By Rita Chattaraj - September 11, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, GOOG, NFLX, NOK | 0 Comments

Rita is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Things have been good for the worlds largest online book seller Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and the situation continues to be so as the company decides to enter new market segments as well as strengthen its hold in the existing ones. Recently the company signed a multi-year licensing agreement with cable channel Epix and analysts and industry experts are expecting this move to create some ripples, if not waves, in the online video streaming space.

New Partnership with EpixWith popular movies such as Paramount Pictures Iron Man 2 and The Hunger Games from Lions Gate Entertainment under its belt, Epix can prove to be very helpful to Amazons online video streaming business and can prove to be fatal for Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). Epix is actually owned by Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment and MGM, and these huge names of the entertainment universe can aid Amazons video streaming services growth hugely. Thanks to the dynamics of the market place, till now Netflix was enjoying a head start which it got through its $8 per month unlimited video streaming service. But now, the arrival of Amazons Prime Instant Video Service can shake things up and pose as a serious contender for the top spot. The Amazon-Epix deal will help the giant to double its movie library and thus turn more attractive to the movie-buffs.

Netflix recently ended its exclusivity deal with Epix and now it could have a problem on its hands. With this move, Netflix opened the door to Epix for Amazon and the retailing giant jumped in to benefit from the opportunity. Even things havent been very smooth for Netflix recently and surely this is not a stock which is at the top of any investors mind. The pricing change which the company brought about coupled with few other choices made by the company made Netflixs stock price drop rapidly. Though the company recovered from all this marginally, this new development is likely to put Netflix back in a poor form. Unless Netflix starts to expand its content offerings, it might lose its market share to Amazon and end up being a company stuck in its days of former glories.

The Launch of the New KindleApart from strengthening its video streaming business, Amazon is also working on capturing a better share of the tablet market too. The company has plans to launch its latest Kindle Fire tablet shortly and has many new plans for the device. The Kindle Fire has the advantage of being less expensive than Apples (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad and this new model might be priced again keeping in mind Googles (NASDAQ: GOOG) Nexus 7. Some analysts are even expecting the new Kindle to be priced at a mere $150 if a rumoured ad-support model is actually available. If this really turns out to be the situation, Amazon will be benefiting hugely from this low priced starting range as even if the iPad gets a price cut, it will still be far more expensive than $150, thus making it very easy for the Kindle to penetrate into the market.

Amazon is fine with the idea of making minimal money out of the tablet as the main intention of the company is to get the device to as many hands as possible and then benefit from selling higher-margin digital content. Introducing a tablet for $150 can act as another game changer in the space and favor Amazon since the $199 price tag is no longer unique. Amazon is competing with Apple and Google and to make the most out of the situation it's best if Amazon goes after lower priced models.

Unlike the old Kindle Fire, the new model will have mapping software integrated into the device. However, Amazon has decided not to go with Google and instead have partnered with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) for the mapping function. After Nokia acquired Navteq in 2007, it became one of the largest mapping providers in the world, and now Amazon wants to work with the Finnish phone maker to build maps for its tablet. Though the Kindle will run on Googles Android OS, the company does not want to be dependent on Google even for the maps. The combination of Nokias mapping expertise and Amazons recently acquired UpNexts specialization in 3D maps will help the online book retailer to position its product differently. Apart from the new Kindle Fire, Amazon is also all set to roll out its latest e-reader and the company has good expectations from this as well.

Concluding ThoughtsAmazon had made an announcement regarding the unveiling and launch of its latest Kindle Fire tablet and yet, just about a month ahead of the launch, the company saw its most popular product being sold out completely. Unlike the situation with the iPhone, where users hold back from purchasing an iPhone in anticipation of the launch of the newer model especially after the announcement has been made, users went ahead and bought the Kindle Fire though they knew that the new model is just a month away. This tells a lot about the product. Because of the huge demand of the existing model, analysts are now expecting even better things from the latest improved version of the Kindle. This, combined with the Epix agreement is making the company a very attractive one for investment. Analysts are expecting that Amazon will post solid stream of revenue going forward and the company should also improve its margins and numbers hugely. Given these developments, I strongly recommend Amazon.

