I will be enjoying a family vacation for the next few weeks. While I’m gone, I want to share with you some of the Gold Feature articles I have written. Each of them supports my mission to serve you, which is to provide Practical Strategies to Help Leaders Get Real Results. Not a lot…
By any other name, FOCUS is the one thing we all struggle with. There is too much to do, too much coming at us and we want it all. We want to work hard, perform well, love our families, dote on our children … and be great athletes, gifted musicians…
NOW is the time for tough decisions?“Now is the time for tough decisions,” said Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder, on the occasion of Detroit’s bankruptcy filing.Did he say “NOW is the time for tough decisions”?Maybe for the weak-kneed, lily-livered city fathers who’ve been putting lipstick on this pig for years, but…
“Lary, give this customer a call. We’ve just received an unauthorized return, and I want these shoes sent back.
“Funny how the green shoes don’t fit and the red ones fit perfectly.”
It wasn’t uncommon for the chairman of company North (you may remember him from the 2nd article in our Culture Series, How Are You Paving the Road to Superior Performance) to stop by my office with a message like this.
His remarks were actually a code:
“The red shoes sold well but the green ones the customer bought aren’t selling … so now they’re claiming they don’t fit so they can return them. We’ve had no other such complaints. Tell them we won’t accept them and refuse them at the door if they come back.”
I made a note to contact the customer, figuring I’d call them after lunch when I would be more likely to catch them three time zones away.
No e-mail back then.
Practical Strategies to Help Leaders Get Real ResultsIn truth, I realize you really don't care that we transformed our web site.You shouldn't.You should only care if you can find what you want when you want it.I only care about what will really help YOU!Yeah, I know that’s easy to say and you probably hear…
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?
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.
This day is never more poignant and meaningful than when our men and women are serving overseas in harm's way. Today, we pay tribute to the young men and women who defend the freedom we hold so dearly. Over 4,000 children lost one of their parents since September 11, 2011.…