Wally Bock writes one of the few blogs under the “leadership” banner that I like, mostly because he writes common sense, keeps it simple and (usually) sees leadership through a lens similar to my own.

In a recent post Wally writes about people.

People are emotional. Some economists write like they think it’s not so. Some philosophers think it’s bad. But it’s the way we are. Our emotions affect everything we do and every choice we make.

People are perceptive and insightful. We notice things and reach conclusions without the need for advanced programming.

People are creative. Human beings are natural idea generators. Just let us show up and watch us go.

People are both consistent and inconsistent. As a species we’re pretty predictable. Once we’re past young adulthood, our previous behavior is a good guide to our future behavior. But individually we’re a source of constant surprise.

People have knowledge. Knowledge is information plus context. On a good day, we can generate wisdom.

People have relationships. They are a source of strength and support and insight. They are also a source of biases.

People have lives. We have a life at work and a life at home and a host of other lives. They are all in play all the time.

That post reminded me of an ancient Cathy comic from the Eighties in which a computer salesman tells Cathy he knows hardware and software, but isn’t fluent in wetware.

Unfortunately, a lot of managers aren’t as fluent in wetware as they need to be to generate high levels of success for both their team and themselves.

For that matter, people in general aren’t always wetware aware, let alone fluent.

However, they seem to be both fluent and aware when it comes to meware.

The problem is that meware won’t raise productivity or drive innovation; it won’t produce responsible, well-rounded kids or create viable relationships.

When it comes to life, wetware is really all that matters, whether professionally or personally.

Flickr image credit: ThisParticularGreg

Saturday an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal entitled The End of Management and I planned a commentary on it today.

Corporations, whose leaders portray themselves as champions of the free market, were in fact created to circumvent that market.

…

Corporations are bureaucracies and managers are bureaucrats. Their fundamental tendency is toward self-perpetuation. They are, almost by definition, resistant to change. They were designed and tasked, not with reinforcing market forces, but with supplanting and even resisting the market.

But when a blogger I respect writes an excellent post poking the same holes I would have poked, then it seems a waste of effort to reinvent that particular wheel.

So first read The End of Management and then click over and read Wally Bock’s comments.

Time well spent—I guarantee it.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/

Wally Bock has an excellent post regarding his rethinking of the value of the MBA Oath and its possible effect on future ethics. Wally quotes from a post by Scott Eblin entitled “Why we need an MBA oath.”

“What doesn’t get said, doesn’t get heard. If the MBA Oath causes even a few leaders to stand up and say out loud how they intend to conduct themselves then it was worth the effort of writing and promoting it.”

That idea dovetails perfectly with a tongue-in-cheek op-ed column by Edward E. Sanders, an adjunct lecturer at New York City College, textbook author and entrepreneur.

Sanders suggests that today’s leaders got their ethics lessons watching JR and Gordon Gekko and many followed in their footsteps, so perhaps Hollywood could produce a new batch of TV shows and movies that focus on CEOs making tough choices and doing the right thing.

Perhaps Tom Hanks (as a John Wayne character) could play the role of a competent and honest CEO — a person respected and trusted, and who inspires others to do the right thing when confronted with compromising choices.

Sanders may be on to something. How about a group of forensic accountants fighting financial crimes a la CSI.

Most kids need ethical examples beyond their parents and they do look for them in their various entertainment forms.

The problem, of course, is money.  All entertainment mediums build their offerings around what sells and what sells is from the dark side.

It doesn’t matter that JR and Gekko get their comeuppance at the end, viewers’ well-developed “but me” tool reassures them that their outcome will be different.

But like the MBA Oath, it can’t hurt and it might help.

Image credit: Flickr

Eleven thousand business books are published every year. Amazon currently lists more than 60 thousand books on leadership alone. There are also magazines, web sites, e-books, audiobooks, podcasts, and blogs. They all offer ideas on what to do. (Thanks to Wally Bock for the great stats.)

Much of what is written is anecdotal.

