I have a client, an engineer and an inventor, Frank Springett, who recently won the World Oil Industry Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award. Frank has developed a stable of patents for equipment in deep sea oil rigs. Not only is he smart, he’s a pretty cool guy as well. So I asked him what […]
Former Goldman Sachs Leader: Becoming Indispensable
Every body is freaking out about job security. Understandable. Still, some people manage to hold a job or quickly find one, no matter what. I thought it would be a good idea to discuss this topic. Of course, no one is indispensable. The idea is to become that. To become so valued in the workforce […]
Gigapan.org
Gigapan.org is worth a few minutes of your time. Especially for the purposes of this column, being a reflection on leadership, it inspires the imagination. When you open it, you will see an enormous long-shot panorama of the inauguration. Impressive, but it is when you zoom in, with exceptional clarity, to any detail, that you […]
The Lime Tree, Making Limeade Out of Sour Stuff
When I stepped onto my front porch today, a miniature lime tree greeted me. Tiny white blossoms were laced among its deep green leaves, and elfin-sized limes drooped from the branches. A thank-you gift from my friend Judy. We had lunch a week ago where she asked my advice about a difficult conversation […]
The Lady Yoda: An Unexpected Black Belt
She’s a sixth degree black belt, weighs in at about 92 pounds and is a petite 5’2″ tall. And that’s not the cool part. What goes on in her head, her philosophy about life, as she teaches the (mostly) men students she works with, that’s the cool part. Meet the strikingly attractive Aikido master […]
“Matress” is a Game That Gets Old Fast
Remember those days when “all” the economic news was cheery? Remember when you felt like everybody “else” was making tons of money? From the hedge fund to the venture capital clicks, if you weren’t an insider, at least, you could put your money in the market and feel like a player. Money was flying faster […]
Re-Solution for 2009
Happy New Year, and this is going to be short: Stop looking at the idea of a New Year’s resolution as being another promise that you break. Instead, look at resolution by breaking the word down into its parts. You, your business, and I all need new solutions for the coming year. New ways of […]
Now, What Happens? 8 Tips for Personal Leadership
This morning I heard a former Federal Reserve chief and economist provide another dour analysis of our economy, and absolutely no suggestions, no solutions, and little hope for what to do next. That’s not what I call leadership. Even had he said he thought we need to hunker down and work hard, it would be […]
The Obama Effect
Sometimes, it is true that you just don’t know, until it happens, how you will feel about something. This has been the case since Mr. Obama was elected to office. Even those who voted for him have said that they didn’t realize what an impact it would have on them. It is different, they say, […]
Tony Bennett, Joe DePinto, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – 3 Things Learned Last Week
Thinking through three interesting things I learned last week isn’t too hard, since I learn at least three things every waking hour. The difficult thing is deciding which things to share with you. Sticking to the subject of leadership, three wildly different leaders legendary singer Tony Bennett, 7-Eleven’s CEO Joseph DePinto, and humanitarian Sri Sri […]