Category: Insights from Leaders

September 5, 2018

John McCain: More Than an American Hero

By: Gary Polson, CEO I was so inspired by Senator John McCain’s life and death. His life is a reminder of America’s greatest values: service, devotion, sacrifice and honor. He is a real American hero. Actually, he was more than a hero. He was a loving father. In her eulogy, Meghan McCain shared how she loved her father and felt his love. John McCain committed to Washington, DC and traveled the world in his role as a Senator. Yet, he […]

June 27, 2018

Did Benjamin Franklin Know About Millennials?

Cyborg Hand Holding Smartphone

Shirley Levine was an incredible educator that I had the pleasure to work with and learn from. She once asked some teachers, “What is your job?”   The teachers responded, “Teach the kids.”   Shirley said, “That is not it.”   The teachers responded with, “Educate the kids,” and similar concepts.   Shirley said, “That is not it either.”   After a while, when the teachers were perplexed, she said, “Your job is to get the kids to learn. There […]

April 25, 2018

7 Benefits of Volunteering that Build Leadership Skills

Cydcor team members at LA Food Bank

By Dwight Coates, Chief Information Officer | Cydcor   Building a department’s strategy, holding meetings, and orchestrating the delivery of technology to our business are not the only ways people can build leadership skills. In fact, one of the most effective ways for team members to learn critical leadership skills is by helping others. There is a myriad of benefits to volunteering. Volunteering takes team members out of their everyday routines and out of the office environment. It shakes up […]

April 11, 2018

Five Leadership Lessons from Benjamin Franklin

Original digital painting by Joe Cicak (submitter). Based on the well-known portrait of Ben Franklin on the US 100 bill. Painting mimics classic painting styles of the 18th century. This painting is fully released.See also my illustration of George Washington.

By Gary Polson, Chairman and CEO | Cydcor   Here are five of the many leadership lessons everyone can learn from Benjamin Franklin.   1. Take Control Whenever I have struggled, made excuses, wanted something, or quit something, my Mom would tell me, “God helps them who help themselves.”  Benjamin Franklin’s famous words teach us that we all control our destiny.  A related Franklin quote is, “He that is good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”   […]

December 1, 2017

The Top Five Books For Managers #5: Leadership and the One Minute Manager

This article is the fifth in a series of five blog posts from management expert, and Cydcor Chief People Officer, Jeannie Finkel. In this series, Jeannie recommends the Top Five Books she believes can help you transform your management style and become a better, more effective leader.   Managers, especially those leading a team for the first time, sometimes mistakenly believe that to be effective leaders, they must shape their team members’ work styles and thinking to their own. But […]

November 24, 2017

The Top Five Books for Managers #4: Encouraging the Heart

This article is the fourth in a series of five blog posts from management expert, and Cydcor Chief People Officer, Jeannie Finkel. In this series, Jeannie recommends the Top Five Books she believes can help you transform your management style and become a better, more effective leader. What really motivates people? What is that drives people to do their best work and be the most effective version of themselves? As a manager and leader, it pays to not just be […]

November 17, 2017

The Top Five Books for Managers #3: Leadership is an Art

This article is the third in a series of five blog posts from management expert, and Cydcor Chief People Officer, Jeannie Finkel. In this series, Jeannie recommends the Top Five Books she believes can help you transform your management style and become a better, more effective leader.   There are some clear cut skills that can help anyone become a better manager, but it can take a harder-to-define set of qualities to be a strong leader. Management expert Jeannie Finkel […]

November 10, 2017

The Top Five Books for Managers #2: The Elements of Style

Book cover art the elements of style

This is the second in a series of five posts on tips and books for managers, and Cydcor Chief People Officer, Jeannie Finkel. In this series, Jeannie recommends the Top Five Books she believes can help you transform your management style and become a better, more effective leader.   Writing well isn’t just a nice talent you can use to impress friends and colleagues. Sure, it can do that as well, but effective writing is much more important than that. […]

November 3, 2017

Top Five Books for Managers #1: 13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You can Avoid Them

This is the first in a series of five posts by management expert, Jeannie Finkel. In this series, Jeannie weighs in on the top five books for managers, featuring one book each week. Being a great manager is a skill that benefits from constant honing and refinement. While some are born with the innate ability to influence others, inspire action, and drive results, most leaders require a great deal of training, practice, and studying to become as effective as they […]

November 1, 2017

The Top Five Leadership Lessons I Learned from Historical Leaders

  There are no better examples of leadership than the legacies of our great historical leaders. While they achieved tremendous fame, they did not do so without facing the occasional failure and enduring hardship. As we strive to become better leaders and learn how to inspire others, we would do well to reflect on the greatest leaders from history to see the characteristics, mentality, and habits that allowed these most revered leaders challenge norms, empower the oppressed, galvanize action, and […]