5 Leadership Tips for 2012

This is an excellent article for leaders at all levels.  It is titled, 5 Leadership Tips for 2012, and is by Mike Myatt a contributor to Forbes.

He talks about Family, White Space, Listening, Unlearning, and Engagement. A bonus item is Reading!

I know I need to pay more attention to these points and hope to do so in 2012!

Finding and cleaning out your smartphone's Carrier IQ poison

This is quite concerning that Android, Apple, and Blackberry smartphones have secretly had spyware rootkit software installed by manufacturers and telecom providers called Carrier IQ.

Even though there seems to be push-back on what exactly is being recorded and reported this article provides some links to turn off Carrier IQ on your telephone. With iOS 5 on an iPhone it is a very easy turnoff while other phones are a bit more difficult.

The article by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, titled Finding and cleaning out your smartphone's Carrier IQ poison, was published by ZDNet.

I vs. we: Individuals perform better when focused on team's effort

Some interesting sports research published by the Department of Kinesiology at my alma mater on team work. Even with non-sports teams there is a lot to the Power of We!

The study showed that individuals perform better when they practice motivational techniques focused on the team.

The article is titled, I vs. we: Individuals perform better when focused on team's effort, by Michigan State University in MedicalXPress.

Live Longer With Fewer Calories

This is an interesting article about some research published in the scientific journal, Molecular Cell, that shows that caloric restriction increases the production of the enzyme, Srx1, which repairs another enzyme called Prx1. The study reveals that repair of Prx1 consequently emerges as a key process in ageing and possibly the delay or development of cancer.

Of course I like to reduce caloric intake for weight control and health so this is a nice benefit.  My adage is that "the more you eat the more you eat" and we, especially Americans with our high fat, sugar, and salt diet, need to drastically reduce the amount and kind of foods we eat.

This article titled, Live Longer With Fewer Calories, was published in Medical News Today.

Fit 50-Year-Olds As Fit As 20-Year-Olds Who Don't Exercise

This article titled, Fit 50-Year-Olds As Fit As 20-Year-Olds Who Don't Exercise, is great news for us older athletes and something I suspected all along given the lack of exercise by, not only 20 year olds, but all ages. It was published in Medical News Today.

The lesson here is get out and start exercising.  My favorite activities are Nordic skiing, bicycling, kayaking, Nordic walking, and if I have to work out inside, NordicTrack or an elliptical trainer if I am traveling.

U.S. Healthcare Gets Bad Grades on Scorecard

Not new news in this article titled, U.S. Healthcare Gets Bad Grades on Scorecard, but certainly we continue to head in the wrong direction with our healthcare spending. The article is by Emily P. Walker, the Washington Corespondent for MedPage Today.

We spent the highest of any other nation in the world but have these poor scorecard grades. It is time we move in a different direction. The scorecard measures healthcare systems across 42 indicators including healthcare quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives, and compares U.S. averages to other countries.

Healthcare reform only solves who has insurance which, unfortunately, still does not address all the core cost and access issues. A start nonetheless!

8 Reasons Your Employees Don't Care

This is a very good article published by CBS News on why employees don't care but then also how to engage them no matter what your business.

The eight reasons are no freedom, no targets, no sense of mission, no clear expectations, no input, no connection, no consistency, and no future.

The article by Jeff Haden is titled, 8 Reasons Your Employees Don't Care.

10 Travel Tips for Protecting Your Privacy

These travel tips from Mashable! for protecting your privacy while traveling are fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, excellent ones.

Not broadcasting your travel, whether for business or personal reasons, on social networking sites is an excellent one unless you have "lists" or "circles" setup for family or close friends, for instance.

I really have an issue that border agents have sweeping authority to search and download information on your computer and smart phone, unless there is a court order. This is a real privacy right that has been taken away just because we are traveling out of the country and if there is sensitive business information, a problem for your company or even HIPAA Rights if you have sensitive patient information on your computer.

The article by Fran Maier is titled 10 Travel Tips for Protecting Your Privacy. In addition to not broadcasting your travel she talks about using secure WiFi and https whenever possible, tracking apps for your digital devices, logging out of public computers, leaving your laptop at home, monitoring your financial statements, password protect your devices, locking sensitive documents devices in your hotel safe, that cameras can be a risk, checking your privacy settings before sharing photographs.

12 ways to keep your employees motivated, engaged and unified

This is an excellent blog post by Art Nathan, a veteran Human Resources Professional that I read this morning on "Smart Blog for Leadership".

Good advice for all those in leadership positions. I am very fortunate to have a great team that I work with.

The article is titled, 12 ways to keep your employees motivated, engaged and unified, and talks about the following 12 items.

1. Clearly define your vision
2. Give employees what they want and need
3. Communicate often and well
4. Get everyone engaged
5. Stay the course
6. Practice random acts of kindness
7. Coach for success
8. Act fairly
9. Inspect what you expect
10. Give respect and create trust
11. Don't be a jerk
12. Make work fun

Duke holds off Michigan for Coach K's 900th win, 73-71

Even though I was cheering for my Wolverines in this game, and boy was it a good one right up until the end, Duke is my ACC team as I worked at Duke University for several years.

Thus I was not totally devastated with such a close loss.

A big congratulations to Coach Mike Krzyzewski on his 900th win! Well deserved for a class guy. I felt very honored to be at Duke when they won their 4th NCAA Tournament in 2001 and was lucky to go to many games, including my first one against Michigan, in Cameron Indoor Stadium. One of the best college basketball venues in the United States.

I also have picked up Kansas as my Big 12 Team since my oldest son started there and then I also had the good fortune to be in Lawrence to celebrate their NCAA victory in 2008. Allen Field House is steeped in history not only of Kansas but college basketball in general.

While my bracket is toast I still have Duke and Kansas going to the Final Four! Let's hope I am right on that account as my Michigan State Spartans, had a rough year, and Michigan is looking much better than in recent past years.

This article titled, Duke holds off Michigan for Coach K's 900th win, 73-71, is by True Jersey writer, Conor Orr.