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December 2013 Newsletter
(408) 833-6189
alexander.bill@gmail.com
In This Issue
How to Differentiate Great Leaders from Good Leaders
The 4 Most Effective Ways Leaders Solve Problems
Is Leadership Born or Built?
Quote of the Month
"Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world."
- Nelson Mandela

Strategies to Succeed
Each business owner faces unique challenges which fall within the top 5 reasons that businesses fail.  
- Leadership 
- Financial 
- Marketing 
- Sales 
- Human Resources

Custom solutions offered by Alexander Business Consulting drive immediate results and improve the bottom line. 
-Business Planning 
-Marketing &  Communications  
-Financial Management 
-Performance Enhancement 
-PR & Advertising 
-Sales training &  Management 
-Prospect Management 
-Employee Recruiting &  Retention 
-Executive & Employee  Coaching 
-Operations Support


 
Bill Alexander
Business Coach
(408) 833-6189
alexander.bill@gmail.com

Call or Click right now for a free business valuation or if you want to ...
  • Increase sales and profits 
  • Systematize your business processes 
  • Automate lead generation 
  • Improve team performance 
  • Develop a Strategic Plan 
Greetings!

This month, the world lost one of the greatest leaders of our time, Nelson Mandela. He died on December 5th and was 95 years old. He was a South African, anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Remarkably, he got to this position even though he spent 26 years in prison on Robben Island! His persistence of non-violent revolution paid off and he transformed South Africa by eliminating apartheid. He was loved by everyone in the country and his attitude to life was captured when he said, "I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed towards the sun, one's feet moving forward, There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death."

The quote of the month is from him too. It reminds us how powerful it is to keep learning. The best way to understand what you learn is to teach it. I am continuing to follow that strategy by teaching business owners and entrepreneurs  about the one-page strategic plan at a seminar on January 15th. Please email or call me to sign-up to learn more about the power of planning to grow your business. I will provide the full details of the event which are in flux right now.

You can also find some interesting reading about leadership and management in the articles below in keeping with the theme for this month. Sharpen those skills.  It would be good to take some time to reflect on the year and start planning for what you will do differently next year. I hope that all of you have had a very successful year and are planning for a stellar 2014.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Prosperous and Happy New Year!   
How to Differentiate Great Leaders from Good Leaders
Jeff Imelt, Chairman and CEO at GE

Recently, I attended a memorial service for Dennis Dammerman, a retired GE executive and one of the very first people I interviewed with at GE 30 years ago. He was a mentor and friend to me and a great leader for GE.

Dennis was proof of the power of GE's meritocracy. He started at the bottom and worked his way to the top, ultimately becoming CFO and a vice chairman. He was tough-minded but fair; a great coach. He had excellent judgment and displayed calmness during crisis. He was loyal, and he loved his work. Simply put, he was representative of the best from GE.

 Read more... 

The 4 Most Effective Ways Leaders Solve Problems
Forbes; Glen Llopis, Contributor     
With as many problems as we are all faced with in our work and life, it seems as if there is never enough time to solve each one without dealing with some adversity along the way.  Problems keep mounting so fast that we find ourselves taking short-cuts to temporarily alleviate the tension points - so we can move onto the next problem. In the process, we fail to solve the core of each problem we are dealt; thus we continuously get caught in the trap of a never-ending cycle that makes it difficult to find any real resolutions.  Sound familiar?

 Read more..    

Is leadership born or built?
Washington Post; James C. Clawson, Prof. of Business Administration
 In his book, "Executive Instinct," Nigel Nicholson of the London Business School suggests that there may be a leadership gene - that some people are just driven to be in charge. But the University of Michigan's Noel Tichy - in his book "The Leadership Engine" - declares that leadership style and abilities emerge from experience.

Yet another opinion comes from the former chief executive of a $40 billion business who claims that leadership is irrelevant - it's all about designing the right employer contracts.

Is leadership born or built? What about the in-between position that says early childhood is an imprinting that's hard to undo? That faction claims that unless the tendency to lead is learned early on, it's not likely to happen later in life.