being considered for the CEO position of his young but growing company

He was elated, so excited, so thrilled to be considered until the “be careful what you wish for” axiom popped into his head and he realized he was pretty inexperienced in leading an organization of any size

We went on to talk about his concerns and as he began to think about his candidacy, it dawned on him that he had a very limited finance background … he didn’t think much about communication … and could be a better team player. (more…)

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Read more about the article Business Finance | Are You Ready for an Injection of Financial Adrenaline?

Business Finance | Are You Ready for an Injection of Financial Adrenaline?

If you’ve ever exercised by lifting weights, you know that the amount of the weight on the bar is only one variable that needs to be considered for a particular exercise

If you’re doing a bench press, you can add more weight because your chest and shoulder muscles help your arms to lift the weight

But if you put 50% of that total weight on each of two dumbbells, you can’t lift either one

You’ve probably also learned that you can’t use the same weight for curls as you do for bench presses

How much weight can you really lift?

[pullquote]“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler

” ~ Albert Einstein[/pullquote]

Likewise, if you’re going to do only one repetition, you can handle more weight than if you’re going to lift it ten times

If you are lying flat, (more…)

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Read more about the article Nothing But LEADERSHIP | Practical Tips to be a Great Leader

Nothing But LEADERSHIP | Practical Tips to be a Great Leader

What Does It Take to be a Great Leader?

What do you think we’d get if we asked everyone who writes about Leadership to offer up a definition?

Probably need a new wing in the Library of Congress, don’t you think?

For some, it’s everything and anything that has to do with influencing others. It’s communication. It’s achieving accountability. For others, it’s a body of work built around values and character and timeless qualities of integrity, passion, respect, et. al. Do you have a definition that works for you?

Leadership Lessons don’t march in a neat formation

As we’ve all learned, most of life’s lessons don’t travel in a neat formation accompanied by bugles and cavalry. They arrive filthy and unkempt, prominent in the mess we’ve made around our foxhole. These lessons are typically the offspring of hubris … naivete … and ignorance … or simply from overlooking the land mines hidden beneath our feet.

This series is ONLY about practical strategies to help you become a better leader

This series is not about reiterating or re-examining the principles of leadership that so many seasoned professionals have so eloquently described. Leadership observers have extracted lessons from Julius Caesar to Patton, Jesus to Mohamed and (more…)

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Read more about the article Leadership Styles: The Smartest Guys in the Room can kill you!

Leadership Styles: The Smartest Guys in the Room can kill you!

“When a fellow says it hain’t the money but the principle o’ the thing, it’s th’ money.” — Frank McKinney

‘Always ask why.  Dig deeper.  Get the facts.’ Avoid the crowd mentality

“Ask Why” was their motto.

“Wheel Out,” “Fat Boy” “Death Star” and “Get Shorty” were some of the nicknames applied to their strategies.

Confirmation letters of successful trades were addressed to names like “Mr. M. Yass and “Mr. M. Smart” … and I think you can parse the underlying contempt.

“Rank & Yank” described their people performance system, “Pump and Dump” their trading strategy.

About $70 billion of market value was destroyed, more than 20,000 employees lost their jobs and pension funds worth $3.2 billion were destroyed, more than two thirds of which belonged to retirees with little chance to rebuild.

I had always intended to watch “The Smartest Guys in the Room,” the 2005 movie based on a book by the same name from co-authors Peter Elking and Bethany McLean, but it got lost in the shuffle until last week.

It chronicles the Enron cataclysm, whose meteoric ascent was violently terminated with its bankruptcy on Dec. 3, 2001.

“Be like Enron” is still an ignominious curse

It’s hard to believe this happened almost 10 years ago since to be “like Enron” still reverberates as an ignominious curse. It’s really more like a viral infection, though, because so many of the forces that drove its destruction have cleaved similar fissures in scandals from (more…)

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Read more about the article Do you have a Battle Plan – or is Hope your only Strategy?

Do you have a Battle Plan – or is Hope your only Strategy?

Most of us weren’t around during World War II … but D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion of all time, with over 250,000 troops and 15,000 ships landing along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. Luck? Accident? … or the result of rigorous strategic planning and project management?

Did General Eisenhower, the Allied Supreme Commander, lead this effort without any planning?

Of course not, and even if our business plans aren’t quite as extensive, we know (deep down, we know for sure) that we need some sort of an organized planning process to build a successful business.

[pullquote]“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower, (American 34th President (1953-61). 1890-1969)[/pullquote]

We need to make sure that everyone’s headed in the same direction … that we don’t ignore the obstacles or overlook the great opportunities on the road ahead … or don’t squander valuable resources chasing rainbows.

That’s why you should listen to our 5-part podcast series that demystifies planning and describes a simple discipline to get you started.

Do I really have to plan to have a successful business?

I find myself using General Eisenhower’s phrase repeatedly for at least two reasons … it’s true … and (more…)

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