Bootstrap Leadership Blog

The great thing about partnering with clients is I’m constantly learning from them.  Last week, I was facilitating a leadership development program when the client introduced a cool web tool for her participants – it’s called GlobeSmart, and it’s a fantastic cultural awareness and global acumen resource.  GlobeSmart, the brainchild of Aperian Global (a cultural training firm), provides global organizations with access to information on conducting business with people from more than 60 countries. GlobeSmart addresses the greatest cause of difficulty in global business interactions - the challenge of relating and communicating successfully with counterparts from other countries, and develops awareness on three levels: individual self awareness, awareness of other cultures, and awareness of global business. 

Users start with a self-assessment of their own cultural tendencies, which can then be plotted against the similar profiles from the 60+ counties in the database.  In addition, you can learn key facts, trends, and cultural nuances on these countries… and as an online and mobile device tool, it is available 24/7, making it possible for employees worldwide to access information they need, anytime they need it.  It also includes practical tips for increasing your skills, and is continuously updated, with firsthand perspectives added by members in the popular FieldNotes section.

Check out GlobalSmart – you’ll win major points for recommending this critical development resource to your organization.

Here’s another online resource for great leadership writing – NetSpeed Fast Tracks.  This website offers a searchable database of practical resources that can help you manage your career and your leadership challenges.  Here’s what you’ll find at NetSpeed Fast Tracks:  

PodSpots: Short audio clips (1-3 minutes long) that you can listen to on your computer or download to your iPod or mp3 player for audio playback anyplace, anytime. Each PodSpot is delivered by an animated personality called an avatar. The written text for each PodSpot appears on screen below each avatar presenter, as well.

Knols: Concise articles on practical topics like writing effectively, negotiating with others, delegating work, dealing with conflict, and other workplace issues you and your employees face every day. Knols may include multimedia, graphics and audio clips as well as text.

Blogs: NetSpeed Fast Track staffers share what's on their minds about the world of work, and you can post your comments and join in the discussion.

 
Interviews: Interviews with authors and other experts on a wide range of issues. Listen to them in their entirely (usually around 10 minutes) or listen to short clips on key points. Like PodSpots, Insights interviews are also downloadable to your mobile device.

NetSpeed Fast Tracks is loaded with interesting content, and can be brought “inside” your company through subscriptions and seat licenses, where you can work with the tools to customize the site and feature your own leaders’ content, etc.  Jump on the site today and check it out… 

Here’s another interesting online resource for all things leadership – leadershipnow.com.  This site features a very good listing of current and classic leadership books (including annual “best of” lists that go back to 2005), as well as leadership quotes, blogs, articles and much more. 

One of the more promising areas of the site is the “LeadershipMinute” section – where you can find practical advice on several different leadership topics such as delegating, relationships, trust, etc.  They need to add more to this section, but it has potential.  Another favorite is the articles section, where you can find complete speeches by leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt, or recent articles by authors like Tom Peters or Stephen Covey.

I can’t tell who runs this site, but it deserves a quick click through to see if it contains anything you can use for your own development or for an upcoming speech or presentation.  Happy surfing!