Rita Chattaraj is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network

Excerpt from:
Amazon’s Strong Moves to Drive its Success

Written by TSN The Sports Network

(Sports Network) - The Washington Nationals have made Citi Field their personal stomping grounds this season and will try for a seventh straight win there in the continuation of a three-game series against the New York Mets.

The NL East-leading Nationals made it six wins in a row in Flushing with Monday's 5-1 verdict, as Gio Gonzalez became the first pitcher to 19 wins by limiting the Mets to a run and three hits in six innings. He did walk five batters, but struck out six.

"I'm focused on trying to get more wins," Gonzalez said. "We're just having fun and playing our baseball."

Gonzalez was backed by home runs from Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond and Kurt Suzuki. The Nationals, who have a 6 1/2-game lead on the Atlanta Braves in the division, improved to 10-3 in their last 13 games and opened a six-game road trip on a high note.

Major League Baseball's only team to have a winning record every month this year, Washington is 37-6 when scoring three or more runs since the All-Star break and 7-3 in September.

Jordan Zimmermann looks to string back-to-back winning starts together when he takes the mound tonight for the 29th time this season. Zimmermann ended a four-start winless streak (0-2) his last time out in a 9-2 pounding of the Chicago Cubs in which he struck out nine and gave up two runs in seven innings. He improved to 10-8 and lowered his earned run average to 2.99.

"I felt I had a pretty good fastball, and we stuck with that most of the night," Zimmermann said after his most recent outing. "The slider wasn't very good, so we went with the curveball. I was able to locate the fastball and go up and in when I wanted to."

Zimmermann is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three meetings with the Mets this season and 3-2 in 10 career starts against them.

New York has dropped the first four games of its six-game homestand and six of seven overall, including last night's poor offensive showing.

Excerpt from:
Nats aim to extend road success over Mets

Lionel Messi admits that he would rather bring more titles to Camp Nou than repeat his 72-goal season.

Despite contributing massively to the Catalan giants' cause last term, Barca failed to win the La Liga title or the Champions League, which is something he admits he keeps track of.

"It was an unforgettable season. I don't put goals and numbers on my seasons, although I think the more titles the better," explained Messi, speaking to ESPN Deportes. "At the beginning of the season I come out wanting everything, goals, titles, but a championship would be very desired by me."

The 25-year-old also spoke warmly of former manager Pep Guardiola, who upon his arrival to the club, kept their spirits high during a barren trophy-less spell.

"The morale in the dressing room was very bad, and he changed everything with his desire to win, his trust and his way of working. He treated every game the same," explained the Argentine. Follow GOAL.COM USA on Twitter

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Messi: I would rather win titles than score goals

Public release date: 10-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Beverly Clark beverly.clark@emory.edu 404-712-8780 Emory University

The fearless dominance associated with psychopathy may be an important predictor of U.S. presidential performance, suggests an analysis published this week in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

"Certain psychopathic traits may be like a double-edged sword," says lead author Scott Lilienfeld, a psychologist at Emory University. "Fearless dominance, for example, may contribute to reckless criminality and violence, or to skillful leadership in the face of a crisis."

In fact, fearless dominance, linked to diminished social and physical apprehensiveness, appears to correlate with better-rated presidential performance for leadership, persuasiveness, crisis management and Congressional relations, the analysis showed.

Theodore Roosevelt ranked highest in fearless dominance, followed by John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Rutherford Hayes, Zachary Taylor, Bill Clinton, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson and George W. Bush.

The analysis drew upon personality assessments of 42 presidents, up to George W. Bush, compiled by Steven Rubenzer and Thomas Faschingbauer for their book "Personality, Character and Leadership in the White House." More than 100 experts, including biographers, journalists and scholars who are established authorities on one or more U.S. presidents, evaluated their target presidents using standardized psychological measures of personality, intelligence and behavior.

For rankings on various aspects of job performance, the analysis relied primarily on data from two large surveys of presidential historians: One conducted by C-SPAN in 2009 and a second conducted by Siena College in 2010.

The rich historical data on presidents, combined with detailed expert rankings, provided a window into an emerging theory that some aspects of psychopathy may actually be positive adaptations in certain social situations.

"The way many people think about mental illness is too cut-and-dried," Lilienfeld says. "Certainly, full-blown psychopathy is maladaptive and undesirable. But what makes the psychopathic personality so interesting is that it's not defined by a single trait, but a constellation of traits."

