Admired for her beauty, Jennie Jerome (Winston Churchill’s mother) glided through the loftiest social circles in Great Britain. Once, on consecutive nights, Ms. Jerome dined with England’s premier politicians: Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his chief rival, William Gladstone. When questioned about her impressions of the two men, Ms. Jerome made the following observation: “When…
Category: Personal Development
How to Sail Through Your Tough Performance Review
December is performance review month. While the merits and validity of a year-end review are often the subject of great debate, the fact that many firms use them as a tool for compensation and promotion is not. Your managers will spend much time (hopefully) preparing to deliver your review in a thoughtful and constructive manner….
Accidental Growth Versus Purposeful Growth – John C Maxwell
In 1940 two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald, started McDonald’s Barbeque Restaurant in San Bernardino, CA. Typical of the drive-ins of its time, McDonald’s offered an expansive menu from which customers could order and then be serviced by carhops. Through time, the brothers noticed a trend in their sales. A small number of items on…
The Ways Systems Maximize Our Lives
I bring to you an excerpt of an article from John C Maxwell, one of my favorite leadership gurus. I believe this will be beneficial for you as it is for me.___________________________________________________ From a high level, we have already looked at how systems benefit our leadership. I’d like to go a little deeper by sharing…
Overcoming Fear as a Leader
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born into wealth and prestige, and as a young Harvard graduate, he seemed destined for success. By the age of 30 he was elected as a state senator, and a few years later he was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.However, shortly before Roosevelt turned 40, tragedy struck when he…
CEOs’ Views on Learning Measurement
ASTD’s most recent T&D (August) has a most insightful article featuring how CEOs view measurements of learning. Altogether 96 executives were surveyed and some interesting (some dismaying) results were obtained. Firstly on a scale of 1 to 4 (4 being very satisfied) for their satisfaction of current measurement of learning, the average score was 2.5…
How to Perfect an Elevator Pitch About Yourself
I love this short article from Harvard Business. I need to work on this myself!______________________________________________ You’re in the elevator with the hiring manager of Dream-Job Corporation. As the door slides shut, you feel a combination of adrenaline and slight nausea: you’ve got 15 seconds, if that, to communicate your value as a potential employee in…
Lieutenant and Private
A simple, funny but meaningful story on leading people: A young second lieutenant at Fort Bragg discovered that he had no change when he was about to buy a soft drink from a vending machine. He flagged down a passing private and asked him, “Do you have change for a dollar?” The private said cheerfully,…
Everyone A Leader 