Leadership can be defined in many ways.  Individuals who lead come in different shapes and sizes, and their personalities can be divergent.  Some leaders are vocal and have the appearance of strength.  Yet other leaders are more cerebral, they use intellect and instinct to lead rather than use force.  Irrespective of the personality type, they all share the same characteristic, the ability to view issues from a macro perspective.  Effective leaders have the ability to see three steps ahead, and believe with absolute conviction that  final decision is the right course of action.

I think we witnessed a demonstration in  leadership yesterday with the joint announcement from CAAMP and the MBABC. (more…)

It’s a shame that extending simple civility and courtesy is rather uncommon today.  Not sure why it’s happening but from my perspective it doesn’t occur with the frequency it used too.  Words such as thank you, please, excuse me, after you, good morning, good afternoon, good evening was common.  Today, these words are an exception and not the rule.  If you think this is a Toronto thing, a big cold impersonal city, not at all.  I travel extensively across this country and I can honestly say that other cities in this country far more impersonal when interacting with strangers.  This post isn’t about rating cities as it relates to extending simple civility and courtesy.  I was just thinking that at this time of the year the courtesy dial moves up just a bit, but it’s a shame that come January it’s back to normal. (more…)

There’s still an assortment of problems to work out but at least people are talking about solutions, and just maybe they’ll have reason to feel a little better this Christmas season.

Based on economic indicators, and a sense that things might be getting better, the long term forecast looks a little bit more promising for our economy.  In the short term, this Christmas season might be just a little jollier.  I don’t know about you but it just feels a little different.  Let’s face, if we all believed that things were looking up we would all act accordingly, i.e. spending our hard earned money.  Consumer behavior is driven in large part by confidence.  The same obviously holds true in other parts of the world.  There’s still an assortment of problems to work out but at least people are talking about solutions, and just maybe they’ll have reason to feel a little better this Christmas season. (more…)

The Fed’s still have concerns about Europe and the impact it may have for the global economy, and Canada specifically.  Well they should, and it’s the Fed’s responsibility to worry about such issues.

It’s not sophisticated or scientific but it can’t hurt to keep our fingers crossed when it comes to the economy.  Markets rallied in a big way yesterday, due in part to a number of central banks around the world making moves to ensure liquidity, and it will be interesting to see if this is just another crest of a roller coaster ride the market has been on for some time now.  There was also encouraging news about the Canadian economy. (more…)

Oh to be a player/owner in the NBA or maybe having a stake in MLSE. If you were fortunate enough to be a part of the aforementioned money machines you wouldn’t have to worry about little nuisances, like the global economy.  As Greece and the rest of Europe face possible ruin the NBA owners and players finally agreed on a way to divi up $3 billion.  Thank god because I was starting to worry how players in the NBA could possibly get by with an average salary of, gulp, $5 million per annum.  But I need not fret, the NBA strike is over and now the millionaires and billionaires can rejoice as the lemmings flock back to watch a little b-ball. (more…)