Friday Mix Tape: My iPod, Reality Leaders and Responsible Capitalism

Happy Friday all!

Before I get to my favorite links this week, first one more pitch for the “Chicago Tweetup” hosted by Liz Strauss and I – join us at the Emerald Loop on Wabash on November 10 at 7PM. I’ll be posting about it on Tuesday.

And now, as Casey Kasem used to say, “on with the countdown” of my three favorite posts of the week:

1. Andrew B. Clark, aka “The Brand Chef”, used a brief Twitter discussion we had about our iPods as a catalyst for a pretty darn fascinating look at what our song playlists say about us. Andrew even posted a really cool illustration (at left) of my summation of the whole thing, through the mouth of Yoda – “iPod am I”. By the way, he “nailed me” too, especially the parts about being a nerd, and having a thirst for knowledge. Good on you Andrew!
2. I was keyword searching “Leadership” on Twitter recently and came across this gem, a characterization of President-elect Barack Obama by Pam Hoelzle as a “Reality Leader”, and a very good breakdown of the key elements of this style – being rooted in the “now”, the courage to deal with the facts (good or bad), transparency, honest dialogue, and accountability. It’s the best description of what’s behind Obama’s success that I’ve read so far.
3. Starbucks has been taking it on the chin lately, with its poor financial performance, store closings and cratering stock price, but I will say this: the lattes are still pretty darn good, the new Vivanno drinks are tasty and good for ya, and CEO Howard Schultz still “gets it” as far as what a modern day business leader should be doing in these trying times. Read this excellent blog post he put up on Huffington and you’ll see what I mean. He’s still advocating “valuing people as much as profit”, because in a downturn, what the person puts into the product (i.e. exceptional service) means more than ever to a very discriminating consumer.

There you have it, the best of this week. Stay tuned for the recap of the Chicago Tweetup on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

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Tagged as: Barack Obama, Howard Schultz, Leadership, Liz Strauss, Starbucks, Twitter