Grimbleby Coleman CPAs Blog » Leadership

Fiscal Fitness

Martin Fox — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:47:48 +0000

They give up pleasure, endure pain, practice at ungodly times of the day, all so they can be a little bit better than they were yesterday. There is no financial payoff, no medal, no crowd of followers. What is it, then, that keeps the non-elite Olympic athletes going, dedicating their lives to pursuing excellence in their particular sport, knowing they will never have a realistic chance to compete for a medal?

More at http://bit.ly/dtEKtC

So You Think You’re on the Cutting Edge?

Martin Fox — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:18:55 +0000

You keep up on all the latest trends. You update your technology way ahead of your peers and competitors. You look forward to the new industry magazines to see what you can do next to maintain your competitive edge. Of course, you put up with your employees’ complaints about constant change and “bleeding edge” technology, but you kind of enjoy the challenge.

So, let me show you cutting edge technology. I was exposed to this video featuring a young man from India, Pranav Mistry, who is an intellectual giant currently working at MIT. Recognizing that humans intuitively use objects and gestures, he set out to combine these natural instincts with computer technology. Imagine displaying a watch on your wrist by drawing a circle on your arm with your finger, taking a photograph by making a square by joining your thumbs and forefingers, displaying a phone keypad on the palm of your hand and making a call by tapping the display with your finger.

The possibilities are staggering. And… he is willing to make the source code open to anyone who wants to advance the technology.

The next time your employees tell you that you need to ease off on the changes, show them this video. Then watch their jaws drop.

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Leader or Boss?

Evelyn — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:46:19 +0000

“The leader leads, and the boss drives.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

The holidays are a great time for managers and business owners to ponder this question. Are you more like Rudolph or the Grinch?

Consider Rudolph. He’s the guy at the front of the sleigh. He’s lighting the way so the rest of the team can willingly follow him on a journey towards a clear destination. He’s pulling his weight and sharing the burden for the on-time delivery of a very important cargo and a VIP passenger. He’s inspirational. Rudolph is a leader.

Now let’s take a look at the Grinch. If we ignore the fact that “his heart was two sizes too small” and focus on his behavior, we notice a very different management style. He sits on the top of the sleigh and cracks the whip as his little dog Max struggles to propel the sleigh towards Whoville. He decides the direction but doesn’t share his plans in advance. He cajoles, manipulates and forcibly drives his sleigh towards Whoville at what we can only imagine must be great physical cost to his poor employee. If we look beyond the possible worker’s compensation issues, wage and hour violations, and general abuse of employee rights (not to mention the cruelty to animals thing), and just focus on the motivation and information-sharing aspects of this relationship, we can see that this is a dysfunctional one. The Grinch is clearly a boss.

As managers, we often resort to what seems to be the easiest approach – we act like bosses. We forcefully drive our team towards what is often an unstated goal. We might use a carrot or a stick, but either way we are driving our team and pushing them forward, not leading.

Here’s to more Rudolphs and fewer Grinches in 2010.