Perfect Leaders?

What is the shape of the "perfect" leader and does he or she exist?

To paraphrase W. Somerset Maugham, "There are three rules for creating good leaders. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."

There is no perfect leader, that is why good leaders are always trying to improve themselves through self-study, training, education, mentor-ship, making mistakes and then learning from them, etc. Since there are no perfect leaders, it is hard to build a good leadership model, that is why there are hundreds of them. But, we can be sure of a few things that good leaders posses:

* A vision of the future (where are we going).
* The ability to encourage followers to jump into that experience (work through the many changes that are required to achieve that vision).
* A love of self-improvement for themselves and their followers. This love makes them good coaches and mentors.
8 Empowering their followers to get things done (delegation).

Source: Donald Clark.

Donald H. McGannon on Leadership

"Leadership is action, not position."

Robert Greenleaf on Leadership

"The only test of leadership is that somebody follows."

Peter F. Drucker on Leadership

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."

Oklahoma City’s web-Based GIS

The Oklahoma City Economic Development Information System (OKCEDIS)is an Internet GIS application that offers businesses immediate access to information that will assist with expansion and relocation decisions. With OKCEDIS, businesses can gather information needed for site location. You can generate economic, business, planning, geographic, and demographic information in real time via the web.

The website application allows users to view, create, and print maps; perform site selection searches; and customize and analyze demographic and business data. Here to learn more: http://www.okcedis.com/

Greater Cleveland Faces Defining Issues

My region is struggling. I live in Greater Cleveland and feel its pain and its joy. I am sorry to say that in the past decade, there has been more pain than joy. Hey, nobody said economic development was an easy business. Right? The region has some important development projects that are scheduled for decisions in the next month. More here.

New Seed Fund in Louisville

The long-awaited Yearling Fund LP has finished fund-raising, and Louisville now has a $3 million seed fund to invest in early-stage companies. The Yearling Fund will focus its investments in this region and will look at companies that have "existing and known technology," said Ty Wilburn, a principal in the fund. More here.

Latest Venture Capital Trends

The number of U.S. venture capital firms fell 21 percent in 2004, according to a study by Ernst & Young.

The number of venture-backed startups worldwide fell as well. Portfolios shrunk 14.6 percent between 2003 and 2004 as venture consolidated companies and gave up on losing bets, the study said.

Although the total number of startups declined, the number of new investments increased 4 percent. This suggests VCs are starting to accelerate spending to replenish portfolios as they exit from older companies. “The post-bubble clean-up is still under way,” said Ernst & Young’s Gil Forer.

My question is: what are you seeing in your area?

More here.

The Return of Japan Inc?

Japan's economy, a powerhouse during the roaring 1980s, has been in the dumps since 1989. Today, however, signs are starting to appear that the world's second-largest economy is waking up again.

Knowledge@Wharton presents insights from the Wharton Fellows program in Tokyo on issues ranging from the rebound of the Japanese economy to the strategies of companies such as Harley-Davidson and Yahoo! as they build their enterprises in Japan. The report also includes an excerpt from the book, "The Next Global Stage: Challenges and Opportunities in Our Borderless World," by Kenichi Ohmae.

Download the report here. (Note: This is a very worthwhile bit of reading!)

Business Ethic's 100 Top Corporate Citizens

Click here to see who made the list. Here are the top five:

1. Cummins, Inc.
2. Green Mountain Coffee.
3. St. Paul Travelors, Inc.
4. Nuveen Investments
5. Intel Corporation

India's First Solar City

Under a proposed plan, solar energy would provide the lion's share of energy for Gandhinagar, making it India's first "solar city."

The blueprint calls for solar energy to be provided to all "major establishments in the city," including state government offices, schools and hospitals, the major power consumers.

A one megawatt solar plant would be the source for much of this power, but the proposal also calls for solar cookers and solar water heaters to be distributed to schools, hospitals, hostels and guesthouses.

The plan, which was conceptualized by the state government, was developed by the Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) - an agency that promotes clean energy for the state.

More here.

On Economic Development

Revolutions happen in the Springtime, if you let them. Spring is a time for us to think in a transformational way about ourselves. It is a time of insatiable yearning to explore parts of ourselves we have longed to know and embrace.

As I muse about my thirty years in economic development, I wonder where the time has gone, but even more importantly, what I have truly given of value to this field and those I exist to serve. Second, if I spend another ten or even fifteen years in this business, how can I give more of those things that truly matter?

Scanning the options that I can see at this moment, I conclude two things about the future. One, that I feel a stronger sense of compassion for the communities and people for which I work. It's not that I haven't cared, but I don't think I've cared enough in the right way.

