Leadership

Articles, interviews, self-assessments, survey results, book excerpts, the latest trends in business and a customized “Leadership Tool Kit” to help you realize your leadership potential. PLUS links to AMA’s seminars, books and wide range of learning resources.

	No Parent Left Behind The U.S. may be facing a more serious problem than a recession: on a test measuring the practical education and problem-solving skills of 15 year-olds in 30 countries, America ranked 25th in math and 24th in science.

Additional Leadership Articles of Interest:

• Executive Comp: Let’s Take a Deep Breath Sander A. Flaum explains why setting an arbitrary limit on what corporate leaders can earn may actually be bad for our country.

• Bring Your Company Out of Recession Mode Sure, times are tough. But maybe it’s time to snap out of recession mode and start business flowing again.

• T-Minus 100 Days Sander Flaum examines a leader’s first 100 days and explains why the willingness to listen isn’t enough.

• When Leaders “Waffle,” Confidence Plummets If a leader continually flip-flops on key decisions, employee confidence and eventually, the bottom line, will suffer. A good strategy is to enlist others to help you view a problem from multiple perspectives. Then once you’ve made your decision, communicate the plan to employees clearly and completely.

• When Life Gives You Lemons… Sander Flaum looks to the past—the Great Depression of the 1930s—for inspiration on how companies can innovate and thrive during the current downturn.

• Leadership vs. Power Does power corrupt, or are corrupt people drawn to power? True leaders, explains Robert Wilson, are motivated by the achievement of goals for the common good, not by personal gain.

• Thriving on Discontinuous Change In today's high-speed business environment information and skills become outdated faster than teen fashions. In this climate, organizations value employees primarily for how quickly they can learn, unlearn, and relearn.

• Multitasking vs. Singular Focus: And the Winner Is? You’re more productive when you work on more than one task at a time, right? Maybe not. Think of Michael Phelps—his laserlike focus on each individual event earned him an unprecedented eight gold medals in Beijing.

• Job One for Leaders: Doing the Right Thing A defining mark of leadership is to constantly strive to do the right thing, not the “correct” thing or the easiest thing, writes Sander Flaum. And that’s a habit each of us can practice everyday.

• Leadership Lessons from the “Leader of the Pack” Some powerful leadership lessons from the true story of a dedicated team of sled dogs struggling to survive in Antarctica.