What it takes to be a leader...

Here's the National Post's take on business leadership...
"Mitch Moxley
4 November 2006
National Post
There is a shifting dynamic at the top. Many of our business leaders are reaching retirement age, creating a demand for fresh executives. This is opening the door to a new set of business leaders -- many of today's rising Canadian executives are young, many are women and many come from the West.
Take Sean Durfy, for example. He is WestJet Airlines Ltd's. recently appointed president. He just turned 40. Research in Motion Ltd.'s wunderkind Dennis Kavelman is still in his mid-30s. And Kathleen Sendall, senior vice-president at Petro-Canada, is a rising star in the oil patch and the first woman to chair the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
They may be new faces but they are commanding attention. Today, the leaders of top companies must be more than business-savvy. They must be inspirational, says Don Nolan, president of Nolan Associates, an executive recruitment firm in Toronto. "People want to join companies managed by great leaders," Mr. Nolan says. "The best leaders are those who are empowered by their followers." "...

Here's my take on characteristics of a good leader (at least the type of leader I aspire to be):
Motivated, inspirational, decisive, charismatic, good communicator / public speaker

Google overvalued?

Bought GOP Dec 550 C on Friday after GOOG had been down for 3 days running. Then saw the following article today:

"ReutersBig money picks GE, sees Google as pricey: Barron'sSunday November 5, 2:38 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Diversified manufacturer General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - News) is a favorite pick of major money managers, some of whom see the shares rising as much as 30 percent in the coming months, Barron's said in its November 6 edition.
Such investors are cheered by expectations of tame U.S. inflation, low interest rates and modest stock valuations, the financial weekly said.
Web search leader Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - News) and automaker General Motors Corp.(NYSE:GM - News) were named as the market's most overvalued shares in Barron's Big Money poll of major money managers. "

It'll be interesting to see what happens with GOOG in the coming week. I'll be happy making 30%+. Then I need to find the next dead stock and ride it while it comes back to life.

The End of an Era

My grandmother died today... I lived for years with her. In some ways I feel closer to her than to my mom... Cancer.

I never got a chance to say bye... To have her meet my son... To have one last talk. We used to have such great talks...

From Blue to Green

Oh man! So much has happened since my last post (when was that anyhow? Oh. right. June 19th, when I posted Unc. Bill's best ever birthday message). So what's happened since then? Well, for starters, I've left the blue bank to go to the green bank (still wealth mgmt). I'm no longer an "online" guy, I'm now more general business, and I no longer work in a marketing group, I'm now in finance??? (How did that last bit happen). On top of that, I missed out on Oubay's stock tip (my own fault) and failed to buy ATI (either the stock or the calls). And then I turned around and sold my RIMM calls too early, missing a $7.00 run up in the stock price. Yeesh. You've got to check out this guy on Youtube. I hope I'm as in touch with what's going on around me as he is when I get to his age.

The best birthday message

Unc. Bill's message on my birthday (quote).

"H*****e A******y. Happy Birthday. All the best for the future. And... Peace and Love in everything, you know?
Just... Keep a conscious movement. Keep your focus, and I'm sure that... the world is yours to conquer as you've already found. So just be... H****e A******y and.. If you can't be H*****e A******y just keep on being J***y and... be Good, can't be good, be careful. Keep retoolin... that means you have to keep on doin your schoolin.. and that's no foolin.. Haha. Alright son, one love, tek care, all the best. A could a sing happy birthday but I guess I'll save that for another time. But nonetheless (sings happy birthday song uptempo). Dun Know. One love son."

Was a nice message to hear, especially since my dad didn't call me for my birthday.

Week-end

Spent a great weekend with the inlaws (is that oxymoronic or what!) but seriously its generally pretty relaxing when I hang out with them. Tough going back to work and being away from my little cherubs today though...

Right now I'm hanging out when I should be turning in - listening to Alicia Keyes "If I Ain't Got You". Such an incredible songstress, that young lady...

Definition of a condiment

Apparently Mayonnaise is a condiment. Check out http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=condiment
Makes sense, I suppose...