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Psychopathic boldness tied to US presidential success

TELLURIDE, Colo., Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Saturday was an exciting one for NYC-based Concierge Auctions, as the firm announced the successful auction of two ski condominiums in the upscale community See Forever Village. 18 bidders participated as they vied for the best purchasing opportunities in Telluride's Mountain Village. The properties raise Concierge's tally of successful transactions in the Telluride, Colorado area to four properties in only three months. The auctions were conducted in cooperation with T.D. Smith of Telluride Real Estate Corp, an exclusive affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate.

"We began interviewing auction companies over two years ago and at first were unsure about the absolute platform. Selling absolute is certainly a risk; however, if done in a calculated manner with the right company, it is much more powerful than selling with reserve. The process brought forth buyers from all over the world, including dozens of CEOs, entrepreneurs and investors, many of whom were not even familiar with Telluride," stated the seller, John Abrams. "The Concierge team was professional and fulfilled its commitments. We were the first to test the auction platform for multiple condominium residences in this market, and Concierge's sophistication was the right choice."

The Concierge Auctions advertising and sales campaigns generated 1,354 inquiries and 3,401 website visitors from all US states and 34 international countries. 18 bidders participated in the sale. The winning buyers are from Connecticut and Maryland and are represented by Garrett Simon and Marty Stetina, both of Telluride Real Estate Corp.

"The response to the auction exposure was tremendous. We received 107 inquiries in the first day alone," stated Smith. "My sales team worked in close concert with the Concierge Auctions project managers and directors to ensure every prospect received a prompt answer to their inquiry, was familiarized with the properties and understood the auction terms. We view the Concierge process as a stronghold tactic for our agents to offer their clients and look forward to working together again soon."

Condo units 127 and 128 at 117 Sunny Ridge Place each include three bedrooms and four bathrooms. They were sold fully furnished and are ideal for either personal use or as vacation rentals. The condominium building is adjacent to the Peaks Resort & Spa and is a short, heated cobblestone walk from the ski slopes.

"Following our closings last month of the Pa Gomo estate, which was the highest sale in Telluride in the past five years, and another ski-in/ski-out luxury cabin in Mountain Village, we are thrilled to continue our momentum in the Telluride market," stated Laura Brady, Vice President of Marketing for Concierge Auctions. "The area has officially joined our repertoire of premier target mountain resorts that have benefitted time and again from our process to the likes of Aspen, Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Big Sky, Montana, among others."

If you or someone you know is interested in selling a remarkable luxury property through Concierge Auctions, call 888.966.4759 or visit ConciergeAuctions.com.

About Concierge Auctions: Concierge Auctions is the preeminent luxury real estate auction marketing firm serving high-end sellers nationwide through an accelerated marketing process that obtains fair market value for high-end properties in a 60-day timeframe. As a preferred auction partner to luxury brokerage firms nationwide, the company has executed auctions from New York to Hawaii and hosts a database that includes more than 100,000 luxury real estate buyers and agents from all 50 states and 38 countries and territories. The principals of Concierge Auctions have been involved in the transfer of more than $2 billion in luxury real estate sales over the past 10 years. For more information, call 888-966-4759 or visit ConciergeAuctions.com.

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Auction Of Luxury Ski Properties In Telluride, Colorado A Success

BEAVERTON, OR--(Marketwire - Sep 10, 2012) - Only a standardized approach to the cloud-delivered service environment will enable a breakthrough in interoperable seamless service integration into devices, warns global networking standards group, the UPnP Forum. This announcement comes during the IBC in Amsterdam, where a focus is being placed on the pioneering applications and technologies that are driving the future of device interoperability.

"Currently there is a real lack of standards for cloud service delivery and combined with the proliferation of next-generation services, many users are left flipping between a multitude of applications or frustrated at the lack of support on their platforms. The lack of certified standards makes it difficult, if not impossible, for manufacturers to innovate the user experience and provide seamless services to the end consumer," says UPnP Forum President and Chairman, Dr. Alan Messer.

The concept of connected devices is fast evolving with cloud-devices currently a hot topic. The recent developments in cloud services delivered to apps and the implementation of other types of home networks (utility provider's Smart Grids for example), as well as the changes witnessed in over-the-top content delivery, are expected to further impact the dynamics of the market.

