I have been on a sabbatical three times in my career. The first time was in 1997, for 18 months. I left France, where I was living and working, to go back to Italy and start up a business. The second time was in 2002, for 9 months. After four years of incredible intensity at [...]
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Roger Fransecky, one of the most well regarded executive performance consultants and advisors to CEOs. It was a pleasure and an honour to meet Roger and talk about one of my favourite topics: Leadership. Roger is incredibly accomplished. He is CEO of the Apogee [...]
More and more managers dream of a sabbatical, a period – from 3 months to a year – to stop working and “recharge the batteries.” I think sabbaticals will become a regular feature of the working life of managers, and sooner or later most companies will consider them an integral part of their management development [...]
One of the blessings of an international career is being able to meet extraordinary people. When I say that, many would immediately think of the occasional pop star, the famous politician, the thought leader. These are indeed extraordinary people, and I have been lucky enough to meet many of them, but the most impactful [...]
In these days, it is more difficult than in the past to argue positively about Italy…so I would like to signal a great initiative by a good Italian. Fernando Napolitano is the CEO of Booz and Company Italy, one of the most respected consulting firms in the world. He has recently decided to leave [...]
In business circles, one of the most popular topics of conversation is Asia and its booming economies. Much of this talk still focuses on the traditional areas of low cost manufacturing and a growing middle class. Many Westerners still view Asia as a market, albeit a growing one, and from the viewpoint of exports, goods [...]
Apple recently reported record third quarter results with revenue up 82 percent and profits up 125 percent. By the end of this fiscal year, Apple will likely pass the $100 billion mark in sales, and will become larger than IBM, something simply unthinkable just a few years ago. Pretty remarkable! Still, Apple’s story is unique. [...]
As predictable as it sounds, I think that The Cool Hunter is possibly the coolest site online! I love the crispness of its layout, the outstanding quality of the images, the breadth of the subjects and a feature close to my heart…the simplicity of the navigation. It is a great way to stay current on [...]
In today’s management world, we struggle with basic survival. Stretched between time zones, hoards of emails, insistent Blackberry messages, 24-hour accessibility, unprecedented recessions, it is difficult to remember that we also have a life… However, there is one thing we should never forget; “stay current!” Staying current becomes even more of an imperative in the [...]
What is ultimate power in business? Many view it as the ability to control more, have their stamp across a wide range of initiatives and be the final decisionmaker. They view success as something associated with the possibility to say “yes, go ahead.” Being in the position to say the final “YES” has a strong [...]
