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.
Personal Excellence & Leadership
- Are you the leader of a mad scientist’s laboratory. Are you tired of getting typecast as always trying to raise funds (or body part)? Then read this Manifesto for the Non-Profit CEO. You won’t be sorry.
- Another list of leadership thoughts and qualities. This time it’s 10 thoughts on Leadership.
- A basic 8 step guide for developing your leadership skills. (Just in case any of those 10 thoughts above inspired you…) Even zombies need some direction once in a while.
Entrepreneurship
- Interested in the due diligence process from the perspective of the VC? (Better yet, this is a VC that was a former entrepreneur).
- This one is definitely NSFW (but I love this guy’s “life is too short…” motto). However, as the current economic conditions are causing entrepreneurs to widen their search for funding, this cautionary tale of tactics to avoid from the VCs is a must read.
- The scariest costume this year may be The Economy. Need some inspiration? Read these 10 “how I did it” stories and call me in the morning.
Thought-Provokers
- Disagreements and conflict is an area of growth for me personally. It’s not that I can’t handle them, they just don’t quite sit well with me. This article outlining several advantages to disagreements does a good job of pointing out the positive side of this somewhat negative aspect of human interaction.
Tips, Tricks & Resources
- Do your henchmen need better service skills? Do they keep spilling the acid on the hardwood floors? Have them read The HELP strategy for service excellence. Five simple steps. Although, if they are so simple how come virtually no one is getting them right these days? Opportunity??? Me thinks so…
- I love visuals, and a good visual helps me understand a point so much better than words. So right when this post on creating focus and clarity for your team was starting to get a bit tiresome, the chart that linked the Goal to Drivers to Performance to Measurement was a great way to simply convey to team members how everyone’s actions support the ultimate goal. Another good example of the power of visual communication.
- Interviews are tough enough. Interviews when switching careers is another thing. Interview when switching careers at an crazy super-villian level is a whole ‘nother thing. Here’s six good interview tips for career-switching executives.
One For Fun
- Interested in the origins of the scariest holiday of the year? Here’s a quick overview of how Halloween came to be. And no, it’s not some trick to get you to click over to a really scary picture. That would be a really mean thing to do. Although ’tis the season as they say. Go on, click the link. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Really…..
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