Patrick Batemen, the protagonist in Bret Easton Eills novel, American Psycho, is driven into a quiet rage when he notices his colleagues business card. Bateman is angered because it’s better than his.
In the movie based on the book–Bateman ogles his co-workers cards with a queasy jealously. “Look at that subtle off-white coloring.” Bateman obverses obsessively, “The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a watermark!”
From the perspective of the novelist the scene illustrates how the banal intrinsic of consumerism effect people’s social standing, their view of themselves, and their view of the world.
From the perspective of someone who has ever had a business card the scene is eerily familiar.
Business cards express their owner’s personality, style, and status. As The Smart Set’sGreg Beato writes, business cards, then known as name cards, visiting cards, or trade cards, were used “in 15th-century China [and] in 17th century Europe.” In other words, business cards were essentially the original Facebook / Linkedin profile.
Today, business cards are still as popular and necessary as ever.
Choosing the best business card isn’t a science yet. Currently, there is a cold war between two opposing business card camps. Some believe in flashy, ostentatious, cards–they maintain that they will attract attention and respect. Others champion the subtle, simple, business card–arguing that a no-frills approach will speak to the owner’s down-to-business style. There is no middle ground.
The divide in business card theory makes it impossible to lay out firm, do-or-die rules.
It is easier, regardless of what camp you’re in, to think of a few things you definitively shouldn’t do.
Writing a list would be pretty easy–but it might not leave a lasting impression.
The absence of problem-solving in today’s Government comes from the inability of Congress or the President to achieve any form of balanced collaboration and conversation. When people and ideas are brought together for collective endeavors, the conversation needs to be complicated by divergent opinions and perspectives, meaningful dissent, and distinctive contributions. Only after this process can ideas be strengthened, placed in realistic and pragmatic terms…then executed.
Where does this balance actually happen today in our civil society?
The answer is pretty clear for most college students. Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
In an age where unproductive and hyper-partisan talking points drown out the dialogue necessary for the incubation, innovation, and implementation of real policy ideas, The Daily Show continues to offer a forum for comprehensive debate on the problems America faces today.
In a recent interview with Bill Clinton, The Daily Show host John Stewart articulates how the current paralysis in Washington DC is rooted not by the lack of proposed solutions, but by the lack of depth of in how proposed solutions are presented to the American People.
The race-to-the-bottom competition over which party can offer the least substance to voters is becoming pathetically apparent to Stewart and his viewers around the country. The Daily Show’s uncanny ability to sift through the partisan garbage and generate substance in conversation may be the reason why so many of our respected leaders from Newt Gingerich to Bill Clinton to Mike Bloomberg choose to be guests on The Daily Show before going on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows. In a twist, the humorous model of presenting the news has become more serious than its traditional counterpart.
If you study leadership–yesterday was a great day to watch television.
Sometimes we have a unique opportunity to compare the voice of two different leaders. Last night I watched to interesting interviews which I think should be examined by any student of leadership. Take a look.
As you watch these videos, what does it tell you about leadership–its pros, cons, culture, ideology, rhetoric, style, etc.. I think you’ll find it relevant.
Part 1: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
First, Larry King interviews Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was a fascinating take on leadership, ideology, and world view.
Jack Ma admits he doesn’t know too much about technology, but he says he makes up for it by hiring smart people who can make technology work for them. He is also focused on keeping operations lean, efficient, and value focused.
When you listen to Jack Ma notice how he has very carefully and clearly chosen who he wants to spend his time with. A different style than the Larry King interview.
Lenny Rhine admits that working for a non-for-profit isn’t always easy. “Yeah” he tells me over the phone, “there are times when it’s hard…I can tell you stories about being in Nigeria when the power goes out. I have my war stories.”
Before Lenny started regularly finding himself in third world countries without power, he was a librarian at the University of Florida. Lenny says, “Thirty of my 32 years there I was at the Heath Science Center Library.”
If you meet Lenny the first thing you notice is that he’s not shy. The second thing you notice is that he’s not the kind of guy who can sit still and say he’s having a great time. He’s always moving and thinking, using his arms and his eyes to help tell a story.
So it makes sense when he tells me that he got restless at the library. According to Lenny, “I needed more challenges. I had everything running smoothly…and I had the budget organized. I needed something else.”
That’s when Lenny started to take stock of his needs and his skills. He wanted to give back and make a contribution to society and he also knew a heck of a lot about medical research, journals, websites, and resources. It wasn’t long before Lenny realized what he could do.
“I found outreach a great way to challenge myself, and as a librarian it was easy.” He started talking to people involved with the University of Zambia and together they built the Essential Health Links Gateway—an online list of annotated links and resources health professionals in low-income countries needed but couldn’t necessarily find on their own. Additionally, Lenny helped develop workshops that helped new users navigate the gateway.
