As with the Sound of Music song, it’s time to say goodbye – for a while at least to the moderated posts on Ideas For Leaders.

I know that at some point, I will return to content publishing, but for now I am taking a break to focus on business development.

Ideas For Leaders will remain accessible. I encourage those of you who seek the wisdom of the the content already posted and cataloged under the various essential organization capabilities in the left side column to do just that.

I have often used content from the following contributors (in no particular order), and highly recommend that you register for their posts.

Seth Godin, Mitch Joel, Gregg Thompson, Andy Nulman, Jim Clemmer, Derek Sivers, Mark Hurst, Chris Brogan, John Caswell, Brian Eisenberg, and Alan Webber.

If and when you do, you will also identify ‘golden nuggets’ of their wisdom by searching through their archives – in addition to their current and recent posts.

Jerry

BTW: Should you find what we are up to in my current business passion – CSI Diagnostics interesting -  contact me at jerryt@csidiagnostics.com. Telling a friend and spreading the word is also appreciated.

With the technology available to us today there are ways to get a business of the ground very quickly and cost effectively. It is the way hundreds if not thousands of new business are being created even as you read this.

But the analogy to Rome is still very relevant.

Yes it took literally centuries for the city of Rome to be built, but what occurred over that period of time is important for us to understand today.

Rome emerged over time. It was never a finished product.

As it emerged solid foundations were put into place to allow it to continue emerging.

It adapted to the evolving knowledge available to it so that it was relevant to the changing world around it.

Entire structures were destroyed and rebuilt. Sometimes not voluntarily. This leveraged the opportunity to re-build with more foresight. This was fueled by the perseverance of its people and leaders to make Rome a success.

We can certainly create businesses quickly. But will they be around for the long term.

We can learn a lot from the Rome experience as well as understanding why some businesses continue to thrive and grow, while the vast majority of new businesses disappear within a few years.

Are you building a business to last?

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The Organization Optimizer from CSI Diagnostics is a fully automated resource that is affordable by any type and size of enterprise which identifies its longevity status by identifying (measuring) the 15 essential characteristics of long lasting successful businesses.

Some things change quickly.

Good business and management practices do not.

I started this moderated blog to expose good ideas that have been around a long time, are timeless and should always be top of mind by leaders today and tomorrow.

The wisdom contained in blogs written by such people like Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel, Jim Clemmer, Andy Nulman and many others have been my primary source source of these.

Ideas For Leaders was created as the vehicle to bring these great insights and ideas to your attention.

SHOULD I KEEP DOING IT? HAS IT HELPED YOU IN ANY WAY?

LET ME KNOW.

Please send me your feedback/suggestions.

Wishing you a peaceful holiday and for a healthy, happy and successful 2013.

Jerry

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For information on the innovative organization and management diagnostics developed by CSI Diagnostics CLICK HERE.

An original post from Seth Godin

“I’ll be out of bed in five minutes,” is not a true statement because it’s a promise not meant to be kept. It actually means, “go away, I’m sleeping, I’ll say what I need to get rid of you.”

“Your call is very important to us,” is not a true statement either. The truth is self-evident.

“I promise I’ll tell the manager about this,” is of course not a real promise either. It might be uttered with good intent, or might be designed to get an annoying customer to go away, but still…

You can already guess the problem with little lies. They blur the line, and they lead (pretty quickly) to big lies. The worst kinds of little lies are the ones you make to yourself. Once you’re willing to lie to yourself, you’re also willing to cheat at golf, and after that, it’s all downhill.

Companies that refuse to break small promises have a much easier time keeping big promises. And they earn a reputation, one that makes their handshake worth more.

Given that expectation and trust are just about all we have left to sell, it seems to me that little lies and small promises are at the very heart of the matter. And they’re a simple choice, nothing requiring an MBA or a spreadsheet.

It all depends on what you want to stand for (individually and as a leader).

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Establish organization best practices in all its strategic challenges areas. Use the Organization Optimizer to lay out the map.

An Article by Gregg Thompson and Bruna Martinuzzi

“The successful man is the average man, focused.”

