Thursday, December 31, 2009

Be Thankful Its 2010 My Friends

The dying minutes of 2009 cannot come quick enough for most people. Its been a rough year. The financial crash that began in 2008 has changed the world we know forever. Governments around the world began regulatory reform on a scale we haven't seen since the end of World War II, and there is no end in sight to what they may do in 2010. Most people's wealth has been significantly depleted in 2009, and many Baby Bloomers who were heading for retirement in 2010 have had to reconsider. Jobless data indicates any recovery in 2010 will not create the necessary amount of jobs we need to get back to where we were in January 2009. The war in Iraq may have wound down, but Afghanistan has been rekindled with the insertion of 40,000 new troops, and with the botched attempt of another airline bombing on Christmas Day it looks like Yemen is going to be another front in the war against terror. The economies of the US, UK and Europe are on a downward spiral that, despite what the media and the Obama administration print, has no end in sight and is likely to cripple generations to come. Taxes are going up. Healthcare is a black box in the US. Detroit is, well, Detroit. And the Dollar is under siege, leading many to wonder whether their assets will be worth anything close to what they are this time next year. Politicians in the US, UK and France were all caught with their hands in the cookie jar at some point in 2009, leading to a distrust of the people that will have repercussions in elections ahead. Michael Jackson is dead. Tiger Woods was perhaps the biggest shock and disappointment of 2009. Who would have guessed that the first Billionaire in sports with the cleanest image would turnout to be an adulterous sex addict? No, there isn't much to look back on in 2009 that we want to hold on to, we are going into the new year with our faith in government, nations and people fully tested this past year.



Friday, December 25, 2009

Recruiting: Strategic Game Changer in 2010


How good is your recruitment process? Do you have one? Do you care? You should. It may be a recession out there but there is a lot of talent looking for the right place to call home as we close the first decade of this century and go into what will be the defining decade of the first hundred years of the 21st century. Yet many companies, big and small, don’t follow a recruitment process that defines who they are and what they are looking for, nor does it leave candidates with a positive impression of their company. There are clearly exceptions in the market that value their recruitment activities and have invested appropriately in process, people and communication, but they are just that, exceptions. It is imperative for companies, big and especially small, to have a well-defined strategic recruitment process that is followed and respected culturally. Companies that fail to do so will be at a strategic disadvantage to those who do. And when it comes to recruiting talent, every company, industry and geography is your competitor in the decades ahead.


Friday, December 18, 2009

Ten Minutes That Mattered

As I sit in BMI's Edinburgh Airport lounge, waiting for my flight to Brussels, I came across a great snippet in Forbes under the heading 'Ten Minutes That Mattered'. Often in business and life, an important conversation, a made or missed connection, or even an intrusion of pure fate redirects our thinking and actions for years afterward. I have a few of those in my life, like the time my brother called me in Brussels to say 'Go see my friend the recruiter, she can get you to the US'...and she did, but with a detour that took me to FreeMarkets, the company that changed the world of doing business with invention of the online reverse auction for purchasing and strategic sourcing. Or the time my 8th Grade Football Coach, Greg Shields, marched on to the Volleyball court and yanked me out of practice to say 'what the hell are you doing messing about with a volleyball when you should be out on the football field hitting somebody?'. That started a 12-year football career that has taught me so many things about life and business that I can't imagine what would have happened if Coach Shields didn't care enough to barge in and break-up Volleyball practice. 


No, we all have Ten Minutes That Matter...tell me about yours?

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Do We Celebrate the Wrong CEOs?

A good friend of mine just sent me an interesting article from another blog that I want to share. As a follow-up to my Leadership series, have a look at what Professor Morten T. Hansen from UC Berkeley and Herminia Ibarra, Professor of Organizational Behavior at Insead, have to say about the myth of celebrity CEOs. There are two key issues for me - the first is the article's point about CEOs that perform and those that don't. The second is a deeper issue we have in America of turning certain profiles into celebrities. I have already commented on how in America we turn our politicians into celebrities, a practice the rest of the world do not adhere to, even if they are married to celebrities and models, but what the article below highlights is that some CEOs have latched on to the media's thirst for creating celebrities and are riding the wave of their star status to stay in the job far too long when they haven't performed. Have a look at this article and tell me what you think.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Hangover - A Chicago Story of drinking the Economy and Politics Cocktail

A few weeks ago I was in Chicago on business and had a very interesting conversation with a British company that recently established its US headquarters there. Through its Public Relation’s firm, Chicago’s Trinity United Church Of Christ, the former Church of the Obama’s that was a source of much scandal during last year’s US Presidential elections, approached the company. As a business process outsourcing company, the British firm is a welcomed entity to Chicago given its investment will create jobs and positively impact the local economy. The Reverend Otis Moss III, current head of Trinity United, met with the President of the company and proposed a very interesting partnership.



Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Nomadic Experiences Today

A big part of being a Nomad is experiencing things you normally wouldn’t if you stay in one place. And to really appreciate this you need to have a mindset of living in the ‘Present’, otherwise you just don’t “catch” the wonderful things happening around you every day. Now that may sound ‘obvious’, but the reality is most people – no strike that – the majority of people don’t live in the present. In fact most people spend the majority of their time living in the future, or God forbid, the past. Now there is nothing wrong with focusing your efforts on attaining goals and objectives that are ahead of you, and there is certainly something healthy about remembering and appreciating your past. But if you fail to be aware of your present then you will miss out on the many simple pleasures life gifts you everyday. And as a Nomad, I am even more blessed to experience some amazing things on my travels.


Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Thing About Leadership - Its Never About You


As a management consultant, I have the privilege of working with lots of brilliant, successful people, and from all over the world. And you know what their downfall typically is? Their own success. It’s an all-too-familiar story: entrepreneur starts a company, makes a brilliant call or two, makes a bundle, and then suddenly, miraculously, from then on he can do no wrong. But that’s not how it works. There’s an expression in investing: “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” Well, guess what. That expression applies to everything and everybody – entrepreneurs, executives, managers, business owners etc...