This month's Executive Matters is focused on leadership, to complement AMA'S 80th ANNIVERSARY FORUM, "Meeting the Challenges of Leadership," on November 20-21 in New York City. There's still time to register and gain valuable insights from top leadership visionaries including Richard Boyatzis, Marshall Goldsmith, Howard Guttman and Adrian Slywotzky. PLUS, learn from the experiences of business leaders from AIG, Campbell's Soup, General Motors, QVC, Schlumberger, UPS and others. Call 1-800-262-9699 for more information

 A LEADERSHIP LESSON FROM THE RED SOX
Red Sox Manager Grady Little failed to bring his team to the
World Series because he made one fatal mistake: in the game
that would decide the American League Championship, Little
acquiesced to his star pitcher, Pedro Martinez, leaving him
in the game for too long. The leadership lesson here, says
Bruce L. Katcher, Ph.D., is that "senior managers need to
know when to gather information from employees and when to
make the hard decisions despite their sentiments. They must
understand that the goals of the organization and the goals
of staff members are not always the same." For Grady, the
lesson came too late. His team lost, and now he's out of a job.

LEARN TO TAKE THE "RIGHT RISK"
Think you're facing some serious risks in your life? Bill
Treasurer performed more than 1,500 high dives from a height
equivalent to a 10-story building. Now a corporate consultant and author of the new book "Right Risk: 10 Powerful Principles for Taking Giant Leaps with Your Life," Treasurer helps his clients work up the courage to take risks and more importantly, how to identify which risks are the "right risks" for them. Treasurer's four hallmarks of "right risk" are:

1. Passion--it arouses your spirit
2. Purpose--it will help you progress to a high order or goal
3. Principle--it is anchored to your deeply rooted values
4. Prerogative--it stems from your own free will.

Click here to read our exclusive interview with this unique, inspirational author.

HOW TO GENERATE BUY-IN
As the Rolling Stones so wisely said, "You can't always get
what you want." There are ways to increase your odds,
however. In this exclusive interview, Mark S. Walton, author
of "Generating Buy-In: Mastering the Language of Leadership," explains the secret to getting what you want: show people why it will pay off for them. He states, "Why should people follow you, or buy from you, if they don't see a positive future for themselves in doing so? The secret to winning them over is to show them how what you want will give them what they want." Click here for the complete interview and a chapter excerpt from the book.

TAKE THE AMA MEMBER CHALLENGE--YOU COULD WIN A FREE SEMINAR!
Congratulations to our October FREE seminar winner, Wanda
Miller, of ICON Transportation in Remington, IN. Ms. Miller
answered all five of the Member Challenge questions (based on
current business events) correctly and was then chosen at
random from the total number of respondents who answered all
of the questions correctly. Why not take the November Challenge? Simply answer the questions and complete the entry form.

LATEST AMA RESEARCH: LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES SURVEY
What do executives say is their #1 leadership challenge
today? 60% say it's getting people with different agendas to
work together. Their #2 challenge is balancing competing
demands and priorities (56%), followed by motivating and
inspiring employees in a world of constant change (48%).
Additional results include:

The key characteristics of an effective leader:

• Ethical behavior (56%)
• Sound judgment (51%)
• Being adaptable/flexible (47%)

Click here to access the complete survey results.

SAVE 20% ON SELECTED LEADERSHIP BOOKS 
AMACOM's editors have selected ten special titles on leadership (including "Generating Buy-In," featured in this
issue of Executive Matters) that provide valuable insights
into leadership and the critical competencies it requires.
Save 20% on any two or more, plus free shipping. Call 1-800-262-9699 for full details and remember to MENTION
PROMOTION CODE LDSP03.

MOTIVATING YOUR SALES FORCE IN A TOUGH ECONOMY
Barnett Helzberg, Jr. built his small, family-owned business
into a successful national retail operation that impressed
billionaire investor Warren Buffett so much that he bought
the company. Helzberg shares his tried and true methods for
helping sales people shine in the face of economic challenge:

• Focus your attention on winners. The ability and desire tobe motivated either exists or doesn't exist in a sales
  person. You can't put it there. You can only fire it up.
• Provide them with a sense of ownership. Motivation and execution will be much greater if individuals apply their own ideas to a challenge.

Click here for the complete story.

WORLD CORRUPTION INDEX: FINLAND IS PERCEIVED AS MOST HONEST COUNTRY
Which countries are considered most honest or most corrupt?
The latest data from Transparency International's 2003 Corruption Perceptions Index show that Finland ranks #1 in honesty. Canada and the United Kingdom tied at #11, were ranked as more honest than the United States, which tied Ireland at #18. Corruption is perceived as most pervasive in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Haiti, Paraguay, Tajikistan, Georgia, Indonesia among others. The Index focuses on the public sector and defines corruption as "the abuse of public office for private gain."

SMALL BUSINESS: FIVE WAYS TO CUT YOUR TAX BILL In today's economy it's especially important to utilize tax
strategies that will allow you to direct more of the profits
toward business growth and less to taxes. Here are two of
five tax-saving tips from small business advisor David Meier:

Strategy #1: Accelerate the pace of deducting capital asset
purchases, including your car. You can deduct up to $100,000
of the cost of equipment purchased and placed into service in
your business during the tax year.

Strategy #2: Lease property and/or equipment to your business. By leasing your personal assets to your business, you take money out of your business (exempt from Social Security tax) and you can reduce your resulting taxable lease income by taking any applicable depreciation expense on your personal income tax return.

FALL SEMINAR SPECIALS
*Register for any AMA seminar between now and December 31, 2003 and save $150 off your registration fee! Call 1-800-262-9699 to sign up today. Use discount code XAVL for your savings.

• Save up to 50% on Selected AMA Seminars. Now you can attend selected sessions of some of AMA's most popular seminars at big savings of $500 or more this Fall. Review the attached "Last Minute Seating" list and then call 1-800-262-9699 to register. But hurry. Space is limited and seats fill up fast:
  
• Register for Any Session, and Bring a Colleague for 25% off. Anyone registered or registering for any AMA seminar that takes place between now and December 31, 2003, can bring a companion to that session for 25% off the applicable member non-member price. Savings range from $300 to $1000 and more. Call 1-800-262-9699 for full details.

MEMBERS-ONLY BOOK OF THE MONTH
"Managing Information Technology Projects--Applying Project
Management Strategies to Software, Hardware and Integration
Initiatives," by James Taylor (AMACOM 2003). Research shows
that more than half of all technology projects overrun their
schedules and budgets by a stunning 200% or more. The main
reasons are:

• Poorly defined project organization
• Lack of training
• Weak executive support
• Inconsistent methods and policies

"Managing Information Technology Projects" provides step-by-
step methodologies that will help you start and complete
every project to its exact specifications. Click here for
more information and to purchase. 

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