Photo by h.koppdelaney “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo, Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer Big, bold and compelling vision is what separates great leaders from good leaders. Great leaders set great goals. Great goals are ambitious, challenging, they stretch you and your team, taking you outside of your comfort zone. “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” — Steve Jobs…
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Most Topular Stories
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Are You Thinking Big and Aiming High?
George Ambler - The Practice of Leadership28 Apr 2013 | 11:49 am -
3 Mindbending Ways Apple Dodged $13.8B In Taxes
TechCrunch21 May 2013 | 5:45 amKudos to Apple’s finance lawyers, who are the Cirque Du Soleil of legal contortionism. On the eve of live testimony from CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and Phillip Bullock, head of Apple’s tax operations, a scathing congressional investigation of Apple’s tax dodging strategy reveals how the computer giant avoided $13.8 billion in taxes through a clever labyrinth of offshore tax havens, shell corporations, and paper shuffling. “The ability to pay taxes of less than 2% on all of Apple’s offshore income gives the company a powerful financial incentive to engage in… -
Tool to Measure the Speed of Your Website
Daily Blog Tips15 May 2013 | 7:05 amA couple of weeks ago I came across an interesting tool to measure the loading speed of your website. The tool was created by Pingdom, and it basically loads your website, tracking the time at each stage of the process. It’s called Pingdom Website Speed Test. Once the test completes you’ll with a score (varies from 0 to 100), the number of requests performed (i.e., how many elements were loaded), the total load time and the total size of your page. Here’s how DailyBlogTips scored: On top of that you’ll also get access to a detailed break-down of all the elements that… -
The Non-Google Research Tool That Makes Writing Easier
Write to Done20 May 2013 | 6:46 amWould You Like to Use A Research Tool that Makes Writing Easier? “‘Google’ is not a synonym for ‘research’,” says novelist Dan Brown. If you want to be a serious writer (and don’t we all?), sooner or later you’re guaranteed to hit a brick wall. To get beyond the brick wall, you are forced to do some … (sound of ominous music) research. I think novelist Allan Leverone (Parallax View) spoke for most writers when he said: “I hate research. … When I’m writing, I would much rather be writing than researching. I want to learn… -
Reinventing You
800 CEO Read20 May 2013 | 10:39 amTweet“What do people think of you? What do they say when you leave the room?” Maybe you don’t think you have a brand. Hopefully you don’t think that. As Dorie Clark demonstrates in her new book, Reinventing You, taking control of your professional future hinges on your acceptance and understanding of your current brand, and your ability to take control of where that brand is going. OK—we can call it a reputation, if that makes you feel better. As Clark points out early on, we simply can’t afford to disregard the impact that our personal brand has on our success. The idea that you…
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George Ambler - The Practice of Leadership
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Are You Thinking Big and Aiming High?
28 Apr 2013 | 11:49 amPhoto by h.koppdelaney “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo, Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer Big, bold and compelling vision is what separates great leaders from good leaders. Great leaders set great goals. Great goals are ambitious, challenging, they stretch you and your team, taking you outside of your comfort zone. “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” — Steve Jobs… -
Busy is Killing Leadership
20 Apr 2013 | 7:59 amPhoto By Vincent_AF “Never confuse movement with action.” – Ernest Hemingway Busy is killing leadership! Considering the experience and competence of leaders, their position and influence, their authority, the resources that they command, too many spend their time making the routine happen, instead of investing their time and energy into those few significant things that will create the organisation’s future. They fail to take advantage of the opportunities they have to make a real difference. One of the key reasons is that leaders find themselves distracted by busyness. -
Leaders Are Readers
13 Apr 2013 | 10:20 amPhoto By Jayel Aheram Reading has always been a habit of great leaders. It’s one of the most powerful sources of growth, inspiration and new ideas. Reading is a great investment in your personal development. If you want to improve your leadership you need to read. Effective reading is a habit that goes beyond just skimming or scanning. Effective reading requires you read deeply, understand and apply the ideas and lesson to the challenges of the day. Here are some habits that will help you get the most out of your reading. Leaders Read Quality. To get the most out of your reading time… -
Email that Gets Results is Structured for Clarity
1 Apr 2013 | 6:58 amPhoto By apdk Clarity requires that you bring structure to your writing. Your message must be clear and messages are clear when they’re well structured. Structure is important as it provides the recipient with a framework that makes it easy for the reader to follow and understand your message. Limit your email to one main topic per message. Limit your email to a single main topic per message. Do not included multiple actions in a single email as this overwhelms the reader and increases the likelihood of miss-understanding and that some actions will be missed. Structure your message into… -
Email that Gets Results is Focused on a Single Outcome
1 Apr 2013 | 6:41 amPhoto by Nina Matthews Photography Focus helps you get to the point quickly. People don’t want to read through a long and rambling email consisting of a collection of unrelated ideas. Focus requires that you set a single goal for your message. Your goal should be guided by one of the 3 types of email outcomes. Once you have decided on your message outcome consider the following guidelines to help you strengthen the focus of your message. Keep your message focused on a single outcome. This requires that you’re clear as to the purpose and objectives of your message. Focus strictly on a…
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TechCrunch
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3 Mindbending Ways Apple Dodged $13.8B In Taxes
21 May 2013 | 5:45 amKudos to Apple’s finance lawyers, who are the Cirque Du Soleil of legal contortionism. On the eve of live testimony from CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer and Phillip Bullock, head of Apple’s tax operations, a scathing congressional investigation of Apple’s tax dodging strategy reveals how the computer giant avoided $13.8 billion in taxes through a clever labyrinth of offshore tax havens, shell corporations, and paper shuffling. “The ability to pay taxes of less than 2% on all of Apple’s offshore income gives the company a powerful financial incentive to engage in… -
