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Strat4 - Strategic Solutions for Growing Companies
Monday Morning CEO
Week of February 21, 2011 Presidents' Day
"If that is true, he must be the greatest man in the world."
-King George III of England
(upon hearing that George Washington, having led the colonies to victory of England, had refused his fellow American's plea to become the first king of the new country.)
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Greetings!
In 1880 Congress established a federal holiday to commemorate George Washington's birthday (to be celebrated on February 22 - his actual birthday). As you will read in the historical perspective offered by former US Ambassador John Miller, below, for many years Americans celebrated the holiday with great pride as recognition the first president's leadership in forging our nation. In 1971 an act of congress established that the holiday be observed on the third Monday in February - and with pressure from a movement to expand the commemoration to all presidents, the holiday has become more commonly known as Presidents' Day. And in that regard, I think it's a great day to reflect on the qualities of great leaders and what great leadership is really about.
Beyond George Washington, this issue of Monday Morning CEO points you to a powerful interview with Jim Kouzes about investing in Leadership, and an article from Forbes that addresses what your company can take to heart from the lessons in market leadership at Apple Computer.
I also attended a workshop led by Rick Eigenbrod, as part of the ongoing training I take as a Vistage Chair. He reminded me that the "boundaries of an organization are set by the boundaries of it's leader." Your limitations have a tremendous impact on the success of your company as much as a powerful vision and exceptional leadership do. It begs the question, if you want you business to grow, what are you doing to grow? If you want to improve the performance of your company, what are you doing to improve your personal performance?
About 18 months ago I attended a leadership training program by the Strozzi Institute (http://www.strozziinstitute.com). It was, without question, the most powerful program of its kind I have every attended - and I have been to many. Beyond helping me to form a clearer understanding of personal leadership, I also walked away with some highly effective tools for improving my own leadership abilities, and more importantly, for helping develop the leadership impact of others. For me, this was life-changing. In that vein, I have recommended a book below called the Leadership Dojo.
Finally, any discussion of leadership would not be complete without recognizing the value of developing leadership in America's youth. I am very proud to be working with the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey with their annual Women of Achievement awards program. The Girl Scouts do a tremendous and valuable job in our communities and light a path for young women to become tomorrows leaders. I urge you to support their efforts wherever you are, and for those in northern New Jersey, I hope you will support the program by contacting call Julie Sadowski, at (972) 248-8200, or e-mail jsadowski@gsnnj.org.
As always, wishing you a great and successful week ahead. 
Philip R. Liebman Managing Director, Strat 4 Group Chair, Vistage International P.S. Last week I mentioned the Vistage NJ All Cities CEO Conference on March 8th. This is an exclusive, member-only event that will be attended by more than 100 CEOs from the region. We have created an opportunity for a select group of invited guests to attend. There is a strict limit on the number of guests that may attend, and invitations are available only to CEOs that qualify for Vistage membership and are interested in learning more about the benefits of being considered for membership. Please contact me right away if you would like an invitation to attend as my guest. |
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The Original American Idol - and a some clues for Washington from John Miller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Most sensible Americans, regardless of party their affiliation, agree that while democracy is alive and well, Washington and many state governments are broken. Historian and former US Ambassador, John Miller recently wrote this short article in the Wall Street Journal that offers some leadership cues that could help those who run the town that honor Presidents Washington's name today. Our first president brought some qualities to the being our first chief executive that all of us wanting to lead great organizations - or nations should embrace.
To read the article, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/4mose6m |
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Suggested Reading: "Leadership Dojo" - Richard Strozzi-Heckler
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 To add to my own review, these sum up well why this is a must read book: "Strozzi-Heckler, a martial arts expert, former marine, and executive coach for AT&T and Microsoft, provides a decidedly mystical primer on leadership. Effective managers, he says, must cultivate their inner "warrior spirit"-becoming, à la George Washington in the Revolutionary War, the physical embodiment of their organizations. Unorthodox, sure, but it worked against the British." -U.S. News & World Report; New and forthcoming books for the executive's nightstand "In The Leadership Dojo, Richard Strozzi-Heckler draws on his vast coaching experience and encyclopedic knowledge of somatics to pinpoint the true source of leadership: the commitments we hold; the values underlying them; and our presence in the world--through body, language, and action--as we pursue those commitments. The Leadership Dojo describes concrete, straightforward practices that nurture extraordinary leadership by deepening our awareness of the commitments we represent, the purposes we embrace, and how we carry ourselves as physical beings. The result is a pragmatic, powerful, and promising approach, worthy of study by anyone seeking to educate, train, or develop leaders to do well and do good at the same time." -James N. Baron, William S. Beinecke Professor of Management, Yale School of Management
You can find the book on Amazon at: http://tinyurl.com/6endy74 |
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Six Tips on Market Leadership from Apple - Joshua Brown, Forbes
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 It's hard to argue with Apple's success in the US market and around the world. In this article, Joshua Brown points out six key qualities and characteristics that make Apple a leader - and how that can translate to your company: invent the market; pick needy partners, customer tastes are overrated, make it good and price accordingly, be the center of your ecosystem and focus on kids- their parents will follow. http://blogs.forbes.com/joshuabrown/2011/02/18/six-tips-for-doing-business-in-the-era-of-apple/ |
| Investing in Leadership- An interview with Jim Kouzes - From the Vistage Website: VistageBuzz Blog
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 Leo Bottary, VP for Public Affairs at Vistage International, recently interviewed Jom Kouzes, who along with Barry Posner authored "The Leadership Challenge" and "The Truth About Leadership" - recently developed a program "The Student Leadership Challenge" that focuses on investing in leadership. You can find the interview on the Vistage website at:
http://blog.vistage.com/business-leadership/investing-in-leadership-an-interview-with-jim-kouzes-part-1/
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