A formula for spotting tycoons is a holy grail; Business leaders share many characteristics but defy attempts to be categorised

January 21, 2014 3:10 pm

A formula for spotting tycoons is a holy grail

By Luke Johnson

Business leaders share many characteristics but defy attempts to be categorised

Whenever I am on a public panel, I am asked one question more than any other: what is the magic that creates an outstanding entrepreneur? This week Gallup unveiled some of the findings from new research into this question. It has spent a decade on the project, called the Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder, andinterviewed more than 5,000 people. While the full results will be published this year, it says it has identified 10 key innate traits that highly successful entrepreneurs possess and labelled them like this: business focus, confidence, creative thinker, delegator, determination, independent, knowledge-seeker, promoter, relationship-builder and risk-taker. Read more of this post

11 Extremely Successful People Share Their Best Productivity Hacks: Skillful delegation is the most powerful productivity hack. Figure out the reason you’re procrastinating. You get the most work done when everyone else is sleeping

11 Extremely Successful People Share Their Best Productivity Hacks

MAX NISEN

JAN. 21, 2014, 4:14 PM 17,053 1

Most of us have had those days when we’ve come in to work, been confronted by a massive to-do list, and had no idea how to get it all accomplished. For people running large organizations, that can be the case nearly every day. Many manage the chaos with a variety of techniques and hacks that increase their effectiveness and reduce their workloads. LinkedIn asked more than 60 of its influencers to share the best productivity hack they’ve developed. We’ve broken out a few of our favorites. Read more of this post

12 Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast

12 Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast

JENNA GOUDREAU

JAN. 21, 2014, 8:00 AM 144,944 8

A man walks his dog in the early morning hours in Poland.

“If it has to happen, then it has to happen first,” writes Laura Vanderkam, time management expert and author of “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.” Read more of this post

The Prisoner of Stress; What does anxiety mean?

THE PRISONER OF STRESS

What does anxiety mean?

by Louis MenandJANUARY 27, 2014

Scott Stossel has tried almost every treatment available for his anxiety, from drugs to yoga. Nothing has worked. Illustration by Miguel Gallardo.

People don’t ordinarily self-medicate by writing a book, but “My Age of Anxiety” (Knopf) is an attempt at recovery by a man whom modern psychiatry has failed. The man is Scott Stossel, a successful journalist (he is currently the editor of The Atlantic), now in his forties, who has suffered all his life from an acute anxiety disorder. When he was a child, he had terrible separation anxiety; as he grew up, he acquired phobias about public speaking, flying, fainting, heights, closed spaces, germs, vomiting, and cheese. Many people have an aversion to those things (cheese excepted), and, given the option, go out of their way to avoid them. But, faced with the prospect of a plane trip or a speaking engagement or sometimes even a squash match or a meeting at the office, Stossel experiences full-blown panic: insomnia, sweating, vertigo, stomach pains, and loss of control of his bowels. The sight of an unfamiliar pimple can send him down a bottomless chute of dread. He nearly passed out at his own wedding. Read more of this post

Buffett Leans on 29-Year-Old Tracy Cool to Oversee Problems; “Talented people can accomplish a whole lot. I’d rather have a relatively few that are really talented and that love what they’re doing and that are self-starters.”

Buffett Leans on 29-Year-Old Cool to Oversee Problems

When Warren Buffett bought half of a commercial mortgage finance company in 2009, he hired a 25-year-old fresh out of business school to keep tabs on the investment. Since then, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC has earned back most of the $217 million that his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) spent on the deal. The business also helped propel Tracy Britt Cool’s career. Read more of this post

Overseas business challenge: the quality of management

Overseas business challenge: the quality of management

Yanyong Thammatucharee January 22, 2014 1:00 am

For many companies, managing overseas businesses is a new challenge. But it is something that cannot be avoided if a business wants to grow outside the current marketplace. Besides quality products, good service, strong brands and capital, a company needs to acquire a good business-management system to be successful abroad. Read more of this post

Seven Ways To Become A Better Leader

Seven Ways To Become A Better Leader

LAURA ENTIS, ENTREPRENEUR
JAN. 21, 2014, 7:20 PM 2,291

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to first be a successful leader. After all, motivating and inspiring your team to come in every day and do their best work is arguably the single most important aspect of the job. Read more of this post

Strengthen Your Strategic Thinking Muscles

Strengthen Your Strategic Thinking Muscles

by Liane Davey  |   1:00 PM January 21, 2014

Have you been told that you need to be more strategic? Whether through 360 feedback or after a failed promotion attempt, being told that you aren’t strategic enough really stings. Worse is when you try to clarify what “more strategic” would look like and get few tangible suggestions.  Read more of this post

