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.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
- Creating an environment of open communication doesn’t, I think, offer much that is new to the discussion. But it does a good job of outlining some basics that you can check you and your organization against.
- What is Leadership?
- 7 critical questions to assess your Leadership.
Entrepreneurship
- For starters, I put up a very short survey recently to collect impressions on a long list of proposed entrepreneurial qualities. For each quality, I asked you to rate them as a “necessary” or “supporting” quality for successful entrepreneurship. Of course, you were also able to tell me they weren’t either. I’m keeping the survey open until I get either 30 total responses or 10 responses from entrepreneurs. If you haven’t taken the survey, wouldn’t this weekend be a great time to do so? It really will only take you around 5 minutes tops. Also, if you know a leader, or entrepreneur, or a couple that you think would also lend their opinion, please forward the link to them. I have received some initial input and can already see some trends developing. If you have already taken the survey - Thank You!
- 5 reasons to start a business now.
- Are you an entrepreneur getting ready to pitch to an investor, angel or VC group? Are you planning to include a product demo in your pitch? Read this post on how to demo your product and save yourself some embarassment.
Thought-Provokers
- I agree with Tim. “Time Management” is nonsense. Focus Management is what counts.
For Fun
- You may not ever order MOO mini cards. You probably have never heard of MOO. Follow the links for one of two reasons then: 1) Being knowledgeable about MOO will show you are hip, “withit”, and oh so Web 2.0, or 2) You’re looking for gorgeously produced printed products, using paper sourced from sustainable forests, that can have virtually any image you want. You can even mix multiple images in one order.
Tips, Tricks & Resources
- Some tips on how to resolve conflict while successfully fostering relationships.
- Marshall Goldsmith gives up some tips on how to find a great coach. If only I could convince Marshall to be MY coach!
- This isn’t the focus of the blog, but if you are like me you are desperately searching for some investment guidance looking forward. I definitely agree with the current advice of staying put and not reacting to the current crisis by selling (in fact this is a great buying opportunity), but what should you be thinking about over the next 12-18 months or longer? I only follow a couple investment columnists, but Jim Jubak is one of my favorites. He recently wrote an article laying out practical guidance that I found highly informative. You might also be interested in one of this week’s posts, 10 trends for the long term. In it, he announces a new book, very unusual for Jim, but I don’t feel bad presenting the link, as Jubak consistently delivers the most rational, main-street focused investing insight and advice I have seen online. The link I’ve provided is to page 2 of the post, where Jim lays out the 10 trends. You have to buy the book to get the details behind each trend, but if you are an informed investor, you will probably be able to apply the trends to your portfolio sensibly. If you are considering buying the book, I can’t recommend it as I haven’t read it, but I’ve been following Jim Jubak for over 5 years now and I highly recommend him. I can only assume the book is a good buy.
- This article, on how to search the invisible job market, is really about how to get a company to create a job for you. Some good tips.
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