Leading Edge

Manage your talent like a sports team, says former Tyco CEO
Successful sports teams usually have a balanced roster of committed and talented players, says former Tyco International CEO Edward Breen. That's the same approach leaders should take in running their companies, Breen explains. "There's no one individual going to make a company. So I always want to put people around me who I think are better than me, who will challenge me," he says. Knowledge@Wharton (2/13)
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How Apple created its own business school
Apple is persuading business and management scholars to leave academia and join Apple University, an in-house business school intended to train leaders in the style of Apple -- and outside the MBA system. The project, conceived by Steve Jobs, has hired former Yale management-school dean Joel Podolny, Harvard business historian Richard Tedlow, and University of California, Berkeley's Morten T. Hansen. CNNMoney/Fortune/Apple 2.0 blog (2/13)
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Strategic Management

What you get or give for Valentine's Day may depend on where you live
What are you buying your sweetheart on Valentine's Day? What are they buying you? Americans are expected to spend $18.6 billion for Valentine's candy, cards, gifts, and other items this year, according to research from the National Retail Federation. This analysis from Esri details what sweethearts buy each other based on ZIP codes. What does your ZIP code say about the kind of gift exchange you will experience today? SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/14)
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Corporations temper travel boom with reduced spending
Business-travel volume may be rising, but most companies are tightening their road warriors' travel budgets to reduce overall spending. Even high-ranking executives are being compelled to fly coach, and travel managers are urging corporate travelers to cut down on flight and hotel amenities. The Wall Street Journal (2/12)
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Champagne-makers raise a glass to Valentine's Day
More than half of all champagne is drunk from September on, building to a fizzy climax with the Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations, but sales then go flat in January. Champagne marketers use Valentine's Day to remind consumers about their product. "We need to create special events, gift boxes, special editions. We need momentum in the market," says Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon, deputy CEO of Cristal maker Louis Roederer. Bloomberg Businessweek (2/13)
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Innovation and Creativity

Leaders make or break innovation
There's no such thing as fire-and-forget innovation, writes Scott Anthony. Leaders can't just get innovation projects up and running -- they need to remain involved and champion the work being done. "Innovation is enough of an unnatural act in most companies ... that it requires the day-by-day attention of the company's top leadership team or it simply won't stick," Anthony warns. Harvard Business Review online/HBR Blog Network (2/13)
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Lies, logic and creativity
There are a number of traits that mark highly creative individuals, writes Jeffrey Baumgartner, including being thoughtful, playful, logical and spontaneous -- but also being markedly less honest than less creative counterparts. "The reason for this seems to be that creative people can use their creativity to justify their actions in ways that less creative people cannot do," Baumgartner writes. InnovationExcellence.com (2/13)
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The Global Perspective

How Drake & Scull survived the UAE construction crash
Engineering giant Drake & Scull International has successfully weathered the downturn in the Middle Eastern construction industry by diversifying, improving collections and expanding into new markets, says CEO Khaldoun Tabari. The company has also established units for utilities, civil contracting and rail services. Gulf Business online (United Arab Emirates) (2/13)
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Engage. Innovate. Discuss.

What's the secret of your success? Do you even know?
Before leaders can help their employees, they must discover and embrace their own inner genius, says Bob Rothman, co-chief operating officer at Gap International. The truth is that everyone is truly great at something, Rothman says, and acknowledging their gift in one area can help them improve in others. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/13)
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Daily Diversion

Happy Valentine's Day -- have some vinegar
From the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, Valentine's Day was a chance for people to send anonymous hate mail to one another. The "vinegar valentines" featured mean-spirited caricatures and acerbic poems listing the recipient's vices, and were often targeted at specific demographics such as doctors, teachers and feminists. Slate/The Vault blog (2/13)
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Editor's Note

Your SmartBrief has a new look
Noticed a change? SmartBrief on Leadership has the same valuable content but with a reworked design to make reading and sharing stories easier, especially on mobile devices. Have feedback on the change? Send it our way!
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SmartQuote

Companies that think they have an innovation problem don't have an innovation problem. They have a leadership problem." -- Karl Ronn, former Procter & Gamble executive, as quoted at Harvard Business Review's HBR Blog Network Share: