8/26/2015 Picks of the Week -- Jon Stewart, the NFL, Puget Sound Pride. We are all over the place!

As summer winds down, it appears that everyone's attention-span is a little wayward. We are gauging this because the most shared/retweeted/favorited articles this week covered a wide spectrum from food, to TV, to football...

Perhaps we all need a little more structure?  Hate to say it, but, specifically, maybe we all need the structure that autumn brings?  Just a thought.


1) Some of our community are concerned about a leadership "crisis" insomuch that one-third of companies surveyed don't regard coaching or leadership development as a business priority.  Overall, this may be because businesses don't know where to find the data that leadership development creates a positive impact on the bottom-line.  If you want to know more about this, please contact Dave Shapiro to discuss the benefits to executive coaching and how Excell can help your business.


2)  The "Altruistic Leadership" buzz phrase caught on in this piece from Forbes about Greystone Bakery, in Yonkers, NY.  The owner attributes the business growth to the fact that the bakery "doesn't hire people to make cakes. It makes cakes to hire people." Pretty inspired.  Make sure you read their story.

3)  We have a lot of local pride here in the Pacific Northwest!  When the University of Puget Sound was deemed by Forbes to have one of the Top 20 colleges in the country for developing entrepreneurs, we all wanted the world to know.  Congrats to the Loggers!



4) In the world of entertainment: Jon Stewart's leadership style is highly regarded.  Meanwhile, across town, some argue that New York Jets' Quarterback, Geno Smith, got punched in the face by a teammate because his leadership is not...so...highly...regarded.  (Thankfully, some are placing blame on the guy who actually punched Geno.)


Want other such news?  Make sure you follow Execll Puget Sound on your social media network of choice.  Click on the icons below to be brought to our account where you can "Like" and "Follow."

8/16/2015 Picks of the Week -- Executive Coaching and...Michael Jordan?

It seems like everyone is gearing up for September and what that traditionally brings:  Education!  Self Improvement! And when you are a company that shares information about how to become a better business leader, it usually means that the "education" and "self improvement" has something to do with "executive coaching." 

1) This article suggests that the "wise entrepreneur assembles a cadre of advisors" and that the best advisors are a peer advisory group, much like the ones we organize at Excell Puget Sound.  So we are on the right track.  Are you?

2) To help you decide whether you are on the right track and can "do it alone," why not take a look at these four questions to ask yourself to help determine how an executive coach can help you.

3) If you still think executive coaching isn't for you, that's OK, but you might want to read this article about how coaching can help leaders improve their "work/life" balance.  So, coaching isn't all about being a great leader.  It's about how you can achieve overall contentedness by handling your executive leadership job well.  To learn more about how Excell can help you with that, please visit our Membership Page.  We look forward to answering your questions.

In related news, a Duke University professor was interviewd by the Washington Post about leadership and how he is hopeful that the focus on leadership training will have a ripple-effect on the future of big business.

And, finally, we guess everyone still wants to "Be Like Mike" because the article about Michael Jordan and how train to become a business "athlete" was a big crowd-pleaser.

Don't miss another Excell update or news item.
Find us/Follow us on your Social Media network of choice!

8/9/2015 Picks of the Week -- Politics, business, and debunking leadership stereotypes

According to a recent Huffington Post Article, Donald Trump's bombastic "arrogant" style is outdated in corporate America.  And based on the articles that our readers found most interesting, it seems like our members and social media followers are wondering the same thing.  Aren't trends interesting?

1) In that vein, our most shared article this week was a discussion in Forbes about whether the best leaders are feared or warm -- and what science has to say about it.
2) In his popular column from the Huffington Post, Harvard's Bill George talks about how battling the intrusions of technology is one way to gain control and emerge as a better, more "mindful" leader. Even the Dalai Lama chimes in on the topic.

3) And, even though it doesn't seem very Trump-like, studies are showing that leaders who find a way to attend to their employees' needs are rewarded with not only happier employees, but also greater, overall business success!

• Why not? While we are on the topic of Donald Trump, why not share this quick and pithy interview between Guy Kawaski, one of Apple's founding members, and The Donald.  It's old -- from 2007 -- but, while not particularly enlightening, it is mildly entertaining and, at the very least, shows that Trump is consistent.

Another theme appearing this past week is that people are looking for advice on starting new jobs.

4)  A popular article was about creating an "onboarding" strategy to help a move from an IT managment role to leadership role.

5) Similarly, distinguising between the talents needed for success as an engineer and talents needed as a leader to engineers was a big hit.

Did you miss these articles?  Hope not.  But there is no need to miss another one!  Please click on the icons below to visit (and follow!) our social media pages for daily updates about leadership, coaching, the business industry, and Excell Puget Sound.