I want to share three comments from Jeff Bezos today, because tomorrow’s post is about him.
They all focus on the financial side and point up the great difference between Bezos and many other CEOs when it comes to money and stock.
If Bezos is anything he is pragmatic and real—no BS. And that is just as true when he is talking about entrepreneurial topics as about his business.
The truth in this comment has only increased over the years and will continue into the future. “Good ideas will always get funded, so that’s not going to be a problem. But you will …read more

Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems and now a venture capitalist, considers himself a pragmentalist (pragmatic environmentalist) and his investments reflect that attitude.
“And I’m a firm believer, technology is the real solution. The world will not go backwards. Human beings aren’t made that way. And so you have to come up with different solutions.”
All well and good, but he goes on to say that leaders need to hold opinions based on their own belief system and that if you believe strongly enough you can lead confidently.
The examples he mentions are Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison and therein lies the problem.
It’s …read more

Monday Steve Roesler wrote a terrific post briefly recapping a Peter Drucker article in the Harvard Business Review called “Managing Oneself” (Steve included a link to the full article).
A part of that article is The Act of Noticing and it really resonated with me.
“While everyone is blogging, Twittering or tweeting, linking in, booking their faces, and coming up with other digital ways to “connect”, it would be good to ask: “Am I too busy to notice?”
I bookmarked an article last week that included solid research about the bulk of the population preferring to buy goods and services through face-to-face contact. …read more

My best wishes on your special day to all the fathers reading this.
“Becoming a father is easy enough, but being one can be very rough” –Wilhelm Busch (And has nothing to do with furnishing the sperm.)
“When one has not had a good father, one must create one.” –Friedrich Nietzsche (This is for all you guys who have filled the father role for someone who needed it, whether for a few days, weeks or for life.)
“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” –Clarence B. Kelland (Monkey see, monkey do and this …read more

Today’s quotes are a sampling of comments I found in Business Week’s profiles of CEOs Of Tomorrow. Take a moment and click through the whole series, I think you’ll find it interesting.
“Numbers tell only part of the story. People get things done.” –John S. Watson, Vice-Chairman, Chevron
“It’s important to have fun as a team. When it is time to hop in the pine box, you’ll wish you had high-fived more people and taken more risks.” –Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, AOL
“Revenue is important, but customer satisfaction is even more crucial. I’ve always believed that it’s not just what you do …read more

Today is for all of you top dogs (TD) who tweet, all of you who think twitter should be called fritter and those who wonder when (or whether) Twitter is going to make money.
Let’s start with TDs who tweet or if you’re into politics check out this directory of Congressional tweeters.
For those who don’t see the point, read what Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace has to say about how her own conversion to Twitter.
Finally, in spite of all the passionate people sending out millions of tweets, where’s the money? An interesting discussion from the faculty at Wharton focuses on the …read more

Today is about the boss, but the reasoning behind the ‘leadership’ advice can be used by anyone.
First is advice from Toddi Gutner in WSJ Online for what to do as an incoming CEO. The advice is well worth reading considering 1,484 CEOs turned over in 2008.
Next a look at CEOs from a different culture and with a different attitude. It’s not that the Japanese do everything right, but American CEOs could certainly use a dose of their humility.
Right up there with humility are the findings of the Center for Creative Leadership that found soft skills to be of major importance …read more

Considering the news with which we’re being inundated this seemed like a god time to offer up something a bit more positive.
Not sugar and syrup that you wouldn’t believe anyway, but the kind of one liners that are worth printing out and sticking on the monitor and taping to the bathroom mirror.
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and it looks like work.” –Thomas Edison (Entitlement has more letters.)
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become …read more

Three great interviews on tap today with lots to learn.Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the embed code to work for either video (the Washington Post and McKinsey may need lessons from YouTube:), but they’re both worth clicking over to watch.
First up is Anne Mulcahy, chairwoman and chief executive of Xerox Corporation, a company that she took over on the brink of extinction and turned around. “In 2002 this company lost almost $300 million, and by 2006 we were making over $1 billion.” Now that’s a turn around!
When asked what the secret was, Mulcahy said, “It isn’t a secret sauce. It’s actually …read more

One way or another I seem to be on a creativity/innovation kick this week, so it seemed reasonable to make that the subject of today’s quotes.
First the practical…
Innovation comes from the producer – not from the customer. –W. Edwards Deming (You can’t want what you’ve never had.)
Innovation is the whim of an elite before it becomes a need of the public. –Ludwig von Mises (Got to love those early adopters!)
Now the inspirational…
There are no dreams too large, no innovation unimaginable and no frontiers beyond our reach. –John S. Herrington (But you have to believe…)
If you open up the mind, the …read more