New U.K. Edtech Entity To Spend Up To $77M Acquiring European E-Learning Firms Over Next 18 Months To Build Regional Giant
21 May 2013 | 5:34 amExpect a swathe of consolidation in the European e-learning sector in the coming months. Edxus Group, a new London-based corporate operating edtech company, is planning to plough in €50-60 million ($64-$77 million) over the next 18 months to develop and acquire European e-learning businesses and build out a single regional player with the scale to compete against U.S. edtech giants, it said today. Edxus plans to execute the first phase of its “buy and build” strategy over the next three to four months, deploying an initial €15-20 million to “consolidate a handful of… -
Brightpearl Raises $8 Million Series B For Its Cloud Software To Help Retailers Manage Sales Across Multiple Channels
21 May 2013 | 5:08 amIn what is effectively a follow-on round, Brightpearl, the cloud software provider for multichannel retailers, has raised $8 million in Series B funding from previous backers Eden Ventures and Notion Capital. Both Eden and Notion seed-backed the UK company, before adding a further $5 million Series A in May 2011. This brings the total raised by Brightpearl to $14.5 million. Brightpearl provides cloud software for small to medium-sized retailers, which integrates orders, inventory and customer data across multiple retail channels — both online and bricks ‘n’ mortar. The… -
Unity Game Engine Goes Free For iOS And Android Developers
21 May 2013 | 5:03 amThe barrier to entry for the Unity game rendering engine for developers on iOS, Android and BlackBerry 10 has gotten lower, as use of Unity tech is now free on both mobile platforms. Unity CEO David Helgason announced the changed terms today during the Unite Nordic trade conference, according to Pocket Gamer’s Keith Andrew. The dropping of licensing fees for the engine’s basic tier means that features which once cost $800 now carry no charge at all. The change in pricing structure is all about building momentum for indie game creators and studio, according to Helgason. Unity… -
With A Media-Rich Platform To Stand Out From The Messaging Pack, MessageMe Hits 5M Users In 2.5 Months [Interview]
21 May 2013 | 5:00 amLast week we reported that MessageMe, one of the latest messaging apps to hit the smartphone market, had picked up a $10 million Series A round of funding, and today, the company is officially confirming the news, along with some more details on how it’s been doing in the 2.5 months since it launched. It now has 5 million users across both iOS and Android — a five-fold increase on the 1 million that downloaded the app in its first 10 days. MessageMe aims to carve out a name for itself by offering more ways than the rest of the pack for users to communicate with each other on its…
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Daily Blog Tips
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Tool to Measure the Speed of Your Website
15 May 2013 | 7:05 amA couple of weeks ago I came across an interesting tool to measure the loading speed of your website. The tool was created by Pingdom, and it basically loads your website, tracking the time at each stage of the process. It’s called Pingdom Website Speed Test. Once the test completes you’ll with a score (varies from 0 to 100), the number of requests performed (i.e., how many elements were loaded), the total load time and the total size of your page. Here’s how DailyBlogTips scored: On top of that you’ll also get access to a detailed break-down of all the elements that… -
The eBay Affiliate Program Case
7 May 2013 | 6:23 amIf you have been building websites or working with Internet marketing for a while you probably already visited the DigitalPoint forum. It’s the largest and one of the oldest online, and it’s owner, Shawn Hogan, was well known in the Internet marketing circles. A couple of years ago I read around the web that Shawn was facing some legal troubles with his affiliate marketing activities, but there weren’t many details about the issue. Fast forward to the present day and it seems that the problems he was facing were both real and serious, according to a recent article on… -
Internet Marketing 101: Basic Elements of Sales Pages
1 May 2013 | 9:16 amLast week I linked to a post which contained 10 tips for creating effective sales pages. While all the tips mentioned are solid, I think they don’t cover all the elements you need to include on a sales page, so I decided to list them. Here you go: 1. Benefits As I explain in this post, benefits sell, not features. And since benefits are what your customer is looking for you should always start the sales pitch with them. 2. Story This is the only item which I think is optional, and its use depend on the type of product you are selling. For instance, if you are selling an ebook about… -
Tips to Create Effective Sales Pages
24 Apr 2013 | 9:12 amIf you already have a sales page, or are planning to build one soon, you should check out a post from my buddy Karl Staib, titled 10 Tips to Create a Sales Page that Converts Prospects to Customers. Karl goes through the strategies that worked well on his own sales pages, including the best practices of the industry. For instance, here’s one of the strategies mentioned, which many people overlook: 4. Share Your Technique Giving people advice that is valuable can be a little surprising to people. Many companies will hide their best information from you, so you have to hire them. When you… -
Internet Marketing 101: Sell Benefits, Not Features
17 Apr 2013 | 2:23 pmWhenever you need to sell something, how do you introduce it to potential buyers? The most natural thing for us to do is to start describing the product itself. In other words, to start describing its features. The problem with this approach? It doesn’t sell! It will simply bore the customer and make you lose his attention. If you want to sell, you need to start with the benefits and value that your product will bring to the life of your customers. Sure, down the road you’ll need to actually describe the product features (cause people want to know what they are actually buying),…
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Write to Done
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The Non-Google Research Tool That Makes Writing Easier
20 May 2013 | 6:46 amWould You Like to Use A Research Tool that Makes Writing Easier? “‘Google’ is not a synonym for ‘research’,” says novelist Dan Brown. If you want to be a serious writer (and don’t we all?), sooner or later you’re guaranteed to hit a brick wall. To get beyond the brick wall, you are forced to do some … (sound of ominous music) research. I think novelist Allan Leverone (Parallax View) spoke for most writers when he said: “I hate research. … When I’m writing, I would much rather be writing than researching. I want to learn… -
