Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog

Leadership by Example

The Washington Post interviews Captain ‘Sully Sullenberger, who piloted his disabled USAirways flight to the Hudson River in January 2009, in this On Leadership video series.  Sullenberger talks about how he drew on a lifetime of experiences in those critical moments and why leadership is a choice made daily.

Little Time Off for the Self-Employed

Entrepreneurs, freelancers, and other self-employed professionals have always struggled to take vacations, and the recession is making it even harder.

Competition among freelancers is increasing.

Being out of pocket can mean missing one of a diminishing number of business leads, and the rising tide of unemployed professionals has heightened competition for freelance work.

Guru.com, a freelance job site, saw its total membership grow to 906,979 in July, up 15% from the same month in 2008.  And rival Elance.com received 131,000 new applications from freelance professionals in the first half of this year, a 40% increase compared with the same period in 2008.  Applicants must pass an admissions test to join.

Some self-employed professionals may be able to stay connected to clients from afar using cell phones and other devices.  Some entrepreneurs are finding a happy medium by keeping close enough to their businesses while on vacation to handle emergencies.  In lieu of lengthy vacations, many self-employed professionals say they're taking a day or two off at a time to avoid burnout, usually tacking them onto a weekend or holiday.

Solo entrepreneurs may be able to take even more time off by enlisting trusted peers to temporarily fill in on their behalf, adds Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director of Freelancers Union, a national membership organization in Brooklyn, NY, for independent workers.  "Build your network and start having people who you can outsource work to," she suggests.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2009

Big 3 Blind Spot: Quality Builds Marketshare

R.L Polk tells us that the average length of car ownership in the U.S. is up 24% since 2002.  Some 64% of people plan to keep their current car longer because of the recession.

Big 3 Leadership Blind Spot Led to Marketshare Erosion

Motor vehicle production now makes up less than 2% of U.S. gross domestic product versus as much as 5% in the early 1970s when the Japanese began to assemble automobiles here in the U.S.  

When Honda began to assemble cars in North America their product quality was not very good...yet, Honda leadership focused on building a quality product.  Over time, Honda did just that. 

Today, the leadership at Ford Motor is now starting to focus on quality and plans to build market share as consumers perceive the improved styling, design and quality improvements of the Ford brand.  Specifically, Ford expects to claim 25% of the expected marketshare losses of GM and Chrysler.