Vote Here!

Who had a greater impact on American business: Henry Ford or the Google guys? The founders of pioneering software companies, airlines, or retail chains? The answers to this question will tell us not only where we’ve been, but maybe where we’re going economically. So Inc. Magazine wants you to vote for the person you think is the greatest American entrepreneur of all time.

A list of the top 30 (thirty) entrepreneurs will be published in December. To keep tabs on the voting over the course of the next few months, check the tag clouds on the following pages. Profiles of the nominees will be added a few at a time, and you may vote as much as you want. Vote Here!

Attend on of our programs and help develop your own leadership styles to be the best leader you can be.  Who knows, one day you could see yourself on the list for best leader of all time?  Click here to learn more about The Leadership Trust and how we can help you go from great to greater!!

www.leadershiptrust.org

Video- Jill Bolte Taylors Powerful Stroke of Insight

Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist who devoted her life to studying the brain and had the chance of a lifetime to experience her own brain as she suffered a stroke.  Watch the video to hear about her journey deep into her brain and back again.Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist who devoted her life to studying the brain and had the chance of a lifetime to experience her own brain as she suffered a stroke.  Watch the video to hear about her journey deep into her brain and back again.

Why you should listen to her: One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor’s brain exploded. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She watched as her brain functions shut down one by one: motion, speech, memory, self-awareness … 

Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the “Singin’ Scientist.”

“How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I’ve gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career.” Jill Bolte Taylor

Source: www.ted.com ; www.leadershiptrust.org

Leadership comes in many forms, especially when it comes to running a country.  We are all aware of the economic conditions that surround us today.  Times are tough for everyone.  Our political leaders have developed a stimulus package to help generate new jobs, new attitudes, and new money into our economic systems.

This is good thing on a national level, but there is concern about the local communities and small businesses across the US.  When the local news in Oakland heard about “a pharmacist in a small Alabama town who started a grass roots stimulus campaign based on his concern that federal stimulus dollars wouldn’t reach local businesses” they wanted to know more. (Source: InsideBayArea.com Susan Groshans, July 6, 2009)

Alabama pharmacist, Danny Cottrell, launched a homegrown stimulus package in order to pay it forward. Cottrell’s company gave away $2 bills to their employees and encouraged them to spend it locally and the passion is catching on!

The Peoples Stimulus Package was started to help generate more interest and more action on our parts, as citizens of this great nation, to help our fellow people.  Together we can get out of this economic crisis and it all starts with our attitudes. 

The word is spreading rapidly!  Cottrell’s story has been shared through many Press Stories across the US and there are currently 16 companies from Alaska to Florida participating in this unique stimulus package.  Read the blog to learn more about the fun people are having stimulating on the small scale and making a difference in their local communities.

Cottrell’s compassion for local businesses and for his community have always been an important part of his life.  Giving back to the community is a small way for him to share responsibility for the common good and make a positive impact on his employees.  His leadership has inspired others to do the same.  The Peoples Stimulus Package website was created by Dave Theobald, of Turman Commercial Painters, to help encourage others to follow in Cottrell’s footprints.

What can you do on a local level to improve your leadership?  What are your strengths?  Remember that leadership is motivational and inspirational.  It doesn’t have to be a stimulus package that spans the nation, it can be something on the home front that makes a difference in your community.  I challenge you, blog readers, to think and act locally.  Together we can motivate and inspire others.  We can make a difference and we can bring our country out of this economic downturn.  Our attitudes and our actions need to reflect our thoughts.  Let’s go!  Let’s become better leaders together!

www.leadershiptrust.org

Planning Now for an Economic Rebound

Optimism among private-company CEOs is at a 16 year low, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.  As a result, companies are putting expansion plans on hold, says Ken Esch, a partner with the firm.  That could be a mistake, warns Esch, who has been encouraging clients to do more than just hunker down.  In fact, he says, now may be the best time to start planning for a rebound.  “Companies can build a strong advantage during a recession,” Esch says.  “Many successful businesses got that way because they made a strategic decision during difficult times.”

Below are six steps you can take now to prepare for the end of the recession:

1. Invest in technology- Technological improvements- new billing software, for example, or an online ordering system- will allow you to add new customers with little additional cost when business picks up.

2. Snap up talent on the cheap- Because of record layoffs, the job market is flooded with qualified applicants.  Take this opportunity to hire talented employees at a discount.

3. Ramp up training- Identify employees’ strengths and weaknessess and invest in targeted training and development programs to prepare them for the upswing.  The Leadership Trust® can help in training and developing your leaders during this ‘down time’ so that you are well prepared for the changes sure to come.

