Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 9, 2012

It’s September, and for sports fans that means the NFL season is starting, and the Major League Baseball pennant races are heating up as they head to the postseason. Since I’m one of those fans, I find myself reading the sports pages first this time of year, and recently I discovered one of the best (and most concise) leadership lessons I’ve ever come across in a piece written in the New York Times by Bill Pennington.

Team 349

Team Sports Metrics Mentor 349

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

(Note: While I’m at SOBCon NW this weekend, I wanted to repeat one of my favorite past posts (from June of 2009), that is also featured in my free e-book “ Leadership From a Glass Half-Full “ ). After doing something for 27 years, you’d think that you could figure it all out and know how to “do” it really, really well, and gain fulfillment too.

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Learning-by-Doing Sports Conference Objective 334

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 16, 2012

I recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of my entry into the business world – I still remember that day in 1982, when, fresh out of college, I walked through the door of Ernst & Whinney in San Antonio, Texas, and started my journey to the place where I now sit and write this post, in Portland, Oregon. It’s been a great ride, full of twists, turns, surprises, thrills, chills, great success, gut-checking failures, and yep, fun.

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Succession Leadership Morale Mentor 325

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

(Note this post was originally published on September 8th, 2006; I’m republishing it today to honor not only the life of Tommy Swift, but the lives of all who perished on 9-11-01). I remember 9/11 and its immediate aftermath like it was yesterday – it was a beautiful late summer morning, and as I was getting my daily latte there was chatter about a plane hitting the World Trade Center.

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ROE Bond Information Books 281

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

“Great idea!” the boss exclaims. “But… ” “We’ll need to defer any talk about it until our next meeting, since we have too many other things to cover today” “OK then, next topic, controlling costs in the janitorial department…… ” Ah yes, another idea goes to what I call “ idea limbo “ A place where ideas typically expire, unexplored and under-appreciated.

Succession 280

Succession Conference Idea Generation Budgeting 280

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

As a leader, there’s nothing more satisfying than watching your team just flat out “get it done” The flywheel spins at breakneck speed, and milestones and business plan targets get met and surpassed with workmanlike regularity. It’s fun to watch once all the pieces are in place, and I’ve been fortunate to have been in that position during my career.

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Team Building Team Metrics Construction 363