A peculiar phenomenon follows me when I walk into a book store: Books speak to me. I’m not schizo. I don’t literally hear words such as, “You hoo, here I am.” On the other hand, I might as well, since the end result is the same: I buy them. Could you resist a book […]
Leadership
Happiness? Whose Job Is It?
I haven’t been posting much lately not because there was nothing to say. To the contrary, I’ve been up to my ears in thoughts and activities. For example, I was in Morocco during the Egyptian crises. It was an extraordinary trip. If I can get a foto or two downloaded here, I shall do […]
Revisiting Ike
Until yesterday, when I heard David Eisenhower discuss his grandfather’s iconic 1961 farewell speech, I never fully grasped the full wisdom of President Dwight Eisenhower‘s words. David, in his new book Going Home to Glory, a memoir about life with his illustrious grandfather, puts the famous Military-Industrial Complex speech into a broader context, explaining why […]
Secretariat + Social Network: Wondering What’s Real
Last week, I watched two films based on “true” stories about two extraordinary historical events (where opportunities for leadership abound). One is about a horse and a woman. One is about a young male and his brain. One story is finished. The other is just beginning. Of course, I’m talking about Secretariat and Social Network. […]
Chick-fil-A’s CEO Dan Cathy
This August, my LodeStar Universal monthly newsletter was all about the importance of leadership being more attuned to customer service. We tend to give it more lip service than genuine attention. As luck would have it, SMU invited me this week to the Executive Center to hear Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy. I was swamped Wednesday, […]
Leadership as Theatre: General Petraeus
If you don’t define yourself, others will. This often-quoted concept is not one I thought particularly applicable to military officers until I read the May 2010 Vanity Fair article on General David Petraeus, a man I’d never thought too much about. Sitting on an airplane headed to a conference to Ft. Lauderdale, I learned […]
HeartMath’s EmWave: A Grown Up’s Toy
My idea of a cool “toy,” is anything that shows me how to do something I couldn’t do before and expands my thinking. Such toys are rare, which is why I’m excited about my newest purchase. HeartMath is a heart-research and product company whose newsletters I’ve been following on-line for years. Founder Doc Childre […]
Big-Time Fees: Big-Time Stick
It’s not nice to talk about money, so Mother-and even the Feds say. Mother, of course, was thinking manners. The Feds? Price fixing….. Yet, everybody’s doing it. Tonight, including me. It’s just too interesting, especially given the economic times. What caught my attention is media coverage about the current rash of former CEOs thought headed […]
Boone Pickens + Al Gore: Strange Bedfellows
I sometimes feel I shouldn’t be surprised by anything any more. Yet, sometimes, I am. When I heard conservative billionaire T. Boone Pickens describe his new-found friendship with former vice-president Al Gore, I laughed in disbelief along with the rest of the people at my table. Boone was serious. “If Al Gore ever invites you […]
I Had to Fire Someone Today
It’s not much fun knowing all weekend that, odds on, you are going to have to let someone go first thing Monday morning. Especially in this economy. Still, there are times when it is absolutely necessary. And I’ve never been as certain that it was necessary as I was today. Here’s the sad thing. […]