Vintage Leadership

Vintage leadership is characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic leadership.

While leadership can be defined in many ways and applied in many ways I present to you:

Twelve of my favorite movies that have woven within their plots and character development, elements of vintage leadership.

Now wait a minute!....before you read the list below, make no judgments until you share your list with me and then we can have a sincere conversation. Thank you!

1. The Natural

2. Liar Liar

3. Forrest Gump

4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

5. A Few Good Men

6. The Longest Yard

7. Meatballs

8. Star Wars

9. Armageddon

10. Tommy Boy

11. Die Hard

12. The Music Man

Hidden Treasures

Some people call me crazy for collecting so many letters, cards and pictures given to me over the years. I recently found a box of Giant Eagle paraphernalia deep inside our storage unit. Inside was a card sent to me from one of my mentors, Lou Zegarelli, dated January 3rd 1983, a true hidden treasure.

The Right Path Is Very Simple

Respect your fellow human beings,

Treat them fairly, 

Disagree with them honestly,

Enjoy their friendship,

Explore your common humanity,

Share your thoughts about one another candidly,

Work together for a common goal,

And help one another to achieve it.

No destructive lies.

No ridiculous fears.

No debilitating anger.

He was an amazing man, loved by all. I will always remember the words he left me with the first day we met.
"Good luck with the new store Bob and remember...the good you do, will come back to you."
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The Humanity of a Real Book- For you Mom...Happy 90th!

*** Reposted - Celebrating my Mom's 90th Birthday, may God rest her soul***

As a very young child, I remember sitting by the fireplace watching my Mom read...she loved books.
From romance novels to history books, my Mom read everything.

I would often sit beside her and just watch her turn the pages. She would sometimes read to me, and sometimes let me hold the book and read to her.
Books were in every room of our home. Old books, new books…books with bookmarks in them,
books on bookshelves, in the bathroom, kitchen and even “do-it-yourself” books in the garage.
I love the feel, the look and even the smell of a real book.

Mom died 12 years ago…I was left with her books.

The other day I picked up one her favorites “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway.
As I skimmed through the pages, I read some comments my Mom made (she often did that) and a warm feeling came over me… this book touched my Mom, she touched every page, she read every word and now this book touches me.

When I released my book “Pecan Pie” (dedicated to my Mom), I refused to have it published electronically. For the many of you that asked why…I think you now know the answer.

Books are for written for humanity, and nothing can replace the humanity of a real book.

My "Real" book  PECAN PIE, now available on Amazon.com, clink on link below
Click here for a sample  

“Copyright (7-19-12) by Robert V Gambone Sr.”

What Am I Good At?

Did you ever say to yourself, what are my gifts? my talents?

A few years ago I had a meeting with entrepreneur who wanted to expand into another business. Her dilemma was that she was not sure what type of business to start.
I asked Patti,  "What are your skills?"
"Skills? I'm not sure", she answered humbly.
I knew right away that she needed my help.

I think we all struggle sometimes with identifying what we are good at.

Here are three questions you probably never asked anyone before:

1. Ask three of your closest friends;  "What do I do that you depend on?"
2. Ask three business associates; "If I worked for you, what would you have me do?"
3. Ask three clients/customers; "What is it about me that made you decide to purchase my service/product?"

Write it all down and read through your notes several times. Take a few moments to think, and the question; What am I good at? ...will be answered.

Today Patti's new business is growing because she recognized her gifts and her talents and decided to do what she was good at.

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Fire, Aim, Ready!

I know what you're saying, isn't it... Ready, Aim, Fire?

When it comes to growing your business by word of mouth marketing...it is  Fire, Aim, Ready!

Fire: 

• Ignite the "fire" with a smile and a passionate conversation.
• Fuel the fire by showing interest in the other person.
• Keep the fire burning by giving and offering hope.

Aim:

• Ask; what is your target market?
• Educate them on your target market.
• Help each other "aim" at your respective target markets.

Ready:

• Develop trust with each other.
• Commit to helping each other.
• Then you are "ready" to accept leadership for each other.

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Improve Your Problem Solving Skills

This quiz can help you find the strengths and weaknesses of your skills in solving problems, as well as point you to ways of improving in this important area.*

Answer YES or NO to the following Ten questions.

1. Do you gather all the information you can before trying to solve a problem?
2. Do you seek input from your fellow team members?
3. Do you get opinions from outside experts?
4. Do you list all the possible solutions on a piece of paper?
5. Do you then visualize the strengths and weaknesses of each solution?
6. Do you let your subconscious work on the problem?
7. Do others seek your help?
8. Are you willing to try another solution if your first idea isn't working?
9. Do you see problems as challenges and get satisfaction from resolving them?
10. Do you practice your problem-solving skills on puzzles and games?

Score yourself: 8 to 10 YES answers indicates you are a pro at solving problems. Six or seven is average, but if you had a lower score, study the questions for ways you can improve.

*Teamwork notes

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10 Questions Your Team Should Ask*

"Is your team on track?"

That's a question every team should be asking itself periodically. The following ten questions can serve as a starting point in a team-evaluation. For team members to maintain anonymity, the questions can be answered on paper and typed up together on a master sheet without attribution. Then, at a special team-development meeting, the collected answers can be discussed and corrective action taken.

Here are the questions:

1. Do we trust each other?

2. Are we genuinely interested and concerned for each other?

3. Do we feel free to communicate openly?

4. Do we understand our team's goals?

5. Do we have a real commitment to these goals?

6. Do we make good use of all our abilities?

7. Do we handle conflict successfully?

8. Does everyone participate?

9. Do we respect our individual differences?

10. Do we enjoy being members of this team?

Will Rogers said it best... "you may be on the right track, but if you don't move on, you will eventually get hit by a train."

*Teamwork notes.

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