Mississippi Business Journal » Mississippi Leaders

Inspirational figures

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 06:00:56 +0000

I have noticed there are those “basement people” in life who bring me down, but fortunately there are also balcony people who lift me up with encouragement and inspire me to strive to be my best. Similarly, as I survey occupations, I have found that there “balcony” leaders who encourage those within their respective professions [...]

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Building jobs for future

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:00:18 +0000

During any political cycle, there is always a lot of discussion about jobs. It is harder to argue with more jobs, that’s why it makes for such campaign fodder. I personally believe jobs that are created by encouraging entrepreneurship are critically important. That is why I get excited to hear about people and organizations that [...]

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Barksdale has made an impact on many Mississippi lives

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 06:00:17 +0000

There is an old saying that goes “a good guest always leaves the woodpile a little higher than he finds it.” Whenever we serve in a leadership position big or small, we have the opportunity to “leave the woodpile a little higher.” Leaders with this attitude stand on the shoulders of those who came before [...]

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Taking on challenges

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:00:48 +0000

One of the key attributes of successful entrepreneurs is perseverance. This type of determination is not born out of wild-eyed optimism, but instead a burning passion to bring an idea or product to the marketplace. When I was working out in Silicon Valley in the late 1990s, I was inspired by the number of companies [...]

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Griffin points out that making good decisions as a leader and as supervisors are mostly learned traits

Martin Willoughby — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:12:02 +0000

There is an age old debate over whether leaders are born or made. While I am not going to weigh on that debate in this column, I do find it particularly interesting when I come across outstanding leaders that I happened to have met in their youth. I played competitive tennis growing up, and I [...]

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Leaders like Paul Breazeale are the backbone of the communities we live in

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 06:00:09 +0000

One of the keys to growing and developing organizations is finding and cultivating future leaders. Aristotle provided a helpful clue for identifying leadership qualities when he said, “He who cannot be a good follower, cannot be a good leader.” While not every follower will make a good leader, every good leader should also be a [...]

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Helton practices what he preaches with the success of Action Properties

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 06:00:54 +0000

A study published in 2010, tracked 1,000 children from birth to age 32 and found that the greatest predictor of “success” in life was the trait of self-discipline. Interestingly, in a study with more than one million responses, participants were asked to list their personal strengths, and self-discipline was dead last. For entrepreneurs and business [...]

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Road Builders Association director helping to maintain and construct Mississippi’s infrastructure

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 06:00:18 +0000

Country music singer Aaron Tippin captured a key element of leadership in his popular song, “You’ve Got to Stand for Something.” The chorus of the song repeats the often quoted phrase, “You’ve got to stand for something or you will fall for anything.” Knowing who you are and what you stand for is a critical [...]

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Haskell spent a lot of his life finding out exactly who and what he wanted to be in life

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 06:00:20 +0000

Zig Ziglar, author, speaker and native Mississippian, once stated, “You will make a lousy anybody else, but you will be the best ‘you’ in existence.” Similarly, we often hear the phrase that we need to “be true to ourselves.” This is no easy task as we are bombarded from all angles with people and companies [...]

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Humility and professionalism lead Speed to success in commercial real estate

Martin Willoughby — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 06:00:42 +0000

As I travel around the state interviewing leaders, I ask my interviewees what are their favorite books on leadership and business. Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” is the clear favorite by a long shot – no wonder it was an international best seller! One the core ideas Collins shares is about Level 5 leadership. He [...]

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