DCO Weekend Reader - 11/21/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
Another solid week with lots of good stuff for you to read. The news about Mark Cuban and Jerry Yang was especially interesting to me and will be even more interesting to see how both play out. Mark’s situation as there is always more to the story that meets the eye and it will be interesting to see how Mark is treated in the context of Martha Stewart’s trial. In Jerry Yang’s case, very few entrepreneurs go on to actually run their companies. Jerry just took on the CEO role about a year ago and he’s already in trouble. I’ll be watching to see if he can recover.
A lot of information again this week on the topic of your career, protecting it against the recession, and making yourself more visible/valuable. I hope these posts continue to be interesting for you. My assumption is with everything going on and the continuing economic troubles we are all taking a hard look at our options and keeping those paychecks coming in the mail.
Less than a week until Turkey Day. Have a great weekend.
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DCO Weekend Reader - 11/14/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
Wow - jam-packed Weekend Reader this week. We’ve got radio, we’ve got video, the only thing we’re missing is puppies. I’m not even sure where to start to recommend a “must read” for the week.
For Leaders I think your must read is the post on Leadership being a choice. At the same time inspirational yet re-affirming, a good levelset for making sure you’ve made the right choice and what happens if you don’t. I also like the post on C-Level resumes. Good advice for how it needs to be different from earlier in your career, especially if you want to switch industries. Entrepeneurs? If your concept is software-based, check out Microsoft’s BizSpark program to save that precious cash.
Feel free to peruse the rest, I hope you find some value. As always - have a great weekend!
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DCO Weekend Reader - 11/7/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
What a historic week for our country. I am not a politcial pundit and I do not intend to introduce politics as a topic of discussion on this blog. That said, I agree with certain observations that at least some part of Obama’s victory was tied to hope, inspiration and the promise of change. We all know delivering on promises is the hard part, but I’m proud of my country voting for excellence, even if it is just the promise of excellence.
The fact is nothing can prepare you for the job of President, so all we are left with is to vote for the person who brings what we each feel are the best tools for the job. Each candidate clearly had impressive qualifications and no one can definitively say why any one person voted the way they did. I do think it says something about our country’s thirst for authentic leadership and inspiration that Obama prevailed. His challenge now is delivering on that inspiration, and as one of the Weekend Reader articles below outlines, Americans are more and more impatient when it comes to our leaders. Let’s hope he gets the chance, and the time, to deliver.
For my own little piece of inspiration it seemed appropriate to turn to two of my personal heroes, Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; two men who played no small part in allowing this election to happen and dedicated their lives to equality, harmony, and justice. There is no end to the inspiration that can be found in their speeches and writings, but I settled on the final sentence from Lincoln’s second inaugural address, inscribed on the North wall of the Lincoln Memorial. Hopefully, the nation can stop looking back on our past sins and dedicate ourselves to building a better future:
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
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DCO Weekend Reader - 10/31/08
The tomb is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
Welcome to this special Halloween edition of the Weekend Reader. After a couple lackluster weeks, I find the material this past week passed both the quantity AND quality tests. Lots of good articles to choose from across a wide swath of topics.
Must read this week include the Manifesto for the Non-Profit CEO. A lengthy read, but do take the time to read through it. I don’t run a non-profit, but I work in one and I can affirm that the connection to an important mission is indeed one of the benefits of working at an NPO. For entrepreneurs, the article on VC due diligence is close to a must read. You could get along without it, but the informal “behind the scenes” perspective offers a lot that more formal articles can’t convey.
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DCO Weekend Reader - 10/24/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
After not posting a Weekend Reader last Friday due to being stranded in Houston, I was expecting to publish one mega-supersized, twice the sizzle, four times the steak, doozy of a reader this week. More than enough reading to carry you through the entire weekend (and given the weekend forecast here in Northeast Ohio, that wouldn’t be a bad thing).
It didn’t work out that way.
There were plenty of articles to choose from. Let’s just say I wasn’t wowed by many. I still value quality over quantity any day. As always then, here are the best of the best from the last two weeks. You’ll also notice I’ve added an “Entrepreneurship” category to the Weekend Reader.
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DCO Weekend Reader - 10/10/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
A light week, without the density of value from last week. That doesn’t mean these aren’t good articles; but if you didn’t get a chance to read through last week’s crop, there were some exceptional ones.
I think the must-reads this week would be Marshall’s guidelines for influencing upper management and the thought provoker on what entrepreneurship is really about. But if you only have time to follow one link, please check out Kiva.org and consider getting involved in this world-changing initiative.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
- These are challenging times for businesses. Sure, you’re a great leader. But doesn’t something in the back of your head tell you to adjust your style to match the current environment? Here’s some fundamentals to keep in mind during these turbulent times.
- Yes, yes, all of us know by now there is a difference in leading versus managing. Here’s a nice article breaking down the difference along four attributes: Competencies, Knowledge, Experience, and Personal Attributes.
