Low Hanging Fruit and the Cost of Perfection
Imagine a small airplane flying low over a crowd at a baseball game. The door of the plane opens and a smiling man appears with a large sack. He turns the sack over just as the plane flies over the bleachers and millions of dollars in [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Leadership Development, Management Training, Sales Management 2 Comments so far
Coughlin’s Law: Bury the Dead
People leave, let’s get over it. Gone are the days when a man arrives for work in the factory two days after his high school graduation and leaves forty years later with a gold watch. The American career path hasn’t included this scenario since before Lyndon Johnson took office. [...]
Filed in Business Situations, Leadership Observations, Management Training No Responses yet
Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit
Argh! I can hear my mother misquoting Vince Lombardi in my sleep: “Quitters never win, and winners never quit.” A simple saying that forced me to keep my word throughout my life – even when it cost me money.
Why is it these simple clichés can hold such importance [...]
Filed in Digression, Leadership News and Views No Responses yet
Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to win the coveted Stanley Cup. Both teams deserved to be there, both played well throughout the season, and – as evidenced by a Game 7 in a best-of-seven-series – both teams were evenly matched.
Both [...]
Filed in Leadership Observations, Lessons from Pro Sports No Responses yet
The Effect of Ego on Leadership
At AskTheManager.com we’ve always held to the belief that you can learn more from bad leadership examples than you can from the good ones. It’s not really cynical to think this way; in fact, we believe it’s quite healthy. It’s like seeking out the silver lining. We’ve [...]
Leading in the New Millennium: Pay for (Lack of) Performance
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair
Although Sinclair’s words were uttered in 1935, they ring especially true when applied to the leadership void we face today. While Sinclair, a socialist, didn’t [...]
Filed in Digression, Leadership Development, Leadership News and Views, Leadership Observations, Management One Response so far
Bloomberg The Emperor
We wrote a few weeks ago about the seemingly unbelievable possibility that New York Mayor Michael “Nero” Bloomberg would seek to have the City Council overturn New York’s term limits law – opening the door for Bloomberg The Emperor to serve a third term. (To read that post, follow this link.)
As [...]
Filed in Leadership, Leadership Observations No Responses yet
Leadership Lessons from Mayor Bloomberg (and Other Emperors)
We’ve often written in this Leadership Development blog about the important traits for good leaders. From intelligence to character, we’ve worked hard to identify those qualities that can help young managers become leaders and older leaders regain their edge. Over the course of these posts, we’ve singled out [...]
Filed in Leadership, Leadership Observations No Responses yet