How Ian Fleming Turned James Bond Into A Bestseller
16 May 2013 | 1:32 amWould You Like To Turn Your Novel Into A Bestseller? What makes the work of a novelist sell well? Genius, good connections in the publishing world – or just old-fashioned, hard editing? Some clues come from Casino Royale, the first James Bond novel. Ian Fleming’s original draft was put on show earlier this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the novel’s publication. It did not spring immaculate from his typewriter. Nor did Fleming have any publishing connections or prior experience in novel writing. He succeeded – the novel went into three print runs in its first year alone… -
How Your Local Bookstore Can Help You Consistently Create Content For Your Newsletter
13 May 2013 | 7:04 amWould You Like Get Ideas For Great Content From Your Bookstore? Every time you sit down to write an article, it’s the same story. You sit there and you can’t really think of what to put in your newsletter. You really want to say something, but nothing comes out. The longer you sit there, the longer the minutes will tick away. And before you know it, the phone will be ringing, the distractions will be piling up and you’ll find yourself mindlessly wandering through Facebook or emails. That’s why you need to leave your office. Go down to your local… -
How Fear Helps You To Write Better
9 May 2013 | 1:28 amWould You Like To Use Fear To Write Better? Being a writer means living in terror. I don’t mean the terror of a zombie apocalypse or of circus clowns. I mean the incessant nagging of self-doubt. Do you ever ask yourself any of the following: Do I really have what it takes? What if they reject my proposal? What if no one takes my ideas seriously? What if I’m just not meant to be a writer? When will they discover I’m a fraud? Who am I kidding anyway? Self-doubt can be completely debilitating. But if you listen to it closely, this type of fear can become a potent tool for… -
3 Important Lessons That Writers MUST Learn From Marketers
6 May 2013 | 1:27 amDo You Apply These Lessons From Marketers? To the uninitiated, writing can seem like a pretty easy gig. You just spend the day watching television and surfing the web, and when inspiration strikes you saunter over to your computer to dash off a few brilliant paragraphs, send them off to an editor, and you’re done for the day. This is the life, you sigh as your fix yourself a mojito and sit back to wait for your fan mail and royalty checks. Living the dream. Obviously, we know it doesn’t work exactly like that. We know the stress of looming deadlines, the agony of rejection, and the…
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800 CEO Read
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Reinventing You
20 May 2013 | 10:39 amTweet“What do people think of you? What do they say when you leave the room?” Maybe you don’t think you have a brand. Hopefully you don’t think that. As Dorie Clark demonstrates in her new book, Reinventing You, taking control of your professional future hinges on your acceptance and understanding of your current brand, and your ability to take control of where that brand is going. OK—we can call it a reputation, if that makes you feel better. As Clark points out early on, we simply can’t afford to disregard the impact that our personal brand has on our success. The idea that you… -
Friday Links
17 May 2013 | 12:38 pmTweetFor your weekend perusal, here is another installment of Friday Links ➻ Calvin Ried’s coverage of the BISG’s MIP (The Book Industry Study Group’s Making Information Pay Conference) 2013: A New World of Big Data, Complexity and Collaboration for Publishers Weekly yesterday was a treasure of interesting insights: BISG executive director Len Vlahos gave an overview of “The Digital Consumer” using data from its “Consumer Attitudes Towards E-book Reading Survey,” in particular looking at the behavior of “Power Buyers” or consumers who buy at least one e-book a… -
ChangeThis: Issue 105
15 May 2013 | 11:33 amTweet Monster Loyalty: How to Build Customer Loyalty like Lady Gaga by Jackie Huba “While known as much for her voice as for her over-the-top wardrobe, few recognize Lady Gaga for her stunning business acumen, which has earned her legions of loyal fans worldwide.” Brains Favor the Ridiculously In Charge Leader by Henry Cloud, Ph.D “Leaders must establish some key boundaries in some very key areas if they want to get results. And, thanks to brain research, we now can scientifically get a peek into why the leaders who do establish these kinds of boundaries get the results that they… -
The Power of the Circle
15 May 2013 | 7:25 amTweetTwo conversations I had last week got me thinking about networking. ➻ The first was during a brainstorming meeting with Jon, our general manager, about our annual author conference. The meeting ended with a discussion on the value of mentoring, and the predominance of books that advocate for the practice. ➻ The second was over a drink with a friend who was joking about the state of her golf game. When I commented that I had no desire to learn the sport, she explained that she works in an industry in which golf is still an elemental aspect of networking. She challenged herself with… -
Simple
14 May 2013 | 10:42 amTweetWhen we talk about breakthrough simplicity, we mean an interaction that cuts through the clutter. This is a standard that should be applied to everything a company puts out into the world, from the product to the ads down to the smallest piece of correspondence: It should do its job quickly, clearly, simply. People just don’t have the time or the interest to wade through corporate rhetoric and jargon to figure out what you’re trying to tell them. Through clarity of thought and presentation, it’s possible for a business to rise above the cacophony of today’s…
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Mashable
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MoviePass Removes Wait List for Unlimited Theater Tickets
21 May 2013 | 5:10 amGoing to the movies is an expensive pastime, especially if you're a frequent visitorMoviePass, a service that launched late last year, is trying to ease the financial burden for film buffs by charging them a single monthly fee — typically around $30 — to watch up to one 2D movie in theater per day Still in beta, the service has had a wait list ranging from a few days to a few weeks since its launch last year. On Monday, MoviePass temporarily cleared the list, opening it up to those who signed up (it declined to share its current user numbers). What's more, to celebrate "summer… -
YouTube: The Newest Dog Toy
