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Mark Miller – Great Leaders Serve
October 9, 2012 by
Last spring a publicist sent me Mark’s newest book, Great Leaders Grow. I think I read a page into it before I knew that Mark and I were going to get along great. I loved the book, it is a philosophy that I embrace deeply. Mark, being the most gracious and kind person that he is, thanked me a lot for my book review. A couple of months later, we had the great pleasure of sitting down to dinner and having a great discussion in San Francisco. Mark is one of the most generous, kind, and humble people I know. He has been immeasurably helpful to me. I value his friendship and look forward to many years of increasing friendship.
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| Name: |
| Mark Miller |
| Company/ Blog Name: |
| Great Leaders Serve |
| Website: |
| Click Here |
| Home: |
| Atlanta, GA, USA |
BIO:
Mark Miller is a business leader, best-selling author and communicator.
Mark began his Chick-fil-A career working as an hourly team member in 1977. In 1978, Mark joined the corporate staff working in the warehouse and mailroom. Since that time, he has provided leadership for Corporate Communications, Field Operations, Quality and Customer Satisfaction, Training and Development, and today he serves as the Vice President for the newly formed Organizational Effectiveness function. During his time with Chick-fil-A, annual sales have grown to over $4 billion. The company has more than 1,600 restaurants in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
Mark began writing about a decade ago. He teamed up with Ken Blanchard, co-author ofThe One Minute Manager to write The Secret : What Great Leaders Know and Do. Today, almost 400,000 copies of The Secret are in print, and it has been translated into more than 20 languages. Recently, he released The Secret of Teams which outlines some of the key lessons learned from a 20 year study on what makes some teams outperform the rest. His newest book, Great Leaders Grow : Becoming a Leader for Life, was released in February 2012 and was co-authored with Ken Blanchard.
In addition to his writing, Mark loves speaking to leaders. Over the years, he’s traveled extensively around the world teaching for numerous international organizations. His theme is always the same: encouraging and equipping leaders. His topics include leadership, creativity, team building, and more.
Mark has an active lifestyle. As a photographer, he enjoys shooting in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach places, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp and the jungles of Rwanda.
Randomness from Mark:
- Mission/purpose: Encouraging and Equiping Leaders.
- Passion: Helping leaders grow.
- Favorite Quote: “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
- Family: Married to Donna for 30 years; Two sons, Justin and David, one daughter-in-law, Lindsay, one grand dog – Jackson.
- Books: The Secret and Great Leaders GROW, both co-authored with Ken Blanchard. The Secret of Teams released in 2011.
- Day Job: Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness, Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Links to Connect With Mark:
Mark Levy – Levy Innovation
October 8, 2012 by
I read Mark’s book Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content, a couple years ago and loved it, but never reached out to him. I ended up meeting him at a small dinner with some friends at an author marketing workshop in San Francisco. He is larger than life and I enjoyed every minute talking to him and hearing his speech the next day. Mark is a genius that I can only hope to afford someday; but I hope our friendship will deepen, and last for a long time.
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| Name: |
| Mark Levy |
| Company/ Blog Name: |
| Levy Innovation: A Marketing Strategy Firm |
| Website: |
| Click Here |
| Home: |
| Glen Gardner, NJ, USA |
BIO:
Mark Levy is the founder of Levy Innovation LLC, a positioning firm that helps consultants and other thought leaders increase their fees by up to 2,000%.
His clients include Marshall Goldsmith (named by the London Times as one of the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world), Simon Sinek (celebrated TED speaker), David Meerman Scott (author of the biggest-selling social media book ever written), and Cynthia Montgomery (former head of the Strategy Unit of the Harvard Business School).
Before devoting his work fulltime to Levy Innovation, Mark served as Chief Marketing Officer at an Inc. 5000 experiential branding organization whose clients include Hot Topic, Samsung, Time Warner, Tivo, and Stanford University.
Mark has written for the New York Times, and has written or co-created five books. His latest book, “Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content,” has been published in eleven languages.
Mark has also taught research writing at Rutgers University.
In addition to being a positioning consultant, Mark creates magic tricks and shows. His work has been performed in Carnegie Hall and Las Vegas, and on all the major TV networks. He also co-created the off-Broadway show, “Chamber Magic,” which has played for twelve years, and is the longest-running one-person show in New York City.
Randomness from Mark Levy:
- Mission/purpose: It’s what I do for a living. I have ideaphoria. That is, consultants and other thought leaders hire me to help then come up with their big sexy idea; their signature idea; the thing that they’re going to be known for in the world. Then I help them talk about that idea loudly and clearly in everything they do, like on their website, and in their books, speeches, and shows. That way, they become the flag-bearers for their idea, and anyone who loves that idea has to seek my client out.
- Favorite Quote: “Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” ~ Emerson
Links to Connect With Mark Levy:
**Note: There are two great, no-cost PDF downloads at his site http://www.levyinnovation.com/: “List-making as a Tool of Thought Leadership” and “The Fascination Factor!”
Kimberly Bordonaro – Brandspiration
October 8, 2012 by
I can’t remember if I met Kimberly through Twitter or Facebook. But her personal branding material captured me at a time I was really trying to define myself. I went through her self-study course and we have shared many emails and communications since then. Her blog posts are awesome and all of her advice is mixed with edge and humor. She wrote a great post for the International Leadership Blogathon and I look forward to a long friendship and years of deepening my personal branding insights from her.
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| Name: |
| Kimberly Bordonaro |
| Company/ Blog Name: |
| Kimberly Bordonaro Personal Branding |
| Website: |
| Click Here |
| Home: |
| Los Angeles, CA, USA |
BIO:
As one of the most assiduous branding consultants for entrepreneurs, Kimberly Bordonaro has built a career on combining practical marketing and business advice with inspiring lyrical references to form a philosophy termed Brandspiration™. Her playful yet pragmatic style has been applauded by industry peers, many who turn to her for help crafting their own brands. Unlike some contemporaries, Kimberly views success not only in financial terms but creative terms. Her work is as much focused on defining and creating experiences around her clients’ individual ingenuity as it is in creating profitable brands.
Randomness from Kimberly Bordonaro:
- Mission/purpose: Turning tenacious entrepreneurs into profitable brands.
- Passion: My family, music/pop culture, creating remarkable experiences, and having fun.
- Claim to Fame: Less than 6 months from its launch, my “Brandspiration” blog began receiving endorsements and praise from a number of top marketing experts. Consequently, other branding professionals have turned to me to help with their personal brands and I’ve unofficially become the consultant who “brands the branders.”
- Favorite Quote: “Go!”
- Biggest Fear: I’m not too keen on camping and wild animals. I’m a city girl.
- Biggest Pet Peeve: I have no time for rude people and passive aggressive behavior.
- Weirdest Habit: I leave the house at time increments of five. A bit OCD and weird, no?
- Favorite Cartoon Character: Wile E. Coyote. That guy never gives up!
- Anything else? I love cupcakes and espresso. 🙂
Links to Connect With Kimberly Bordonaro:
Kimunya Mugo – Lead by Choice
October 8, 2012 by
I originally met Kimunya on Twitter. He contacted me when I was looking for writers for the International Leadership Blogathon and wanted to write. He wrote a great post that brings leadership to the family. We have stayed in touch since then and have become very good friends. I have a lot of great respect for him and all he does. He recently published a great book on bringing leadership to the family.
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| Name: |
| Kimunya Mugo |
| Company/ Blog Name: |
| Lead By Choice |
| Website: |
| Click Here |
| Home: |
| Nairobi, Kenya |
BIO:
Born in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley and now making home in Nairobi Kenya, Kimunya is first and foremost a husband and a father of three great kids. His family, he believes, is his first calling in life. During his free time, he works on his three passions: Communication, Leadership and Branding.
As a seasoned communication specialist, Kimunya has years of experience in communication strategy, publishing, branding, social media, development communication, media relations, campaigns, photography and filmmaking for development.
He started of as a scientist but his communication skills were accidentally discovered as he had a knack of digesting complex scientific information into popular script. Kimunya never looked back. Along the way, he noticed that there was something missing in his environment, intentional leadership. For a number of years, he explored what it means to be a leader. This finally inspired him to start writing a blog on intentional leadership Lead by Choice.
With a young family, he also noticed that he couldn’t become an effective leader anywhere else unless he started small, at home. Together with his wife and another couple, they have facilitated parenting classes since 2007. It is their way to give back to community, as they prepare new parents [and sometime older ones] through the challenging maze of parenting.
Always one to try out new things, Kimunya pioneered Earth Hour in Kenya and has organized this global event in Kenya since 2009 (www.earthhour.org).
He will be publishing a book in December 2012 that looks at his struggle growing up with an absentee father. In it, he takes the reader through five steps that inspired him to bring leadership back home.
Randomness from Kimunya Mugo:
- Mission/purpose: To work towards excellence, effective leadership, and creative thought that inspires and motivates people to sustainable action.
- Passion: Passionate about family, leadership, communication and sustainable development in that order.
- Claim to Fame: I shoot from the hip!
- Favorite Quote: “People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen. They went out and happened to things.” Leonardo Da Vinci
- Biggest Fear: Fail as a father and husband. Everything else is redeemable…
- Biggest Pet Peeve: People who don’t keep time
- Weirdest Habit: Can scratch my pinky with forefinger, from behind the middle and fourth fingers!
- Favorite Cartoon Character: Calvin & Hobbes!
Links to Connect With Kimunya Mugo:
Dennis N.T. Perkins – The Syncretics Group
October 8, 2012 by
Dennis and I began developing a friendship following my review of his book, Leading at the Edge. It was an awesome book and one I think every leader should read. He was kind enough to help me on a few things and vice-versa and I hope it is the beginning of a long friendship. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Into the Storm, which will be coming out soon. You can surely expect another book review.
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| Name: |
| Dennis N.T. Perkins |
| Company/ Blog Name: |
| The Syncretics Group |
| Website: |
| Click Here |
| Home: |
| Madison, CT, USA |
BIO:
For over twenty-five years, Dennis N.T. Perkins, Ph.D., has advised senior leaders in organizations ranging from Fortune 50 corporations to nonprofit associations. His current focus is on developing leadership in organizations, especially under conditions of rapid change, economic adversity, sudden growth, and other demanding environments. He has written extensively on leadership and organizational effectiveness and is a featured keynote speaker to groups and organizations throughout the year. Dr. Perkins is the author of Leading at The Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition, and Into the Storm: Lessons in Teamwork from the Treacherous Sydney to Hobart Ocean Race.
Randomness from Dennis N.T. Perkins :
- Mission/purpose: The Syncretics Group helps leaders, teams, and organizations achieve their greatest potential in demanding environments characterized by adversity, uncertainty, and rapid change.
- Favorite Quote: Never give up – There’s always another move!
Links to Connect With Dennis N.T. Perkins:
Gone With Old …In With The New. The Soft-Launch of ToddNielsen.com
October 4, 2012 by
I am excited to go live on the soft launch of ToddNielsen.com. I have been planning on making this change for quite sometime, but ended having a heck of a time with web designers. In the end I had to do it all myself. Hence the reason I am calling this a soft launch. There are still lots of edges to grind down to get it into the shape I want it to be in.
I decided to retire A Slice of Leadership for several reasons. The main reason though was to emphasize more of what I do around execution and leadership. This site is dedicated to my new mission statement, which is to: Use the Power of Execution to Create Miracles. It will make more sense as I roll everything out.
Let me tell you about a few things you should check out. Everything is in a beta state and is in the process of fine tuning, but if you see something that does not look right please let me know.
First head over to the “About” link in the navigation menu. I think you will enjoy those pages. They are much more personable then my bio from A Slice of Leadership and you will probably learn a few things about me that you never knew. I also have a page there that describes more about the reason for the new website.
