Leadership | “Did Jamie Dimon Steal Your Leadership Book?”
A young friend of mine called last week.
“Hey, did Jamie Dimon steal your book?” he asked, referring to the The Essential Hallmarks of a Good Leader recently published.
“No, he certainly didn’t steal it,” I said. “He might have read it since you can get it for free right here? Why would you think he stole it.”
“Okay,” he replied. “I guess he didn’t steal it then … but is there any chance he might have written it?”
Funny guy, huh?
Who is Jamie Dimon?
As you probably know, Jamie Dimon is the Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, with an enviable track record as a visionary executive leading large and complex financial organizations.
And, no, he didn’t write The Cornerstones of Effective Leadership … but I was eager to see just what my friend was referring to … and more importantly, what Jamie had to say about the characteristics he thought were the most important to being a successful leader.
What does Jamie think?
Leadership Lessons | Does Mom think you should be a snitch?
“God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men.”
– Thomas Jefferson
Does Mom think you should be a snitch?
Some of you may be familiar with the famed but controversial West Point Cadet Honor Code: “A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.”
But didn’t somebody say: “Don’t be a tattletale?”
Few of us would doubt the wisdom of “will not lie, cheat or steal”, the core of many of the values we learned as children.
One of the other things we learned as children, though, was, “don’t be a tattletale.”
Be loyal to your friends, don’t snitch on them, and don’t go running to mommy when you observe a small infraction of the rules. It doesn’t help that we’ve seen countless movies since then where a snitch ends up on the wrong side of the grass.
What about the part, “or tolerate those who do”?
Thus, the controversial phrase, “or tolerate those who do.” (more…)
Leadership | Can we really trust you to fake authenticity?
If you’re not authentic, who are you?
What a surprise!
Years ago I was traveling regularly to Asia, and wanted to buy my wife a Cartier tank watch, a style that was very popular at the time.
I visited a reputable jeweler where most of my partners had been shopping for over 20 years, and found exactly what I was looking for. My wife was ecstatic, and I saved a lot of money over what I would’ve spent here.
… and a bummer!
[pullquote]“If you seek authenticity for authenticity’s sake you are no longer authentic.”~ Jean-Paul Sartre[/pullquote]
One day, it stopped working. Cartier is a highly reputable brand, so I didn’t hesitate to send it to their New York facility for repair.
Imagine my stunned surprise when several weeks later they returned it with a note that said it was a reproduction.
A fake.
I not only bought the watch from an established retailer, but I had the beautiful Cartier box, a written certificate of authenticity and a warranty card. All of it was fake.