21 May 2013 | 4:25 amDid you hear that YouTube has hit the impressive milestone of one billion visitors a month? What the video-sharing site didn't reveal, however, is how many of those visitors are actually human We have found evidence of increasingly-addicted dogs turning to YouTube to watch footage of their fellow four-legged friends SEE ALSO: 10 Disappointing Dogs That Sound Like Cats Take a look through our amusing selection of confused canines in the video gallery above. Link us in the comments section below to any other YouTube-addicted pooches you've come across Homepage image courtesy of Flickr, Shazz… -
Google to Retire Checkout in November 2013
21 May 2013 | 4:11 amGoogle will retire its payment processing service, Google Checkout, on November 20, 2013, as part of a transition to its multi-platform payment system — Google Wallet Checkout was launched in June 2006, as an alternative to PayPal. Initially free, the service was gradually moved to a tiered cost structure, similar to PayPal's Google explains what the retirement means for Checkout merchants, Google Play developers and users in a blog post In a nutshell, merchants will be able to accept payments through Checkout until November 20, 2013, after which they'll have to transition to a… -
'Wired' Completely Overhauls Print Magazine
21 May 2013 | 3:23 amWired is debuting a new look for its June issue, which hits newsstands Tuesday. The magazine has been completely made over by Scott Dadich, who before being named editor-in-chief last November worked as creative director of Wired from 2006 to 2010. There was something about the previous version of Wired — the bright colors, bold fonts, perhaps the splashy photos and graphics — that made it feel distinctly like a magazine about science and technology for men. Not so with the new edition of Wired, which feels more like Wired meets T: The New York Times Style Magazine meets The New… -
Former Thief Invents Theft-Proof ATMs From His Cell
21 May 2013 | 2:39 amWho knows security better than a thief? Romanian computer expert Valentin Boanta used to supply thieves with the skimmers they used to gather information to create fake bank cards and then steal cash from ATMs. Boanta, 33, was caught in 2009. And now, six months into his five-year sentence, the former thief has developed a technology that would safeguard ATMs from the very attacks in which he used to participate. "When I got caught, I became happy," Boanta told Reuters. "This liberation opened the way to working for the good side." Skimming is the act of copying a credit or debit card by…
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SmartBrief on Leadership
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Sculptor recreates Renaissance food portraits
20 May 2013 | 6:56 amIn the 16th century, artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo made a name for himself by painting the Holy Roman Emperor but substituting v -More- Vice President and Controller Privia Health -
What is the legacy of Intel's Paul Otellini?
20 May 2013 | 6:56 amIntel's Paul Otellini stepped down as CEO last week, capping eight years as a highly successful but generally underrated lead -More- -
Are you helping your employees succeed?
20 May 2013 | 6:56 amGood leadership is about helping people achieve their potential, and that means giving them coaching and clear feedback, note -More- -
Innovation isn't paying off, CEOs says
20 May 2013 | 6:56 amJust 18% of CEOs say they are seeing returns on their innovation investments, according to an Accenture survey of French, Bri -More- -
Don't let your MBA go to your head
20 May 2013 | 6:56 amIt's graduation season for a new crop of MBA students, but what happens next? -More-
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CEO Blog - Time Leadership
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The Gamification Revolution
8 May 2013 | 3:30 pmI am trying to get my youtube video to go viral so would appreciate any sharing, comments, likes, Tweets etc.++++++++++++++++++++++++++A friend of mine wrote an interesting article on BlackBerry 10. Worth reading.++++++++++++++++++++++++++I do not believe in video games. One of my investment thesis is not to invest in them (although Canrock does have a small investment in Willpawn4food). My theory is picking a hot game is like picking which movie will be hot - tough to do.I do not play internet games except chess and at one time, I played some solitaire, tetras etc.I do… -
From Smart to Wise
2 May 2013 | 2:01 pmPrasad Kaipa and Nvi Radjou wrote "From Smart to Wise - Acting and Leading With Wisdom". I have long sought wisdom so jumped at a chance to read the book. One of my favorite expressions is "wisdom is learning from other peoples' mistakes". Wisdom is like corporate culture. It causes right decisions to be made. It allows for superior insight.The first chapter seemed unnecessary. It talked about why wisdom is important. I suspect people who do not know that would not be reading the book (although that is true of many things). People who… -
Back from Morocco
2 May 2013 | 6:15 amI am just back from a week in Morocco. Beautiful country. A mix of modern with ancient. I hurt my knee running the first day but did manage a 5 mile hike in the Atlas Mountains. But then did no workouts. So I feel bloated (there was lots of food of course). But as with all travel, I always feel behind when I return. So I use an email management technique to ease my email stress. It is based on the old time management principle - touch each piece of paper only once. What I do is allocate 2 minutes maximum per email (most take less than a… -
17 Apr 2013 | 8:50 am
17 Apr 2013 | 8:50 amI was at a YPO event yesterday morning. The speaker was prolific author Richard Barrett.He wrote a number of books including The New Leadership Paradigm - Leading Self, Leading Others, Leading an Organization and Leading in Society.His company has done extensive research and come up with tools on how to measure individual values and beliefs and company values and beliefs. He has impressive statistics on the success of companies that are high alignment compared to others. He talks about a hierarchy - similar to Maslows from basic needs through goals.One thing Barrett said that made… -
Boston Marathon Cowardice
15 Apr 2013 | 7:33 pmI am greatly saddened by the act of cowardice at the Boston Marathon. Any attack on the innocent and unarmed is cowardly but doubly so when there is no political agenda at the marathon. It is not even a target that could possibly be hated like some people might dislike Wall Street.Thanks to all who asked about my wife, Elizabeth Waywell who was there. She is fine. She even had a spectacular run at 3:10 to come in 5th in her age group. But the terrorism overshadows all. I have mixed feeling about even blogging and being positive as I usually try to…
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Recovering Leader
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When Awe of Others Gets in Your Way