"With the shift to a service plus device-based world, it is critical that there are standards in place to ensure the easy discovery of cloud services for seamless integration into cloud-attached devices. Standards have therefore never been more paramount -- they will allow end experience innovation and integration while ensuring compatibility and interoperability."

"The industry as a whole needs to work together to ensure levels of interoperability as never before and events like the IBC provide the perfect platform to explore a host of new technologies, applications and innovations. Connectedness everywhere is closer than ever to becoming a reality and the IBC demonstrates the industry is finally starting to come together."

"UPnP Forum has taken a key role in the technologies and standards market for device interoperability and more recently we've expanded our efforts with the creation of our UPnP+ initiative, which is focused on delivering new technical capabilities to enhance functionality and meet the need for always-on services," concluded Dr. Messer.

UPnP Forum is the global standards body that has paved the way for seamless connectivity between more than a billion home devices, and for more than a dozen years, UPnP technology has offered unique capabilities for consumer electronics and computing devices. The Forum continues to make major advancements and has recently widened its scope into Device Management Protocols as it continues its work in standardizing and managing the operation of LAN IP devices within the home network.

Last year, the Forum formed its E-Health and Sensors (EHS) Working Committee, which is addressing consumer-electronic industry opportunities in the areas of home personal health and wellness, as well as the increasing availability of sensor applications to monitor and control devices within the home. UPnP Forum has also made significant progress with its Home Energy Management and SmartGrid Working Committee and its Audio / Video Working Committee, further strengthening its commitment to device-to-device interoperability and simplifying network implementation.

For further information about UPnP Forum please go to http://www.upnp.org. For general questions, please e-mail upnpfeedback@forum.upnp.org.

About UPnP Forum UPnP Forum, established in 1999, is a global alliance of more than 985 industry-leading organizations working to enable device-to-device interoperability and facilitate easier and better home networking. The Forum promotes the adoption of uniform technical device interconnectivity standards and certifies devices conforming to these standards. UPnP Forum is an impartial group enabling member companies to participate and develop extensions to the UPnP Device Architecture, which defines how to use the Internet Protocol (IP) to communicate between devices, and Device Control Protocols (DCPs), which are services between devices. Members of UPnP Forum include market leaders in computing, printing and networking, consumer electronics, home appliances, automation, control and security, and mobile products.

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Standardization Critical to the Success of Cloud and Connected Devices, Says UPnP Forum

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Puffs brand has partnered with the Dress for Success organization to provide beauty and wardrobe makeovers for deserving women across the country. Kicking off in the heart of San Franciscos Lower Haight District, professional makeup artists and stylists were on hand at the Wak Shack Salon today to help women look and feel their best as they begin new chapters of their personal and professional lives.

Puffs believes every woman deserves to look in the mirror with confidence and feel beautiful. To show support for that belief, Puffs is hosting a community on their Facebook page where people can share their inspiring words on how they put their best face forward every day. Participation in the conversation will give fans the opportunity to donate to Dress for Success and make them eligible to win prizes.

Like Puffs, Dress for Success aims to help women get a fresh new start in both work and in life, said Laura Dressman, Puffs communications manager. Were proud to partner with such an uplifting organization and are happy to offer a day of beauty to deserving women here in San Francisco. We also hope that fans everywhere will visit our Facebook page to help us honor the beauty in all women.

Puffs tissues have always been what people reach for when suffering from cold and allergy symptoms, but Puffs are designed with your entire face in mind. Whether caring for a cold, applying makeup, or blotting away perspiration, Puffs looks to tackle all of the things your face has to face throughout the day. This is the brands first makeover event for this program, with two additional events taking place in Chicago and New York City.

Dress for Success helps provide women with the confidence and tools they need to transform their lives both personally and professionally, said Gia Barsi, Program Coordinator of Dress for Success, San Francisco. By partnering with Puffs, we know our clients are leaving Wak Shack Salon with the confidence they need to put their best face forward as they re-enter the workforce.

Now through October 12th, a tab on the Puffs Facebook page will allow people to upload their inspirational quotes, tips and stories on how they put their best face forward every day. As fans submit their tip, Puffs will donate a minimum of $100,000 to Dress for Success Worldwide to help promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women. Also, with every entry, fans will be entered into a sweepstakes to win one of 60 Procter & Gamble beauty baskets as well as a grand prize trip to New York City for a beauty makeover.