“The great majority of people tend to focus downward. They are occupied with efforts rather than results. They worry over what the organization and their superiors ‘owe’ them and should do for them. And they are conscious above all of the authority they ‘should have’. As a result they render themselves ineffectual.” - Peter Drucker
- With that quote, our old friend Marshall Goldsmith kicks off a list of ten guidelines to do a better job of influencing your upper management. Personally, I find #1 and #4 are the ones I see others forgetting most often, while as an old technician I have to constantly monitor myself on #3.
Thought-Provokers
- How to deny distractions and be more productive. Enough said? Good pointers and a quick read.
- The role of persistence in achieving your goals. Again a quick read on a point we always need reminding.
- A sad reason to write a post, but thought provoking ideas nonetheless, on what we worship (and how it affects us).
- A thoughtful article on what entrepreneurship is really about. Like I’m fond of saying, the lessons in this post can easily extend well beyond entrepreneurship.
For Fun
For fun this week, I’m not posting a game. You’re probably too busy for that anyway. Instead I’m going to send you to a site that can be fun and rewarding at the same time, is a great example of socially-responsible entrepreneurship, and gives you the opportunity to change the world. Well, at least a little part of it. Kiva.org’s tagline is “loans that change lives”. If you have never heard of Kiva then you really need to take the time to read what they are all about. Basically, their model is to allow you to make micro-loans to entrepreneurs, usually socially disadvantaged, around the world. The average loan size is around $450 and the repayment rate is over 98%. I have not personally loaned on the site yet, but I plan to soon.
Enough of me talking. If, like me, you consider yourself fortunate to be where you are financially and professionally and are looking for a way to give back, check out Kiva. Once I do, I’ll give you a writeup on the experience. If you get there before me, please send me an E-mail with your thoughts and with your permission I’ll post them here.
Tips, Tricks & Resources
- Okay, we all intuitively know (or assume) that personal networking is the best way to get that new job. However, we’ve all probably run into an HR gatekeeper or gotten disqualified because our resume scan didn’t pop the proper keywords. Take heart, and read this article breaking down “the numbers” on personal networking with respect to career management. I especially like the stat that says “86 percent of human resource departments and 61 percent of search firms DO NOT post jobs with salaries over $200,000; they rely on referrals and networking”.
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DCO Weekend Reader - 9/26/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
Wow - a great week with some really outstanding articles. The last couple of weeks I’ve kind of felt like the Weekly Readers weren’t as strong as some in the past, but this week it is really hard to say which of the following articles you shouldn’t read. They are all great, so I’ve included a bit more overview than I usually do so you can pick out the ones of most interest and value.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
- If you are a President or CEO, you have a real challenge building and leading a highly performing team. This may sound counter-intuitive, but this post on roadblocks for top level teams does a good job of laying out unique challenges to teams at this level. I find this an especially fascinating little post as the original text was provided by an executive coach and it’s no surprise that executive coaching is provided as a leading solution to the problems cited. Then the blog’s author cuts in to not only challenge that statement, but offer his own divergent observations. Taken in total it’s a fairly balanced article. If you are part of or in charge of a top level team, at the very least there is value in this post for identifying roadblocks you might be hitting keeping you from realizing your collective potential.
- Continuing our discussion of personal branding, The Chief Brand Officer answers the question “so what” with the challenge: if I Googled your name, what would I find?
- Compare yourself to the two lists in this short post. Do you create or break trust?
- The winner for the week - a performance and potential matrix with nine leadership development strategies. If this is on your agenda, this is a must read.
- I love George Ambler (in a completely professional, non-stalker, kind of way). Very close runner-up for winner of the week is his post on how leaders build trust. Your second must read.
Thought-Provokers
- Don’t let virtual networking get in the way of personal contact. Hopefully none of you need to click that link. For those of you that need a refresher, a quick read reinforcing an important point in today’s world.
- Why knowledge isn’t enough. What do you think the secret ingredient is?
- Finally, some real-world thinking on making a decision. This time in the context of career management. Too much I read and hear these days, especially from speakers and book writers, is all about passion with no respect for risk and pragmatism.
For Fun
For fun this week, I just want to highlight a new company that is in online beta right now. The company is Akoha (www.akoha.com) and they call themselves the world’s first “social reality game”. Akoha is a fascinating concept combining online community building with “deliberate acts of kindness” in the real world. As I said, the website and company are currently in closed beta testing, but you can get an overview of how it works, here. I submitted to become part of the beta and you can bet I’ll give you some writeups on it if I am chosen. For the time being I applaud the concept and I can’t wait to see how the company rolls out and I’m also very interested in seeing their monetization model.
Books
- Cute? Perhaps. Trite? Maybe. But this little book on meeting openers, icebreakers and energizing activities might be just what you were looking for.
Tips & Tricks
- Do you attend conferences and luncheons from time to time? Do you feel like you are maximizing your networking at those events? Here are some great, practical, human-centered tips for iniatiting and maximizing your networking at those events.
- Some quick, basic things you can do to get started communicating your personal brand.
- Must have been the week everyone was attending conferences. Here’s a nice list of things to do to get the most out of your conference dollars.
