June 6th 1944
MEMORIAL DAY FOR ME IS JUNE 6TH
That is the day and days that my father, Stewart Mann Morris, a navy corpsman, along with many thousands of other ordinary men gave extraordinary sacrifice for the liberty and freedom of people they did not know but where willing to lay down their lives for a cause and idea that people should not be ruled by tyranny.
John Morris
CMX Development
“People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
Attributed to George Orwell
Author of “1984”
“Nobody likes to fight. Somebody has to know how.”
Marine Corps Recruiting Poster
“Heroism is latent in every human soul; however humble or unknown, they (the veterans) have renounced what are accounted pleasures and cheerfully undertaken all the self-denials – privations, toils, dangers, sufferings, sicknesses, mutilations, life-long hurts and losses, death itself – for some great good, dimly seen but dearly held.”
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Union Civil War General, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient and President of Bowdoin College
FOR YOUR EDIFICATION, ENLIGHTENMENT AND ENTERTAINMENT
At the Beach with Bill
You, Imposter
Do you know your own Story?
A Savage Purpose
Econ Recon: How Low Can We Go?……Preparing for Recession
At the Beach with Bill
So many books….so little time. Books are a blessing but the challenge is to know which ones to read. One way to cull the list to something manageable is to look at what those who’ve achieved much are reading. By any measure Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has had an incredible impact on our world and our tools and is devoting his fortune to solving some serious problems, so I always take his reading suggestions seriously.
To that end, in his blog (worth subscribing to), he offers his suggestions for summer reading and why he thinks they are worth your downtime. Check out the five books Bill suggests you take to the beach!
You, Imposter
Ever heard that inner voice saying that your success is not your own; that luck made it happen or even worse that you’re a fraud? It’s called imposter syndrome….and every leader in susceptible. This short article from Tania Katan will explain the syndrome and how to treat it yourself with a little “Creative Trespassing.” Check out 4 Ways to quiet imposter syndrome and start believing in yourself.
Do You Know Your Own Story?
Tomes have been written about strategy and every C-Level executive should be investing his or her knowledge of the subject. Understanding Michael Porter is a good place to start understanding the basics (check out this summary before you read the book). But before you do that, Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz who backed Facebook and Twitter thinks there’s too much time and energy expended on goals, objectives and data in the strategy process and not enough on YOUR STORY; in short, your “Why.” This two page article from Forbes will explain why he thinks “Your Story is Your Strategy.” Is yours delivering success for your organization?
A Savage Purpose
Speaking of stories, check this one out. The role of the CEO can be seen through multiple lenses, but I think all would agree that Peter Drucker’s definition is mandatory: “The CEO is the link between the Inside that is ‘the organization,’ and the Outside of society, economy, technology, markets, and customers. Inside there are only costs. Results are only on the outside.”
The problem is the outside keeps changing and what was once a proprietary good or service that enjoyed a premium soon becomes a commodity. One CEO’s story of meeting the challenge of relevance is compelling. Meet Bethany Andell, young woman who gave up a promising career to help her mother run her business, only to discover it was fast becoming irrelevant. Check out her story on the Vistage website of leadership in recreating the business to meet this challenge. Maybe the first ingredient of a good story is a “Savage” purpose.
Econ Recon
How Low Can We Go?: A 50 year low in the unemployment rate may augur nothing but blue skies to some. But as ITR President Alan Beaulieu points out “It is natural and easy to latch onto the unemployment rate and project strong employment and economic growth off that one piece of information.” In a recent ITR Blog post, he suggests that a closer look at the numbers augurs less reason for unbridled optimism. Note: If you’ve followed ITR you know they have long predicted another “Great Depression” by 2029-2030. They are offering a webinar later this summer that provides an updated look at their prediction. Check out “The Coming Great Depression” (there is a charge for this.)
The Next Recession…and what to do about it. This short article from HBR shares the increasing sentiment of C-Level executives that a recession of some kind in approaching. The real question is what to do about. HBR offers a summary of lessons learned from companies that not only survived the last recession in 2008, but thrived coming out of it. You’re the decision maker. What have you done to prepare your team and company for the next recession.?