The New York Times recently featured a great piece on Zingerman’s deli, a real cultural fixture in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. It all started in 1982 with a really good sandwich. " a vision of a sandwich that was so large it would take two hands to pick up and when you finally bit into it,…
Continue reading…Articles in "Lessons in Leadership"
The Proof is In The Sauce...and In the Sales! Dean Cortopassi, affectionately known as "Dino," was a bootstrapping Central Valley farmer when he purchased Stanislaus in 1979 with the knowledge that 99 percent of all the processed tomato products consumed in the United States come from…
Continue reading…(Image Credit: FAA)After a recent presentation I’d given in Denver, Jeannine, a senior customer service representative at Denver-based Frontier Airlines, approached me with an example of how she had used a Debrief to untangle a knot that was causing consternation among passengers, pilots and…
Continue reading…Robert Gates (Source: DoD)Robert Gates is one of our country’s great leaders. I first met him when he spoke at my nephew’s graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 2007. His speech that day was so thoughtful and compelling that I stood in line for an hour in the sweltering heat so…
Continue reading…Taking Names and Assigning Tasks
Fighter pilots emerging from a post-mission Debrief know to expect clear, unambiguous follow-up directions that assign individual responsibilities for moving forward and set deadlines for completion of all assigned tasks. The same should hold true in business. Robert C. Pozen, senior lecturer…
Continue reading…I watched the movie “Lone Survivor” last night in my local theater. I have been eager to watch this movie since its release on Friday. As a motivational speaker, I am always looking for leadership lessons that can be learned and applied in both business and military contexts, and this film…
Continue reading…Contingency Planning
Contingency Planning “Director, as you can see, we have a helicopter down in the courtyard. My men are prepared for this contingency and they will deal with it." Vice Admiral William H. McRaven How important is contingency planning? Consider Operation Neptune Spear, the Central…
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