LEADERS WHO BEGIN WELL

Duda Owner IONOS • June 22, 2015

Great leaders understand the importance of good beginnings. This is true whether you happen to be the leader or the follower. How we begin those relationships can have lasting effects in many ways. Some leaders begin very well, and then there are those who do not begin as well.

Douglas Merrill is the CEO at ZestFinance. He reflects upon a beginning that was not nearly as good as it could have been and the effect that it had upon him (Arianne Cohen, “Good Boss, Bad Boss” Bloomberg Businessweek , 4/13/15–4/19/15, p. 76):

The head of a hedge fund recruited me. When we were negotiating salary, he asked how much of my previous salary I needed, and I answered ‘Roughly half.’ I expected him to say, ‘That’s silly. You shouldn’t take a 50 percent cut.’ He didn’t—he gave me half. I resented that until I left.

Leaders who begin well are the people we should seek and the people we should become.





By James Meadows July 13, 2026
What every front desk professional should know about credit card surcharging
By James Meadows September 7, 2025
Is a college degree still worth the investment? It depends of the path you craft.
By James Meadows August 12, 2025
You need to give serious thought to taming the tiger before you are in its cage.
By James Meadows June 8, 2025
My transparent reflection about my five-year post-layoff experience, how I navigated it, learned through it, and identified some wisdom that might inspire others.
By James Meadows June 29, 2024
The earliest days of this series present fundamentally significant leadership content.
By James Meadows August 22, 2023
What we should expect from fidelity to science.
Honesty, honest,  honestly
By James Meadows August 9, 2023
We explore the overuse or inappropriate use of the words "honest," "honesty," and "honestly." Much of the overuse or inappropriate use of these words is in contexts that intrinsically message the audience that the speaker is not trustworthy. I call the overuse or inappropriate use of these words in this context HONESTY VALIDATORS because the speaker believes they validate the truth being spoken. We need a solution to this problem. My solution is to replace these honesty validators with CLARITY VALIDATORS. Instead of trying to be honest, try to be clear. Replacing "honest," "honesty," and "honestly," with "clear," "clarity," and "clearly," produces significantly more benefit to the speaker and to the audience.
By James Meadows August 7, 2023
It's the real thing alright!
By James Meadows May 30, 2023
Reflecting on 30 years as a PC user.
By James Meadows July 26, 2020
What the Boeing 737 Max crashes teach us about training, corporate culture, and communication.