Leadership and Business Wisdom - Misdirection by Specialization.

Byline: S. Kamal Hayder Kazmi

"I am building a cathedral."

An old story tells of three stonecutters who were asked what they were doing. The first replied, "I am making a living." The second kept on hammering while he said, "I am doing the best job of stonecutting in the entire country." The third one looked up with a visionary gleam in his eyes and said, "I am building a cathedral." The third man is, of course, the true manager. The first man knows what he wants to get out of the work and manages to do so. He is likely to give a "fair day's work for a fair day's pay. But he is not a manager and will never be one. It is the second man who is a problem. Workmanship is essential: in fact, an organization demoralizes if it does not demand of its members the highest workmanship they are capable of. But there is always a danger that the true workman, the true professional, will believe that he is accomplishing something when m effect he is just polishing stones or collecting footnotes.

Workmanship must be encouraged in the business enterprise. But it must always be related to the needs of the whole.

ACTION POINT: Develop a process whereby each person in the organization understands his or her contribution to producing the products and services of the enterprise.

The notion of using something other than copper or glass to provide telecommunications services is certainly beginning to gain greater acceptance, and I would argue that wireless' inclusion as a requirement in the bid is validation of that.

John Grady

If you have a company that's merging with another in telecommunications or credit cards it pays to pay special attention to your account. Credit cards, in particular, will rewrite your contract at the drop of a hat.

Joe Ridout

We serve a market that's probably 250 billion in size, if you take into account all the telecommunications and data communications systems being built. Investors are looking at our historical execution and saying that they believe in our ability to capture that opportunity.

Mike Volpi

Even when Lincoln hanged draft dodgers, he made public his deviation from the law and imposed martial law. There is no analogy and no precedent for clandestine surveillance of domestic telecommunications without a court order.

Philip Russell

The third cylinder of economic growth is beginning to fire, ... The other two cylinders are inventory swings and consumer spending. Outside of telecommunications and airplanes, business capital...