20 May 2013 | 6:10 pmA seasoned executive in a senior role told me, "Jack is a legend – successful, brilliant, famous. When I’m in the board room with him, I tend to keep more to myself – after all, I don’t add as much value as he does.” One could easily say my client has a confidence problem, or needs to mature more, which are quick explanations without solutions. Looking more closely, he was discounting his own value. He was seeing it as variable, rather than constant. And in viewing it that way, he was marginalizing his own contributions. More seasoned executives than one might think get in the… -
10 Essentials of Great Leadership
5 May 2013 | 4:59 pmAs a former divisional COO at a Fortune 500 company who started literally in the mail room, and over the last 10 years as an executive coach, I’ve lived, practiced, studied, observed, and reflected often on the essence of great leadership. Here are ten themes I would categorize as “essentials” -- that whatever will be my next opportunity to lead, I hold them as daily reminders to help me be at my best. 1. Leadership means showing your people why they should care about your mission. Make sure they are fully on board with it, and they're more likely to give you great, rather than simply… -
How to Practice Leadership in Disagreement
25 Apr 2013 | 7:17 amFostering candid debate is critical for effective leadership. Absent that, the quality of your own leadership will be limited, as your team will give you what you want to hear, rather than what you need to know. In my executive coaching practice, I notice many leaders imagine themselves open to being challenged or contradicted. Yet in practice there are two issues: 1. many people working for a leader tend to avoid conflict and/or “yes” the one in charge, and 2. the supposedly open-minded leader may have a blind-spot tendency to go on offense or defense when challenged, sending the… -
Leading Well: 10 Ways to Keep Good People from Caring Less
21 Apr 2013 | 8:29 amEvery person who truly cares about the quality, volume, and overall mission of his or her work is a tremendous asset to any organization. In my experience as a coach and c-level executive, I learned the hard way how important it is to select people who care, and de-select people who don’t care. That’s basic leadership – surround yourself with an amazing team. Once you’ve got the right team, what’s next is an even more important leadership lesson: It’s not the leader’s role to motivate, engage or otherwise try to make people care.It’s your job instead to treat people well, and… -
Your Cluelessness is a Goldmine!
15 Apr 2013 | 8:11 amWhat we can’t see about ourselves, but is obvious to others around us, can be pure treasure. What you may find there: Useful strengths, and self-limiting behaviors – the ones that hold you in a pattern of even slightly less than your best. They are usually plain to those around us, even though politeness or fear on their part can keep them from sharing them with you. For example, here are four leader profiles, each successful by conventional standards, knowledgeable in their field, skilled at doing their job, and leading good people: 1. The leader who is stuck on transmit, talking so…
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Seth's Blog
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Levels of marketing magic, the placebo effects of desire
21 May 2013 | 2:45 amANTICIPATION: Before the product is released, the true fans are buzzing and speculating and waiting in line. The anticipation is self-reinforcing, a placebo effect of desire. UTILITY: The album is good, the software is useful, the book changes things. It works better than we hoped. Exceeding expectations pays significant dividends. REMARK: It's purple. Remarkable. Worth talking about. The word spreads. Ten people tell ten people and suddenly, it's abuzz. Not because of PR or hype, but because the remarkability is built right into the product or service itself. And more people enjoy things… -
You should buy the book
20 May 2013 | 8:33 amMitch Joel is a generous and perceptive blogger. Well worth the daily read. He has a new book. You should buy it. David Meerman Scott writes an essential blog, daily. His book is a classic. You should buy it. Tom Asacker writes a very thoughtful blog about marketing. Worth the read. He has a new book. You should buy it, too. Every day, Mark Frauenfelder and Corey Doctorow blog tons of goodness at Boingboing. They each have books. You should buy them and share them. Bernadette Jiwa's blog keeps getting better and better and you are probably already reading it. She has a new book on the way. -
No Signal
20 May 2013 | 2:00 amAt a party the other day, I saw a dead TV monitor. On the screen it said something like, "No signal... check power, cable and source selection..." It doesn't matter at all how hard the DVD player was trying to put on a show. It is irrelevant how good the show on cable was. If it's not getting through, no one sees it. All of us own our own media companies now. We each have the ability to speak up, to tell our stories, and if we're good and if we're lucky, to be heard. Too often, though, there's no signal. You may be pumping noise through your social media outlets, but noise isn't signal. It's… -
Learning by analogy
19 May 2013 | 2:36 amThe story of Hansel and Gretel is not actually about Hansel or Gretel. You are surrounded by examples and lessons and case studies that clearly aren't exactly about your project. There's never been a book written precisely about the situation you are facing right now, either. Perhaps one day they will publish, "Marketing Low-Cost Coaching Services to Small Businesses Specializing in .Graphic Design in the Upper Peninsula for Dummies" but don't hold your breath. Marketing, like all forms of art, requires us to learn to see. To see what's working and to transplant it, change it and amplify it. -
It's Thomas Midgley day
18 May 2013 | 2:00 amToday would be his 124th birthday. A fine occasion to think about the effects of industrialization, and what happens when short-term profit-taking meets marketing. Midgley is responsible for millions of deaths. Not directly, of course, but by, "just doing his job," and then pushing hard to market ideas he knew weren't true—so he and his bosses could turn a profit. His first mistake began when he figured out that adding lead to gasoline appeared to make cars perform better. At the time, two things were widely known by chemists: 1. Adding grain alcohol to gasoline dramatically increases…
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The Tom Peters Weblog
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"1/47"
13 May 2013 | 7:10 amI frequently say, "I've only learned one thing 'for sure' in the 47 years since I started doing 'this stuff.'" (The 1966 staring point goes back to my U.S. Navy Seabee days in Vietnam.) The term "for sure" is meaningful; as a scientist by disposition, I don't believe as a matter of course in "for sures." So this exception is a big deal—to me. And that one for-sure thing is ... WTTMSW. Or, to clarify ... Whoever Tries The Most Stuff Wins. In Search of Excellence was constructed around "eight basics." And the first was "A Bias for Action." As we said then, and it's become more true over… -
Piggy Sue!
