Something’s Gotta Give

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, business confidence, culture, economy, business growth, expectations

How can enterprise expectations for better performance continue to escalate when the resources required to achieve it continue to dry up?

That's the question many ExecuNet members are asking as they log incredibly long hours and seize on gains in efficiency only to feel that their own work levels are simply unsustainable. Welcome to the 'What have you done for me lately?' economy.

Published on: Wednesday, March 27, 2013

How I Got Here: Bryan Mattimore

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, innovation, interview, inspiration, creativity, entrepreneur, ideas, bryan mattimore, career journey

Recently, I had a conversation with Bryan Mattimore, one of America's top experts in applied creativity, ideation facilitation and innovation management. Mattimore is the inventor of the creativity training game, Bright Ideas and bestselling author of 99% Inspiration. I was particularly curious to know what led him to explore the power of creativity and why organizations need to be open to them. Here is an excerpt of what he had to say on that topic:

"There were two pivotal moments in my life. The first was when I grew up with my father. He was an entrepreneur with Time Inc., and he started a company called SAMI. That environment really encouraged me and made me wonder how he got his ideas. That really set me on a lifetime search and a passion for understanding the creative process."

Published on: Monday, March 25, 2013

Managing Time and Expectations

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, business climate, time, expectations

It may well be that the two most important executive skill sets in this economy are managing one's time effectively and managing up to consistently lofty performance expectations.

To hear executives describe the pressures they face in this volatile business climate, their jobs haven't gotten any easier and don't appear to be lightening up anytime soon. Ask any executive leader and he or she will tell you that the demands on their time are nothing short of unprecedented, ditto for the expectations on the most senior management leaders and shareholders.

Published on: Thursday, March 21, 2013

Having a “Knocked Down” Moment?

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, execunet, executive job search, job market, career, success stories, argo, ben affleck, oscars

If you stayed up late enough to watch the Oscars a few weeks ago, you might have heard Ben Affleck remark as he accepted the Best Picture award for Argo: "And it doesn't matter how you get knocked down in life because that's going to happen. All that matters is you gotta get up."

A business crisis, lay-off or bad movie called Gigli are all recoverable events, despite the depth of devastation you might feel at the time. The pain and damage are real, but it's often not permanent.

Published on: Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Sheer Madness

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, goals, march madness, talent, adversity, team work

There aren't a lot of distractions from the busy executive's typical workweek that are as fun, exciting and filled with such potential for improbability as the annual NCAA men's Division 1 basketball tournament, or what most of us with a favorite team in 'the dance' refer to as March Madness.

The storylines alone are enough to attract even the most committed executive leaders. Just consider: