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Tinker, Tailor, Spearman, Spy?

Posted on February 16th, 2012

All occupations during the Medieval era.  From something known as the Crystal Obelisk Project, an in-progress list of occupations from yore. Apparently trying to answer the question “If you passed someone on the street during Medieval times, what would their occupation be?” The list is nicely organized and interesting to peruse. Their are fun words like “eggler” and “cordwainer”.  Not surprisingly the list of crafts and service occupations is quite long with specific jobs for just about everything. The list of scholarly occupations is likewise unsurprisingly short. I regret that we don’t currently have much call for an occupation formally titled “fool.” Expect, perhaps, for THIS GUY.  I’m just glad I never had to be a pissprophet, potboy or dung carter.

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Humility as a Business Tool

Posted on February 7th, 2012

From theAcademy of Management Journal comes research looking at the value of humility in leaders. It’s no surprise that leaders who display a higher level of personal humility are better liked. What is a bit more of a surprise is that there organizations tend to be more successful in the marketplace as well.  If you don’t subscribe to the journal you can’t read the article online.  A solid but susinct description can be found in an article at the Atlantic. This is encouraging.  From a human perspective it’s nice to see that positive traits can lead to success in the business world.  It’s mildly discouraging to note that this trait has the biggest positive benefit for white male leaders largely because others expect humility less from them.

Filed under: Business Strategy, Demographics, Leadership | No Comments »