Category Archives: Leadership
The $10 Startup- A BootStrappers Quick Reference to The Art of Hustle.
While I don’t completely write off the various investment/funding business models, I do have a larger respect for the art of hustle and the adaptive mindset of the true entrepreneur. I’m a big fan of bootstrapping business models and their success stories of small wins that lead to big victories. Looking at the small things, or the ability to make more of something from next to nothing, is a great exercise to use to help you hone in on the important things. That said, the big challenge is this: if you only had $10 to start a business, what would you do? What would you focus on? How would you go about it?
Read on to see some of our recommendations on how to start a business with little more than lunch money. Be sure to chime in and comment with your own ideas as well. (more…)
Posted: Nicholas McGill
Categories: Becoming Heroik, Blog, Chronicles, featured, Heroik Life Hacks, Heroik MBA, Leadership, Simplicity, TEE Savers
15 Things Angry Birds Can Teach You About Business
Video games can teach you a thing or two about the challenges of life and business. One of the most popular titles to sweep smart phones, TV’s and tablets across the globe is Angry Birds. It too, offers nuggets of practical business wisdom. Here are 15 pulled from the experiences of Angry Bird addicts around the world. (more…)
Buy-in Blinders
By now, with several bubbles in our recent past, shouldn’t we expect more of ourselves than accepting zombification based on our tools of choice or convenience? Recent experience would say we don’t.
The room erupted with gasps, groans, objections and expostulations. All this because of a simple question from Nicholas (@communityczar): “Do you believe that people will increasingly recognize and filter out the tweets originating from automated tools, rejecting them on the basis that they’re not authentic?” The dismay at the idea was nearly palpable and came from nearly everyone BUT the thought leaders in the room. They mostly nodded thoughtfully while the outbursts reached a crescendo then gradually subsided.
Leadership Wisdom From Admiral Thad Allen
Admiral Thad Allen, USCG (Ret.) has lead the emergency response efforts in extreme situations that present unique problems that are well outside the traditional disaster response models. Most recently, he led the response to the BP / Deepwater Horizon oil spill and previously led the emergency efforts after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. He is accustomed to working outside the box, going off book, departing from protocol and leading in unfamiliar territory. And, although he’s retired, if called upon, he says he’ll go where he’s needed. He is a bonafide, Heroik Bad-Ass.
His definition of leadership: the ability to reconcile opportunity and competency.
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23 Points of Wisdom: The Book of the 5 Rings
The Book of the Five Rings is a work written by a legendary swordsman and artist, Miyamoto Musashi. Active during what is called the Kyoto Renaissance 1550-1650, Musashi traveled throughout Japan studying many different styles of Martial Arts and many walks of life. He met, studied and conversed with masters and leaders of his day, and with a critical eye and focus on fluidity and effectiveness, he adapted only that which would achieve victory. His style and skill led him to over 60 victories, which is an astounding feat, even for a master in those days. On October 10, 1643, in an act of purification after sensing a fatal disease, Musahsi, climbed Mount Iwato in the province of Higo on the island of Kyushu, and began to write The Book of Five Rings. He intended his work to be a guide for his followers he had trained face to face. In this book, Musashi offers timeless advice on navigating life, training the mind and defeating an adversary.
Today, The Book of the Five Rings is required reading for Harvard Business students and is of tremendous value to those with sense enough to see beyond material, linear, checkerboard solutions to life’s challenges. Below is an assortment of important lines from the book, along with a few modern thoughts strewn in here and there. As with many works of the East, this isn’t simply a book you read. The knowledge in this book is best captured by taking the time to read, practice, study, re-visit and re-read.
