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, […]
6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68
These are the magical numbers every fan of tennis now recognizes. It was a game for the ages when, at last, American John Isner defeated France’s Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon today – after three days and more than 11 hours of play. Yesterday, people in my office were constantly interrupted with friends and family calling […]
Plumb Lines to Punch Lines: UT Dallas President Speaks Out on Education
You’d expect Dr. David Daniels, with academic degrees in engineering, to know all about plumb lines and other engineering concepts. What’s refreshing is that the President of the University of Texas at Dallas also knows how to deliver a punchline. He “gets” the importance not only of subject-matter expertise, but also of […]
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 […]
Client Testimonials: Video or Not? – April 2010
A great testimonial is the trump card for winning business. Clients telling others what you do is like gold in the bank. Traditionally, companies have relied on written testimonials. With the popularization of YouTube and other social media outlets, the bar has been raised to include video. And that can be a problem if you […]
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 […]
The Talent Whisperer – March 2010
Sam bellowed more than whispered when he coached championship 6th grade football. Yet, to this day, his former “players” tell me how my dad inspired them to be better men. He was a true talent whisperer, a special coach. My now mellow 83-year old dad led his Blue Bruisers to an undefeated decade of wins. […]
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 […]
Apple Addiction and Other Technology Traumas
If I hear one more technical support person parrot, “I apologize,” and not mean it at all, I may run for Congress on a platform to hold all call center executives accountable for consumer torture. Surely, I am not the only person in this country who is sick and tired of being treated as if […]