Related posts
DCO Weekend Reader - 9/18/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
Well, another busy week therefore you’re getting your weekend reader a day early as a (hopefully) pleasant surprise. I’m out of town for a couple days (Here, if you’re interested), then driving home to attend an awards ceremony Thursday night. So given my normal writing times of lunch and after-work are pre-empted this week, I figured I’d just go ahead and write this one up early.
This week’s Personal Excellence section is brought to you by the Marshall Goldsmith blog I just stumbled across. I suppose I should know who Marshall Goldsmith is, but sadly I don’t. Based on his articles, he definitely knows what he’s talking about. (Could someone please comment and clue me in?) If you’re the type that uses feed readers to keep up on topics of importance, then add this one to your reader. Either way, rest assured he’s been added to mine and I’ll continue to include his best in the Weekly Readers.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
By way of introduction to Marshall Goldsmith, here is a selection of his best recent posts:
- Documenting soft values
- Why we don’t do what we say - he can read my mind!
- Leading by example
- The Importance of Challenging Up for Integrity
- Advice from your Best Expert
Some other good links this week, but I’ll save them for later. Enjoy Marshall!
Thought-Provokers
- 8 Ways to Self-Actualize by Abraham Maslow
- Mistakes as the secret to success
For Fun
- No link this week, but I have to say that the Gates-Seinfeld commercials are the most surreal, laugh-inducing thing I’ve seen on television in recent memory. Anyone else?
Books
- Some good books over the last week or so too, but I’m taking a break.
Tips & Tricks
- Definitely more than a tip or trick, but brief enough to read in five minutes, this article on How to Develop a Leadership Competency Model should be enough to get you started if this is on your executive agenda. While not laying out the process, it does do a good job of presenting some options to choose from for moving ahead.
Related posts
DCO Weekend Reader - 9/12/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
Whew - that was a busy, tiring week, both personally and professionally. I can’t say I’m glad it’s over, I’m never one to wish my life away, but I am looking forward to catching up on some sleep over the weekend.
As always, here’s the best of what I read over the last week.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
- The Encore Effect - a great little post with specific recommendations on how to make our “performances” remarkable; the best part is the payoff where we begin to understand the full impact on others.
- Are you a synthesizer or an assembler?
- Lessons in excellence from country music.
- Gallup research releases seven demands of leadership. Based on thousands of interviews across a wide variety of sectors, the foundation for the conclusions seems pretty solid. There are some good gems in here, particularly in the context of building and leading an excellent organization.
Thought-Provokers
- “Ah, context is everything” says Tom Peters as an introduction to a recent post. As somewhat of a subjectivist myself, I couldn’t agree more. Read Tom’s article on the art of reframing.
For Fun
Books
- Have some ideas on what a “trust agent” is? Maybe some examples? Chris Brogan would like to hear from you.
- We could all use a little help making our presentations more effective. Here’s four books to get you there.
Tips & Tricks
- This one is simply brilliant! If you are in HR or are a leader who regularly interviews top talent, this article on encouraging candidates to admit weaknesses is a must read. This is probably the third or fourth place I’ve read that admitting weakness is considered a strength for top talent interviewing for top positions. Does this match what you are seeing in the marketplace? Were you asked about weaknesses in your last job interview?
Related posts
DCO Weekend Reader - 9/5/08
The web is a vast repository of opinions, commentary and occasionally, wisdom. Here’s a selection of the best articles I read over the past week.
If you would like to recommend an article, blog or book, please leave a comment with your suggestion. Weekend Reader is a regular feature here at DCO, and you can read past Weekend Readers here.
We’ve slipped into September and officially made the turn into Fall. There is a slight dusting of leaves on the trails that I see drifting down here and there during my walks. Whereas it seems like just last week I woke to sunshine, it is now only light gray when the alarm clock goes off.
I hope you had a nice relaxing holiday weekend. I was able to get a lot of hiking in, which is good - two very busy weeks coming up, both personally and professionally.
As always, here’s the best of what I read over the last week.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
- A suggestion that there is at least one leadership quality we take.
- Warren Buffet’s best investment advice.
- As leaders, many times we function as coaches to our peers and subordinates. As individuals committed to personal excellence, we are often called to fill that role for our friends and family. Here’s a quick self-assessment of coaching ability to take your pulse on this important activity.
- 5 Leadership Lessons.
- The Gallup Management Journal tries to answer the question of what separates great leaders from all the rest with The Seven Demands of Leadership.
- The dance of shared leadership.
Thought-Provokers
- Is Google making us stupid?
- Want to double, triple your financial position (or go even higher)? For an potential solution many of you might find somewhat esoteric, read this article on how to raise your financial vibration (lengthy post).
For Fun
- Work/life balance through the eyes of work.
- Need advice on how to stay swamped at work? This handy guide should help. (Yes, sarcasm is involved).
Books
- I didn’t find any book reviews or references that wowed me this week. If anyone has any they like, be sure to comment or E-Mail me.
Tips & Tricks
- Advice on re-entering the executive job market after a long employement. No real zingers here but a good re-examinations of what should be the basics if you think you need it.
- Good perspective on why “soft skills” aren’t soft at all, and some suggestions on how to measure them.