Much of what is written is more for self-aggrandizement as pointed out in this post by Jim Stroup.

And too much is garbage, pure and simple.

What it all has in common is the idea that if you do what the author did, or says to do, then you will become a leader whatever the situation, circumstances or your experience.

Obviously, this is poppycock. Nobody would even think of suggesting this kind of ‘do it my way and succeed’ approach to an athlete or entertainer, so why think that leadership, or managing, for the matter, is any different?

Little of what’s out there involves the rigorous kind of research that forms the basis of most subjects.

That lack is starting to be addressed by Harvard Business School.

According to professor Rakesh Khurana “If we look at the leading research universities and at the business schools within them, the topic of leadership has been actually given fairly short shrift. … What we tried to incorporate in the Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice is how each different perspective illuminates key elements such as similarities and differences in leadership across task, culture, and identity.

Khurana also says that “Leadership just wasn’t tractable by large databases.” No surprise there, much of what involves human MAP isn’t.

But it was this comment that resonated loudest with me.

“There is no single “best” style of leadership nor one set of attributes in all situations.”

In conjunction with the effort to increase serious research, HBR is running a blog for just six weeks called Imagining the Future of Leadership. The articles are, in general, excellent and the comments interesting. Check it out and add your own thoughts.

I don’t believe that Harvard is the last word, but it is encouraging that a serious and respected institution agrees that the subject is complex, doesn’t fit neatly into a specific field and sees the need for much more than is currently available.

Flickr photo credit to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patriciadrury/3237604522/

A reader called me to get some help with a problem she was having with her team. After dealing with the specific problem (too specific and too sensitive to address here) we talked generally about building and managing teams. She said she had searched ‘team’ on my blog before calling and found the information useful and asked it I could recommend some additional reading. Searching Google returned way too many results, so I promised to send her some links.

Now, it’s always nice when someone else does your work for you and I knew that in this case Becky at LeaderTalk would do mine for me.

I knew because her theme this month was about teams and so I thought I’d share that list with all of you.

First up is a post by Mike Henry, Sr. about the Lead Change group and their efforts to create a team of like-minded people who make a difference through leadership. The post includes a link to the team’s new free e-book.  If you are not familiar with this group, check them out; you can join the group on LinkedIn.

Tom Glover has written some fantastic content about teams at his Reflection Leadership blog. I couldn’t choose only one post to include here, so read them all.

Mary Jo Asmus encourages leaders to examine how their behavior could be affecting team performance in her post, “It’s Not Them, It’s You.”

Kevin Eikenberry shares the secret to improving teams in this post entitled “The Quickest Way to Build Your Team.” As a bonus, check out this post about how to nurture strong teams without allowing them to become divisive silos.

Have you met Siddharta Herdegen? I have enjoyed checking out his blog lately. Here’s a place for you to start, with this new post “Why Leaders Need Teams.”

Miki Saxon encourages team leaders to allow people to express their individuality in this post (it also contains a cool video.) Don’t miss it!

Speaking of building teams, one way to build strong teams, according to Tanmay Vora, is to mentor team members. Read more in his post “Eight Lessons I Learned on Being An Effective Mentor.”

Wally Bock draws lessons from the NBA in this post: “Leadership: Creating Teams that Create Great Results.”

Tanveer Naseer talks about how to use the concepts of employee engagement to increase the effectiveness of teams in his post “Employee Engagement is Not Just For Leaders.”

Here’s a post from last summer at the LeaderTalk blog about how to create alignment on your team.

This post from Steve Roesler is hot off the press, published last night. Be sure to read “What to Look For in Teams” for advice from Steve that is spot-on, as usual.

Mike Myatt is straight-up about an important component of team building in this recent post.

Image credit: HikingArtist on flickr

Yesterday was my birthday and it was lovely. I did nothing useful or productive all day, just enjoyed puttering and reading, and then was taken to dinner. As I said, lovely; and I sure wasn’t going to spoil the day with a patch of creative writing.

