I just attended an informal event with Cory Booker, the charismatic mayor of Newark, NJ, a city that has the distinction of being a recent (incorrect) choice on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Q: What is another word for Hades?
Get it? They were comparing America’s 2nd biggest harbor city with the realm of Satan. And Mr. Booker relishes the challenge of turning the city around, by reducing crime, improving transportation, and creating jobs.
Mr. Booker attributed his success to 2 key areas of focus:
1. Strong management principals, including business analytics and data analysis
2. Innovation, especially by noticing what others are doing well and seeing if it can be applied (not recreating the wheel, but rather finding the wheel maker and developing a JV with him)
What impressed me most about this leader, who may become governor or even president some day–was his confidence in the ability of people to make change. Even right now, when the economy is slow and most politicians (and most business leaders) are just trying to stay afloat, usually be cutting staff and spending, Mr. Booker is focused on implementing new programs, redeploying assets more effectively, and identifying others who have succeeded and bringing them to his city.
So many of us are in wait-and-see mode, assuming that growth and change is simply not possible right now. Take a look at what’s going on in Jersey.
