Leaders, Lions, and Gazelles

I am an Account Manager/Recruiter for a boutique headhunting agency specializing in web applications.  When I first interviewed with my firm in September 2005, the PEO sat me down and told me the following African proverb:
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it [...]

It’s Not Selling Out, It’s Ca$hing In

Hip hop is far from the first culture to be infiltrated and subsequently mined for profit by corporations, but the trends, rhythms, fashions, and lifestyle of hip hop has global effect, from suburbanites in the Valley to hustlers in Brooklyn to cab drivers in Africa.
With a global audience, it was only a matter of time [...]

Remix!

This blog’s first post, “The Honor System,” profiled the artist Radiohead as an innovative example of musicians bypassing big labels and putting their trust (and profits) directly in the hands of consumers Radiohead Bypasses Labels.
Faced with an exodus of top talent, big labels have had their existence challenged Fast Company: Can Big Labels Survive? (see [...]

Liquid Ambition

With 97% of the world’s water undrinkable ocean and 3rd world nations (especially in Asia and Africa) suffering from a lack of potable water, access to clean water is an oft-overlooked problem Ripple Effects (see esp. 2nd to last paragraph). As one of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals, the UN aims to “reduce [...]

Trimming the Fat

According to the 2007 white paper “Ten Trends” Ten Trends: #9 Leadership for Longevity by the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs, CO, regular exercisers not only scored more favorably in peer evaluations than non-exercisers, but also outperformed non-exercisers in leadership categories (e.g. organization, authenticity, etc.).
CCL’s study adds to the onslaught of recent health-related [...]

Everyone’s Got a Story to Tell

In Status Stories trendwatching.com posits that there is a shift away from traditional brand/storytelling marketing, in which a large company sends an overarching message to mass audiences, to “Status Stories,” in which companies help individual consumers tell their stories to each other, playing to the ego and need for uniqueness in a world of 6 [...]

Web 2.0, SoJo, and Horatio Alger

One need not look far to see the growing impact of Web 2.0 Web 2.0 Spending Boom and social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and the like. Already, these sites have become powerful mediums of self-expression, self-promotion, employer screening, and a host of other things. The Web presents seemingly unlimited opportunity for [...]

The 80/20 Rule: Nature vs. Nurture?

Most of us have heard of the “80/20 Rule,” or Pareto Principle, which can be applied to almost any activity Using the 80/20 Rule to Simplify Life. As applied to workforce productivity, a central concern of leaders worldwide, the rule may be stated as follows: “20% of your employees will perform 80% of the [...]

The Honor System

According to the 2007 white paper “What’s Next?” published by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in Colorado Springs, CO, only 8% of responding professionals believed “Ethical Decision Making” was an essential leadership skill of the future. And yet, several visionaries, from Radiohead to restaurant entrepreneurs, are making headlines by betting on personal [...]