Comments for Jonathan Gifford

Comment on Napoleon’s Whiff of Grapeshot by Karen

Karen — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:14:02 +0000

I have also been puzzling over Carabus Balls, but I think it is Carlyle short-hand for the Thermidorean social whirl in the centre of which sat Theresa Carabus (Tallien’s wife). This is what Wiki says about her: “Thérésa became one of the leaders of the Parisian social life. Her salon was famous and she was one of the originators of the Neo-Grec women’s fashion of the French Directory period. She was a very colorful figure; one story is that she was said to bathe in the juice of strawberries for their healing properties. She once arrived at the Tuileries Palace, the then chief residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, supported by a black page, with eight sapphire rings and six toe rings, a gold bracelet on each ankle and nine bracelets on each arm. To top the look off Theresa had a head band covered in rubies. ”
I know Wiki isn’t the most distinguished of sources but I can’t find a better explanation!

Comment on Martin Lindstrom, author of Brandwashed, doesn’t seem to know what a brand is by Sam Mably

Sam Mably — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 22:21:29 +0000

Could the statement “I always wear black” suggest that Martin Lindstrom does, in fact, have his *own* brand, a self-brand if you will, known simply as “Martin Lindstrom: Brand Expert” and defined, at least in part, by always wearing black? It’s a brand of sorts, surely (Steve Jobs had a similar self-brand, his one had a roll top and came with badly-fitting jeans).

And if this was/is indeed the case, didn’t Lindstrom willingly subject himself to this particular brand whenever he looked in the mirror, before and during his `brand detox’ stint (until, of course, he had to swap it for an “I Love Cyprus” replacement, therefore temporarily damaging his brand)?

I’m guessing he missed that one too (unless he was only referring to the Register-Meal top 5000 brands), along with the 3,000 or so other brands per day he also didn’t think he saw.

Comment on Command and Control management: have we really moved on? by Modern Management or the Command System? - Page 8

Modern Management or the Command System? - Page 8 — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:15:45 +0000

[...] talent and failing to engage colleagues in a mutual effort to create a successful organisation. http://jonathangifford.com/business-…ol-management/ Suggested reading. It's imperative for the shipping industry to see that necessary changes are [...]

Comment on Leadership strategy: Jack Welch or Napoleon Bonaparte? by Joseph

Joseph — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:34:00 +0000

Both Napolean and Jack has one in common. Both were ambitious and did not care about people.

Comment on Leadership strategy: Jack Welch or Napoleon Bonaparte? by donald

donald — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:45:23 +0000

Hi: just found your website – really enjoy your articles & thoughts -writing a leadership book as well to teach myself more on the subject. Keep up the great work, donald

Comment on The loneliness of the Chief Executive Officer: Louis Gerstner and IBM by Jonathan Gifford

Jonathan Gifford — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:20:02 +0000

Apologies, Savoner. I have all of my notes for the blog on Gerstner’s actions but I got distracted by other writing after posting those IBM articles. I will write it up and post it within the week. Thank you for your interest. What Gerstner did, by the way, was an interesting combination of classic ‘Mckinsey-style’ restructuring, some really quite radical business decisions (like slashing prices) and the very clear overriding strategy that Gerstner had seemed to say he didn’t want!

Comment on The loneliness of the Chief Executive Officer: Louis Gerstner and IBM by savoner

savoner — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:57:24 +0000

Both of your IBM articles talk about a future blog that reviews the specific steps that Gerstner took to reengineer IBM. Did that blog ever get published?

Comment on Changing a ‘heritage’ culture: HP and Carly Fiorina by Elections mi-mandat : 51 façons d’être une femme candidate

Elections mi-mandat : 51 façons d’être une femme candidate — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:06:06 +0000

[...] de Rebecca Traister de Salon. Sa conversion peut s’illustrerdans cette célèbre anecdote qu’ellea elle-même racontée: le jour où elle fourra une paire de chaussettesappartenant à son mari dans son pantalon et [...]

Comment on 100 Great Leadership Ideas by Tweets that mention Jonathan Gifford » Leadership Ideas -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Jonathan Gifford » Leadership Ideas -- Topsy.com — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:23:31 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tim Cook, Jonathan Gifford. Jonathan Gifford said: 'Harnessing the intelligence of the organisation' sounds simple but is harder than we think. http://bit.ly/bOKwEZ #leadership [...]

Comment on Jack Welch on work-life balance (and turning a blind eye to Jack’s rather obvious lack of expertise in this area) by HF

HF — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:11:07 +0000

Amen. I like your take on Neutron Jack. What an amazing business man/leader and at the same time what a terrible failure as a husband and father.