There is a dangerous assumption out there that ‘leaders’ are chuck full of positive traits and on the side of the angels, but I’m here to tell you that it ain’t necessarily so. Just as leaders come in all shapes, colors and sizes they come with a wide variety of traits, not all of them positive. But it seems as if succession is tough all over.
Italian police have caught the Sicilian Mafia’s number two, the latest in a string of top-level arrests that has given the crime group that once terrified Italy problems with rebuilding its leadership.
The hero …read more

Few things are constant, but management stupidity when it comes to retention is one of them.
Before Wall Street pulled the rug out of under the economy global demographics made the need to cherish workers at all levels obvious.
Estimates of the national shortage run as high as 14 million skilled workers by 2020, according to widely cited projections by the labor economists Anthony P. Carnevale and Donna M. Desrochers.
Then came the downturn and executive retention stupidity is once again running rampant.
Two-thirds of executives at large companies were most concerned about losing Gen Y employees, while less than half of them had …read more

All my life I’ve written rhymes for certain days and special events or people. Last Halloween I wrote Scary Times Require Rhymes for Leadership Turn and A Halloween Economy at MAPping Company Success.
I’m always surprised when I go back, read one and it doesn’t make me run screaming from the screen.
So, here is Halloween 2009 for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy it, because I had a lot of fun writing it.
Are you attending a party tonight
wearing a costume that inspires fright?
Halloween’s a night for spooks,
for witches, demons and other kooks;
vampires, werewolves, serial killers and more—
all those types who …read more

Based on reader reactions, last week’s wisdom quotes were a hit; as promised, here are the rest.
There are many wise words attributed to Chinese Proverbs and these certainly qualify, “A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion.” These days, public opinion vies with “leaders” for the same followers—those who don’t want to bother thinking for themselves.
Bill Cosby has the right response to that, “A word to the wise ain’t necessary, it’s the stupid ones who need the advice.” Of course, they don’t listen, but that never stopped anyone from trying.
Following Gandhi’s teaching is a good …read more

Yesterday was Bosses Day and in honor of that I’m going to share some information on bosses—BIG bosses.
These days’ people are incensed with executive pay packages on and off Wall Street.
For years there has been much talk about pay for performance, but I haven’t seen any strong connection—have you?
And certainly not this year.
But the recession doesn’t seem to have slowed down CEO compensation at all and I’m not even referring to Wall Street.
You’ve probably never even heard of the 5 most highly compensated CEOs, unless you are unfortunate enough to own the stock or work or been laid off from …read more

Grab a cup of coffee (or a beer it the sun is over the yardarm) because I have 4 superb items for you today.
First up is McKinsey’s Economic Survey one year after the official meltdown. You may have to register (it’s free), but it’s worth it.
Next is a must read article from Paul Krugman, a New York Times columnist and professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University in which he explains, as Bruce Nussbaum says, “how economists, especially the math-based, market-manic Chicago-school economists, have hurt the US and much of the rest of the world.” The title is …read more

At some point in the rise of the modern leadership movement, and the ensuing profit-making industry, leadership and management were set on divergent courses, with leadership presented as the brilliant star and management as the subservient drudges.
The results of this extreme focus on vision and influence are being felt globally in the form of the economic meltdown led by the Wall Street leadership who were above the mundane and wouldn’t dirty their hands with the gritty details of management.
In a brilliant opinion piece, Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University, founding partner of Coaching Ourselves and author …read more

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CEOs have been envied for decades; the pedestal kept getting higher and we all know that the higher the pedestal the further the fall. Things started changing in the eighties and now CEOs as a group are scorned and reviled as symbols of ego and greed who caused most of the problems we’re facing.
Certainly some do qualify for that title, but tarring all CEOs with that brush is plain stupid, as stupid as judging any group based on the actions of a tiny minority—no matter how high profile its is.
Today’s links offer up info on the folks in the corner …read more

It’s great when VSI (vested self-interest) drives positive happenings anywhere, but when it happens in kid-focused media it’s definitely cause for cheering.
And so it has to the MTV—channel folks love to hate.
“After years of celebrating wealth, celebrity and the vapid excesses of youth, MTV is trying to gloss its escapist entertainment with a veneer of positive social messages.”
According to Stephen Friedman, MTV’s general manager, for Gen X “the humor was more cynical, the idea of community seemed earnest and not cool. It’s the opposite now.”
I don’t care that it’s driven by the bottom line, it’s also a recognition that the …read more