MetaFilter posts tagged with leadership

The Disposable Superstar

Roach — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:28:56 -0800

Tom Friend's retrospective of Chauncey Billup's career is as fine a profile of leadership, tenacity, and redemption as comes along in American sportswriting. And I'm not even a basketball fan

Saskatchewan's Obama?

Jaybo — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:13:20 -0800

Urban legend has it that the province of Saskatchewan, Canada appeared in red in some 1950's American social studies textbooks, along with other "communist" countries such as Russia, China and Cuba. It is true that Saskatchewan's "natural governing party", the socialistic New Democratic Party have held power in the province for 47 of the last 65 years. And it's true that the NDP's most famous leader (and Canada's Greatest Canadian), Tommy Douglas, brought universal healthcare to the province, an achievement which paved the way for it to come to the rest of Canada. But now, after suffering their worst defeat in 20 years, Saskatchewan's New Democratic Party is searching for a new leader... So far, the declared candidates include a former Deputy Premier, a current MLA and a lawyer who ha served behind-the-scenes as the party's president. Oh, and a young, community organizing doctor who some are calling "Saskatchewan's Obama". There are lots of parallels, not least of which that he's definitely got the cool vibe down!

Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.

mrzarquon — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:59:18 -0800

On Oct. 27th, 1915. Sir Ernest Shackleton gave the order to abandon ship, moving the crew and supplies off of the ice bound Endurance. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition would never achieve it's goal of crossing the continent, instead Shackleton would become famous for somethings far greater: his masterful and amazing ability at leadership and survival for himself and his crew of 27 men under the harshest conditions imaginable. After setting up camp on the ice floe, they would drift until April 9th, 1916, when they decided to launch their three lifeboats in an attempt to reach Elephant Island. 7 days of rowing and sailing later, all ships arrived safely. It was the first time in 497 days they had set foot on land. Eight days later, Shackleton, Captain Frank Worsley, Tom Crean, Ship's Carpenter Harry "Chippy" McNish, Timothy McCarthy and John Vincent would set sail in the 23 foot James Caird, having been retrofitted for the 800 mile voyage over the open ocean to South Georgia, the closest active port and best chance of rescue. The ship survived the 16 days on the open ocean, and delivered all six men to the South Georgia coast. However, it was the wrong end of the island. The Caird, having suffered damage while landing, was unfit for an attempt to travel around to the whaling station at Fortuna Bay. Instead, Shackleton, Worseley and Crean, decided to cross the uncharted glacial mountain range that separated them from the Stromness whaling station. Using a carpenters adz, screws from the Caird fastened through their boots, and a length of rope, they managed to cross the 22 miles in 36 hours. For reference, modern climbers can do the trip in three days, using maps and the latest in climbing gear (here is a clip of one such trip). Arriving at Stromness on May 20th, it was not until August 30, after two previously failed rescue attempts, was Shackleton able to rescue the rest of his crew 24 months and 22 days after leaving South Georgia on the start of the expedition. Not a single member of his crew of 27 men were lost, and only one crew member lost a foot to frostbite (which was amputated at the Elephant Island camp while they waited for rescue). This quote, by Sir Raymond Priestley, a member of Shackleton's earlier 1907-09 Nimrod Expedition, captures the abilities of the man: "For scientific leadership, give me Scott, for swift and efficient travel give me Amundsen. But when you are in a hopeless situation, when you are seeing no way out, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton. Incomparable in adversity, he was the miracle worker who would save your life against all the odds and long after your number was up. The greatest leader that ever came on God's earth, bar none." If you would you like to know more: Tubes: Previous, tangentially related mefi post Wikipedia's Page Shack Faq The supposed ad for crew PBS's timeline of events Another Timeline The James Caird Society Images: Images from the Shackleton Expedition [previously] Kodak's Shackleton Collection Video: Shackleton's Antartic Adventure (see in imax if you have a chance) (dvd) Shackleton, TV movie staring Kenneth Branagh (dvd) The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition Books: South, Earnest Shackleton (book preview at google) Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansing The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, Caroline Alexander

