Frank Uncovers Excellence in Leadership

© Copyright Frank D. Kanu 2000-2008

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Covey makes it very clear that success comes from the right mix of personal and professional effectiveness. This is not a book for those trying to find a shortcut to success. What Covey offers is complex and not easy to implement. It sure takes time to implement those habits. Big advantage of the book is that the habits are introduced and explained, but not forced on the reader.

The Complexity of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod

Axelrod bases his work on game-theoretic strategies: neither the most aggressive, nor the cleverest nor the gentlest strategy but that benevolent and retaliated strategy leads to long term success. Tit for Tat. Not the blind and wild competitor but the cooperating partnership is what brings the better results for all involved. Axelrod managed to make this book an easy and interesting read.

Leadership by Rudolph W. Giuliani, Ken Kurson

Basically this book has two parts: How to run a city like NYC and the person; Giuliani. The biography is rather personal and describes very well how Giuliani used his character and charisma to make New York the great city it is now. One of his strength is to acknowledge his mistakes. It is very interesting to compare his style with the principles laid out by Robert Axelrod in “The Complexity of Cooperation”.

        

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© Copyright Frank D. Kanu 2000-2008

My friend Karel Frielink (Netherlands Antilles Lawyer / Attorney) blogs about Will Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind” change our lives?

Karel makes a good point about Daniel’s view being to narrow - from the view of a lawyer. Not being a lawyer myself I actually looked at it a bit differently

Have you read Daniel’s book? I think it is one of the very few must reads of the year; maybe even decade.

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© Copyright Frank D. Kanu 2000-2008

Chances that you have read the Jeff Jarvis letter to Mr. Dell are high.

It now also made it to the blogging sphere of one - if not the - most important German business papers. With one wonderful comment:

…informed customers are not the target market. We do not care about non-target markets. - Erwin

How true, how true.

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© Copyright Frank D. Kanu 2000-2008



Ethics and leadership both seem to be abstract and ambiguous—so imagine what happens when we discuss ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is not about how to lead to reach specific goals, but what ethical affects leadership has. Ethics aren’t morals themselves but the meaning of moral ways and actions. Ethics don’t decide, nor do they take decisions away. They serve as a means of guidance—to find answers, make decisions, and know how to justify them.

    Leadership is about those who are in a position to make decisions; create opinions and attitudes. It is more then just managing. Because leaders have to lead by example, their words, actions, and values play a huge role in their success. Responsibility and credibility are two of the most important elements of leadership; each is deeply based on the interaction with others. Because every action, even the smallest, has an impact, ethics are always part of the decision-making process. Ethics are not a cookbook for great decisions. Leaders know that every decision has to be carried by responsibility and credibility. To be recognized as a leader requires exuding trust. Remember that for many the values and ethics of the leader have to match their own understanding of those.

    To understand the impact of ethics, it’s important to ask the right questions:

1. How do we implement corporate social responsibility?
2. How do we select and support employees while achieving the business goals?
3. What core competencies does a business need to stay successful? How do those bind the people?
4. What values do managers need to keep the worth, responsibility and future compatibility of the business?

    Today’s leaders have to understand what is needed tomorrow if they want to implement the necessary changes to keep the business running. Successful leaders are smart, responsible, and ethical. They’re expected to:

1. Take responsibility and delegate.
2. Continuously work on the vision and goals of the business and follow those.
3. Support shareholders, stakeholders, and suppliers to help them grow and stay within the vision and goals of the business.
4. Implement valuable, clear and responsible business solutions, either with or without the team.
5. Design smart teams with responsible team players.
6. Support employees to be themselves by bringing back the fun, and understanding diversity.
7. Change the rules (when necessary).

How much can a leader learn by looking at those who have chosen to be unethical?

    If you look only at the mistakes others made without trying to understand why they happened, you will learn almost nothing. It may be hard to believe, but often those who behave unethically think of themselves as perfectly ethical and responsible. It’s a matter of how they interpret values. They may be wrong, but remember that values do change over the years and sometimes people make errors of judgment out of ignorance rather than lack of conscience. It is a fine line to walk.

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© Copyright Frank D. Kanu 2000-2008

A family had a Chinese cook working for them. He was creative and cooked some of the best dishes they ever had. Especially gifted when it came to pies. Still, one day they fired him. What happened?

The family throws another huge dinner party. As usual the cook is at his best and serves those marvelous pies. Everyone wondered how he just managed to make them that tasty. That’s when the little daughter spoke up: “I know! I know! He throws the dough on his bare-naked stomach—to give it that special flavor…”

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© Copyright Frank D. Kanu 2000-2008

Everyone tells me that you should have an agent if you want to get your book into one of the bigger publishing houses. A short search for agents turns up quiet a few - but most of them do not accept new submissions.

On top of that most publishing houses do not take proposals coming directly from the author as serious as the ones from an agent. Leading a great many authors to go with POD or vanity press. Especially when they want their book to be published fast.

Would you buy a POD book?

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© Copyright Frank D. Kanu 2000-2008

Daniel Echeverria has created the probably most amazing motorcycle:

But whatever it is, Echeverria, a 44-year-old chemical products salesman, evidently felt compelled to keep the Arthurian legend alive by using scrap metal to transform a 1979 Kawasaki into a bronze and chain-mail festooned gas-powered steed, complete with a front-mounted dragon head that spews real fire. It took three years to create — 2,500 hours. But who’s counting?

Is he dedicated or what?

Found on boing boing

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