“Tonight, America lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein…” said NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. What can I say? I have never been able to fathom the value of two minutes of silence to honor a person who died. I have always felt the need to do something active to honor the person; pray, give charity or talk well of the departed one. Yet this time, having just received the news of Steve Jobs’ passing away, I don’t feel like saying or writing anything at all. So many [...]

Even the inevitable shocks us. When terminally ill or very old loved ones pass on, we still feel loss and the passing of an era even though we knew it was inevitable. We have known that sooner or later Steve Jobs would no longer lead Apple, yet when it happens we feel loss and uncertainty: loss of what was and uncertainty about what will be. Apple has the momentum and the leadership in new CEO Timothy Cook to continue to grow and dominate its sector for a long time. Cook has [...]

According to Bain & Co.’s 2011 report on the global luxury goods market we are spending in excess of $250bn a year on branded luxury goods and cosmetics — all in an effort to raise our “attractiveness index.” Universally, people of all cultures recognize how important it is to be attractive in every relationship, personal, business and professional. We cannot sell if we and our brands are not attractive to our customers, we cannot persuade others effectively if we and our ideas are not attractive to them. The people we lead [...]

When I use the term corporate soul, I refer to the intangible qualities that make a business different from any other, even from another business that possesses similar material assets and provides the same product to the same market. A company’s “soul” is its spirit, its personality, its culture and the values by which it firmly stands no matter what the cost. A company’s soul is the reason why its customers stay loyal to it and why its best employees never leave it. A company’s soul is an intangible goldmine, and [...]

And just think of Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG)! What is it that they have got that Microsoft doesn’t? Businessweek offer some valid theories but the killer ingredient lacking in Microsoft is corporate soul. When Apple lost its soul, Steve Jobs returned as CEO to give it back its essence. When Google showed the first signs of losing its soul, Larry Page took back the CEO reins saying in January this year: “One of the primary goals I have is to get Google to be a big company that has the [...]