We live in a very compartmentalized social and mental world. 
The way we have structured our organizations and education systems has compartmentalized all facets of them. As a result, everything we do is done in little segmented boxes of interactions and activities. It is a hold over from the industrial era, I suspect.
It isn’t enough to try to elevate right brain creativity as a discrete learning activity. It falls prey to the same compartmentalizing like everything else. Art should be taught in every class, not in a separate class just for the “artists” in the school.
Being creative is not an end in itself. We don’t measure creativity by being creative. We measure it by the effect it has upon the context in which it is utilized. We can say a sculptor is creative, but only if her artwork embodies that creativity in something real and tangible. We see her creativity in the unique use of all her skills to create a work of art. Continued…
Posted in General Leadership, Leadership Q + A, Work Life Lead.
Tagged with activity, boxes, Circle of Impact, compartmentalization, creativity, experience, impact, life, work.
By Dr. Ed Brenegar
– February 4, 2010
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This week Peter speaks with Charlie Coiro, Assistant Branch Chief, US coast Leadership Development Center, Leadership in the News, Social Media Minute/Website of the Week, Research Report of the Week and podsafe music. Continued…
Posted in General Leadership, Podcast.
Tagged with Annie McKee, Anwar Sadat, Black History Month, Change This, Daniel Goleman, Davos, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Futurity.org, President Barack Obama, President Jimmy Carter, Primal Leadership, Richard Boyatzis, Rosetta Thurman, State of the Union, US Coast Guard.
By Peter A. Mello, Founder/Editor
– February 3, 2010
Rosetta Thurman knows what she writes. While she has her own incredible story to tell, this month her blog will be featuring 28 Black Nonprofit Leaders. She writes:
This month (inspired by Wayne Sutton), I’ll be highlighting 28 Black nonprofit leaders who have done or are doing their part to make our world a bit better, a bit more hopeful for the generations that will come. No original interviews, just photos; bios; videos and links to their amazing work. Every day, I’ll showcase a different leader. I hope you’ll tune in and share this series with your colleagues!
Not surprisingly, she starts her series with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and today (Day 2) she profiles W.E.B DuBois. I’m looking forward to checking in each day for the rest of the month and learning about some leaders that might not have made it on my radar screen.
Rosetta is principal consultant at Thurman Consulting. You can follow her on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
Posted in Diversity, Nonprofit + Environment.
Tagged with Black History Month, Rosetta Thurman.
By Peter A. Mello, Founder/Editor
– February 2, 2010
Here are a few articles that we found interesting from a leadership perspective in the Sunday New York Times:
At a moment of what could be great opportunity, the Republican Party struggles with disputes over ideology, tactics and leadership. (Section 1 – Front Page – Political Memo)
If there was one lesson from Davos, it was this: trust in governments, corporations and banks has become as elusive as sure footing on Davos’s icy streets. (Section 1)
Princeton University’s bold vision to corral grade inflation is running into fierce resistance from its Type-A-plus students. (Section 1 – Education)
Why losing a few Democrats in Congress could be good news for the president. (Magazine – The Way We Live Now)
For Joseph Grano, seeing an ad while recovering from severe war wounds started a career that took him to the top of a major Wall Street firm. (Business – The Boss)
Mark Pincus, head of Zynga, a provider of online social games, says it’s important to give employees a responsibility that makes them stretch. (Business – Corner Office)
A survey by a sophomore at a Connecticut prep school found that boys and girls play sports for their own reasons. (Sports)
It’s not easy pitching a nation of angry voters, fixed opposition, scattered media. Not when you’ve left yourself hard to define. (Week in Review)
President Ford’s first address contained little good news and was overshadowed by the pardon of his predecessor. (OpEd -RONALD NESSEN, press secretary for President Gerald Ford)
In the universe of Steve Jobs, personal vision trumps the wisdom of the crowd. He’s ready when he thinks we’re ready. (Week in Review)
Posted in General Leadership.
Tagged with Apple, Davos, GOP, Mark Pincus, President Barack Obama, President Gerald Ford, Princeton, sports, Steve Jobs, Zynga.
By Peter A. Mello, Founder/Editor
– January 31, 2010
Michael McKinney (“Lead From Where You Are. LeadershipNow works to build leaders at all levels and in all contexts.” – Pasadena, CA) is the guy behind the great LeadershipNow blog and corresponding Twitter account. Like @WallyBock, one of our first picks for the Twitter Leadership FollowFriday Project, McKinney runs a website which is a great resource for students of leadership. He joined Twitter in January 2009, has a little over 1,000 updates and about 4,200 Followers and is followed by about the same amount. His Tweetstream is is made up of original quotes, content from the blog and lots of RT’s (retweets). The LeadershipNow blog and Twitter are both must reads for all students of leadership.
I met @MiaChambers (“Global Citizen. Digital Evangelist. Sushi Lover. Wannabe Granola. #MiaMafia” - Orange County, CA) through my @WeeklyLeader colleague and good friend @MVittone. Mia is amazing at engaging fellow Twitters and the content of her updates range far and wide. She’s the only person I know who uses the Favorites button more than I do (2,398 times!). She joined Twitter in February 2009, has 24,053 updates (this needs verifying cuz that’s a lotta TwitterTime), Follows 2,757 and has 4,078 Followers. Mia knows how to exercise leadership on Twitter, so Follow her!