Each submission will be hosted on a gallery within the tab where Puffs fans can gain confidence through the inspiring words of others in their community. The brand will post weekly themes to spark ideas, but fans are encouraged to post their own quotes, tips or stories that show support of the Puffs Facebook community and the women of Dress for Success.

Visit http://www.Facebook.com/Puffs for more information.

About Puffs

Continued here:
Puffs® Partners with Dress for Success’ San Francisco Affiliate to Help Local Women Put Their Best Face Forward

Gallery: Neighborhood watch groups' success linked to being good neighbors

One leader is a 79-year-old Panamanian immigrant and stroke survivor.

The other is 63 years old and blind - the victim of a gunshot wound to the head 40 years ago on the streets of Los Angeles.

Despite the personal challenges they have faced, Mearily Clark and Ruben Hernandez have both taken on additional tough circumstances in crime-ridden areas to become the linchpins for two of the most successful neighborhood watch programs in the San Gabriel Valley.

"When I moved here in 1985, it was horrible," said Clark, a resident of Kings Villages apartments in Northwest Pasadena. "There was `No Neck' and those guys. You couldn't walk here at night, sweetheart. Now, it's cleaned up."

When Ruben Hernandez moved to the North Whittier area 25 years ago to be closer to his wife's family, he said to himself, "This is a nice neighborhood, but it belongs to the criminals."

So, after handing out lots of fliers and overcoming people's doubts about following a blind man, he formed a neighborhood watch group.

It started with meetings of just three or four people. "Then it grew and grew," he said.

Now, the area is 95 percent graffiti free, gang free and crime is low,

More than 30 San Gabriel Valley communities last month celebrated National Night Out, an annual block party and community building event celebrated by neighborhood watch groups intended to send "a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back," according to the National Night Out organizing group.

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Neighborhood watch groups' success linked to being good neighbors

My personal bankruptcy forced me to re-evaluate and re-prioritize

If youve followed my column in the National Post this past year, youll know that I focused on my Dragons Den investments after the cameras stopped rolling: the people behind the projects, their successes, and their challenges. Ive enjoyed telling these stories because they celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation that is very much alive and well in Canada.

Based on the success of those columns, the Post has asked me to continue as a contributor. I am delighted to do so. But Im going to switch gears, and talk about business from a few different angles. I will write about a variety of subjects relevant to todays entrepreneurs everything from business ethics to philanthropy to social media.

First up is success. How we define it. How we measure it. And what it really means when we get it. My business career rolled out rather well. At least, by most standards. I was a very successful investment banker before the age of 40. My material dreams came true. I had what I thought I wanted. But I quickly found out how hollow success can be. I gained everything and lost what really mattered to me: I faced cancer, a failing marriage, and barely-there relationships with my three children.

This is not a new or unique story. Its one that gets told every day in corporate Canada. And its not unique to the business world. Canadas Own the Podium sports program celebrates medals rather than effort. Many athletes have trouble transitioning to a normal life after retiring from competitive sport because they have been more focused on the prize than the process. In school, students often feel compelled to get a job rather than spend time figuring out how they can uniquely contribute to the world. A few years in, theyre miserable.

It seems to me we constantly measure success according to some finite target winning a medal, getting a job or building a sizeable bank account rather than focusing on what we really value.

I encourage people to think hard about how they define success. My single-minded pursuit of wealth and power got me what I thought I wanted, but I had to spend years rebuilding my health and relationships with family and friends. That is not success.

My personal bankruptcy forced me to re-evaluate and re-prioritize. Faced with my own mortality and a disappointing family life, I did some serious and long-overdue self-assessment. I pondered a question that was given to me along with a small group of colleagues from the Young Presidents Organization (YPO): When you pass away, what would you like people to say at your funeral? When your family, friends and partners all stand, what will they likely say about you?

