Posts in “Leading Under Pressure”
Ready to Leave the Recession Behind for a Fresh Start in 2012?
By: Dr. Gaby Cora
We’re walking into 2012 and most Americans still taste recession. Perhaps they are dealing with:
- Loss of their job
- Loss of investments
- Loss of health
- Working more jobs and making less money
- Financial strains affecting their relationships
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Do You Know Who’s Steering Your Ship?
By: Dr. Gaby Cora
The Italian cruise tragedy raises several concerns starting from “who was in charge,” to “what was the contingency plan,” to “what was the multi-layered plan in case of an emergency.”
This is a terrible and shocking situation of great magnitude that forces all of us to take a serious look into our organization’s leadership structure, systems, and contingency plans.
There are captains and then there are leaders.
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It’s Showtime
By: Dr. Gaby Cora
Welcome! What a pleasure it is to share the lessons learned and exciting projects with you! Dr. Gaby’s Take: Make Life Interesting is all about the amazing people I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing and the valuable lessons I’ve learned from them.
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Is Your Brilliant Personality Killing Your Business?
By: Dr. Gaby Cora
“Manners Maketh Man” was our school motto. I was so young I couldn’t even read when this was said during our assemblies but I came to understand what it meant early on. We could be the greatest at what we did but the way in which we interacted with one another spoke more about our greatness than our intellectual or physical ability demonstrated during debates, competitions, and daily activities.
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The Seemingly Impossible Feat of Transitioning an Empire
By: Dr. Gaby Cora
With the iPad2 launch, even financial analysts are both praising such innovation while also wondering about Steve Jobs’ gaunt looks and overall health. In January, Jobs decided to step down from day-to-day operations at Apple… again. He returned to Apple after a monster multi-organ transplant surgery, gaining our undivided applause and admiration for his resilience. We would all love to live forever and yet, how do we prepare to set up transitions to transfer an empire smoothly, efficiently, and effectively? How do we ensure continuity in day-to-day operations and in creative and innovative processes that will allow our vision to live on?
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The Other Blind Side – Is Public Misbehavior Plain Bad Behavior or Mental Illness?
By: Dr. Gaby Cora
Watching Charlie Sheen become his worst enemy over the past few weeks was embarrassing. His overt aggression with his teammates has made it very difficult for the public to show empathy for his situation. Unfortunately, his public behavior has also resulted in the cancellation of a multi-million dollar business, leaving a substantial group of people without a job. Can you afford similar consequences in your organization?
On New Years and Effective Planning
By: Dr. Gaby Cora
One month into the New Year on the day of the Chinese New Year, most business owners, entrepreneurs, and companies are well immersed into their business plans already. As I prepared for our upcoming chapter meeting with the Women President’s Organization, I intended to follow-up on guiding the group to go deeper into the SWOT analysis with my co-chair, Linda Lane Gonzalez (President of Viva Partnership). This follow-up in addition to a conference call I participated in yesterday with my fellow chapter president elects in the National Speakers’ Association (a call that became focused on using a one-page business plan), spurred me into putting my thoughts together and narrowing down effective business plan processes.
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Leading Under Pressure
What do BP’s disaster and J&J’s recall have in common? Both ended in early executive transitions and change of leadership with massive impact on people, the environment (BP), shattered consumer trust, low morale in the workplace, tarnished corporate integrity, and increased government control. Although most of us may feel self-righteous and point fingers at the perceived culprits, those of us with real life experience in leadership in the business world well know that these damaging decisions can be made by the best of us.
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Under Pressure
Under pressure, Julien Duret of Lyon, France, jumped to the icy waters in New York City as he rescued two year old Bridget Sheridan. Her perplexed father jumped right after him to save his daughter. Duret handed her to the mortified dad.
Duret says he didn’t think twice about jumping in and saving the girl. He reacted fast and had never done anything like this before, he says.
How common – or uncommon – is it for us to react under pressure?
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Do you complete what you start?
Many people start many projects and then complete some while leaving many incomplete. Some use the strategy of shooting in the dark with the hope that some arrows will reach the target. While this strategy may work if you have much energy to spare, a more focused, precise and accurate approach will be bull’s eye through time.
It is fine to stop doing something we don’t believe will work. However, if left unfinished, there is nothing we can look back to evaluate to improve. But what if this pattern happens over and over again? For example, let’s say you start a project. Midway, you realize it’s not what you expected and you stop it altogether. You start a second project and leave it hanging and then a third, fourth and fifth. Why is this technique inefficient and leading nowhere?