Leadership for the 21st Century

daHIFI — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:56:38 -0800

Leadership for the 21st Century Harvard Business School hosts moderator Charlie Rose in a roundtable discussion concerning the credit crisis, housing, American leadership and foreign affairs. Participants are the 2008 HBS Alumni Achievement Award recipients, including eBay (and McCain advisor) CEO Meg Whitman, GE CEO Jeff Immelt, Venture Capitalist extrordinaire John Doerr, Indian business juggernaut Anand G. Mahindra, and former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn. This aired on PBS last night and it was some of the most honest, intelligent, and inspiring discussion I have heard in some time. While the only transcript I could find is a paid one here, this 100 minute video should be required viewing for anyone working in a fortune 500 company, or those interested in politics, environmentalism, technology, foreign policy or the election. I only caught the tail end of last night's airing, (and I'm watching the whole thing as I post this) but a couple of things that really stood out for me: Mahindra's statements regarding the schizophrenia of India toward America; Doerr's excitement on the potential for future innovation around climate change technology and call for the restoration of DARPA; and the general optimism of the participants, especially that of Immelt, whose company's stock is at a 50 year low. If the last half hour of this could light a fire under my butt, then I would love to see what the whole thing does to the Mefite population.

Animal Planet investigates alcoholism in monkeys

finite — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:32:42 -0800

"Significantly, the percentage of monkeys and humans who avoid alcohol is the same." [YouTube]

KaosPilots

divabat — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 00:20:19 -0800

The KaosPilots, deemed "the world's most adventurous alternative business school", teaches social entrepreneurship and leadership through real-life situations. Part of their education involves international outposts in Vancouver, Buenos Aires, and Bahia, working on projects related to business, community, and sustainability. The final exam is an operational project of your own. Many former students go on to the private sector or create projects and jobs of their own (though creative industries and non-profits are very common). They have been nominated for design awards, are considered as worldchanging, and have published a book about their methods. New web technologies are highly utilized by both students and board members alike. The KaosPilots have been based in Aarhus, Denmark for 15 years, but there are also schools running (or about to start) in Sweden, Norway, and The Netherlands, with more coming in other continents.

Me talk pretty one day

psmealey — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 05:31:17 -0800

A communication primer. A pretty basic, but well-written primer on effective communication, and proper understanding of the communication process, barriers, listening, feedback and non-verbal hints. Don Clark's site contains a lot of well-formed ideas on leadership and human performance without resorting to mumbo-jumbo and buzzwords. Not your typical MBA / self-help bs.

Canada's Next Prime Minister

Chuckles — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 16:53:04 -0800

On December 3rd, 2006 Canada's next Prime Minister will be decided by a few thousand delegates at the Liberal party convention in Montreal (join for ~$10). Don't believe me? In the last 110 years of Liberal party history only one leader has failed to become Prime Minister. No fewer than sixteen candidates met in Edmonton last week. On the surface the candidates are making nice.

Ignatieff: "None of us, none of us are going to run against each other. All of us are running against Stephen Harper's vision of Canada."

It is even said that Bob Rae and Ignatieff are life long close friends. That didn't stop the Ignatieff campaign co-chair.

David Peterson: "[Rae's] got some terrible burdens to overcome. One is his record and one is his loyalty."

Emphasis mine, and <more inside>

Or, maybe not

orthogonality — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 14:57:13 -0800

Democratic Party leaders become relavent, take couragous position on war, civil liberties, and other issues vitally important to country's future.

A Solid Foundation for Fascism?

pt68 — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 19:34:10 -0800

Emory University study describes the Millenial Generation An interesting comparison of Gen Xers and the so-called Millenial Generation, born since 1982, from Emory University. The M.Gen kids apparently want to do good, as long as there is a clear structure and leadership that tells them how and what to do . . . oh, and don't question the leaders. Really. Why would you?

A date which will live in infamy

Mayor Curley — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 08:09:29 -0800

December seventh, nineteen forty one. 64 Years ago today, 2,471 people were killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In response, one of our greatest leaders made one of his greatest speeches. And you can listen to it here.

Choices

semmi — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 10:31:48 -0800

A slice of contemporary reality.

Follow the Leader

matteo — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 12:47:55 -0800

"I felt like hurting someone before, now I feel like hugging people". Only weeks after professing his belief in Jesus Christ, former Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch was baptized in the Jordan River last Saturday. With “Jesus” tattooed across his knuckles and “Matthew 11:28” along his neck, Welch received full immersion in the historic river, along with 20 other white-robed Christians from a Bakersfield, CA church. Welch said the ritual baptism, “washed away his anger.” "My songs are God saying things to me, him talking to people. He's going to use me to heal people and people are going to be drawn to it, just watch, they will be.” For the latest information (and a free mp3) go to Welch's personal website, http://www.headtochrist.com/

The 7 habits of Arbeit Macht Frei

pieoverdone — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 05:42:15 -0800

I've seen it happen where these types of managers have the nerve to hold this type of book up in front of a group of people and imply the problem is the workforce for not choosing to be happy about poor leadership. From an Amazon review of Fish!. I've been motivated with that twice. A friend of mine was encouraged to take The Flight of the Buffalo and another is going to a sponsored Dale Carnegie class. So, who's moved your cheese?