Also check out the “What Ledge Are You Stuck On” video. Please forgive the quality and anything else about it. I recorded it at 12:30 am, so I might need a redo. 🙂
The “Testimonials and Other Love” section is pretty cool. A lot missing there, but the “Friends from Around the World” section is going to rock. I have a bunch of other friends to put in there. These are people that I think you should know.
The “Speaking and Workshops” pages lists all speeches, workshops and seminars. I am offering a killer 50% off of all them until the launch of my books.
Oh, yeah, I will be launch 3, that’s right THREE books on execution at the beginning of the year. I am really excited to be working with an awesome publisher.
Ok, well it is 2:30 am on October 4th. Mark that as the birth of ToddNielsen.com. You might think I am going to bed, but nope, gotta do some more tuning on this baby!
Please leave a comment below and share the new site with your friends, I got some uber-cool things coming soon!
Chris Edmonds – Driving Results Through Culture
October 2, 2012 by
I met Chris at an author marketing event in San Francisco, put on by Berrett-Koehler. We sat down next to each other and looked at one another and I think simultaneously raised our eyebrows at each other, and said, “Hey I know you.” We had interacted on Twitter but had not taken it any farther. I enjoy Chris’s enthusiasm, energy, and sense of humor. He is the one to blame for putting the podcasting idea in my head, and for helping me understand some of the ins-and-outs of it. Thanks Chris!
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| Name: |
| S. Chris Edmonds |
| Company/ Blog Name: |
| Driving Results Through Culture |
| Website: |
| Click Here |
| Home: |
| Conifer, CO (USA) |
BIO:
S. Chris Edmonds is a corporate culture expert, executive coach, speaker, and facilitator. He helps leaders create high performance, values-aligned teams and organizations. Thousands of followers look forward to his blog articles and the quotes that he shares on his blog; as well as on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook each day. In his free time, Chris is a working musician with Graystone Records recording artist Jones & Raine in Denver, CO, USA.
Randomness from Chris:
- Mission/purpose: – To help leaders passionately create & maintain high performance, values-aligned teams.
- Passion: – Values, people, culture, & music
- Claim to Fame: – I’m a working musician on the side with Graystone Records recording artist Jones & Raine (http://chris-edmonds-music.com)
Links to Connect With Chris:
Steve Nicholls – Steve Nicholls Career Coaching
October 2, 2012 by
I met Steve earlier this year on Twitter. We hit it off and began sharing tweets. When my International Leadership Blogathon came around he wrote a fantastic post but we both decided to publish it after the blogathon. It is a great post worth reading for those looking to make a career transition. Click to read his post. I consider him one of my many friends across the sea and hope to visit him when I finally make it over there.
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| Name: |
| Steve Nicholls |
| Company/ Blog Name: |
| Steve Nicholls Career Coaching |
| Website: |
| Click Here |
| Home: |
| Cornwall & London (UK) |
BIO:
My aim is to help you to achieve your life goals, your career development goals, and your career change goals; through pragmatic, friendly, and professional career coaching, career advice, & career guidance.
Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than helping talented people to achieve their career and life goals (in a career change or in their current career – or re-launching a career after redundancy).
In addition to my Career Coach and Career Advice & Guidance roles; I am Head of Marketing & Communications for the Association for Coaching, and member of the Institute of Career Guidance, where I am also a Registered Advanced Practitioner.
I was born and bred in the beautiful county of Cornwall, UK, but have spent a large part of my life in London. Since the introduction of Skype and other Internet technologies, I now coach people from all over the world, which is a phenomenal privilege.
Randomness from Steve:
- Mission/purpose: – To help people to be happy and successful in their career
- Passion: – See above!
- Claim to Fame: – School 100 Metre & 200 Metre Champion
- Favorite Quote: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step” – Martin Luther King
- Biggest Fear: Deep Water
- Biggest Pet Peeve: Lack of Politeness
- Weirdest Habit: Saying “Good morning Mr Magpie” if I see a lone Magpie! (An old superstition!)
- Favorite Cartoon Character: American Dad
- Anything else? I love mountain biking, and am learning classical guitar.
Links to Connect With Steve:
September 27, 2012 by
I can’t give you a surefire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.”
–Herbert Bayard Swope
