What does Steve, Michael and Jerry have in common?

They all went back to rescue their ailing giants. Jerry Yang is the newest in the line-up as Yahoo battles against Google. The jury is still out on Michael Dell and we all know the success of Steve Jobs at Apple. It's simply a case of companies growing very large, losing focus, momentum and character. The last one about character is important. Loyal customers buy not only because they like the product, but unknowingly because they liked the company. They understood the brand and more importantly the brand stood out.

When companies grow large and successful, shareholders have higher and higher expectations for revenue, earnings and share value. In response, these companies diversify irresponsibly to generate more revenue which can often, if not always, weaken their core competancy, brand and quality. IBM and Microsoft are good candidates for the titles of struggling behemoths. My prediction will be eBay will join that group one day.

Leaders of companies (and countries) must do more than manage. They must lead and part of leading is building a vision, inspiring your followers (both employees and customers), and become an icon of confidence and hope. Steve had the charisma, culture to do just that.

From The Matrix: "Agent Smith: Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability."

My two word phrase of the day to describe all these commercial train wrecks waiting to happen?

Undeniable inevitability