4. Form strategic partnerships- Make the most of the business slowdown by striking up partnerships that will pay off down the road.

5. Get to know prospective customers- Build relationships with potential customers and learn more about their needs, then tailor your offerings accordingly to position your company for the future.

6. Cut costs strategically- Instead of making across-the-board cuts, analyze costs carefully and reduce spending in ways that are unlikely to impair future growth.  Be sure to put controls in place so spending stays in check after the rebound.

Planning Now for an Economic Rebound published July 2009 by Inc. Magazine

www.leadershiptrust.org

One of our program graduates- David Jarrett, VP of Human Resources, Clariant Corporation- recently shared with us and his leadership class (PLDP, 10/07) the following excerpt from an interview with Ritz-Carlton CEO Simon Cooper*.  When the topic turned to what hiring process Cooper used to maintain his company’s award-winning service, he answered:

When somebody asks me about the qualities we’re looking for and wants to know the most important, empathy is the outcome I’m looking for.  And if you pin me down and say, ‘Okay, if that’s the outcome you’re looking for, what’s the input to create that?’  I like Tennyson’s ‘Self-Reverence.’  Tennyson had this expression that to be a great leader you needed ‘self-reverence, self-knowledge, and self-control– these three alone lead to power.’  Self-reverence means you like yourself.  You’re comfortable with who you are.  And it’s amazing.  When you think about people who didn’t work out, they were not comfortable with themselves.  They haven’t come to terms with who they are.  And if you haven’t come to terms with who you are, and if you don’t like yourself, you can’t empathize.  You don’t have the ability or the time to put yourself in other people’s shoes; you’re still trying to figure out your own shoes.”

Those of us at The Leadership Trust® especially enjoyed David Jarrett’s commentary on Simon Cooper’s quote, for which he gave us permission to include: “What a great quote!  And Holly, if that’s not a ringing endorsement for the importance of what you’re accomplishing in the PLDP, I don’t know what is.”  David Jarrett, VP HR; Clariant Corporation.

We thank David for his submission of this great quote that may help people out there struggling to find work.  We are also grateful for our ongoing relationship with Clariant and their perpetual presence in our Personalized Leadership Development Program™ (PLDP).  Our mission is to support, on a global basis, the creation, development, and implementation of highly effective, high integrity leadership serving the ultimate well-being of all persons everywhere.  And it all starts with leaders engaging in an intensive Self-Awareness process.

www.leadershiptrust.org

*Source: Creating Value Through People, published by Mercer, Copyright 2009 John Wiley and Sons Inc., page 146.

When we hear “leaders in the entertainment industry,” usually that means popularity, the most photographed, the most talked about, and the most sought after for what often times can be reduced to gossip.

 

Most importantly, however, we cannot assume popularity equates to the kind of leadership that can “make a mama proud”! With all due respect to the deceased, and based upon your understanding of highly regarded, effective leadership, how do you evaluate each of these icons in the entertainment industry? What are your observations regarding their authenticity, success (you watched their footage, bought their memorabilia/music), their likeability factor, distinctive popularity components, etc?  Is it even a fair question to ask if you are a better person for your affinity for any or all of them? What distinguishes one from another in leadership qualities? What highly publicized behavior or verbal message did they put out there that made their stock go up or down in your opinion?

Read about their careers:

Ed McMahon

Farrah Fawcett

Michael Jackson

www.leadershiptrust.org

In response to current economic conditions impacting both our current and future clients, The Leadership Trust® is offering half-off-the-tuition scholarship coupons that you can apply to our tuition-guaranteed, Personalized Leadership Development Program™ through December 2009!  Limit one coupon per company, accommodations not included.

Watch 14 of our graduates in less than 45 seconds describe their experience in the first of a series of videos.  Then download the coupon and save $2750 off tuition!

Coupon 2009

Coupon is valid for PLDPs July 2009-December 2009.  One coupon per company, accomodations not included. (www.leadershiptrust.org)

The Risk Takers: Hunting for Growth Video

In this week’s Business Week, Joseph Weber writes about the opportunities available for companies in this downturn economy.  Watch the video to learn more!

At The Leadership Trust, we are committed to helping our fellow leaders by developing their leadership prowess for our changing times.  Whether its feast or famine, our leaders need to be able to change with the times and keep their businesses moving forward.

The people most effected by these drastic changes are likely to resist change at all levels.  We can help you lead this process so that it is as smooth as possible.  We can also help leaders find the true direction for their company if they are wondering which direction to take their business in response to this economic environment.  Whether it is acquistions and mergers, expansions, or small business guidance, we can help develop the leaders of all companies to go from great to greater! 

Be sure to read more about our programs on our website: www.leadershiptrust.org