Dear Readers,

I want to apologize for the erratic publishing last week and the missing Sunday posts.

We moved to a new server and my WordPress admin has been weird since then, with you being subjected to the end results of the weirdness.

Hopefully we have solved the public issues and I can continue the fight with the WP editor in private.

I hope it hasn’t been too annoying; if you notice further goings-on, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

That’s it folks, this is the end.

Or at least it is the end of Leadership Turn, but not the end of Miki:)

Come fly with me over to MAPping Company Success or subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.

And don’t miss important information on how to thrive this New Year’s Eve.

Image credit: Axel-D on flickr

Merry Christmas!

I hope you’re in your jammies, sipping mimosas or good coffee, knee deep in wrapping paper and that Santa was good to you.

Since there are just four days left of Leadership Turn I thought you might enjoy seeing another feature you’ll be able to enjoy at MAPping Company Success.

mY generation is a comic series drawn by Jim Gordon, who graduated this year and is working in his first job. His quirky sense of humor will make you smile and his provocative viewpoint will make you think.

Since mY generation runs on Sundays you’ll receive it, as well as Quotable Quotes, if you subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.

Again, have a wonderful holiday weekend and remember, don’t get

• sunburned if it’s sunny;
• wet if it’s raining; or
• cold if it has the audacity to snow!

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Image credit: Jim Gordon on MAPping Company Success

To my readers: Leadership Turn is ending; its last day is December 29. I’ve enjoyed writing it and our interaction since August 16, 2007 and I hope we can continue at my other blog.

If you enjoy my views and writing, please join me at MAPping Company Success or subscribe via RSS or EMAIL.

The WELCOME MAT is out!

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Image credit: JJChandler.com @ Tombstone Generator

I had (what to me) was amazing news this weekend.

Leadership Turn is listed as one of Strategic Strategist’s 2009 Top Business Blogs. It not only made the list, but is number 16, just two places behind Guy Kawasaki.

I’m unfamiliar with Strategic Strategist and have no idea what, if anything, this means, but still! So I told some friends and my b5 cohorts and received some very nice congratulatory emails telling me that I deserved it, etc. Fun!

But it got me to thinking once again that I just don’t have the ego for the networked, self-promoted, memememe world I live in.

It’s not that I don’t believe I have a lot to offer.

I think I’m a hell of a writer and that what I say has value, whether it’s of direct use or stimulates new thought paths.

To be honest, I’m often blown away when I read old posts here or at MAPping Company Success and realize I wrote them. The same goes for my book, The Swamp & the Alligators: a slightly irreverent guide to career planning and the search process. It’s 16 years old now and it’s still on Amazon.

I know my coaching is valuable and that it’s unique; it takes a different approach from much of the other coaching available.

But I’m always a bit amazed when others see its value.

Believe me, it’s not humility or any of those supposedly noble feelings. It’s just that it surprises me when the outside world agrees with me.

As my readers know, I’m very opinionated, but that doesn’t mean I assume or expect anyone else to agree—in spite of the law of averages saying that some will.

I’m lousy at “working the room,” whether in the real or cyber world.

Back when I attended parties I would hang out helping in the kitchen and over the course of the evening most of the interesting people would wander in and end up staying for the kind of conversation you can sink your teeth into (I’ve always been lousy at small talk).

I seem to do cyberspace the same way.

And, I’m grateful to say, the interesting people keep wandering in and staying to talk.

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Image credit: Daniel F. Pigatto on flickr

Happy birthday to me; happy birthday to me, etc. etc. etc.

I thought I’d write a rhyme in honor of the anniversary of my birth and share it with you. Not a poem, I can’t write poetry, but I do write rhymes (some better than others:) So without more ado…

It’s my birthday and I’m not shy
shouting the news to the birds in the sky.
That’s the way I approach my life
because increasing years should not add strife!

I wouldn’t go back as an awkward teen,
with raging hormones and pimples seen;
back then I believed I could take wing
because I knew most everything.

I entered my twenties with more of the same,
but as time went by I started to tame
lots of the actions that created a stink;
I listened and learned and started to think!

Over the decades I made sure I kept growing
and the people I met kept new ideas flowing.

These days I coach and I write—a living I’m earning—
but nothing has changed I’m still talking and learning.
My picture is old and won’t be changed soon
and no matter what I’ll never carry a tune.

But life goes on and that’s a cert
even though today I am older than dirt.