But a hilarious post at Wally Bock’s Three Star Leadership about Big Ed Whiteacre’s magic mirror reminded me of something I wrote last year that compliments it perfectly.

Be sure to read Wally’s post; I’ve included mine below.

Power, Arrogance and MAP

I recently questioned whether, in fact, the imperial CEO is indeed dead as many are saying.

Wednesday Dan McCarthy was inspired to write 10 Ways to Avoid the Arrogance of Power after reading The Arrogance of Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Business School. Pfeffer says,

“The higher you go in an organization, the more those around you are going to tell you that you are right. The higher reaches of organizations–which includes government, too, in case you slept through the past eight years–are largely absent of critical thought. … There is also evidence, including some wonderful studies by business school professor Don Hambrick at Penn State, that shows the corroding effects of ego. Leaders filled with hubris are more likely to overpay for acquisitions and engage in other risky strategies. Leaders ought to cultivate humility.” He ends by advising not to hold your breath waiting for this to change.”

I think much of Dan’s advice is good, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for the advice to be taken.

I think that power corrupts those susceptible to it, not all those who have it; there are enough examples of powerful people who didn’t succumb to keep me convinced.

Susceptibility is woven in MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) and is especially prevalent in today’s society of mememememememe with its sense of entitlement.

Changing MAP and stopping drinking are similar, since the individual has to choose to change. All the horses and all the men can’t convince the king to change—that only happens from the inside out.

Moreover, as I’ve frequently said, MAP is sneaky; it will pretend to change and then revert to its normal pattern when no one’s looking.

We, the people, can’t force them to change, but we can learn to sustain our attention span and keep looking.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr and Jim Frazier on flickr

The first Monday of the month is the signal for another Leadership Development Carnival, but don’t be fooled, it covers management and other associated topics. It is hosted this month by Sharlyn Lauby at HR Bartender and written by some of the most talented folks in the blogsphere.

It’s an extensive selection, enough to keep you going all month.

In putting together today’s carnival, I thought it might be fun to ask how long people have been blogging – their blogging “anniversary” if you will.  It was interesting to hear their answers.  On one hand, blogging has been around for a long time.  Dave Winer, author of Scripting News, has one of the oldest weblogs and it was established in 1997.  But notice the number of posts from bloggers who have been writing two years or less.  It’s very cool to see engagement from people who have been blogging for years along with the excitement of people who have been blogging for months.

10+ YearsEven if you’re not a woman or managing a non-profit, there are some classic management tips in Wild Woman Fundraising’s post Advanced Fundraising: Managing Others.

6 Years

David Zinger shares his insights about engagement in Dear Leader: An Open Employee Engagement Letter.

No, Team Leaders Should Not Behave Differently is the sage advice offered by Denise O’Berry at Intuit’s The QuickBase Blog.

5 Years

Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand Blog talks about the heart of employee engagement in Are there 3 in your relationship!

Over at Ep!c Living blog, Eric Pennington says It’s Almost Never About You and describes the dangers of making clients second and the importance of leaving “self” behind.

Janna Rust at Purposeful Leadership blog presents her take on productivity in The Productivity Paradox: Slow Down to Speed Up.

4 Years

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership Blog tells us in his post Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You that it’s not about individuals or the team.  It’s about both accomplishing the mission and helping team members develop.

If you are looking for practical lessons to initiate changes smoothly, look no further than the post from Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace titled Initiating A Change? Ponder This.

Jason Seiden of Fail Spectacularly fame keeps us grounded in his post, Indispensable? I doubt it. You’re simply not that important.

Companies are looking for people who can help their bottom line.  The Digerati Life gives us seven ways to show the boss what we’re made of in Hoping For a Job Promotion? How to Get Promoted at Work.

In this “relationship economy”, building lasting relationships with your customers is no longer optional.  Tanmay Vora discusses the 3 Lessons in Building Great Relationships with Customers at QAspire Blog.

