Professor John Kotter answers questions on why he wrote A Sense of Urgency in this Harvard Business clip.

Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter is a world authority on leadership and change. In his newest work, A Sense of Urgency, Kotter shows what a true sense of urgency in an organization really is, why it is becoming an exceptionally important asset, and how it can be created and sustained within organizations.

••• Click here to watch this clip … In the clip he discusses:

• Why do we need a sense of urgency?

• What is the benefit of having a sense of urgency?

• What is the difference between activity and urgency?

••• Click here to watch this clip …

HSBC is offering passengers at London’s Heathrow the opportunity to create their own in-flight magazine.

It will allow customers to choose the celebrity writers they are most interested in.

••• Click through to the original article …

Google searches for the keyword “downturn” have quintupled recently.

This is no surprise. In business, 2009 will be a world of tight budgets.

Two of the biggest costs, the biggest budget chuncks, will be: payroll + marketing.

So, two of the biggest returns will need to be:
1. return on payroll, and
2. return on marketing.

In 2009, to survive brutal economic conditions and grow their business, senior management will be focusing on payroll optimisation and marketing optimisation.

In my own consulting I am focusing my attention on helping my clients with tight budgets:
1. to create more profit out of their monthly payroll expense, and
2. to harvest more sales revenues from their marketing investment.

Featured today on Sunrise News:

Tracey Voyce, Founder of Good Onya Australia says:

We are not trying to simplify the economic situation or encourage people to bury their heads in the sand. And we definitely aren’t about taking political sides. Good Onya Australia is simply about bringing Australians together to support each other and focus on the good stuff, so we can make a positive difference for our country.

Robert F Kennedy once said - “Each time a man stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Good Onya Australia is the first ripple of hope. With your help, it can grow into a wave of change that will sweep across the country and make a real positive difference.

SIMON CHEN of Taguchimail says:
Very much alive. Much to a lot of people’s amazement. And still very, very effective. But with the volume of email now, and the relentless offensive activity of corporate and personal SPAM filters, the actual job of engagement and grabbing attention is getting harder.

More on this article here …