Firm Leadership

Rants, Raves, Rebuttals, Reflections, Revelations & Ruminations

If you're looking to score some quick cash, forget stealing cars, jewelry, or even personal electronics. All passé. The newest and hottest black market is in (are you ready for this?) manhole covers!

Thieves hoping to cash in on higher scrap metal prices have been taking the covers with alarming frequency. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Chicago had to replace 150 stolen manhole covers just in the first two weeks of November 2004. Meanwhile, an Akron, Ohio newspaper says 65 have disappeared from that city so far this year. And 11 were pilfered in Columbus in just two days. Them's the facts.

And it ain't just a U.S. obsession. My South African-based partner claims that officials in Johannesburg and in Beijing China are looking for more secure manholes after a wave of thefts. The Xinhua news agency reports that about 240,000 manholes were stolen in Beijing last year alone.

I can only assume that there is a market out there somewhere and that it's paying enough to make the theft worthwhil e. Unless of course, manhole covers have replaced the traffic and street signs I was used to decorating college dorms. In the meantime, before you start eyeing the manhole covers on your street, keep in mind that they can each weigh up to 125 pounds, so keep eating those Wheaties.

Tom Peters has been on the speaking stump for almost 40 years. (And I think, perhaps in my little pea-brain or something, that this is highly, highly significant, and that is why I am talking about it, and it is the reason that my eyes are opened wide in astonishment and my mouth is hanging open in stunned stupefaction.) That's an achievement that should get a "WOW!" from even Peters himself.

If you want to know his secrets for presentation excellence, go to the Tom Peters blog, and follow the link in the post to the PowerPoint file with his 56 favorite tips. It's a GREAT, great list of ideas from one of the best speakers on the rubber chicken circuit.

Be forewarned: the slides have Peters' trademarked, retina-burning red background. (For this reason I recommend that you only read this material in the bright daylight hours, because if you read it at night, when everything is scary and gloomy and quiet, when all you can hear is your heart pounding in growing panic, the clock ticking hollowly in the hall, and the sound of CIA agents rustling around in the bushes outside the window, well, that's what I did, and, I mean: Look at me! Do I seem normal to you?)

Ever wondered why you're discussing a bake-off or herding cats in a business meeting? For anyone who's found himself up the creek without a paddle, "Green Weenies and Due Diligence", is a valuable new book that defines the latest real-world business jar gon.

You'll need this book if you think "Chips and Salsa" are something you order at a Mexican restaurant; confuse a church revival with a 'Come to Jesus Meeting'; believe 'Psychic Income' is what clairvoyants get paid; or still think 'Swag' is a style of lamp.

Those interested in understanding this second business language can visit www.greenweenies.com , see the postings, and register for a weekly free "Green Weenie." The site also accepts reader's entries for the second edition of the book.

As I'm about to embark on a week of conducting seminars on competitive strategy to audiences from Philadelphia to San Francisco, I was reminising about the first time, some decades back, when I was invited to an executive strategy session. I was both flattered and scared stiff. What insights could I give, what would I question, and what the hell is strategy, anyway?

So, whenever I'm in doubt, I consult the experts. Strategy comes from the Greek strategos, meaning the way of the generals. And what successful generals say is that strategy is a matter of focus and timing. It is the ability to see ahead, to forecast actions and reactions - not as a static snapshot, but as the gradual unfolding of a dynamic.

Sun Tzu, general of the all-victorious Imperial Army, wrote 'The Art of War'. After making the point that it is best to win without fighting, he gives a manual on how to win. Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win . . . The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his head before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.

Good strategy is a vision that withstands the rigors of analysis - backed by superior information. The CIA call it the 7Ps: proper pre-preparation prevents piss-poor performance.

These words of wisdom from Gregg Thompson, President of Bluepoint Leadership Development (greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com). I hope the following ideas will stimulate you:

1. At the conclusion of your next management meeting, ask each other for promises not deliverables. (In our family, promises are important personal commitments not to be taken lightly).

2. Instead of talking about corporate ethics, notice the reaction you get when you use words like deceit and honor.

3. During your next business planning session, talk about the personal courage and sacrifice needed to succeed rather than just vision and commitment.

4. When involved in a teambuilding exercise, replace your usual feedback session with a discussion on forgiveness.

Words like promises, deceit, honor, courage, sacrifice, and forgiveness are words that speak to higher human values. We hear and process these words in a profoundly different way than we do common commercial language. Say these words out loud right now. Process their potency for yourself. They are the words of the leader. Make them your words.

On the ice off of Canada's east coast, harp seals have given birth to their offspring ... and the Canadian government has announced the beginning of what may be the biggest seal hunt in history. 350,000 seals will die this year as part of a three-year government program to kill a million seals.

Following the second phase of this year's Canadian seal hunt, the official kill count stood at 259,965 seals, a number that solidifies the hunt's reputation as largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals on the planet. Of the dead, 99.5% were baby seals, one month or younger. By the end of the hunt in May, more than 300,000 baby seals will have been killed. People worldwide are clamoring for an end to the hunt. You can help convince the Canadian government to stop the hunt forever.

Go to www.protectseals.org NOW and sign the pledge to protect seals.

I don't often make a point of passing these kinds of messages along, but this is a web site well worth taking a quiet moment to have a look at (www.theinterviewwithgod.com)

* International accounting statistics take affect in 2005, in Europe. They coordinate with the USA schedules. Next up will be bringing in Japan (06?). There is no more "hiding" pension liabilities off the balance sheet and 'stuff' like that. This can only be good for business.

* The "Dubai Tower" gets info full swing this year. The completion is set for '07. The tallest building in the world will sit in the largest mall in the world. They say it will break 700 meters but will not say just how tall it will be. The architecture is another testimonial to design in buildings becoming the dominant canvas for a rt.

* 2005 will be a watershed year for nanotech. This year private funds will out pace public spending in research and development . . . always a bellwether. When NEC goes to market this year with its fuel cell notebook p.c. (uses carbon nanotubes) the gold rush will be on.

* Several years ago someone said that people would pay to see advertising and that an "all ads, all the time" channel would arrive. Well . . . "ta-da" . . . the Advert Channel, 24 hours / day has now been launched in England.

* If you happen to have a spare $25 million you can go "up" today on a Russian Soluz capsule to the International Space Station and there is a venture soon to take people for a zero gravity ride at a mere $115,000. Now Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com fame has established a firm, Blue Origin, that has set up space operations in Van Horn, Texas. The plan is to have a vertical take-off and landing rocket taking a crew of three to sub-orbital space in six to seven years. Make your vacation plans early!!

It is incredible that the NYPD is selling (or allowing to be sold) near perfect copies of their uniforms.

We're not talking just the pants and shirts . . . we're talking about baton holders, cobra tufskin holsters, handcuff holders, precinct collar brass and even hat. All approved by NYPD.

Add to this the non-sanctioned officer's shield, shoulder patch, and a few other accessories (like a gun!) and for $503.10 you can look like (maybe have people believe?) you are a real New York City cop.

I rise to my feet and, doing my best imitation of a Southern la wyer and curling my thumbs under my suspenders, I face the jury and begin my summation. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury - and may I add that I have never seen such a good-looking and intelligent jury in all my days before the bar - I ask: Does this sound scary to you???"