Miki Saxon at MAPping Company Success explains in her post, Leadership’s Future: To Hire and Hold (Millennials), that if you want a happy workforce, you need to provide the same things that make for a happy family.

At Joe and Wanda on Management, we learn the three most important words in business and how to create and environment of mutual support in the post, Checking Six.

3 Years

Lisa Rosendahl reminds us there’s no place for Chicken Little when it comes to leadership in her post, If Your Sky Falls, It Won’t Be Because of Social Media.

Persistence pays! is the message by Leader Business blog.  Author Karl Marlantes endeavored for 32 years to get his book published.  Blogger Tom Magness asks us how hard we are willing to work toward achieving our goals.

Instead of squeezing more stuff into the day, the Monevator shares with us a new killer method for better time management in the post, Personal Time Management for Fun and Profit.

Music plays a critical role in jumping folk’s spirits.  Check out EzineArticles.com’s Coping with Colleague’s Stress at Work to find out how background music can increase workplace productivity.

2 Years

Our carnival leader, Dan McCarthy, just wrapped up an awesome series titled, The Little Things Make a BIG Difference as a Leader – Part 5: A Pat on the Back.  Be sure to check out the entire series over at Great Leadership blog.

Mary Jo Asmus from Aspire Collaborative Services helps us create organizational change by outlining the steps to move From Resistance to Participation.

The team over at Talented Apps tells us how a diverse social network can help you not be as vulnerable to your subtle, internal biases and blind spots in How Can Your Network Help Your Inner Homer? Doh!

The very dapper host of HR Happy Hour, Steve Boese, shares with us how the best leaders are not afraid to coach and mentor their top performers in The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy – Part II.  If you didn’t catch Part I of this post, you can check it out here.

The i4cp blog suggests succession planning is not just a flawed term but a flawed paradigm.  They recommend to organizations Don’t Plan Succession, Manage It.

Michael Lee Stallard at E Pluribus Partners explains that task excellence along isn’t enough.  The answer lies in The Science of Employee Engagement.

Forbes said good leaders recognize when patterns change.  Anne Perschel over at Germane Insights Blog writes they were wrong.  Good leaders SEE INTO the FUTURE.

In order to understand ourselves, we need to Explore Life Purpose.  Mike King at Learn This takes us on the journey.

It’s a classic message.  Want to become successful? Raise Your Standard of Excellence from How to Become Successful! blog.

Bob Lieberman talks about organizational survival in his post The Need for Nerve.

Being a good project manager is an important skill for the future.  Take a look at the Project Management Interview Questions and Answers to see if you have what it takes to manage the important task of making sure projects are on-time, within quality standards and at budget.

A key skill for any leader is public speaking.  Matt Eventoff at Communications 3.0 coaches us on effective speeches in Clash of the Titans, Public Speaking and Chris Christie.  Good tips for anyone who presents information.

1 Year

Jennifer V. Miller of The People Equation cautions organizations about encouraging “fearlessness”.  See how leaders can stay on the “light side” of the force in her post the Boundaries of Fearlessness.

Celebrating her one year blogging anniversary is Becky Robinson at Mountain State University’s Leader Talk blog.  Her post titled Are Homogeneous Groups Better? is a must-read.

Also celebrating his one year anniversary is Dr. Bret Simmons.  Be sure to check out his post about Strength-Based, Individual Leadership. How Does it Affect your Team?

Rob Tucker describes the Three Barriers to Owning your Leadership Development at Reading About Leading blog.

Joshua Noerr provides us with three easy steps in Difficult Discussions.  Be sure to check out his blog Personal Development, One Mind at a Time.

Dean L. Forbes discusses the powerful principles of personal growth in his posts Attitude, Aptitude & Altitude and The Natural Law of Awareness.

Over at The Bloom Blog, Lisa Ann Edwards explains leadership in terms such as Gemstones and Spark and shares wonderful stories of people who possess those qualities.

6 Months

Jane Perdue, the one and only HR Goddess, gives us Advice from the Cheshire Puss on Finding Your Purpose at Life, Love & Leadership blog.

