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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

My (not glib) Christmas Thank You

Thank you to…

God. I know I will be scared when I see you

My wife and kids. Why you put up with me I will never know. I love you all deeply and pray for each of you. Please don’t give up on yourselves or me

My parents. Your love and concern was/is the deepest I have known

My sisters. Beautiful people with good hearts

Our troops for enduring conditions and situations we can’t imagine. They are our heroes, and we must never lose sight of that

Policewomen and men. My dad was a cop for many years. They are always in harm’s way and are fighting some very bad people every day.

Nurses. Wow, what you do is incredible

Firemen and women. They are under paid, under appreciated, and they should be commended for their dedication and courage

Kids that defy the odds and always strive to do and be their best

George Bush and Dick Cheney. I’m mad at them for rushing us into war and their other mistakes, but they have worked very hard to help us avoid another 9/11

Military families. Their support helps our soldiers endure

Jimmy Carter. He works tirelessly for others

My manager. Your dedication to family and work is inspiring and awesome

Co-workers and bosses – past and present - that supported me (and those that didn’t). Without them I would be nothing

Leaders. We know who you are

Friends. It has been a wild ride

People with character. We see you

Honest politicians. They do exist. Trust, but verify

People struggling through hard times, yet remaining faithful

People with kind and gentle spirits

People that love to laugh

Anybody that says “thank you”

Great listeners

Women. You guys are awesome

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Excellent Free Christmas Music!


Great site for free Christmas Music - Click here

Be sure to scroll down the page to get past years' music.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Happy Holidays to ProjectSteps Readers


I hope you have some time off you can spend with family. By the way, thanks to the people that read this blog. It has been an interesting year. I'm happy and thankful that I'm healthy and employed. And most especially, I'm thankful for my family and two great daughters.

Happy Holidays!

Monday, December 08, 2008

Great New Book!

I wish I would have written this one!



Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life






How about these Chapter Titles!

"Too Much Cost, Not Enough Value"
Too Much Speculation, Not Enough Investment"
"Too Much Complexity, Not Enough Simplicity"
"Too Much Counting, Not Enough Trust"
"Too Much Business Conduct, Not Enough Professional Conduct"
"Too Much Salesmanship, Not Enough Stewardship"
"Too Much Focus on Things, Not Enough Focus on Commitment"
"Too Many Twenty-first Century Values, Not Enough Eighteenth-Century Values"
"Too Much 'Success,' Not Enough Character"

Mr. Bogle begins with this:

"At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, 'Yes, but I have something he will never have; Enough".

The only thing I can say is Buy this Book

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Religious Group's Private Jet Not Tax Exempt


Originally found here.

"A Kenneth Copeland Ministry jet worth $3.6 million has been denied tax-exempt status by the Tarrant Appraisal District, setting the stage for a battle that could require the minister to reveal his salary if he wants the jet to be tax-free.

Jeffery D. Law, Tarrant chief appraiser, said the jet was denied tax exemption because the ministry failed to disclose salaries of directors as an application requires…

Compensation paid Copeland and other members of his family has been the source of a U.S. senator’s inquiry, but the televangelist has been unwilling to disclose the information publicly.

If the ministry gives the compensation information to the appraisal district, it would be open to public disclosure."

I'm so happy our preachers can ride around in their own corporate jets. These guys are too "good" to ride coach?

Steve

Friday, December 05, 2008

Tom Peter's 27 Points to Transform an Organization

The Top 27: Twenty-seven Practical Ideas That Will Transform Every Organization

1. Learn to thrive in unstable times—our lot (and our opportunity) for the foreseeable future.

2. Only putting people first wins in the long haul, good times and especially tough times. (No "cultural differences" on that one! Colombia = Germany = the USA.)

3. MBWA/Managing By Wandering Around. Stay in touch!

4. Call a customer today!

5. Train! Train! Train! (Growing people outperform stagnant people in terms of attitude and output—by a wide margin.)

6. "Putting people first" means making everyone successful at work (and at home).

7. Make "we care" a/the company motto—a moneymaker as well as a source of pride.

8. All around the world, women are an undervalued asset.

9. Diversity is a winning strategy, and not for reasons of social justice: The more different perspectives around the table, the better the thinking.

10. Take a person in another function to lunch; friendships, lots of, are the best antidote to bad cross-functional task accomplishments. (Lousy cross-functional communication stops companies and armies alike.)

11. Transparency in all we do.

12. Create an "Innovation Machine" (even in tough times). (Hint: Trying more stuff than the other guy is Tactic #1.)

13. We always underestimate the Innovation Advantage when 100% of people see themselves as "innovators." (Hint: They are if only you'd bother to ask "What can we do better?")

14. Get the darned Basics right—always Competitive Advantage #1. (Be relentless!)

15. Great Execution beats great strategy—99% of the time. (Make that 100% of the time.)

16. A "bias for action" is a "bias for success." (Great hockey player Wayne Gretzky: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.")

17. No mistakes, no progress! (A lot of fast mistakes, a lot of fast progress.) (Australian businessman Phil Daniels: "Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.")

18. Sometimes "little stuff" is more powerful than "big stuff" when it comes to change.

19. Keep it simple! (Making "it" "simple" is hard work! And pays off!)

20. Remember the "eternal truths" of leadership—constants over the centuries. (They say Nelson Mandela's greatest asset was a great smile—you couldn't say no to him, even his jailors couldn't.)

21. Walk the talk. ("You must be the change you wish to see in the world."—Gandhi)

22. When it comes to leadership, character and people skills beat technical skills. (Emotional Intelligence beats, or at least ties, school intelligence.)

23. It's always "the little things" when it comes to "people stuff." (Learn to say "thank you" with great regularity. Learn to apologize when you're wrong. Learn the Big Four words: "What do you think?" Learn to listen—it can be learned with lots and lots of practice.)

24. The "obvious" may be obvious, but "getting the obvious done" is harder said than done.

25. Time micro-management is the only real "control" variable we have. (You = Your calendar. Calendars never lie.)

26. All managers have a professional obligation to their communities and their country as well as to the company and profit and themselves. (Forgetting this got the Americans into deep trouble.)

27. EXCELLENCE. ALWAYS. (What else?)

See more great stuff at Tom Peter's Website