As Lenny’s passion for distributing important information to developing countries grew, he retired. This could be the end of Lenny’s story, but he refused to let his skills off to pasture. He wanted to continue sharing what he knew and, chances were he probably wouldn’t be able to sit still at home and say he was having a blast.
That’s when a chance meeting turned into an opportunity Lenny couldn’t say no to. In 2005 Lenny met Barbara Aronson in Brazil who spearheaded a small project called Hinari with the World Health Organization called. Hinari’s primary goal was simple. They wanted to give free access to online medical journals to people in developing countries. That just so happened to match Lenny’s goal.
“I talked to her for two and half hours” Said Lenny. “She encouraged me to help [Hinari] train.” It didn’t take long for Lenny to agree.
Lenny joined four other trainers who design and give workshops to medical professionals around the world. Today, Hinari helps 109 countries get free or low cost access to over 7,000 journal titles.
“It’s hard to measure our success,” Lenny explains, “It is hard to quantify the impact of the training.” But it’s not hard to see how an organization like Hinari can be invaluable. If trainers like Lenny can help a doctor get the information he needs quickly and without cost in an environment where internet connections and power are a luxury rather than a second thought lives can be saved and research can be conducted.
That’s why Lenny ends up in countries like Nigeria with his fingers crossed; hoping that there is electricity and the internet is working. Without it he can’t teach effectively.
But non-profit work isn’t all about hoping—it also demands a very strict allocation of resources. “I have a finite amount of money and I have to split it between my travel and my salary. It’s nominal—but it’s something I love. I get a lot out my job, so it’s worth it.”
Lenny continues, “The ability to make a contribution—give back —and travel keeps me going. When I see physicians look at articles they have been [trying to find] for over 10 years, they are just drawn in—and it’s a good feeling…The ability to contribute to a situation makes it better. We are only here once.”
Hinari has a huge mission and they don’t have a lot of resources, yet they still have a lot of momentum and they’re always growing and finding new opportunities. Lenny reasons that it’s because “everybody knows the agenda, egos don’t get in the way, and everyone really tries to do what’s best with whatever they have.”
It proves that a strong agenda, a rallying point everyone can agree on, can hold everything together even if it all hangs on a shoestring.
For more information about Hinari watch the video below.
Alfred Hitchcock, director of over 60 films, said, “When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, ‘It’s in the script.’ If he says, ‘But what’s my motivation?, I say, ‘Your salary.’”
His no-nonsense leadership style, while not endearing to actors, propelled Hitchcock from his position as an assistant director in an English studio to one of the biggest names in Hollywood in fewer than five years.
Hitchcock was born in England, the son of a greengrocer, and got his start in the film business by drawing sets and title cards. He quickly and passionately absorbed the processes involved in making films and started to write scripts for practice.
His dedication paid off and he was eventually allowed to direct his own full-length movies in England. His success brought him to Hollywood where he searched for bigger and better opportunities.
The rest is history. Hitchcock became a household name, synonymous with murder, intrigue, and espionage.
On the set Hitchcock was a notoriously low-key, hands-off leader who expected his crew and actors to do the job they were responsible for. According to one anecdote Doris Day eventually approached Hitchcock on the set of the The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and wondered if she was doing a good job. He said he didn’t think she was doing a bad job and that was the end of it. He wasn’t prone to emotional flare-ups or tense dramatic moments. He simply wanted to get the job done.
In a more dramatic incident, Hitchcock called actors “cattle,” but later recanted his original statement and said, “My actor friends know I would never be capable of such a thoughtless, rude and unfeeling remark, that I would never call them cattle . . . What I probably said was that actors should be treated like cattle.”
Hitchcock believed in an authoritarian system that required his actors and crew to be autonomous while being responsive to commands.
Before Hitchcock set about making any film he would have most components planned before he began shooting. He was detail orientated, had no room for improvisations, and didn’t have kind feelings for ideas outside the boundaries he set. Each film was mapped out and rarely subjected to tinkering after it had been finalized.
Hitchcock blended a highly organized authoritative leadership structure with his laid-back, everyone-can-do-their-jobs attitude. His peculiar mix of leadership styles worked and it created tight story lines, fostered consistent productivity, and earned numerous industry accolades while letting the people he worked with flourish naturally.
Hitchcock was a champion of common sense (he once said, “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder”) and a creative powerhouse. His ability to get things done while still being able to express himself consistently was a true skill and one that informs his dichotomous leadership style. A leadership method that combined practicality with a sharp focus on individual imagination and ingenuity.
Patrick Batemen, the protagonist in Bret Easton Eills novel, American Psycho, is driven into a quiet rage when he notices his colleagues business card. Bateman is angered because it’s better than his.
