Welcome,

This week I wanted to step outside the usual business theme, and include some links regarding the US Presidential Election (which has only six days left to run).

Increasingly, elections around the world are about leadership, inspiration and trust. I have no doubt that there are lessons here for business leaders as well.

And if politics isn't your style, you may elect to explore the business side of transformational leadership, and skip to the joke at the end.

Curse of Tecumseh

One interesting note is that, with only three months left in office, George W Bush appears to have avoided the ‘Curse of Tecumseh', ensuring that a President elected in a year divisible by 20 (eg, 1840, 1900, 1960) would die in office. There are some who claim that when Reagan survived an assassination attempt in 1981 he broke a curse that dated back to 1840 and has claimed 7 Presidents' lives. 

This isn't the only piece of election folklore - even I managed to invent a myth last time around!

Presidential Fiction

If you are interested in Presidents who die in office, especially fictional ones, you're also welcome to read my novel on just that subject. Written and serialized during the 2004 campaign, I put this online a few months ago and it's free to download and enjoy.

Polls and Bookies

As a researcher and writer on the topic, I'm often asked my prediction for this November. Let me save you the trouble of asking - I think Obama will win in a landslide, securing 375 Electoral College Votes - comparable to Bill Clinton (twice) and larger than JFK's. If you want more information, I recommend Electoral Vote, and if you want a little gambling action on the result, go to InTrade.

Be the Change you want to see in World

Lastly, there's a lot of interest in this election, much of it centred on "change". As we discussed last week, change starts at home - so does charity, and if that's a change you'd like to see, here's one of the charities our team supports.

Intranet Joke of the Week

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

                                                                                                                                             - President Ronald Reagan

Until next week,

Jacob Aldridge

Comments

There are currently 0 comments about this blog.

Leave a Reply