Mike Henry at Lead Change Group reminds us that our friends and the people we associate with set the boundaries of our future.  He suggests socializing with high-caliber leaders to become one in his post, Your Friends and Your Future.

Confronting someone is never a favorite task, but sometimes necessary to manage performance.  The Thriving Small Business blog shows us How to Confront Negative Employee Behaviors.

David Burkus from The Leader Lab explains Situational Leadership theory and why you should care about it in the post Path-Goal Theory.

The Zenger Folkman Blog tells a tale in A Monster of a Problem: How to Help Leaders Be More Inspiring.

The editor of Your Best Library shares the answer to What is the number one skill that determines the success or failure in life?

According to The SALT & Pepper Group, there are seven core leadership styles.  In their series wrap up, titled The 8th Leader, they share a specific classification system of leadership.

Timeless?

Some of our contributors have either been blogging so long they’ve forgotten or not long enough to keep track.  Regardless, their posts are worthy of a visit.

Tom Glover at Reflection Leadership tells us the best way to learn is by doing in Leadership Development: Just in Case or Just in Time.

Rodney Johnson provides some key learnings in What We Can Learn From March MADNESS.

Kevin Eikenberry shares The Five Lessons of the Eraser at Leadership & Learning blog.

MSP University’s Managed Services Blog begins an outline of the sales process in Step 1 of the 7-Step Sales Process: Strategic Preparation

And wrapping up the carnival is CMOE Consultants who channeled the wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower in their post Leadership by Leading.

Dan McCarthy, of Great Leadership fame, produced and directed a terrific Leadership Awards show for you. I didn’t win, but then I was up against stars like Wally Bock, so I’m not too disappointed.

Therefore, without more ado, Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeesssssss Dan!

Art Petty sings and dances with a glamorous showgirl on each arm with Leadership Caffeine-Learning to Lead in the Project-Focused World posted at Management Excellence.

Best Supporting Actress:
The nominations are:

Janna Rust in Self Leadership: Lead yourself to success posted at Purposeful Leadership.

Erin Schreyer in Do I Have Food Stuck In My Teeth? posted at Authentic Leadership.

Anna Farmery in Why you should hate a weekend! posted at The Engaging Brand.

Jane Perdue in Let Us Be the Water posted at Life, Love & Leadership.

Becky Robinson in How To Develop Others posted at Mountain State University LeaderTalk, saying, “In order to grow, people need exposure, opportunity, and challenge.”

And the winner is….. Mary Jo Asmus !

Best Supporting Actor:
The nominations are:

Tom Magness in Learning Leadership from “The Office” — Part I posted at Leader Business, saying, “If you are hooked on “The Office” as I am, you will appreciate this post. We learn leadership from good and bad role models. There are plenty of both with the show’s star and office manager, Michael Scott. If you are hooked on the show, or on leadership, you’ll enjoy these comments.”

Chris Young in Startups, Culture-Shaping, and the “Lifetime Employment Award” posted at Maximize Possibility Blog, saying, “Start-ups are exciting organizations to be a part of. However, leaders can often be blinded by their history with a team member who was “there from the start” and unwittingly give them a “lifetime employment award” at great expense to the organization’s culture and the morale of its other employees.”

William Matthies in Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.

Mike Henry Sr. in Community’s Forth Dimension posted at Lead Change Group Blog.

Tanmay Vora in Quick Thought on Leadership and Subordination to a Cause posted at QAspire – Quality, Management, Leadership & Life!, saying, “When people subordinate a leader, they are not a leader’s subordinates. They are subordinates to a cause. In that context, even a leader is subordinate to a cause. This post tries to emphasize on this very important facet.”

And the winner is…..Tanmay Vora

Best Actress:
The nominations are:

Mary Jo Asmus in Listening, Part II: What REALLY Gets in the Way? posted at Mary Jo Asmus.

