Have you been in a similar situation before? The kindness of a stranger we can affect lives. It was a bitter, cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. The old man’s bears was glazed by winter’s frost while he waited for a ride across the river. The wait seemed endless. His body became number [...]
Read More leadership, values, visionDefining the causes of lost business value is not what many large consulting firms do. Many benchmarks of corporate practice start by looking at successful companies. But a recent Booz & Company survey took the opposite tack. They decided to study the biggest losers: companies that, in one way or another, had seen their fortunes [...]
Read More Business_Intelligence, leadership, organization, strategyDon’t Worry About Results Zig is gone, and there is a huge void where his voice has been. But I thought I would begin this next generation of Perceptive Insights with some of his wisdom. Don’t Worry About Results by Zig Ziglar, author of Born to Win Have you ever watched people bowl? Many of [...]
Read More Entrepreneurship, leadershipEverything comes with an expiration date. Your college diploma, your knowledge and experience become dated, even your life won’t last forever. Yesterday is gone, and with it all the old rules, processes and techniques. Business is evolving at a staggering rate, and if you are not on the steamroller you will be under it. There [...]
Read More leadershipThe concept of power is an important thing for entrepreneurs. As the owner, one might say that you’ve achieved your position in your company because you have more power than the others. But what would happen if you gave some of that power away to your subordinates? Many leaders are reluctant, even loath, to hand [...]
Read More Employees, Entrepreneurship, leadershipYou don’t know everything. You do know that, don’t you? As humans we have the capacity to do amazing things that our ancestors couldn’t fathom. Let me list a few of the accomplishments of the 20th century: the incandescent bulb, phonograph, telephone, automobile, airplane, nuclear power (and bombs), space travel, transistor, personal computer, artificial hearts [...]
Read More coaching, leadership, social responsibilityThe turning of the year is an opportunity to think about our strengths and identify our weaknesses — the blind spots in management skill that may be keeping our businesses from being more successful. In a recent article for GigaOM, entrepreneur Amber Singleton Riviere of Upstart Smart identified three common leadership blind spots. I’ve got [...]
Read More Entrepreneurship, leadership, managementIf you’re eager to put the past year behind you and start fresh, you’ve got plenty of company. More companies are shifting focus from tactical topics, such as sales, to more strategic topics, such as leadership, according to AmyK Hutchens of AmyK International Inc., a leadership and sales training company based in San Diego, Calif. “Everyone was so [...]
Read More Entrepreneurship, leadership, wisdom