Source Unknown

It has been said that if everything is important, nothing is important. As a leader, what are the two or three things that are most important to you? What are your passions? What legacy do you wish to leave? Do these things get the greater part of your energy, time, and attention? If not, then you are on the road to mediocrity as a leader. That single-purpose focus is the source of formidable leadership power. At its purest level, it is, as Martina Navratilova expresses: “I try to concentrate on concentrating.” It is a dedicated, disciplined, and targeted focus of attention

Successful leaders are very adept at practicing this laser-like focus of attention. Bill Gates declared once that part of his success is certainly due to the fact that he focuses in on a few things. These words are echoed by Eric Schmidt of Google who said: “I keep things focused. The speech I give every day is: “This is what we do. Is what we are doing consistent with that, and can it change the world?”

To achieve that power of focus, you need to first have a high degree of clarity about what truly matters to you. Over the years, we accumulate beliefs, practices, habits and other intellectual and emotional burdens that no longer serve us. We need to recognize these and shed them. It’s akin to periodically purging your Inbox from un-needed items and emptying your trash folder. Imagine the sense of renewal and freedom of focus that you would have if you periodically and consistently performed this form of mental housekeeping–if you ruthlessly budgeted your attention to allocate it on only what matters.

You need to be ruthless about what you decide to concentrate on, setting aside anything that does not contribute to the achievement of your goals. This is leadership on steroids: Having total clarity about what is crucial and then deciding to be intentional on what you choose to notice, developing a specialized mental vision which will allow you to emotionally and intellectually see just what you need to see in order to achieve your purpose. Just like birds have excellent binocular vision for judging distances, so you develop an ability to focus on only what will help you to go the distance. This means, for example, not wasting energy rehearsing the past and staying in the present and future. Take an inspiration from Marie Curie who stated: “I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”

Just as you gain power by what you focus your attention on, so you dissipate your power by not being aware of your habits. What habits form you? Examine these carefully: are any of these diluting your power to achieve your goals on a consistent basis? What would change in your life if you resolved right now to start each day by asking yourself and responding to these two questions: What are the most important things I need to focus all of my attention on today to be successful? What can I do today to bring me closer to getting the results I want in these important areas? Then imagine yourself zooming in on those areas and directing all of your focus toward getting the results you want. What might you accomplish at the end of one year with this strategy?

Understanding your focusing habits will allow you to determine what you need to compensate for and will pay dividends. For example, if you have a habit of being detail-oriented, you may fall prey to the greatest prodigality, wasting an inordinate amount of precious time on painstakingly focusing on data at the expense of the wider, long-range ramifications. That automatic focus of attention may prevent you from seeing all the possibilities in front of you and therefore, erode your power.

Take charge of your focus and resolve to develop your time leadership competence by being on the alert about your habitual inclinationsand that includes intrusive, unwanted thoughts. You may, at times, find yourself in a situation where you don’t have total control over the complexity and forces that govern your particular context. There is one aspect, however, that you always have total control over and that is your thoughts, being particularly aware how thoughts drive your emotions and how your emotions can divert your focus and dictate your actions. Being sentient, that is, consciously perceiving and developing your choice-making consciousness, is a powerful advantage indeed.

We encourage you to be on the alert for recurrent, intrusive thoughts that divert your focus of attention. Resolve to keep purging these from your mental operating system as soon as they surface; be determined to direct your attention towards a central point of focus–totally concentrating on what makes a difference. What thing will you put in your own universe? What you focus on grows.

” What do you want to grow?

” What are three to five areas that, if you decided to bring into focus, would make a significant difference in your power to lead?

” Are there any important relationships that you need to bring into sharper focus in your leadership journey?

” Are the people who support you occupying a focal point?

” What about those who challenge you? What might you gain from focusing some of your attention on them?

” What would happen if you take a step back and focus on the bigger picture of your life?

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The Organization Optimizer allows you to understand where you should focus your energies for improving your organization.

An interesting VIDEO by Mark Miller

A culture for retaining people

http://player.vimeo.com/video/40777981

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Knowledge in business is crucial for survival. Especially object knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of your business. Let the Organization Optimizer help you out.

A Classic Video by Stephen Covey

A lesson for all leaders

http://www.theleadershiphub.com/videos/stephen-coveys-dark-and-stormy-night-story

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Let the Organization Optimizer steer you through those dark and stormy days.

Excerpt from a post by Andy Nulman

No way around it.

No matter what your product, your business, your website, your service, your show, your TV network, your whatever, it needs to get off the ground at some point.  These days,  that “some point” is always sooner than later.  Even the most strident of pre-launch tests cannot take into account the inexplicable variables that arise and bust things up when the real world gets it hands on your baby.

