Leadership is probably the concept that is most talked about, while simultaneously being one of the least-understood.  It is difficult to find good books on leadership, because the market is flooded with books on "leadership" written by celebrities that are useless to the Average Joe.  The good books (and there are many!) often try to distill it down to base principles, which often break down based on the author's background and experience.  But the simple fact is that you cannot become a great leader just by reading books any more than you can become a championship baseball player by reading books on baseball technique....

In a recent article in the New York Times, Elisabeth Bumiller reports on the pervasive use of Microsoft's PowerPoint software in the US military, and the disdain it receives from top officials. Military leaders spend a large percentage of their time preparing PowerPoint slides which they believe to dumb down discourse within important decision-making processes.

One of the often overlooked and challenging requirements for any company and its managers is keeping all employees and team members engaged and excited about the work that they are doing.  I have found that offering professional development opportunities is very beneficial in aiding with this goal. As we were discussing an upcoming conference and the staff we were sending, I stumbled  across the Technology Managers Credo:

There's a village in which a Zen Master and a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse...and everyone in the village says "How wonderful, the boy got a horse!", and the Zen Master says "We'll see."

 Two years later, the boy falls off the horse and breaks his leg.  Everyone in the village says "How terrible!" and the Zen Master says "We'll see."

Then a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight...except the boy can't because his legs are all messed up and everyone in the village says "How wonderful for you!" and the Zen Master says...