Legendary college football coach Joe Paterno died on Sunday after a battle with lung cancer. But by many accounts, some people who knew him well say the 85-year-old died of a broken heart. I think Joe Paterno’s career at Penn State University is worth closer examination because there are lessons for employers and employees alike.

Joe Paterno spent his entire career at Penn State University, coming to the school as an assistant coach in 1950. That’s not a typo — 1950. That’s 62 years ago. I’d be willing to wager that only a small minority of those reading this were working full-time in 1950. After 15 years as an assistant, Paterno was named head coach in 1966 — the same year I was born. And he spent the next 46 years winning football games and impacting the lives of young men. In that span he chalked up 409 wins, more than any coach in NCAA football history.

read more…

On Monday, our nation celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s appropriate that we celebrate the life of this great American for all he did to positively impact life in our great country. A peek into Dr. King’s life and his pursuit of civil rights reveals that he can be a great role model for any manager. Let’s take a look at what we, as managers, can learn from his life and work:

Act with a sense of urgency. Dr. King didn’t stand by while others pursued civil rights in America. He took constant and consistent action. He had a vision and he was not going to rest until it was achieved. In his “I Have a Dream” speech, he repeatedly said that “now” was the time. It was a call to action and demonstrated that Dr. King wasn’t going to sit idly by. Great leaders don’t wait for things to happen, they cause them to happen.

read more…

In the book Bear Bryant On Leadership: Life Lessons from a Six-Time National Championship Coach, one of the legendary football coach’s former players says, “The best thing Coach Bryant did for me was kick me off the team.”

Now, it might seem surprising for a college football player to say being kicked off the team was the best thing a coach ever did for him. It wasn’t receiving a scholarship, which provided a college education, or even the privilege of playing college football that was the best thing his coach did for him. It was getting kicked off the team that benefited him most.

read more…

This past weekend, my son and I went duck hunting. Despite growing up in a rural area in the Midwest where hunting was a way of life, I never cared for it when I was young. Among the reasons was that it was brutally cold in Iowa in the winter. But, my 15-year-old son has become an avid duck hunter and the time with him on these hunting trips has caused me to find real enjoyment in hunting. That, and the fact that we live in an area where the average temperature is about 20 degrees warmer than where I grew up!

In addition to the father and son time, there’s quite a bit of male bonding going on with the other dads and their boys. For a few weekends each year, we get to be guys and do all the disgusting things we do when no women are present. But in addition to all the macho stuff and the lessons the boys are learning from their fathers, duck hunting teaches all of us some great life lessons — things that can be applied to our everyday lives, including on the job.

read more…

Last week I was part of a CEO panel asked to discuss how to achieve double-digit revenue growth. Now, isn’t that the $1 million question!

My co-panelists were highly respected executives, each with 20-plus years of experience in our industry — publishing. Yet, when we started discussing the session among ourselves, I was surprised by the direction of the conversation.

You see, like many industries, ours has suffered in recent years due in part to the recession. In addition to the difficult economy, our industry has experienced significant change that has rendered old business models virtually obsolete. That’s not a complaint, just a fact.

read more…

I had a conversation about Christmas the other day with my 15-year-old son. We were talking about the gifts he might like to get when our conversation turned to things he’d like to do. Might he prefer tickets to a concert or a ballgame instead of a new iPod or video game? The idea seemed to appeal to him and we talked about the experiences he might enjoy.

A few days later, I was reading a book a colleague gave me, The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley. Among many interesting observations in the book, Mr. Kelley asserts that “Many GenXers and Millenials are less interested in accumulating material possessions than their parents were. As new generations define affluence, it may be less about what you own and more about what you’ve done.”

read more…

Recently, I was intrigued by a Wall Street Journal article — “A Four-Letter Word Schools Won’t Use.” It said that colleges absolutely refuse to use the “F” word. Yes, it’s true. Schools avoid using the word “FIRE” at all costs.

According to the article, the writer analyzed 50 recent news releases announcing coaching changes in college football and basketball. Of the 50 releases reviewed, not a single one contained the word “fired” — zip, zilch, nada.

read more…

Everything I need to know about management, I learned from my mother. No, she wasn’t the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In fact, she didn’t work outside the home for more than 30 years while she raised me and my three siblings. Yet every management lesson I’ve learned in my 25 years in business, I had already learned from my mother. If only I had listened better to her. I’m sure she’d say the same thing! So what is it that a stay-at-home mom taught me about management while I was just a boy? The following are 10 lessons I’d like to share with you.

Jean Oswald

read more…

If you’re anything like me, you’re sick of hearing about the whole Jerry Sandusky/Penn State sex abuse case. Sick of it, first and foremost, because the thought of what Sandusky allegedly did to those young boys, and the evidence appears overwhelming, is enough to make you physically ill. And sick of it because the 24-hour news media must examine the scandal ad nauseum.

Taking advantage of children and stealing their innocence is about as repulsive of an act imaginable. How bad is it? Even murderers and other hardened criminals can’t stand pedophiles. According to a 2003 ABC News story, “prison is a living hell for pedophiles.” The article says “prison can be a menacing place for child molesters.” So much so, that a corrections officer at the Los Angeles County State Prison said, “Once their crime has become known, they usually don’t make it” without protective custody.

read more…

My column last week was about traits many athletes possess that I believe can make them good employees — competitiveness, teamwork, dedication, and resilience. Some helpful questions and suggestions from readers led me to think I should probably clarify the thought that I was trying to convey.

If you recall, last week I mentioned that a colleague once suggested that hiring athletes was a “risky proposition.” I just didn’t buy his premise that athletes are somehow inferior to other job candidates. I was arguing against his “dumb jock” theory. What I should have done was argued that all stereotypes are dangerous.

read more…