September 3, 2012

“The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee, and I will

pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.”

 John D. Rockefeller I

 “O Wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!”

Robert Burns

Why Every CEO and Key Executive Needs a Coach

In the final verse of his poem, “To a Louse”, Robert Burns notes that we would all be better off if we could see ourselves from the an outside viewpoint. In his Why Every CEO Needs a Coach column in Psychology Today, author Ray Williams explains the vital role the Coach plays for modern executives.  The bottom line is that every one of us needs one or more people in our lives whose only agenda is our success, and who have the experience and courage to “call our stuff” when our views of ourselves and the reality around us (our “official truth”) varies from what everyone else is seeing (“ground truth.”)  The question for the week: “Who questions your version of reality and calls your stuff?” 

“Just How Well Do You Really Know Your IPhone or IPad?”

….asks Katherine Boehret, co-author at WSJ’s Digital  Solutions column..   She observes that   “After months of watching friends and family use their iPhones and iPads, I realized most of them were missing out on a lot of features. I’ll walk you through 10 things you might not know your iPhone and iPad can do. Aficionados may know most of these, but typical users likely won’t. “   Click here for more.

Econ Recon:

Silver Linings:  With the Republic Convention just behind and the Democratic conclave just ahead, lots of assertions about the economy’s slow recovery and potential derailment are being asserted and denied.   Vistage Staff Economist and, principal of the Institute for Trend Research, Alan Beaulieu points to hard data that support continued expansion despite the headwinds of Europe and our own fiscal woes and  asserts  ”when it comes to action and actual business practices, it appears the US is moving forward with increasingly solid footing. “

A little fun: Snappy Comeback Sampler

As we celebrate the end of summer, and put away our white shoes and our seersucker, it’s time for some humor.  Don’t you just love a snappy comeback?   If you do, check out the witty ripostes below from a variety of historical, political and literary figures.

 Great …. .quotable comebacks…

1. Winston Churchill vs. Lady Astor

2. NYC Mayor Ed Koch vs. Andrew Kirtzman, after the reporter insisted on pressing a point about an inconsistent statement Koch had made

3. Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglas, after Douglas called him “two-faced” during a debate

4. Oscar Wilde vs. Lewis Morris… Morris had just been passed over for the Poet Laureateship

5. Miriam Hopkins vs. an anonymous singer

6. James McNeill Whistler vs. Oscar Wilde, after Whistler had made a particularly witty observation

7. Senator Fritz Hollings vs. Henry McMastor, when challenged by his Republican opponent during a televised debate to take a drug test

8. Reverend Edward Everett Hale vs. the U.S. Senate, when asked if he prayed for the Senators.

9. Edna Ferber vs. Noel Coward… Coward was remarking upon the fact that Ferber was wearing a tailored suit

10. Henry Clay vs. Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster after seeing a pack of mules walk by

11. Winston Churchill vs. a Member of Parliament

12. Calvin Coolidge vs. some random lady at a White House dinner

13. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart vs. an admirer