Note from Art: every Friday, I share three thought-provoking management posts for the week. Fair warning: I take a broad view of management, so my selections will range from leadership to innovation to finance and personal development and beyond.
This week’s selections feature content on writing a great speech, overcoming those personal issues that limit your success and words of wisdom from an advertising giant via a management giant.
Enjoy!
From Nick Morgan at Public Words, How to Write a Great Speech: 5 Secrets for Success.
Frankly, Nick could easily write, How to Write a Great Post Every Time. I cannot quit reading this thoughtful and professional communications expert, and I look forward to every new post from him. This particular piece offers Nick’s usual great insights, wrapped inside a fascinating career story that feels similar to something we might all have experienced at one point in time.
From the post: “David was not my favorite person in the world that week, or for a number of weeks after. But in the end I realized that in being tough on me he had given me an enormous gift: he had taught me how to push myself to do better than I thought I possibly could. And he taught me how to write a speech. In the real world.”
From Steve Tobak at The Corner Office: What’s the One Thing Limiting Your Success?
This week’s Review is turning into a list of bloggers that Art reads daily. Steve Tobak’s work is just fabulous. He manages to hit the most provocative topics in leadership and senior management in the most provocative ways. And while I don’t agree with him all of the time, he leaves me thinking every time. The title of this post speaks for itself, and will leave you thinking.
From the post: “Address your weakness. Sounds sort of obvious, doesn’t it? But it got me thinking, how many people really 1) know what’s limiting their success and, 2) force themselves to do something about it?”
From Tom Peters: The Wisdom of David Ogilvy.
I lost track of Tom’s work until his latest book, and like the bloggers above, I turn to him regularly for ideas, inspiration and some of the best common sense on the planet. In my opinion, Tom has mastered the art of writing in memorable, motivational sound bites. This post offers up some remarkable thoughts from another master of communications, the late advertising giant, David Ogilvy.
From the post: “At an event in Manila sponsored by Ogilvy & Mather, I received as a gift D.O.: The unpublished papers of David Ogilvy—a selection of his writings from the files of his partners. I am a longtime fan of Ogilvy, and found it to be a sterling gift. Here are a few of the gems I unearthed:”
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OK, that’s it for the week. I’ll be back Monday with a fresh cup of Leadership Caffeine.
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About Art Petty: Art mentors high potential professionals and develops and delivers workshops and programs on leadership, professional development and building high performance teams. Contact Art to discuss your needs for a program or keynote.
And whether you are an experienced leader seeking to revitalize and develop as a professional, or, a new leader looking for guidance on starting up successfully, check out Art’s book with Rich Petro, Practical Lessons in Leadership at Amazon.com.
I can relate to Nick Morgan’s post and apply it beyond public speaking. Looking back I now appreciate people who took the time and pressured me to become better. In turn I have become a better mentor to others.
Ken, how true. Thank goodness for those mentors for all of us. -Art
Nick Morgan’s post addresses a simple, but true fact. It is going to be very difficult to ever progress if those around you, particularly those above you, continue to tell you how great you are doing and never critique you. I’ve learned much more from tough love and tough bosses than from those who praise me.
Case, excessive (and false) praise is a real distraction. It’s particularly dangerous if you start believing it. -Art
Steve Tobak’s article about the “one thing limiting your success” is on the dot. It makes me realize my “one thing” that limits my success. I’ve always had the fear of failure and criticism. I hate to be judged by others, but in order to succeed in the future, I must overcome those meaningless fears. I would have to say I fall under the first half of the group mentioned by Steve, I know my weakness and I must work to improve it in order to benefit in the long in my career.
Mike, just recognizing those challenges in yourself is an important first step. I struggled with both of those earlier in my life/career and remember finally recognizing that I was more afraid of disappointing myself by not trying than I was of trying and falling on my face. Steve offers some good thoughts for moving forward. Good luck and keep pushing! -Art