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Image credit: runrunrun on flickr

My apologies for the short time lead, but I only received this yesterday.

You have an invitation from PBS’ Nightly Business Report to participate in creating their list of 30 Most Important Innovations from Last 30 Years

Here’s all the who/what/where/when info, all you have to do it go for it!

Media Alert: PBS’ Nightly Business Report

30 Most Important Innovations from Last 30 Years

In 1979, the first spreadsheet software was introduced, Sony rolled out the Walkman, ESPN began broadcasting sporting events to cable TV companies, and on public television, Nightly Business Report made its debut.  To celebrate their three decades on the air, PBS’ Nightly Business Report has teamed up with Knowledge@Wharton, the online research and business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to select the 30 most important innovations from the last 30 years.

The full list will be announced on Nightly Business Report, in a special half hour program, next Monday, February 16, 2009.

The criteria upon which the innovations were judged:

1.  Did it have a direct and/or material effect on quality of life?

2.  Did it address a compelling need?  Did it solve a compelling problem?

3.  Was it a fresh, new breakthrough?   Was there a “WOW” factor?

4.  Did it change the way business is conducted?

5.  Did it increase the efficiency of how resources are used?

6.  Did it spark an ongoing stream of new innovations on top of the original innovation?

7.  Did it lead to the creation of a vast, new industry?

For more information, or to speak with a Nightly Business Report representative, please contact Mark Ballard at 212-255-8455 or mark@rosengrouppr.com.

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Image credit: flickr

Today I’d like to thank you, all of you. You are what make writing Leadership Turn worthwhile—even though you aren’t as chatty as the Prison Break readers.

But today is the day; today I’m asking you to get chatting and tell me what you want from Leadership Turn in 2009.

What features do you like? Which do you hate? What would you like me to do differently?

Do you like Tuesday’s Ducks In A Row? Thursday’s Leadership’s Future focus on education and leading kids? What about CandidProf? Do you want to hear more from him?

Are the multiple links in the new Seize Your Leadership Day on Saturday helpful? Are you still enjoying Quotable Quotes with your Sunday coffee?

Click here, while you’re thinking about it, and tell me what you want. Or you may call me at 866.265.7267 or email miki@rampupsolutions.com.

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One more thing, last year I shared Business Week’s Marc Miller’s rhyming wrap-up of 2007; yesterday I posted Jib Jab’s 2008 wrap and now I have the pleasure of presenting parts of Miller’s rhyme for this year. Click the link to read the whole thing—it’s worth it!

At Christmastime 2008,
In this, our fragile fiscal state,
We search our economic soul
And find the world’s a lump of coal,…

You’re Big Biz? Well, it’s still no dice:
The credit market’s Arctic ice.
The Dow fell stomach-churningly,
And Bear Stearns is a memory,
Nor is there any point in dreamin’
Richard Fuld will bring back Lehman…
On the front page, Bernie Madoff;
On Page Two, new thousands laid off.
’08’s theme, if such there be,
Is simply negativity,…

In the business world, success
Was rarer than a C.D.S.
That didn’t wind up in a mess,
Yet some achieved it nonetheless….

Mr. Gates, with less to do,
We’re counting on good works from you.
(We’re confident at Microsoft
Steve Ballmer will keep things aloft.)
T. Boone Pickens, going green,
A blessing on your wind machine,…

For next year, we merely wish
A climate not so Hades-ish,
Where every week we don’t convene
To tear apart the magazine
And start from scratch, because we find
The landscape newly redesigned,
A market not so cellar-bound
(We can’t imagine turnaround),
Some leadership in Washington
That actually gets things done,
And globally, a brotherhood
That stumbles toward a common good.
I can’t say why, I don’t know how,
But if you’ve read this up to now,
You too may sense the universe
May soon get better (can’t get worse).
So raise a glass to auld lang syne,
And see you in 2009.

I really urge you to read it in it’s entirety, it’s worth your time.

Have a wonderful holiday today; I look forward to your thoughts on my direction.

Best wishes,
Miki

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Image credit: RampUp Solutions, Inc.

For a great collection of links to other b5 blogs who took part in Blog Action Day 2008 check out Buzz Networker. Enjoy!

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Dan McCarthy, a very cool guy who is head of leadership and management development at Paychex and writes a great blog on leadership issues, included me in his current edition of the Leadership Development Carnival. It’s not just about leadership, but includes management and the content can be applied to all parts of life.

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Image credit: sofijab   CC license