Face it: if you ain’t broken, you ain’t alive.

You can leave things in the lab or on the table and tinker with them until they’re seemingly perfect, but the delay inevitably means that someone else will beat you to the punch.  And it’s easier to fix what’s broken than to bury what’s dead.

The world’s great new stuff is never, ever truly “finished.”  It’s always in a state of flux, of repair, of upgrading and adaptation.

Of course, our new event isn’t perfect.  But at least it IS.

So as I watched our launch of the Toronto Just for Laughs festival (JFL42)  I watch what can get fixed in real time…and ponder how to fix the bigger stuff when our post mortem comes.

And I do so with the pride that we did something great.

Something new.

And something broken.

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Using the Organization Optimizer allows you to monitor how well you fixed what was broken.

An original post by Gregg Thompson

The word “confrontation” is usually defined as a conflict between people’s beliefs and opinions. I prefer to define it as a courageous encounter with the truth – whatever that truth might be.

Telling the truth is a perilous endeavor. We tend to do so only when the degree to which we care for another exceeds the risk and discomfort in doing so. We risk confrontation when we care deeply about another persona and when we genuinely want to see them thrive. This is the paradoxical gift of confrontation. We confront others when we love them enough to not not speak the absolute truth.

Some people call the “telling the truth in love.”

So how often do you tell others the truth, the real truth – what you are really thinking, feeling, and wanting and what you see in them?

Give this a moment of serious consideration. Reflect on your key relationships and as you think of each, consider how honest you have been in that relationship recently. How truthfully have you communicated your thoughts – negative or positive – to the people in your network?

Now commit to telling someone the truth today.

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The diagnostic suite from CSI Diagnostics reveals the truth of how an organization is perceived by those who know it best – their key stakeholders. Leveraging this knowledge leads to growth and success.

An original post by Mark Hurst

A recent Wired magazine cover story (here) asks, “Do you really want to be like Steve Jobs?” In it, the author proposes two types of entrepreneurs. First are the “acolytes,” workaholics who try to emulate Jobs by being “direct” (that is, rude) to employees when their work isn’t up to par. In contrast are the “rejectors” who pursue low-stress careers while making time for family.

This article is a helpful distillation of a common conversation about Steve Jobs since his death last fall: how much did he succeed by being mean? Is it worth being mean in one’s own career, if it brings Jobs-like wealth and influence? The quotes really make the piece, as they accurately depict the range of personalities in the tech industry. (I was happy to see Matt Haughey included; this video of his Gel 2010 talk shows how his positive, community-centered approach made Metafilter a success. Count me in his camp.)

Despite all this, I think the article is centered on the wrong issue. The media has missed a much larger, much more important point: Steve Jobs was the first CEO to bet the company on the user experience. From the very beginning of Apple, and renewing his efforts when he returned as interim CEO, Jobs was constantly focused on building products that would deliver the best possible experience – rather than the most up-to-date chipset, or the best partner arrangements, or the most horrific monopolistic lock-in scheme.

These days it’s not so unusual to hear entrepreneurs, even CEOs, give lip service to the idea of the customer experience. Some of them even believe it and try to influence their organization in that direction. But back in the mid-80s, and then again in the late 90s, it was exceedingly rare to see a CEO explicitly, intentionally build a strategy around this idea.

Jobs may not have invented the mouse, or the graphical user interface, or the idea of a handheld mobile device. But he did show the world what can happen if a CEO commits his or her company, strategically and fully, to the customer experience. The trajectory of Apple over the past 15 years can be seen as one massive, controlled experiment of an experience-led organization. (I couldn’t have planned a better case study to demonstrate what I’ve been writing about for all these years.) Everyone knows the results: After a few rocky years, Apple’s strategy started to pay off. Then while other technology companies stumbled, faltered, or disappeared altogether, Apple went from success to success.

Steve Jobs provides a lesson for every entrepreneur, and it’s not about whether you should be rude to your employees. (By the way, you shouldn’t.) Instead, the question is: will you commit yourself, and your team, to creating a good experience for your customer?

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Listening to your customers is critical to knowing their experience with your organization. The innovative Organization Optimizer not only listens but gets your customers to rate your organization on the most important capabilities that will define their loyalty to you.