Sharlyn Lauby in 7 Types of Power in the Workplace posted at hr bartender, saying, “Everyone has power. It’s using your power effectively that makes a positive difference.”

Alice Snell in Influence and Learning posted at Taleo Blog – Talent Management Solutions.

LisaRosendahl in Eliminating the Static in Performance Management posted at Lisa Rosendahl, saying, “Performance management is one of the most important things a supervisor can do and it is essential that it be done respectfully and professionally from start to finish.

Jennifer V. Miller in 25 Free Leadership Resources posted at The People Equation.

And the winner is…… Jennifer Miller !

Best Actor:
The nominations are:

David Zinger in Employee Engagement: The Zinger 2020 Vision posted at Employee Engagement Zingers, saying, “The future of employee engagement during this decade.”

Jason Seiden in Your Job Sucks? Really? I’m Shocked. Oh, Wait: No I’m Not. posted at Next Generation Talent Development, saying, “Leadership success starts with the ability to work through adversity… even when adversity comes in the form of our own bad attitudes.”

Steve Roesler in All Things Workplace: What Do We Expect From “Real” Leaders? posted at All Things Workplace, saying, “Leadership authority Steve Roesler says, “One thing I am sure of: You can’t microwave leaders and expect a 5-Star Experience.””

Scott Eblin in Next Level Blog posted at Next Level Blog, saying, “One of the biggest questions for managers moving into executive leadership roles is “How do I delegate bigger decisions to my team and still manage risk?” Scott Eblin has been talking with his clients about that question and has come up with some answers.”

Tom Glover presents Challenges To Being a Team posted at Reflection Leadership.

And the winner is….. Scott Eblin!

Best Director:
The nominations are:

Miki directs MAPping Company Success posted at MAPping Company Success, saying, “In any leadership position you are responsible for creating the culture or subculture (the culture of your group within the overall company culture). Here are 7 basic areas you need to think through and do in order to create and implement the kind of culture you want.”

Wally Bock directs 4 Reasons Why Being a Boss is Not an Olympic Event posted at Three Star Leadership Blog, saying, “Olympic athletes are fun and inspiring to watch. But they’re lousy role models for a boss.”

Adi Gaskell directs A siesta a day keeps the afternoon slump away posted at The Management Blog, saying, “An article showing the virtues of having a nap in the afternoon if you want to be at your best throughout the day.”

Amy Wilson directs Pay for Performance is Dead…almost posted at TalentedApps, saying, “This post covers several signals suggesting that the pay for performance model that we’ve touted in the past might need a serious makeover.”

Nissim Ziv directs Leading a Team Effectively posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Teams can be a very effective in producing innovative solutions in the workplace. In jobs throughout every industry, employers always emphasize the need for “good team players.” Teams can generate enthusiasm and increase communication between workers from different departments. “Teamwork” should be the mantra of every organization. Yet, we all know that creating a team can be a bit like creating a monster.”

And the winner is…. Wally Bock!

Best Special Effects:

Aaron Windeler presents Leadership: You don’t know it when you see it posted at Scientific Management.

Nick McCormick presents Social Media Policy Guidelines posted at Joe and Wanda – on Management.

Benjamin McCall in Thing about Leadership… One size does not fit all, posted at ReThinkHR.org.

Shawn M. Driscoll in Dealing with Disillusionment posted at Shawn Driscoll.

Anne Perschel in Fixing the Hole in the Corporate Soul posted at Germane Insights, saying, “Business guru Gary Hamel published “The Hole in the Corporate Soul,” (WSJ) the same day I was writing how to fix it.”

And the winner is….. Anne Perschel!

Here are the rest of our nominations:

Ericka Hines presents Leadership: The future that will exist posted at Ericka Hines, saying, “My blog is targeted towards those in the public sector(nonprofits/social enterprise/government) . I try to make the idea of leadership accessible to understand and to do. I hope that this works for the carnival.”

Jason Reid presents Multi-tasking – doing things badly in twice as much time posted at Sick With Success .com, saying, “A look at how using synergy accomplishes more than multitasking (with examples).”