8 May 2013 | 4:57 amThe two great folks who are doing sustainable farming at our place have become parents. Well, not really. But their productive porker mom, Piggy Sue, just produced (about 72 hours ago) a litter of 15. Some of the newcomers below ... -
Jabil, Saint Pete Beach
2 May 2013 | 1:25 pmEarlier today Tom was in St Petersburg Beach, Florida, speaking to Jabil. Their website states they have "Global Expertise in Intelligent Supply Chain Design." Jabil, St Petersburg, FL Jabil, Long Version -
Presentation Excellence
26 Apr 2013 | 6:51 amTom has given more than 2,500 speeches in the last 30 years. He knows what it's like to face a crowd, whether it be friendly or skeptical. As his own toughest critic, he's never been completely satisfied with his performance. While he has offered pointers here and there, he's never written at length about speaking until now. We are fortunate that he has overcome whatever trepidation he may have had to tackle this topic. You'll find in the document below extensive advice and practical wisdom about speaking from a man who has spent most of his life on a stage, trying to share knowledge and spur… -
Algorithms Rule!?
19 Apr 2013 | 6:57 amFrom the extraordinary/chastening book Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World, by Christopher Steiner: "... The audience then voted on the identity of each composition.* [Music theory professor and contest organizer] Larson's pride took a ding when his piece was fingered as that belonging to the computer. When the crowd decided that [algorithm] Emmy's piece was the true product of the late musician [Bach], Larson winced." (*There were three, one each by Bach/Larson/Emmy-the-algorithm.) " ... Which haiku are human writing and which are from a group of bits? Sampling centuries of…
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Management-Issues
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Intentional silence or dead air?
20 May 2013 | 1:00 amIt's a common complaint when presenting or leading a meeting online that not enough people participate or contribute even when asked for their input. Meanwhile, participants often feel that presenters speak too quickly and overwhelm their listeners. -
Rudeness will lose you business
15 May 2013 | 1:00 amIn all aspects of life, politeness and professionalism go a long way. Rudeness will lose you business. You would think that people would realize this, but alas, it seems the lessons still need to be taught. -
The most surprising things about presenting online
14 May 2013 | 1:00 amThese are the most common things that surprise people when they're first starting to get to grips with presenting online. But none of them need to get in the way of what you already know about communicating effectively. -
Deeper-voiced CEOs more successful
13 May 2013 | 1:00 amMale CEOs with deeper voices tend to manage larger companies, make more money and be stay in their jobs longer than their more reedy-voiced colleagues, US researchers have found. -
Adaptive strain, adaptive change
6 May 2013 | 1:00 amPeople are often the greatest barrier to change. But without them, change cannot happen. The effect that change has on individuals is the toughest area of change for most organizations, but the one that determines its success or failure.
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Lead on Purpose
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How to Foster Productive Communication with Employees
18 May 2013 | 10:25 pmGuest post by Diane Pierre-Louis The best leaders are nearly always excellent communicators. Clear and productive communication between management and staff is a great stage-setter for a successful and rewarding workplace environment. Whether you feel that you’re already communicating well with your employees or know this is an area that needs polishing, it’s always wise to review some common-sense strategies. Listen with Intent The art of meaningful listening requires effort and practice, but it is well worth the effort in the end. Generally, most of us are pretty lousy listeners. -
How can you make a positive perception?
11 May 2013 | 11:29 pmHow we perceive things shapes our lives. In the book Beyond Illusions: The Magic of Positive Perception, Brad Barton—a magician, athlete and all-around great guy—takes you on a journey of looking past illusions and forming positive perceptions that will change your life. When we understand how we’re deceived, we have the power to no longer be enslaved by the illusions and misperceptions that create personal, social and business crises. This is how we achieve freedom. Each chapter deals with a compelling topic, with humor and emotion. I literally laughed out loud reading some parts and… -
How do leaders make lasting change?