Church finances: Holy disorder; The bankruptcy of a Catholic diocese that diversified into business reflects scant supervision

January 21, 2014 6:37 pm

Church finances: Holy disorder

By Alex Barker in Maribor

The bankruptcy of a Catholic diocese that diversified into business reflects scant supervision

Father Joze Golovsek is praying for a bailout. But if it comes to the worst and the banks seize his church, he can take solace from knowing they cannot asset-strip the angels. Read more of this post

‘God of Gamblers’ Chow Yun Fat hates gambling

‘God of Gamblers’ Chow Yun Fat hates gambling

POSTED: 22 Jan 2014 14:42

Chow Yun Fat may be best known for playing the ‘God of Gamblers’ Ko Chun in the iconic 1989 film of the same name, but he says he actually hates gambling.

BEIJING: Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat, who played the ‘God of Gamblers’ Ko Chun in the iconic 1989 film of the same name, revealed Tuesday at a media conference for his new film “From Vegas to Macau” that he actually hates gambling, reported Chinese media. Read more of this post

Diamond Foods CFO on Recovering From a Crisis after settling fraud charges with SEC

January 21, 2014, 4:36 PM ET

Diamond Foods CFO on Recovering From a Crisis

EMILY CHASAN

Senior Editor

Diamond Foods Inc. settled fraud charges this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the snack food company still has work to do to put its accounting scandal behind it. Read more of this post

Jessica Alba Went Against Advice Not To Start A Company That Has Since Raised $52 Million

Jessica Alba Went Against Advice Not To Start A Company That Has Since Raised $52 Million

KIRSTEN ACUNA

JAN. 21, 2014, 3:22 PM 7,762 9

Jessica Alba is a triple threat as an actress, mother, and entrepreneur. Alba appeared on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to discuss motherhood, her new role in IFC’s “The Spoils of Babylon,” and her family company. Now two years old, The Honest Company makes non-toxic baby products including diapers and household cleaners. Read more of this post

Naked god sculptures exorcised from China’s Jinan after two days

Naked god sculptures exorcised from Jinan after two days

Staff Reporter

2014-01-22

The two giant sculptures in Jinan, Shandong province.The Buddhas Jumping the Wall. (Photo/CNS)

Two giant sculptures of nude Chinese deities that went up this week in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, have already been removed by the city government, Xinhua reports. The artwork, whose name translates as “naked gods climbing a house,” made its appearance on Jan. 18. One of the two figures rests with its arms draped over the roof of the house while he watches the other, still climbing the wall of another house. The two plump, bald gods have earned them the name Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, after a famous Chinese dish. Less than two days after their debut, however the sculptures were removed after the city government condemned them as ugly and strange.

The day LKY shocked Yudhoyono

The day Mr Lee shocked Yudhoyono

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 – 06:54

Zubaidah Nazeer

The Straits Times

INDONESIA – In the first year of his presidency, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was told that his country’s issues were so complex that he would achieve only a third of what he set out to do in the five-year term. Read more of this post

Pimco’s El-Erian Resigns after six years as the firm struggles to stem record redemptions from its main fund

Pimco’s El-Erian Resigns as Hodge Named Chief Executive

Mohamed El-Erian, responsible for leading Pacific Investment Management Co.’s transformation from the world’s biggest bond manager to a diversified investment firm, resigned after six years as the firm struggles to stem record redemptions from its main fund. Read more of this post

Socially responsible investing has got the backing of famous names, has seen a huge rise in assets under management and is focused on the future, but are family offices actually interested?

THE GOOD MONEY

ARTICLE | 20 JANUARY, 2014 05:48 PM | BY ATTRACTA MOONEY

Associating the word ‘social’ with anything these days usually creates an instant buzz – think social media and social networks. And when it comes to socially responsible investing (SRI) it is young investors who are apparently on trend. A study from Spectrem Group reveals 35% of very wealthy investors under 46 consider the social responsibility of their investments. “If the individual is younger, they tend to be more aware of the issues and think about socially responsible funds more than older investors,” says Catherine McBreen, managing director of the research firm. Read more of this post

The Trap of Too Many Choices

The Trap of Too Many Choices

By CARL RICHARDSJAN. 21, 2014

I recently got a new smartphone. In the setup process, I was presented with all sorts of options. Selecting a language was pretty easy, but I had to think harder about some of the other ones. Did I want the phone to use my location? Did I want to share data anonymously? Did I want to log in with an existing account or did I need to set up a new one? Read more of this post

Bill Gates to Spend Rest of Life on Philanthropic Work

Bill Gates to Spend Rest of Life on Philanthropic Work

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates will work on philanthropy full time for the rest of his life and contribute part time as a board member of the software maker, which is seeking a new chief executive officer. Read more of this post