In the past three parts of this series, I've endeavored to lay out ways for leaders to strengthen their ethics and how to apply it to their leadership style. Some are hard and some are easy. This is an easy one: Get Philosophy into your life.
Book Review: The Management Myth: Why the "Experts" Keep Getting it Wrong - By Matthew Stewart
"How can so many who know so little make so much by telling other people how to do the jobs they are paid to know how to do?" The answer to this question, posed by a professor of author Matthew Stewart, is basically the entire volume of The Management Myth, itself. This darkly funny, brutally detailed look at the management consultant class manages to unveil nonsense and presumptions of everyone involved in corporate life in America, from current gurus like Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence) to modern-day Fortune 500 company heads to the worshipped founders of business schools and management theory.
Try Kindle for iPhone. It Will Change Your Life.
I have been reading books for over 42 years.
I LOVE them. Biographies, business, novels, mysteries, scifi, horror, comedy . . . anything. I scare people with the amount of books (and the associated bookcases) that I own.
A number of months ago, I downloaded the iPhone version of the Amazon Kindle just to see how it works and if I would actually read a book on a small screen. Well, after a few months, I have 10 books on my iPhone and there is no end in sight.
The best feature of the iPhone Kindle (IMHO) is the ability to download a single chapter of the book to see if you like it or if it is actually lives up to its hype. Be wary — this is an addictive way to get you to try the book. I've bought all of my books this way.
Readability is not an issue. I know . . . I know — you're afraid of the small form factor. But don't worry. Remember when you went from Hardcover to Paperback? You lost 1/2 the size. The Kindle's form factor is 1/2 the size again - but you get to enlarge or decrease the size of the type, have a black, white or sepia background and read horizontally or vertically. Oh — did I add that it is back-lit? You can read in bed or in low light conditions.
The verdict? I read faster, can bookmark pages/ideas quicker, and carry my current library of books wherever I go. Not in my briefcase, backpack or purse — on my PHONE.
And it's free - you only pay (on average) $9.99 for the book (where the same physical book on Amazon might run you $20-$30).
Try it - you might like love it.
Staying in the Game With Help on the Sidelines.
CEOs - Attract The Best Board Candidates.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for boards to attract outstanding board candidates. Candidates are reluctant to consider opportunities because of the increased time demands of board membership as well as the increased time demands of the candidate's own positions. This is especially problematic because the need for board members, and especially outstanding ones, has never been greater.
Task Ninja: Form the Action Habit.
A lot of us get stuck in inaction –procrastinating, doing a lot of unimportant tasks to avoid the important stuff, worrying about failing or about being perfect, having a hard time starting, getting distracted, and so on. It’s time to start forming the Action Habit instead. Get all Ninja on your actions.
Powerful Quotes I Love.
"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." - Dr. Seuss
The Shredding Of YOUR Workplace Is Happening NOW.
Facebook Postings Close Doors For Job Candidates.
More employers than ever are researching job candidates on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter in order to find out more about their activities and character. And, it turns out, many candidates are doing a great job of showing their potential bosses poor communication skills, inappropriate pictures, and even how many workplace secrets they can leak.
CMO to CEO: Insights & Advice From CEOs Who Have Made The Transition.
Little is written about the options available to CMOs to progress beyond their role as marketers and become key players at the executive committee level. At the Rich Gee Group, we frequently run into many C-Level executives who want to progress to the top rung and help them develop a strategy on what they should be doing to make themselves credible contenders for the CEO berth.
Do You Need An "Executive-Level" Health Program?
5 Stages of Grief When Looking For A Job.
Here's a fun list that I saw on Madatoms:
Denial
I've got plenty of money! I'll start looking next week!
Anger Craigslist and Monster sucks! I've got a college degree! Jobs should be looking for me!
Bargaining I'll just drive around looking for help wanted signs. I hear that Starbucks has health insurance!
Depression Why did I major in Communications? I have no useful skills.
Acceptance I didn't know I qualified for unemployment! I love this country!
Keeping Unscheduled Time.
Ethical Leadership — You Need A Mentor.
Wall Street’s Gambling Soul.
The New Joblessness.
Ethical Leadership - Start With Gut Instinct.
This is Part One of a multi-part series on Ethical Leadership.
"I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics." - Richard Branson
I thought I would start with the most apparent way to lead ethically - by your gut. Why? Because I feel that most people are good and try to live their lives from a position of doing good for others. I know — there are some horrible people out there — but overall, I believe that the majority of executives are guided by good rather than evil. Unfortunately, some are pulled to the dark side by a number of different reasons (found in my last post).
Leading with Gut Instinct means that you listen to an inner voice — what scientists call 'your intuition'. Intuition is a feeling within your body that something is right or just not right. Did you catch that I said "within your body" and not just "within your mind"? We've all had moments of intuition - a certain colleague or a business deal. Sometimes we listen and sometimes we don't —intuition is the signpost pointing us to the right way — unfortunately, we sometimes take the wrong way.
"Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level." – Dr. Joyce Brothers This is why I believe my gut. Our brain is made up of billions of neurons firing many times during the day. Thoughts, emotions, facts, knowledge, etc. all are accessible at one time or another. If you have a highly structured and organized mind, you probably don't use your intuition as much as the next person. You just go to the library, choose your book from the shelves, and access the info that you need.
Everyone else's brain uses a more complex system — intuition — to unconsciously make their way through that ball of wire we call the brain and access that one (or more) tidbit of information needed to make the right decision.
The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself. – Alan Alda "Be yourself" — (how I love that term) — intuition allows you to make decisions from where you stand, not from anyone else's perspective. This is a sign of a true leader - one that makes the hard decisions, efficiently and effectively.
So next time you need to make the right decision — use your gut. It will keep you on the right track.
The Joy of Sachs — By Paul Krugman.
Ethics - The Only Way To Be A True Leader.
eth-ics (noun) - that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. Right and Wrong. Good and Bad. And the most important part - the motive and ends of such actions. There are many executives out in the marketplace today that know what they are doing is wrong . . . and bad.
CEO's Must Trash Short-Term Thinking & Embrace Long-Term Strategy. Now.
I'm tired. And angry. And I'm not alone. For too long, the stewards of our most cherished institutions have been acting less than ethical. I call it "short term thinking for short term gain" — get in, make a quick buck, and move on to the next sucker. Not the best behavior for supposedly the best executives in this nation.