In an interview after the Super Bowl, New York Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin reflected on his team’s remarkable success. Coughlin’s secret for brining out the best in his players was simple: he told them he loved them. According to the New York Post, Coughlin recalled his speech to his players the night before the […]
I was catching up on holiday reading and came across this excellent New York Times piece on Ernest Shackleton written by Harvard Business School professor Nancy Koehn. Shackleton’s ambitious journey to reach the South Pole ended in failure but became a triumph of leadership, courage and determination as he brought his entire crew safely home […]
As 2011 disappears in the rear-view mirror, here’s my list of noteworthy risk-takers over the past year. These are the people and institutions that took risks intelligently and won. The list of risk-bumblers – those who mishandled critical situations – is certainly longer (UBS, Olympus, Yahoo, MF Global, I could go on) but their woes […]
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about risk and corporate cultures. Some cultures produce disasters, like the massive, concealed trading loss at UBS – the most recent in a long streak of debacles for the bank. Other environments, however, seem consistently to produce good things – valued products and great experiences. Apple of course comes […]
The note earlier today by Morgan Stanley CEO Jim Gorman addressing what he called “confusion and misinformation” about the firm wasn’t too reassuring. It’s not likely to quell the rumors about the firm, nor does it do much to improve Gorman’s stature. By penning such a short memo (a mere 218 words), Gorman clearly did […]
This week’s recommended risk reading is a recent article from the New York Times Sunday magazine. Entitled “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?,” the article examines a new approach to building character among students, not simply strengthening their academic performance. It’s clearly hit a nerve, topping the most-emailed list on the Times website […]
Even if you’re not an ardent baseball fan, you have to be impressed with Mariano Rivera, the incomparable relief pitcher for the New York Yankees, who two days ago set the record for most saves, at 602. Sports writers long ago ran out of superlatives for describing Rivera’s talent and durability, and the crucial role […]
Today’s press coverage of the continuing drama at UBS suggests the saga is playing out in predictable fashion, as rivals seek to poach UBS deal-makers, whose bonuses are likely to shrivel following the bank’s losses. And speculation is mounting that CEO Oswald Gruebel will have to step aside. The situation has been made worse by […]
UBS has remained oddly silent since its brief press release announcing a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trades in London. The announcement chopped some $5 billion from the bank’s market cap, and neither CEO Oswald Grübel nor any other senior executive has addressed the matter. It’s instructive to compare UBS’s public response to that of […]
It seems to me that the words of our political leaders have always fallen short against the tragedy of the September 11 terrorist attack. In the days immediately afterwards, elected leaders offered words of comfort and calls to unity, but they seemed dwarfed by the enormity of the horror, and none are remembered today. It […]