My response focused on what I wanted the outside world to see: My success as a businessman and philanthropist. Then the moderator modified the exercise slightly, and asked, What exactly would your children have to say if they wrote your epitaph? I knew what I would like them to say: that I was a great father. But I was honest enough to admit they could only say I was a great businessman. That exercise was a bucket of cold water in my face. It forced me to face the unpleasant reality that there was a significant gap between who I wanted to be and who I was. I was stumbling badly in the one area of my life that was truly important. So I set to work undoing the damage, living according to a new set of priorities. By example, in seeking shared time over the past 15 years, Ive travelled to some 40 countries with my now adult children, providing opportunities for incredible shared memories and bonding experiences. Were not perfect, but Im enormously happy with the progress.

Its easy for entrepreneurs to get out of balance. Were driven by passion that can sometimes consume us, causing us to sacrifice the things that bring the most lasting joy. Finding balance based on priorities actually takes a lot of work. I still struggle with the work addiction that got me out of balance in my early years, but I hold myself accountable to my new priorities, and I have a close circle of friends and colleagues who do the same.

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Rethinking my legacy

There are two sides to every story: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times; you take the bitter with the sweet; every rose has its thorn. However, in leadership, we often miss out on half the story. Most discussions focus on what leaders "should do" rather than on what they "should avoid." The result? We talk about success, but seldom talk about failure.

In The Wisdom of Failure, we discuss a common theme among industry's greatest leaders--their most important lessons have come from trial and error. Unfortunately, many of us don't pursue the trial because we are fearful of making error. Jim Owens, former CEO of Caterpillar Inc., told us we actually learn more from our failures than we do from our success. He states that our most important lessons as leaders come from our toughest losses.

Mistakes are part of taking healthy risk. They provide us with new ways of thinking and give us new insights into how we can improve as leaders. Real failure doesn't come from making mistakes; it comes from avoiding errors at all possible costs, from fear to take risks and from the inability to grow. Being mistake free is not success. Still, we avoid challenges and hide mistakes. We don't like to talk about them and bring attention to them. It's safer to look the other way or sweep them under the rug. That's why so many leaders have the same struggles over and over again.

So, why don't we embrace challenges and become accepting of mistakes--to learn from them and ultimately grow from them? And if learning from mistakes has so much value, why is it taboo to even talk about mistakes in the context of business and leadership?

We are all evaluated on how well we perform our jobs. Not surprisingly, companies pay their employees to succeed, not to fail. The better the performance review, the better we are compensated. However, performance reviews inherently reward us on our short-term success and penalize us for our short-term mistakes. Rarely does someone receive a performance review spanning several years. And personal growth from mistakes is an evolutionary process. It takes time. Mistakes today usually hurt our performance evaluations in the short term. Moreover, in entrepreneurial firms, making leadership mistakes are not only amplified, they can destroy an entire company.

So what do we do? We avoid them. Consider the Thomas Edison quote "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Do you think he would have lasted in today's business environment? We have created an evaluation platform where successes are celebrated and failures are not. Remember, "failure is not an option."

IDEO founder David Kelley believes failure is not only an option, it is a necessary ingredient for success. Rather than punishing employees for failure, he and his leadership team encourage employees to be comfortable with bad ideas--one of the reasons IDEO is one of our most innovative companies. He believes that without freedom to pursue bad ideas, employees will miss many good ideas.

We live in a culture that values perfectionism. As children, we were told "practice makes perfect." We learned that making mistakes was bad, that we need to always "color inside the lines." We learned that to succeed we needed to "strive for perfection."

Perfectionism is one of the biggest deterrents of learning from mistakes. People become so fixated on not failing that they never move forward. They focus on the upside risk associated with failing, rather than the downside risk of not trying at all. How did Tom Watson, former CEO of IBM, react when one of his executives made a $10 million mistake? Instead of firing him, he viewed the mistake as an investment in training and development. Why? Watson realized taking healthy risk will often result in failure, and that a culture of perfectionism can be paralyzing to progress.

To advance our careers, we are encouraged to build social capital, to gain respect, and to create an image of professionalism. Managing the way others view us becomes larger than reality. The result--we become overly concerned with achieving the goal rather than considering the process--and the goal is to succeed. Rather than focusing only on the what, great leaders also focus on the how. If aspiring leaders are too driven to succeed, they may lose sight of what is most important. They become so enamored with success that they avoid failure. What was once considered a strength, eventually becomes a detriment. The more success they achieve, the more failure becomes unthinkable--and the downward spiral begins.

Original post:
Failure Is The Only Option, If Success Is The End Goal