Most of you probably don’t remember, but a while ago I asked readers for help coming up with a new tag line. That was actually the second time I tried tapping my readership for help.

During the time I’ve been mulling your responses and advice (thanks Dave!) my blog was totally redesigned—no more road.

Today, for whatever reason, the tag has been boiling, instead of at a low simmer on the back burner, and what popped into my head was YOUR leadership breakthrough, which, while not terrible, didn’t really light fires, although it goes well with the new design.

I kept re-reading what you all said, especially Dave Crain’s advice, which I knew, but needed to hear again.

I think ultimately, you are the one that needs to come up with the tagline, if you want one. We can give you ideas, maybe even inspiration, but I think the “flash of inspiration” has to come from you. Only you have the passion and the insight uniquely individual to you.

I kept thinking about what I write (and rant) constantly, that leadership isn’t positional; anybody with initiative has the potential to be a ‘leader in the instance’—there when they see the need.

And that’s when it finally happened; I had an epiphany.

YOU + initiative = leadership

What do you think?

As to the winner, although all your input helped and he didn’t come up with the exact phrase, it was Dave’s words that drove me, so I’m declaring him the winner. I hope he enjoys The Three Laws Of Performance.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: hisks on sxc.hu

Oh for the memory of youth; not memories, but the ability to remember what I’m doing.

Last July I started looking for a new tagline. Even though I’m stuck committed to the blog’s name I want something that reflects my take on leadership as opposed to the generally accepted view.

Like any blogger I asked my then readers what they thought, received some interesting suggestions and promptly forgot about it.

The subject recently came up again, so I looked up the post and here are what I think are the best from those suggestions.

Eric Eggertson, who used to write CommonSensePR, gave me a number of suggestions, among them Seize the future and Inspire and achieve;

I came up with Seize the initiative;

Luke suggested Miki Tells You How It Is;

Phil Gerbyshak took Luke’s idea and came up with No Spin, Just Straight Talk.

Darth Sidious suggested The Drive to thrive and also said my writings have enhanced he and his friends’ Sith philosophy! Hmm, I wonder if George Lucas is aware of that.

Back to the tag line.

What do you think? Do you like one of these or do you have a better idea that reflects the tone and philosophy of my Leadership Turn?

Leave a comment to with a new tagline or vote for one already suggested by October 1 and win a copy of The Three Laws Of Performance. If I end up using one of the above tags I’ll use Ramdom.org to decide the winner.

Enter as many times as you like; previous suggestions are automatically entered.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: The Three Laws Of Performance

Last April Steve Tobak, who writes BNET’s The Corner Office, did a post on 5 classic blunders when presenting to the board of directors. Good post, interesting and useful if you’re in that arena.

But his current post, 5 Classic Dumb Executive Moves is priceless; not just the five of his own that he shared, but the dozens shared by readers.

The great thing is that they apply to everyone, so you don’t have to be an executive to learn from them.

Many talked about email sent to the wrong people or the entire company instead of the one person for whom it was meant. (Sound familiar?)

Sadly, many talked about what happened when they gave honest answers to their managers; enough similarities to assure you that Dilbertland is alive and well.

Obviously, it’s a matter of culture and the manager’s MAP, but it’s a good idea not to misread it.

As one person offered in his WORDS TO LIVE BY:
No good deed goes unpunished
Good guys DO finish last

A few were hilarious, here’s a favorite from a woman who was even brave enough to use her own name.

“Gave a speech in a foreign language and, in an attempt to say, “You can be flexible,” accidentally said, “you can stretch your private parts.” The audience loved it and kept asking me to repeat the sentence before I caught on.”

Let’s start our own list, here are 5 of mine.

1. Back when smoking was still acceptable in offices I smelled a cigar and made a comment about the phallic implications of men who smoked cigars to my cube-mate. A few minutes later the VP visiting from HQ walked in carrying his cigar. He pretended he didn’t hear, but I was told later that almost everybody heard me.
2. When I was a recruiter I called a long-time client and presented an engineer for a critical opening. Half way through I realized I was presenting the person who had just left.
3. Probably one of the dumbest things I did as a recruiter was setting up an interview and then forgetting to tell the candidate, so he was a no-show. The manager was furious and I had to grovel to get him to listen to the truth and reschedule.
4. During a training session on writing better emails I critiqued one of the real life examples given to me by HR, pointing out the grammatical and spelling errors, poor phrasing and misused words. It turned out that the email was from the executive who hired me.
5. Then there are the times, too numerous to count, since my hearing went south that I’ve responded to what I thought was being said and was not only off base, but completely out of the park.

Not my smartest moments.

What about you? What are your most remembered OMG moments?

Each OMG moment you share will enter you in a random drawing for a copy of Jason Jenning’s Hit The Ground Running.

The contest runs through August 31 and you can enter as many times as you want.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: annia316 on flickr