I’m looking forward to reading Lee Iacocca’s latest book and enjoyed this article in Forbes on his views at 82. One of the more interesting parts of the article is his thoughts on leadership being all about giving back.

Leadership is truly about giving back and keep in mind that the best leaders have always been able to share their insight and experiences, empower their staff and engage their customers.

Hi Folks,

We’re going to be up at BookExpo in New York at the end of this month and I wanted to encourage any of you who might be in New York to come by our booth. I would love to meet you there and see how you’re “kissing theory good bye!”

Also - we’ve just been notified that we’re in the finalist round for the Ippy Awards so we’re very excited about that as well.

I also wanted to thank all the bloggers and online folks who continue to write about the book and its effect. Particularly people like John Moore, Toby Bloomberg, Phil Gerbyshak, Dale Wolf at Cincom and others have been such good supports during this year and I really appreciate them highlighting the book and reaching out personally to me.

I’m sure you — like me — find it frustrating as a business leader to read the stories about Vonage and how the company’s future is in question after it being such a highly regarded VOIP pioneer. It’s hard understand how a company that traveled so far is so beset by issues with patents and internal strife.

As it stands now, Vonage can still serve current customers, but can’t seek new customers in accordance with the federal judge’s ruling earlier this month.

Vonage quickly said it will come up with a workaround for its patent infringements in regard to Verizon, but the bigger question is how can a company survive so many setbacks?

And how did the company get to this place, in the first place?

Oftentimes we’re so focused on building our company that we forget companies exist to serve customers. At the end of the day, your customers are what keep your company vital, growing and future-focused.

One of the lessons we can all take from Vonage whether it is able to overcome the current challenges or not, is that hubris even if you’re a first mover in a market is a bad thing.

It is a tactical error to assume that you’ll always be the leader, you don’t have to respond to customers, and that throwing money at marketing endeavors to acquire more customers will keep you the leader.

Customers are the single most important asset your company can nurture. Of course, any company always wants to garner more customers, but frankly if you work really hard to keep the ones you have and be consistently honest in how you deal with them, you’re way ahead of the game at the end of the day.

Vonage users are now struggling with their devotion to Vonage and the glitches even in the VOIP system, with their need to have a company that will think smarter, work harder and ensure it does not disconnect with customers as it struggles to maintain itself as a leader in the VOIP space.

Hi folks,

I’ve been busy speaking all over the country in response to the book and I’m really feeling very humbled about the continued feedback and encouragement that we’re on the right track.

I spoke to a group last week about how you can have a work and life balance simply by working smarter…not harder. I want everyone to really come to know that good business does not equal 100+ hour work weeks.

Keep checking back on this blog for upcoming announcements and new ideas in regard to managing your work and life balance.

 By the way, is today the day you’ll kiss theory good bye?

Everyone is busy wrapping up the last business of the year. And I’m busy thinking about 2007 and my one resolution in my own engagements with all the wonderful people I’ve had the opportunity to meet.

My sole resolution is that I want 2007 to be the year that every leader no matter what the size of the company or institution understands that there is a blueprint you can follow to increase accountability, consistently accomplish your objectives and help your organization run more smoothly so you have more time to spend doing the things you love.

I want everyone to understand that there truly is a way to “kiss theory good bye and kiss your life hello” and there is no better time to do it then Jan. 1, 2007.

What are you business resolutions? Do they include cutting down on meeting mania and having clear directives for your organization to follow?

Are you resolved to build a culture based on accountability and focused on execution?

Will you encourage a free flow of uninhibited information and remain flexible and adapt readily to change?

If so, then you will successfully “kiss theory good bye.”

Do you know the critical path to getting things done?

1. Face reality; never rationalize

2. Be hard on performance and easy on people

3. Know your unique selling proposition.

4. Remove the obstacles and let your people perform

5. Fire unprofitable customers

6. Hire people who are smarter than you

7. Be a healthy skeptic

8. Ask, “How may I help you Win?”

9. Know that you can never have too much good information

10. Keep an extra pen handy for the next hundred bonus checks

Two great things! We hit #1 on Amazon in Business and Investing category and the insightful and longtime business guru Guy Kawasaki noted the book in his post on “The Art of Projections in a Dotcom 2.0 World.”

I’m really humbled that Guy referenced the book!

My number one goal is to continue to help thousands of business folks understand they can indeed “give the big kiss off to theory” forever and apply actionable and well-founded management tools for garnering long-term results.

With today’s article in Forbes -, one clearly sees how much pressure chief executive, Alan Mulally is under to bring what would constitute an amazing turnaround. My advice…to Mulally is to find the truth about Ford and its internal struggles. Don’t hold more meetings, hold actionable meetings. And don’t accept the first answer or statement you hear and ferret out the real facts.

Will the Ford family still call the shots or will Mulally have real control? Only time will tell.