Goodbye, Amy!

So young... so talented. Goodbye, Amy!

Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home in London in the morning of July 23. There are no official report yet of the cause of death. Her body was cremated last Tuesday.

Good luck, Mr. Gorsky!

Photo from here.

On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words after stepping on the moon, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," were televised to earth and heard by millions. But just before he reentered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark, "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky!"

Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.

Over the years, many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.

On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question. In 1938 when he was a kid in a small midwest town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which landed in his neighbor's backyard by the bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, "Sex! You want sex?! You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"

Source: hcomi.com

The Transformers Say...

Photo from Manila Fashion Observer.

Say it over and over in a robotic voice.

Obviously, I still have a Transformers: Dark of the Moon hangover. I am imagining every vehicle that I see to transform into an Autobot or Decepticon. Haha!

What does your name say about your personality?

I stumbled upon acrophonology.net and had my full name analyzed. Here's the result:

My First Name

You have a love of travel and adventure, and you enjoy sports. You also have a very strong sense of fair play and want justice. You have a great deal of loyalty to those you love. You have much inner strength. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life. You can handle details well. You have a methodical mind. You must learn to give 'wise' service and not be a martyr. You have a need to be up front. You have a diplomatic flair to your nature. Equality and fairness are important to you. Your independence and freedom are important to you. You can be quite inventive and quite curious.

My Middle Name

You are clever, inventive, imaginative and youthful. You enjoy socializing. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life. You can handle details well. You have a methodical mind. Your privacy is important to you. You have a rich inner life. You have a need to be up front. You enjoy a challenge. You can take thought-directed actions.

My Last Name

You want to be productive and feel useful, and enjoy helping solve problems. You like to be busy and not waste time. Your privacy is important to you. You have a rich inner life. You enjoy make-believe and fantasy. It is hard for you to forget injustices. You enjoy a challenge. You can take thought-directed actions. You can be assertive and aggressive when the occasion arises. You have a great deal of loyalty to those you love. You have much inner strength. You tend to be private and secretive.

Well, true.

Happy Father's Day

Super Mom will take charge saving the world tomorrow while you are having your day off.

Go the Fuck to Sleep!

Adam Mansbach probably had a conversation with me some time this year, heard my night struggles about trying to get my son to sleep and made it an inspiration to write a book.

That's a made up story.

Anyway, the author created a funny children's story book for adults that clearly narrates a parent's struggle each night for their kids to go to sleep. To make the story more hilarious, Samuel L. Jackson narrates it. 

The ABC of Superlative Leadership

I just have to re-post this article from Read Bud because I find it useful for business or to anyone who just wants to be at the top of their game.

If you want to make the move from managing to leading, from being a professional to being an inspirer, from being one of the team to being a leader of the team, you need to know the ABC of Superlative Leadership.

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A is for Appreciative Cultures, the end result of a leader's work, when the culture he or she fosters becomes an appreciative value of the company.


B is for rock-solid Belief that your team can move mountains.


C is for Culture, which is the way people behave when you're not looking.


D is for the Drive for Power that makes you want to lead.


E is for Encouragement, like sun after the rain.


F is for Fun, an indication that the right work is happening.


G is for Growing your people. Like Sir Colin Marshall, head of British Airways, who personally attended every one of his customer care programmes, "Putting People First".


H is for Helicopter vision, because you need to see in three time zones: the near, the middle and the far.


I is for leader Identity, the ability to be comfortable in your own shoes.


J is for Joy because leaders rejoice in their own blessings as well as the successes of their team.

K is for Knowing your people, not just by name and number, but by strength and weakness, character and spirit, skills and potential, what makes them sigh and what makes them soar.

L is for Learning, because learning is change and learning is growth.

M is for Mission which leaders live as well as write. Like Bill Gates insisting that his staff at Microsoft, Germany, use the familiar "Du" instead of the formal "Sie".

N is for the Nobel complex, the belief that everything your people do is worthy of a Nobel prize.

 

O is for Opportunity. Like Edmund McIlhenny who returned from the American Civil War to find his sugar plantation and salt works in ruins except for a few hot Mexican peppers that had sown themselves. He used them to produce a sauce that is now known as Tabasco and sold around the world.

P is for Plain-talking because leaders need to be understood.

Q is for Questions, such as "What do you need me to do?" and "How can I help you work better?" and "What should I be doing?"

R is for Respect, the touchstone of every relationship a leader has.

S is for Symbols, the language of leadership. Like the CEO of a candy factory facing financial ruin, whose first symbolic act was to shorten the tails on the sugar mice.

T is for the Traits of courage and determination, patience and perseverance.

U is for Unleashing what's there. Like 3M, who allow their scientists to spend 15% of their time working on projects that interest them.

V is for Values, the guiding principles of the team, or "the Walkmans of the mind".

W is for the Way, the Chinese "tao", the route that leaders take and others follow.

X is for Xtraordinary because leaders get ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Y is for Yes, because there is always a plus to be found even in the worst situation and the toughest setback.

Z is for Zero tolerance of failure, sub-performance and giving up.

 

Learn these simple principles, and there are no limits to where you can lead your team.