Last month, FAST COMPANY blogger David Gardner shared a memorial tribute to Paul L Locatelli, SJ, the president of Santa Clara University who passed away after a two-month illness. Father Locatelli was something of a legend in Northern California; I had heard of his talents in management and fundraising, but this eloquent eulogy by Mr Gardner explored the qualities of Father Locatelli's style in a way I hadn't seen. Please take a moment to read it.
Here are the basics of Father Locatelli's approach to leadership, as captured by Mr Gardner, that I took away and will keep in front of me.
Commit fully to your company, from vision, to strategy, to execution
Make commitments, not promises
Be relentless in pursuing your goals and don't lose heart
Keep speeches short and idle time shorter, all the while moving to the next thing
Make a list and get it done
Feed your physical, mental and spiritual selves equally
Pay attention to the people in your circles by engaging wholeheartedly with them; make time for them always
Listen intently
When someone asks for help, find a way to do it without hesitation
Emphasize the opportunities in life
Look for a value that serves others as well as yourself and honor it through optimal performance
The South by Southwest [SXSW] conference/event/gathering is happening next week, and this year, there's a unique event that occurs on the way to Austin, Texas, where SXSW is held. It's the Startup Bus. Six teams are developing a startup idea while they ride the bus to Austin. Regular folks can use virtual dollars to invest in the startup of their choice.
Daniela Barbosa, the information scientist and Dow Jones exec, writes about the competition on her blog. Our colleague and recent transplant to the US, Elias Bizannes of vast.com, is the Brain Behind the Bus. Visit the Startup Bus site. Become an investor. It's fun!
Now that we have multiple social networks for multiple purposes and interests, with new ones emerging and gaining traction regularly, technologists and user experts are thinking about what's next.
Turning activity across networks into actions the user manages: Making it possible for people on one network to communicate with people on other networks, in terms of content and activity, without leaving their original networks. But will the networks allow it or continue to buttress the walls in their gardens? Adrian Chan via Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb.
Turning fans into buyers into communities: Several of these principles for how not to kill a startup are amazingly appropriate
for how to turn targets into buyers. Starts with knowing who you are
and who your customer is and where the twain must meet. Greg Boutin.
It's refreshing to see writing at the top of this list from The Future Buzz, capturing the writer's opinion about the 15 necessities for tomorrow's marketing career. Usually, if someone can write, he or she can think. "Can write" means more than stringing together words; it means making a point with a beginning, a middle and an end. Whether or not you're writing a blog post or a brochure. I'm glad to see writing make the top of one list, at least.
The folks at the Marcus Graham Project know this. Their presentation during a week of AAAA gatherings in San Francisco was refreshing because it addressed an old problem in new way. They are shining a big, bright light on television and how we watch it, and they're integrating the traditional message — caution of over-watching — with delivery that young people can understand. Without sacrificing the quality of the writing. The project is asking questions many entrenched advertising gurus should be asking — and the project's leaders are offering solutions that make sense and entertain while they engage a new demographic in industry leadership.
Governments — and corporations — should really think twice about creating mini-bureaucracies not just because of the cost and waste but the effort required to attract people inorganically from where they are. Networks like Facebook [born in the university setting!] and Twitter grew by word-of-mouth, not fiat. A word to the wise.
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