February, 2011

Terry Starbucker

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The Joy of Leadership: If Julia Child Was A Management Consultant….

Terry Starbucker

Just about everyone has the famous book “ The Joy of Cooking ” in his or her pantries. Many a novice cook (like me, for instance) has poured through its pages looking for the perfect recipe for a roasted chicken, a rack of lamb, or some other grand culinary creation. Or to just figure out how to hard-boil an egg (yes, I did that). And, every time I link “joy” and “cooking” together, I think of the late Julia Child.

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7 Little Words, One Big Leadership Manifesto

Terry Starbucker

Did you ever want to get up in front of your team and utter a sentence so profound, and so packed with meaning and resonance, that everybody “gets&# you immediately, and is ready to follow you up the hill? All you need are 7 little words. Start with “ We “ Right off the bat everyone knows that you are thinking “team&#. It’s not about you.

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The Most Dangerous Question A Leader Will Ever Ask

Terry Starbucker

“Terry, what do you think?&#. I had been pondering the answer to this question for a better part of a week. We were working on an important project, and there was a problem. A problem that demanded some out-of-the-box thinking. As the Project Manager, I had many hours of meetings with all the key players involved, and diligently forged a consensus on a proposed course of action – so we could present it to our boss with a united front.

Consensus 300
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Goldilocks, The Three Bears, And Effective Goal Setting

Terry Starbucker

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Goldilocks…… I’ve done a lot of budgeting, planning, and goal setting over the course of my career. I started as a CPA back in 1982, and was always pretty handy around a spreadsheet (even when they were just 12-column green pads). There is certainly a science to looking into the future, and trying to predict where a business is going to go.

Goal 283
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If The Entrepreneurial Shoe Fits, That Doesn’t Mean You Should Wear It

Terry Starbucker

Carol Roth, author of "The Entrepreneur Equation" Carol Roth is a truth teller. I figured that out the first time I met her in Chicago, before a recent SOBCon. She has never shied away from hard facts and uncomfortable realities, especially when it comes to the business world. She has faced many of these realities herself, during her career as an investment banker, deal maker, and business strategist.

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A Leadership Oldie But Goodie: Be An Enabler, Not a Disabler

Terry Starbucker

A few years ago I read the book “ The 4-Hour Workweek “, by Timothy Ferriss. As is my habit, when I read a particular passage that produced a “bang&# in my head, I wrote something in the margins. It was this: “ Empowerment Equals Leadership Freedom”. A few days later, I wrote a post about that note, and since the issues in that post have surfaced again and again in my continuing adventures in the corporate world and on the Internet, I wanted to reprise a large part of it here.

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Staying On Don Quixote’s Horse

Terry Starbucker

Rocinante, Don Quixote's Horse. Detail of the Cervantes monument in Madrid (fr. Wikipedia). “There is no use trying&# , said Alice. “One can’t believe impossible things&#. “ I dare say you haven’t had much practice “, said the Queen. “ When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. “ – Lewis Carroll.

Banking 263