Second, that I need to be a better servant leader in the future. That requires me to set even more of myself aside as I move foward.

These are revolutionary thoughts, bred by the flowering Spring, that I wish to take root inside myself and the work I do.

May I ask: "what new things are being born inside you during this fine Spring day?"

Business Costs in China are Rising

Go here to read an interesting article about how problems recruiting and retaining workers, particularly skilled ones, are raising the cost of doing business in China.

Can China—population 1.3 billion—really be running short of people? In many of the most important parts of its booming economy, the answer, increasingly, is yes. Though China has a vast pool of unskilled labour, firms in the south now complain that they cannot recruit enough cheap factory and manual workers. The market is even tighter for skilled labour. As the economy grows and moves into higher value-added work, the challenge of attracting and retaining staff is rising with the skill level, as demand outstrips supply. The result is escalating costs for firms operating in China. “If you think that China is a cheap place for labour, think again,” says Vincent Gauthier of Hewitt Associates, a human-resources consultancy.

Permanent Oil Shock?

From a recent Economist article on the world economy:

"Lately, official worries have been publicly vented. On April 7th economists at the IMF caused a stir when they suggested the world needed to get used to a “permanent oil shock”. Thanks to strong demand and tight supply, they argued, oil prices would be substantially higher in future than they had been in the 1990s. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, recently pointed to the rise in oil prices as an “unwelcome” risk to global economic growth. In a comment reminiscent of the 1970s, he urged consumers to become “good energy savers”."

This is worrisome to say the least. Your thoughts?

What is a Brand?

Here is a clip from a Business Week article that provides an excellent discussion of branding. It is relevant to economic development.

"For the past few weeks, I've been arguing for a reduction of the definition of "brand" to it's foundation. Brand, I believe, should be understood as a tangible symbol that distinguishes one company's products from those of the competition. All other notions, infused with theories about the complex relationship between company and customer, should be understood as derivative concepts -- separate from the core meaning."

More here.

Steel Boom in Pittsburgh, 1936

"Most reliable index of general business conditions in Pittsburgh is how dirty people's faces are. By last week with steel production touching a new Recovery high (75% of capacity) Pittsburghers were good & grimy. Boomtime crowds swarmed the narrow streets of the Golden Triangle, Pittsburgh's famed business and shopping district at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers."

Here for more. (Subscription required)

Captured by a Poet in 1951

Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Gary—they make their steel with men.
In the blood of men and the ink of chimneys
The smoke nights write their oaths:
Smoke into steel and blood into steel;
Homestead, Braddock, Birmingham, they make their steel with men.

—Carl Sandburg

In 1981, TIME Magazine Wrote

"Microsoft. Best known for its version of the program-writing language, BASIC which has sold more than 500,000 copies so far, Microsoft (projected 1981 sales: $14 million) was founded in 1975 by William Gates, then an 18-year-old Harvard student. Gates now oversees a staff of 96 at the firm's headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. Growth has come so fast that Gates has not yet found time to finish his degree at Harvard." More here (if you subscribe to TIME online)."

There Will Be Closings

Governors and mayors across the country are lining up political firepower to keep their military bases--and the jobs and income they generate--off the Bush Administration's hit list.

Although 97 major bases have been shut in the four most recent rounds of closings, from 1988 to 1995, that still leaves 425 active sites--perhaps 25% too many, in the view of the latest and leaner-minded Defense Department boss Donald Rumsfeld. More here.

Arkansas' Efforts to Increase Incentives

Even with all their problems, many states are gung-ho to augment their incentive strength. Click here to see what Arkansas economic developers are looking at.

This whole arena (incentives) is getting more interesting. I continue to look for a big blow-up coming soon. Watch the reaction to the 6th District Court (Federal Court, Cinn., OH) on State of Ohio incentives invested in the Toledo Jeep deal.

Why Do Some Towns Boom, and Others Don't

Good question. In my opinion, lots of reasons explain success or the lack of it. Hard to generalize. More here to hear what one source says.

I start with these two questions: 1) what are you trying to do in terms of economic development; and 2) how do you know whether you have succeeded?

Most places I know do not want to be "boom" towns per se. Most are searching for quality growth that is balanced.

Nicaragua Wants to Become A Nearshore Hot Spot

And here is what it is offering. The Nicaraguan government is eager to capture some of the offshoring business, so it has created "aggressive incentives." They include:

- A 100 percent tax holiday on earnings for outsourcing suppliers as long as their customers are outside Central America.
- No property taxes for outsourcing facilities.
- No VAT taxes.
- No duties on IT equipment suppliers bring into the country as long as they apply for Free Zone status.