Several months ago, I wrote about a recent letter by Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey, the famously underpaid chief executive who at the time was perceived to be America’s best performing CEO.

His fall from grace is yet another example of the undermined public faith in the role of CEO. (Mackey recently wrote disparaging remarks about the CEO of a competing organization to create a better position for his takeover of the company. He later issued a press release apologizing for the remarks, but was widely criticized for the act.)

In a recent survey of 1,500 U.S. business managers and executives of what they thought of the “top boss,” the overall report card illustrated high marks for intellect and ethics but woefully low grades for accessibility and compassion. Read the rest of this entry »

Ask any executive about overachievers and they will tell you that they’d love one of these and would probably pay a premium for one. They can likely name several that they’ve had over the years. These are the movers and shakers – often the “go to” people if you want anything done. They are driven, determined, passionate, energetic, and yes – often referred to as “A players.” Simply put – they are overachievers.

By their shear DNA, they need to be led differently if you are to fully utilize their contribution to the team. In particular, keep a watchful eye out for quirks such as unrealistic expectations, working insane hours, and risk taking at any cost to succeed as quicksand to their success. Read the rest of this entry »

If you do nothing else over the holidays, pick up Marshall Goldsmith’s simple yet consistently Marshall-esque and direct book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful. I recently had a chance to meet Marshall at the Vistage International 50th anniversary conference. His unassuming presence completely disarms you with the fact that he is the personal coach to some of the Fortune 500’s most elite CEOs.

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Can you imagine sitting in a virtual conference room with a handful of executives from all over the world, looking at a running car engine in the middle of the table? If you have never heard of The Second Life Grid, it is quickly gaining momentum – not just with gamers and programming enthusiasts, but global organizations such as HP, Nissan, IBM and countless others who are leveraging this virtual environment to deliver real results.

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Did 2007 turn out the way you anticipated or hoped? Were you bullish on market opportunities or did you fear pending recession? How did your strategic planning go? Did you revisit your mission, vision and strategy on a consistent basis or did you let it collect dust and plan to take it out next month, change the date, and submit it as your new and revised game plan? Did you foster a culture of inaction or push people to not just formulate great ideas, but consistently execute them as well?

Along the way, where or how did relationships contribute to your success? Did you measure your return on involvement or did you continue to confuse vibration with forward motion?

This time of year often presents a great opportunity for an introspective look at your personal and professional growth. We can imagine no better time to also reflect on your most valuable (and hopefully most strategic and thus intentional and quantifiable) relationships. How will you use this opportunity to make 2008 the year of exceptional return on your influence?

Monthly Social Networking Technology Best Practices Webinar:

If you’ve been a LinkedIn user for some time, by now, you’ve figured out how to build:

Join us on Wednesday, December 5th for this month’s Webinar on LinkedIn – one of several B2B Social Networking Technology Tools, where we’ll demonstrate practical applications of technology enablers for strategic relationship success.

Whether you’re trying to create access to a Fortune 500 account, identify expertise in key international markets, or find that next great sales executive, B2B Social Networking tools are changing the very essence of business interactions.

Join us for this special event – limited seating, so sign up today.

Naomi Takeuchi interviews David Nour on Social Networking Technologies such as LinkedIn. View video now.

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