“FOR RENT: CONDOM… ONLY US$650.” –Jakarta Post

I think I’d rather buy.

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Ahh, another Sunday, another set of three off-beat quotes (posted at 6 AM, noon, and 4 PM Eastern Time) that prove that you should always proofread your want ads out loud.

The challenge is for you to respond with either another strange quote either from the same source or on a similar or connected topic—the further out and more outrageous the quote the better.

“Outside consultants sought for test of gas chamber.” –Arizona Republic

I wonder where they send the paychecks?

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Good grief, will the guys ever learn to keep their pants zipped?

Eliot Sptizer is just the latest in a long line political and business biggies to be ousted over sex actions of one kind or another.

I’m also wondering how many other patrons of this current sting will be outed. If he’s the only name made public then, to me, something else stinks a lot worse than his hiring a prostitute.

As for women, I don’t believe that they’re above fooling around; I just think they plan better and don’t get caught. Maybe more caution and less arrogance?

I also wonder why we, as a population, are willing to rationalize far worse actions by our so-called political and business leaders as long as they don’t involve sex?

What do you think?

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As long-time readers know, I have a rabid interest in all things corporate culture.I especially like stories about the bleeding edge of corporate culture where radical new stuff is tried and those about entrepreneurs who lose their corporate culture as they grow, figure out what went wrong and do it differently the next time.

When those two interests merge I really get excited. Here’s the story.

Reed Hastings founded Pure Software in the Nineties and several mergers later became part of IBM. ‘Hastings says Pure, like many other outfits, went from being a heat-filled, everybody-wants-to-be-here place to a dronish, when-does-the-day-end sausage factory.’We got more bureaucratic as we grew.”

Hastings was wealthy, but not happy. So he took two years off and did some deep thinking so that ‘his next endeavor wouldn’t suffer the same big-company creep.’

Now comes Netflix, where Hastings’ personnel policies are as revolutionary as his business model.

‘Hastings pays his people lavishly, gives them unlimited vacations, and lets them structure their own compensation packages. In return, he expects ultra-high performance. His 400 salaried employees are expected to do the jobs of three or four people. Netflix is no frat party with beer bashes and foosball tables. Nor does the company want to play cruise director to its employees. Rather, Netflix is a tough, fulfilling, ‘fully formed adult’ culture, says marketing manager Heather McIlhany. ‘There’s no place to hide at Netflix.”

Netflix is 180 degrees away from a mentality I detest—that of ‘paying just enough to attract talent but not a dollar more than they need to.’

Generally, people will give you what you expect, because your expectations color or taint your attitude and there’s no way to hide that. Even without Netflix-style perks you can build a high-performance culture by treating your people as adults.

What are your expectations?

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It’s not that we can’t learn from the business advice and management practice flavors du jour, but it’s useful to revisit the basics, especially when they’re presented in an enjoyable, easy-to-read format by someone who isn’t into writing by the pound.

Focused on professionals and solopreneurs, Michael Port’s soon-to-be-released Beyond Booked Solid: Your Life, Your Way–It’s All Inside starts where Booked Solid ends by offering a sensible, flexible roadmap for expanding your business further without killing yourself.

And if reading Michael doesn’t convince you that the work/life answers you crave are found internally—not provided by external agents or floating like dandelion fluff in the air—then probably nothing will.

Beyond Booked Solid puts you on the road to personal innovation—showing you how to do more, work less, and make sure that the ‘do more’ is stuff you like doing.

Although the book offers excellent philosophical insights (including many ‘oops, forgot about that’ moments) it moves beyond that by providing the tools, including strategies, techniques, tips and resources, to turn the philosophy into reality.

Port’s comment, “…working on your business, while working in your business, while working on yourself,” pretty much sums up not just how you should earn your living, but how you live your life and grow. I can easily paraphrase that as, “Working on your life, while living in your life, while working on yourself.”

One last point. Beyond Booked Solid, like Booked Solid, is grounded in Port’s genuine desire to really help, not just sell books, so he also provides readers with another free, comprehensive, downloadable companion workbook.

What more can you ask?

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It’s funny how you’ll read several articles over a long period of time and suddenly your mind clicks and they go together. That’s what happened last night and I thought I’d share it with you.

First, in Business Week, The Workplace Gets Raunchier—
‘More women say they’re hearing “sexually inappropriate” comments at work, according to a 2007 phone survey just released by Novations Group, a Boston consultant. Some 38% of women said they heard sexual innuendo, wisecracks, or taunts at the office last year, up from 22% in 2006. The percentage of men hearing such comments stayed steady, at 45%. Indeed, men were more likely than women to hear all types of tasteless or questionable comments, with 44% saying they heard racial slurs, for instance, compared with 24% of women…the big increase in sexual remarks heard by women is hard to explain. One theory is that women’s impatience with such comments—rather than the comments’ frequency—is rising. But Paul Secunda, professor of law at the University of Mississippi, says the responses could partly reflect a lowering of barriers between the sexes, with male employees making remarks more openly as a way of treating women like peers. The problem, he says, is that ‘what might be reasonable to a man may not be reasonable to a woman…”

That made me flash on a question asked last month on CNN’s Ask Bing by a young (I hope) man—

‘I recently interviewed with a company for a spot with a team of five women that’s led by a woman. I am a man and my concern is that I would not fit in. Furthermore, I have heard recent statistics that a high percentage of the population would rather work for a man.

I work for a company now where it’s good ‘ole boys…I can golf, go out for drinks, swear, etc. in a corporate setting. Am I setting myself up for failure by taking a job in an arena dominated by women? The reason for change is 100% salary based.’

Personally I don’t know any managers, male or female, who would want this guy on their team, considering both his concerns and motivation.

Now add to the mix a post from Michael Fitzgerald with links to commentary on women’s strength in management, leadership, adaptability and even investing, along with the complimentary nature of women’s and men’s skills.

Good stuff, folks. Enjoy.

Would you want to work for a woman?

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I came across some basic leadership advice (usually the best kind) in an Economic Times article called Leadership through delegation.

What I found interesting is that the Economic Times is a sub group of India Times and the information was adapted from a 2004 article in Entrepreneur magazine.

I found it interesting because as business takes off, India is facing the same challenges as every other population.

But I also found it amusing because delegation has been a problem for centuries—literally.

Giving up control and trusting others to get stuff done doesn’t come easily—especially to leaders and entrepreneurs.

How well do you delegate?

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And here’s proof that employee retention affects everyone!

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And be sure to come see the road out of the box

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Good story over at Entrepreneur.com on 5 key ingredients that you’ll find in an entrepreneur and with a well-known example for each.

Passion is what drives Virgin’s Richard Branson’s insatiable appetite for starting companies as well as his adventurous streak and zest for life.

Positivity is what sparks Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who lives by the motto that ‘every challenge is an opportunity.’

Adaptability is the great strength that keeps Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page willing to not just evolutionize their services, but to revolutionize them.

Leadership defined Mary Kay Cosmetics’ late founder Mary Kay Ash, helping her turn an initial $5000 investment into a multimillion dollar empire while giving thousands of women a chance at a better life.

Ambition combined with determination and a great chocolate chip cookie recipe gave Debbi Fields the wherewithal to build a $450 million company with more than 600 locations globally.

But don’t kid yourself, these traits are just as important to someone working in a large organization and they’ll stand you in good stead in the rest of your life, too.

Do you cultivate these traits in yourself and your kids?

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