Infectious Leadership

I was flying on Southwest Airlines this week and they have some great articles in the current issue of their magazine that profiles their top leaders. One article, Wheels Up by Joseph Guinto, has a nice statement in it:

"Successful companies often mirror their top executives. If Apple Computer were a person, it'd be a lot like Steve Jobs. Same with Microsoft and Bill Gates, or maybe GE when Jack Welch ran it. Certainly Sam Walton and Wal-Mart. And, in the same way, Southwest Airlines is Herb Kelleher."

If you were the head of your company and that company mirrored YOU, what kind of company would it be?

He Knows How to Be Diligent About Due Diligence

Good common sense advice about conducting due diligence;

He Knows How to Be Diligent About Due Diligence: "Barry Rhein"

Making Decisions

From A. Weber Morales' "The Human Factor" commentary in the February 2006 edition of Software Development:

"The higher you go in an organization, the more clearly you see that often, decisions aren't choices between obvious outcomes. Instead, where arguments pro and con may be nearly equally compelling, the key is to make a decision and then embrace it." "...intuition and focus can make a decision the right one, while vacillation can kill crucial momentum."

WWFD?

What would Firefox Do?

Setting expectations

Great point here that is so often overlooked because we're concerned about being the messenger of news we assume will be negative. I've had several experiences where customers (or users) just say "oh, O.K." when the 3rd degree was expected.

Seth's Blog: Fifteen minutes?: "People will be incredibly patient if you set expectations and keep your promises."