4 May 2013 | 4:36 pmOne of the great leaders and thinkers of our time is Clayton Christensen, ”a down-to-earth” alum of BYU, Oxford and Harvard. His book The Innovators Dilemma has impacted the business world perhaps more than any other book in recent history. He has expanded his research and applied his theories to other industries like health care, higher education and even governments and tax systems. I found two recent articles about Clayton Christensen that have increased my understanding about leadership: The first is published in the BYU Magazine’s Spring 2013 edition. (As a BYU alum I get the… -
Trust in Leadership – 5 Key Practices to Earn Trust
27 Apr 2013 | 5:30 amGuest post by Daniela Baker One recent article in Forbes magazine examined the interesting phenomenon behind a shift in today’s leadership principles. The article’s author asserts that old leadership models were based on power because business was essentially about competition. Today’s more collaborative, creative business models, on the other hand, require leaders with high emotional intelligence – business leaders who can build trust among their colleagues and employees. The bottom line: if you want to make it as a real leader in today’s business culture, you’ve got to earn… -
Why Sports Builds Leadership
20 Apr 2013 | 7:23 pmGuest post by Jordan Spindler Leadership is a personal trait that often proves elusive to many people, however is intimately related to personal success. Leaders are at the forefront of their fields; they are respected and quite often wealthy. Leaders also foster social change, and most of our cultural, social and economic progress is the result of leadership. It’s no surprise that many people would like to acquire this trait and would like to see their children develop strong leadership skills. While leadership remains easy to define and identify, a consistent summation of characteristics…
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Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog
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The Power of Collaborative Leadership
16 May 2013 | 2:33 pmThe Power of Collaborative Leadership by Bert Frydman, Iva Wilson and JoAnne Wyer has arisen from the spirit of partnership and mutual inquiry. It is a rare book, one that actually captures "thinking in the moment" from experienced practitioners. It reflects the complexity of feelings and multiplicity of interpretations that coexist in complex change efforts. In short, the book is for those who are genuinely interested in expanding their capacity to learn from history. For those looking for easy answers and quick fixes, it would be better to… -
Your Personality at Work
15 May 2013 | 8:29 amWhen we come to know and accept ourselves, we become free to accept others and appreciate how they complement us. Whether you are looking for a job promotion, seeking peace within your team, or looking to improve relationships, we can all benefit from learning more about what drives and energizes us. Finding common ground among an office or different personalities can sometimes be difficult or even detrimental to a career or an organization. What if discovering what motivates you and others, you can begin to identify and eliminate what doesn't? In "The Birkman Method:… -
Buy a Book to take a Self-Assessment
14 May 2013 | 10:33 amThere have been a number of books published that allow you to take a self-assessment within the book or authorize you to take one online and then provide a more complete understanding of who you are within the book. A new book, "Personality Power: Discover Your Unique Profile and Unlock Your Potential for Breakthrough Success" by Shoya Zichy allows you to categorize the personality style of yourself and others. Drawing on the work of human behavior pioneers like Carl Jung and Isabel Myers (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), the author's proprietary… -
What is Your Level of Coaching Literacy?
10 May 2013 | 10:23 amPeople involved in the delivery of coaching may also become ambassadors of coaching in their sphere of influence. However, it is the high-level management of coaching initiatives that sets the overall frame and direction of coaching within an organization and provides the central basis for successful coaching. Get a realistic idea of the nature and degree of your own coaching implementation and improvement intelligence. Here are some questions to help you answer in a frank and honest way: What qualifies you to be a manager responsible for coaching in your company? -
Integrity and Quality of Coaching
6 May 2013 | 8:18 amExcellent coaching can only produce benefits and unfold its potential when properly implemented and used by the person(s) being coached. A slight lack of integrity and quality in a coaching initiative may lead to a significant loss of trust, consistency or functionality and bring about the failure of a coaching program. So what is professional coaching? Download and listen to this MP3 recording of a recent interview of Coach John Agno for the answer to that question. Does the price of coaching indicate quality? The price of a provider of coaching services may have little to do…
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Management Excellence by Art Petty
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New Leader Tuesday-Job One is to Strengthen Others
21 May 2013 | 5:36 amIt’s not easy to move from a self-focused professional to someone who suddenly is measured by the success and growth of his or her team members.Here are 6 ideas to support your efforts on this long, arduous and rewarding journey: -
Leadership Caffeine-Coping with Critics in the Workplace
20 May 2013 | 6:25 amIt takes courage of conviction and a strong dose of self-confidence to absorb the flak from the naysayers. Here are 7 ideas to help you better cope with your workplace critics: -
It’s Your Career-7 Key Do’s and Don’ts for the Newly Minted MBA
17 May 2013 | 7:53 amIt's graduation season again in the U.S. and for most newly minted MBA graduates, it's time for a reality check. Here are some hard-won words of wisdom on how to navigate the steps immediately following your graduation. -
Just One Thing: How to Defuse Difficult Workplace Discussions
16 May 2013 | 6:57 amAlmost all of us get this wrong in the professional environment at some time or another. Myself included. We find ourselves in a tense situation with someone or some group who is attempting to assert a direction or insert themselves into the area we perceive as our domain, and we react by aggressively defending our position and by challenging or attacking their position. Here are five ideas to help you defuse and improve these difficult discussions: -
Leadership Caffeine: 5 Ideas to Bring Strategy to Life on Your Team
13 May 2013 | 6:15 amRegardless of your level in the organization, you have a responsibility to find ways to create a direct link between your team’s priorities and your firm’s ability to make money, create and satisfy customers and beat competitors. Here are five ideas to help you span this gap:
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Sanders Says
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Are You Following Your Top Priorities?
14 May 2013 | 8:41 amRecently, I realized that there's a big difference between our priorities and our values. Oftentimes, you set your priorities based on external requirements (what does the world expect from you?). Values are the criteria by which you allocate resources and make decisions. Your hold them high or low at a personal level. You act them out. You don't write them down in a bullet point list (like priorities). But it's your values that determine the actual order of priorities you follow in life. So, instead of trying to list priorities in order, I grouped them into Top,… -
Social Media Lessons Learned From The Audience
26 Apr 2013 | 8:16 amLast night I attended a fireside chat where Vince Thompson interviewed The Audience founder Oliver Luckett. His company manages social media from major brands including artists, athletes, entertainers and super-cool companies. (His co-founders are none other than Ari Emmanuel and Sean Parker). Every month, The Audience reaches between 600million and a billion people with their branded content. He thinks of the company as a modern day Factory (think Warhol, not Demand media) that produces objects for brands to publish for their followers and key stakeholders. During his comments, a… -
Our first book: Finding the Next Steve Jobs (by Net Minds)
20 Apr 2013 | 3:55 pmLess than a year ago, I met Nolan Bushnell at a METal breakfast, where I gave a talk on "the Future of Publishing." He told me he had a few books he was working on, and was interested in talking to me about publishing them via Net Minds. We met the following week (see above) and cooked up a third idea: Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Hire, Retain and Nurture Creative Talent. I had just read Steve Jobs (by Walter Isaacson), and was aware of Nolan's history with Jobs, and how he created a creative-friendly workplace culture at Atari. I knew that many companies… -
What's Your Last Lap Of Commitment?
