Posts From: Kaliym Islam

“House of Lies” is a critically acclaimed comedic series that airs Sunday nights on Showtime. It centers on a character named Marty Kaan and his team of consultants. The topics, that the series explores, are compelling and provide a number of lessons for leaders. Unfortunately, many of these lessons are negative in nature. The behavior that Marty exhibits makes the show a case study on much of what is wrong with too many leaders.

Read More

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” is one of my favorite HBO comedy series. The show centers around the life of Larry David who was the creator of the show “Seinfeld.” What makes “Curb Your Enthusiasm” so funny is that its main character, Larry David, has an extremely low level of emotional intelligence. As a result, he is almost completely unaware of how his words and actions are being perceived by those around him. This lack of awareness prevents him from picking up on body language, voice inflections, and other verbal and non-verbal cues that would cause most people to adjust their words or behaviors. As a result of this behavior, the other characters on the show only interact with him when they absolutely must.

Read More

In his 1993 book “The Winner Within,” hall of fame basketball coach Pat Riley contributes an entire chapter to what he called the “constructive covenant” or the promise that every team member must make in order for the team to reach the pinnacle of success. In Riley’s words, the covenant “binds people together, creates an equal footing, helps people shoulder their own responsibilities, prescribes terms for the help and support of others and creates a foundation for teamwork.”

Read More

I'm not a fan of rap or rappers. I've got a number of issues with this genre of music, and the individuals who perform it. These issues exist on a lot of levels. As fate would have it, however, I recently received a revelation that let me know that I needed to have a better understanding of this music and the people who make it. I’m the father of a teen. As you might have already guessed, he listens to rap. The revelation occurred when my namesake was given a school assignment to write a report about who he thought was the person of the year. To my surprise he didn't choose his father or even the president of the United States as his subject. His candidate for the person of the year was Waka Flocka Flame, a rapper. Upon hearing his choice I immediately did a Google search to find out who in the world was Waka Flocka. To my dismay, the images were not ones that I hoped my son would aspire to emulate, and the lyrics of Waka's music were, in my opinion, crude at best.

Read More

I recently attended my neighbor's daughter's graduation. She was graduating from a military combat program that was conducted at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Besides being happy for my neighbors, proud of the young lady that used to babysit my children, and humbled by the commitment that the brave men and women of the armed services make for our country every day, I was fascinated at how the army had integrated its vision, mission, and core values into every aspect of the operation, including its reward criteria.

Read More

In his bestselling book “Business at the Speed of Thought,” Bill Gates introduced the concept of the Digital Nervous System (DNS). He described this phenomena as a “process that links every aspect of a company’s thoughts and actions.” The Microsoft founder suggested that this linkage was key to making the basic operational data of an organization (including environmental information and feedback from customers) accessible in an electronic format so that it could be easily analyzed. Gates theorized that access to this type of data would allow employees to quickly adapt and respond to said input. He went on to assert that “successful organizations” would be the ones who developed a world class digital nervous system that allowed information to easily flow through the company. Gates further suggested that this flow of information would facilitate maximum and constant learning, and as a result “shift” strategic thinking from a separate stand-alone occurrence into an ongoing process that would be integrated with all business activities.

Read More

There are three major theories that attempt to explain how humans acquire knowledge. These theories are behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Individuals who subscribe to the theory of behaviorism believe that humans learn as a result of the feedback that they receive whenever they perform a task (Cicciarelli, 2007). This supposition is based on the notion that everyone can learn if they are given the appropriate stimulus. Behaviorists believe that the environment serves as the stimulus, and that tweaking the environment in the appropriate way will elicit the desired behavior. Proponents of this theory also believe that this “desired behavior” can be measured through observation (Bush, 2006).

Read More

The dramatic plays of William Shakespeare read like case studies in leadership mistakes and organizational dysfunction. Whether it’s Macbeth and his ambition that ultimately undermines his ascension and leads to his fall from power, or Hamlet and his delayed decision-making, which ultimately results in his death, Shakespeare is a master at illustrating how the tragic flaw of leaders can impact an organization.

Read More

Ambition is an important trait for any leader to have. Without ambition, it is all but impossible to guide an organization to success. What are the chances of a coach (of a professional sports team) leading that team to the championship if the coach himself does not have the ambition to win the championship? Ambition can be a driving force that helps individuals fight through daily obstacles in order to meet their goals. In general, ambition is a good thing to have.

Read More

Online education offers many opportunities for learners, for managers and for organizations. But that value is entirely dependent on the quality of the design and its effectiveness in engaging virtual students. When planning online learning, today’s savvy instructional designer keeps an eye on learner support, especially when no instructor is in place. To ensure the outcomes you need, consider learning objects, help options and monitoring as solutions for delivering and tracking online training.

Read More