Andy Klein presents Embrace failure as part of growth posted at The Fortune Group Blog, saying, “When people know they can try and fail and not be reprimanded for doing so, they soon get good at what they do. Growth means trying, so encourage people to try!”

Katy Tynan presents The Simple Path to Leadership Bench Strength posted at Survive Your Promotion!.

Divinelysmile presents The Gender Gap: 10 Surprising Stats on Women in the Workplace posted at JobProfiles.org – Job Descriptions and Online Schools to Start Your Career.

Angela Martin presents 50 Famously Successful People Who Failed At First posted at Online Colleges.org.

Heather Stagl presents Monitor Your Organization’s “Non-Verbal” Communication posted at Enclaria LLC, saying, “It is widely cited that 93% of meaning in a conversation is derived from non-verbal cues. Extrapolating this phenomenon to organizational communication means that most meaning comes from outside official sources.”

Kathy C presents Coaching as a Leadership Competency posted at The Thriving Small Business.

Russell Dygert presents Steak or Hamburger posted at Becoming Who I Should.

Gilda Bonanno presents Using Improv Comedy’s “Half-Life” Technique to Stay Within Your Time Limit While Presenting posted at Gilda Bonanno’s blog, saying, “Public Speaking is an essential success skill for leadership development yet many aspiring leaders still struggle with it. One of the most frequent mistakes they make is to go over the time limit when presenting. This blog post describes a technique from improvisational comedy that can help presenters learn to deliver the essential elements of their message while staying within the time limit.”

Image credit: Great Leadership

Three great interviews sharing what to do and one commentary on the opposite.

Do you long for simplicity, especially in software? Jason Fried built his company 37Signals because he hates complexity. Read more about his attitudes in Inc’s excellent article, you may be surprised.

Next is the story of and an interview with Steve Chang, co-founder and chairman of Trend Micro. Learn why two failed startups didn’t dampen his entrepreneurial fire and what drives him to innovate.

I love this interview with William D. Green, chairman and C.E.O. of Accenture. He tells his first training seminar as a manager where he was told the 68 (no joke) things he needed to do to be successful; Green decided there were just the three Cs.

The first is competence — just being good at what you do, whatever it is, and focusing on the job you have, not on the job you think you want to have. The second one is confidence. People want to know what you think. So you have to have enough desirable self-confidence to articulate a point of view. The third thing is caring. Nothing today is about one individual. This is all about the team, and in the end, this is about giving a damn about your customers, your company, the people around you, and recognizing that the people around you are the ones who make you look good.

I don’t follow sports, but Wally Bock’s offers a comprehensive commentary on the amazing unprofessionalism of Brian Kelly, whose actions are a case study on the fastest way to trash your people. But I wonder how many people will actually find them offensive or just shrug and say no big deal.

Finally, the ongoing sex scandals of the Catholic Church have offered up some of best examples of how leaders dance around the truth, never really admitting their errors even when they claim to be sorry. Cardinal Egan is a Church leader who has danced for decades before his house of cards comes crashing down, but even now he hasn’t stopped dancing—or blowing smoke. When will those in power understand that an apology means nothing when the deed is diluted, denied or rationalized.

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Hopefully you’re not laboring today, at least not at work.

There’s no football, so other than eating what is likely the last BBQ of the season and indulging in too much beer you might be a bit short of entertainment.

Never fear, just click the link and settle in for some great viewpoints on leadership, management, employee interaction and other pertinent subjects at September incarnation of the Leadership Development Carnival.

You’ll not only find my favorites, Wally Bock, Steve Roesler and Jim Stroup, but a host of excellent writers and downright smart people.

It doesn’t matter if you agree with what they say (I often don’t), but agree or not you will learn and that’s the real value—oft times you will learn more from those on a different side of the subject than from those with whom you agree.

Click around the carnival and then come back and share what impressed you most or what set your teeth on edge.

Your comments—priceless

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