Dudley Do-Right was the hero of a segment of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, a cartoon entertainment show from my youth. Dudley was a dim-witted but cheerfully optimistic Canadian Mountie who was ever trying to apprehend his nemesis, Snidley Whiplash. Dudley was romantically interested in the lovely Nell Fenwick, daughter of Inspector Fenwick, commander of [...]
Times are tough and the economic seas are rough. The future is rife with uncertainty. So, what else is new? We, who are beyond a certain age, have seen much of this before. By the way, that doesn't make it any less tough or any more certain. Just familiar. And, to be fair, today's global [...]
Or not. At least one organization (the Economic Cycle Research Institute, ECRI) with an exceptionally good track record says another recession may already be here. Over the last 15 years, it has gotten all of its recession calls right, while issuing no false alarms. Whatever the case - weak economy, recession, improving economy - your [...]
During a recent conversation a good friend of mine, a business leader, said, "Strategy is the biggest waste of time I can imagine. Nothing ever happens because of a strategic plan!" Once you get past the emotion in the statement, the bad experiences with strategic planning in my friend's past, and take his comment purely [...]
When the conversation heads towards professional boxing, it frequently involves the heavyweight division. These are the people who have the potential for a sudden, surprising or even spectacular ending to any fight. Foreman. Frazier. Louis. Liston. Marciano. Ali. Tyson. These guys give new meaning to "heavy hitters." ESPN Boxing recounts a 1988 match between Michael [...]
"There was a time not so long ago when giants roamed the countryside. Enormous smoke-belching, fire-breathing giants that roared like rolling thunder as they tore through the night, stitching the nation together with shining ribands of steel. We called these monsters trains. Few who have heard the whistle of a speeding train in the night [...]
Things change. Whether we like it or not, the world is changing. Our approach to change matters a great deal as to how we view change, either good or bad. If we adopt a victim-like mentality (passive, entrenched and unaware), any change will likely be "bad." Whereas, a more valiant approach (active, opportunity-seeking and aware) [...]
My friend and colleague, Jim Kranzusch, is a chimp. I'm pretty sure he's always been a chimp. He has even turned "chimp" into a verb ("I chimped him."). Jim has a track record of being an effective manager, a natural leader, and a wise counselor - all due in no small part to the fact that [...]
My client began the conversation with, “I hate politics!” As a senior vice president in a large closely held firm she had seen plenty of office politics and she didn’t like what she had seen - and experienced. In my previous post I introduced some thinking about politicians as leaders. The other side of the [...]