Exclusive Middle East sources have tracked down top Iraqi leadership’s bolt-hole:

Postroad — Thu, 03 Apr 2003 07:09:57 -0800

Exclusive Middle East sources have tracked down top Iraqi leadership’s bolt-hole: Now begin to badmouth me. Debka has a going rate that is some 2/3s on target and that makes this piece (headlines) worth considering. Too, they noted some time ago that WMD shipped to Syria. Recall in Gulf war I that they shipped planes to Iran for safe keeping and never got them back. Thus far, we have not found WMD and Iraq has not used any. Ergo....

Genuine leadership

rcade — Sat, 18 Jan 2003 08:24:13 -0800

When it comes to the economy, President Bush is demonstrating genuine leadership. If you don't believe me, ask Kyle Klink, Scott Herrin, Michael Snyder, John Pinckney, or countless others. But not Paul Boutin.

adamgreenfield — Thu, 10 Oct 2002 01:29:25 -0800

That's "hearts and minds" to you, sunshine. As a former PSYOPer my ownself, I found this Village Voice primer on the field reasonably accurate on the facts, if rather skewed as to their interpretation. But what's a nonviolently-inclined soldier to do? What other methods of "winning without fighting" might be acceptable to a leadership seemingly hell-bent on bloodshed?

owillis — Sun, 15 Sep 2002 21:59:02 -0800

On Iraq, Where Are The Democrats? "Oh, the party's leaders speak: They appear on talk shows; they write op-eds; they convene congressional hearings. But most of what they say is best understood as highly articulate evasiveness. They have devised a series of formulations designed to make the party appear to be offering a clear response to the president's proposed war, when it is actually doing the opposite.". But now some are willing to outright question the timing of our newfound desire to eliminate Hussein: "It's hard not to notice that the sudden urgency of war with Iraq has coincided precisely with the emergence of the corporate scandal story, with the flip in the congressional [poll] numbers and with the decline in the Republicans' prospects for retaking the Senate majority"

Voyageman — Sat, 29 Jun 2002 10:16:13 -0800

Political "Greatness" (?) [nyt reg req] An attempt to measure political leadership with the "cool objectivity of science", reflecting a leader's "impact on the world, not his personal virtue". Dr. Arnold M. Ludwig, emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Kentucky says: "No American president can be regarded as great unless they've been involved in war and been responsible for the death of many." Serious BS.

specialk420 — Thu, 20 Jun 2002 14:39:23 -0800

more bad news on the global warming front is there any leadership whatsoever from the whitehouse on this issue? oh, thats right... theres a war on terrorism goin on...

semmi — Sun, 17 Mar 2002 15:32:47 -0800

From David Remnick's analysis in The New Yorker. Faisal Husseini, a decided moderate among Yasir Arafat's leadership ranks, gave an interview not long before he died in which he compared Oslo to a Trojan horse, an intermediate, tactical step leading to the elimination of Israel. He said, "If you are asking me as a Pan-Arab nationalist what are the Palestinian borders according to the higher strategy, I will immediately reply: 'From the river to the sea' "—that is, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.

Summer — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:38:08 -0800

So while Bush has looked like a small rodent caught on a dual carriageway, Tony Blair has addressed the nation, met with the French and German prime ministers, attended a memorial service, met with both Clinton and Bush, been namechecked in the latters big speech, initiatied negotiations with Iran and, last but not least, been pictured looking photogenically concerned and statesman-like in a well-cut black suit. I don't think anybody does crisis as well as Blair. He's turning into Thatcher. Pity he doesn't have the support of his own party.

faisal — Tue, 12 Jun 2001 15:44:29 -0800

In Virginia, Young Conservatives Learn How to Develop and Use Their Political Voices - a New York Times (registration required yada yada) story about a conservative training camp for how to infiltrate and modify media coverage. Important for correcting a liberal media bias nobody can actually seem to find.

MattD — Sun, 17 Sep 2000 13:33:00 -0800

$14,000 a year for devout Christians attending "top 5" graduate and professional programs, in order to seed national leadership with believers. An alternative approach is Ave Maria School of Law, founded by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monaghan expressly because they believe that Christian professional education is essentially impossible in the elite institutions.