8 Mar 2013 | 7:27 amAbout nine months ago, two synergistic things happened: I decided to get in shape and we got a new dog. And he's a miniture poodle pup named Banksy that needs to be walked...a lot. So each day, I walk him up and down the Hollywood Hills. Some days, I've got a lot on my plate, and the thirty minute walks can make me a little frantic that I'm not getting work done. (Note: I don't believe in filling that time with phone-work.) Sometimes, since the hills are so steep, the last 1/2 mile of the walk tuckers me out. Sometimes I'd turn right on the street just… -
When To Rehearse and When To Shoot From the Heart
7 Feb 2013 | 6:40 amRecently, I gave a talk on Relationship Power at a big conference that required quite a bit of research prior hand and nuance during delivery. I needed to create a one-of-a-kind talk to specifically help two groups come together, develop empathy for each other and collaborate. As an outsider, you can't wing this, or you'll easily step in a cow pie with the crowd. And because half of my speech relates to their exact situation, it's brand new material for me. It is not in my treasure trove of advice bits, illustrations or signature stories. Which means that in…
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IMD Business School - Tomorrow's Challenges Articles
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LESSONS FROM CHINA
17 May 2013 | 7:42 amFew Chinese companies have been as successful as Haier. The company’s story has lessons that should be valuable for managers in any industry and any market. -
MOVING FROM LAUGHINGSTOCK TO SAVING GRACE
10 May 2013 | 8:15 amIt’s no laughing matter that organizations spend over $200 billion on learning each year. IMD Professor Shlomo Ben-Hur explores what works and what doesn’t in the world of corporate learning. -
BAVARIA'S MIX OF TRADITION AND INNOVATION
10 May 2013 | 7:26 amPotent brew: Benoit Leleux and Jan van der Kaaij tell the story of Bavaria, a Dutch family-owned beer company with an innovative approach to marketing -
DIVERSIFICATION KEY TO GLOBAL EXPANSION
3 May 2013 | 6:44 amEmerging market companies must be aware of the need for global leadership as they expand beyond their borders, argues IMD Professor Allen Morrison. -
WORLD COMPETITIVENESS 2.0
3 May 2013 | 2:41 amIMD Professor Stephane Garelli looks at the next 25 years of world competitiveness. Countries will become more compatible with each other as economic and social divergences narrow
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Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
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367 GG The Old Editor Says
16 May 2013 | 9:48 pmJohn E. McIntyre, a veteran editor at The Baltimore Sun, shares pithy editing maxims from his new book. -
366 GG Slash
9 May 2013 | 9:48 pmHow Texting Is Changing English -
285 GG "Moot" Versus "Mute"
2 May 2013 | 9:48 pmMoot isn't moot, but it can mean something different in Britain and the U.S. -
365 GG The Language of Crime
25 Apr 2013 | 9:48 pmThe Language of Crime -
364 GG Why Would Anyone Use "The Chicago Manual of Style"?
18 Apr 2013 | 9:48 pmStyle guides.
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Get Paid to Write Online
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Edit and Proofread Your Way to Blogging Success
9 May 2013 | 5:13 amEditing and proofreading your blog will help you get your message out clearly. Blogs have become popular outlets for getting ideas and thoughts into the public sector. Blogs are used for instruction, advice, marketing, and creative endeavors. There are a number of easy ways to create a blog, but no matter what type of blog you are writing, one thing remains the same—quality is key. Readers don’t expect perfection, but they do expect accuracy and good writing. Proofreading and editing are paramount for garnering the sort of traffic you want. Follow the five guidelines below, and make your… -
Overcoming Self-Doubt As A Freelance Writer
3 May 2013 | 5:57 amby Daley J. Francis Rejection becomes a freelance writer’s best friend after a while, such is the number of knock-backs and rejections a writer will face in their career. It becomes second nature and the quicker you can learn to deal with it the better. Unfortunately, rejection is only one of the many distractions a writer will face in their career. A common enemy to a freelancer is self-doubt, and it has to be conquered if you are going to have a long-term career as a solo artist. You are the Master of Your Own Destiny Keep repeating the above line to yourself, because as Russell Crowe in… -
Five Fatal Flaws that are Killing Your Writing Business
23 Apr 2013 | 9:01 pmWhat stops your writing business from being successful? Start a discussion with any group of writers and the same topics come up over and over again. That’s why this month’s Word Carnival is so timely, inviting me to Vanquish that Nemesis – identify the things that get in the way of small business success and figure out how to beat them. Here’s my list of five fatal flaws that can kill your writing business along with tips on how to solve them. 1. Small Biz Dyscalculia You’ve heard of dyscalculia, right? A few people close to me have this syndrome and they tend… -
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!
17 Apr 2013 | 7:00 amI’ve had a fantastic time here at GetPaidToWriteOnline.com, but sadly, it’s time for me to move on. Nearly three years after I first started writing for GetPaidToWriteOnline.com, I’ve recently decided to stop, for a whole array of different reasons. Before I explain why I’m leaving, I firstly want to say it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I’ve actually been toying with the idea of taking a step back for several months now. The reason I’m leaving all comes back to the one thing that in many ways, I’ve been trying to achieve since I started… -
Kick-Start Your Freelance Writing Career By Writing For Yourself
4 Apr 2013 | 7:00 amIf you’re not writing regularly for yourself, I strongly believe you’re going to be hindering your development as a freelance writer. This week, I started work again on a blog I first launched over three years ago. At that point, I was really starting to take my freelance writing career seriously and I wanted a place where I could write regularly, as well as a resource that would have an array of different benefits, such as showcasing my work. As so many things do, it fell by the wayside over the years. However, revisiting a few different projects lately, I wanted to get back…
