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Nick McCormick

Nick McCormick

About

Nick McCormick is a practicing manager in the information technology field with extensive business experience and a passion for leadership development. He has built and managed dozens of teams and organizations of information technology professionals.

His efforts have been recognized through the receipt of multiple leadership awards to include AT&T's Partners in Delivering Excellence Award and Electronic Data System's Leadership Coaching Award.

He spends a good deal of time helping others become successful managers and leaders through his teaching, training, and writing. In fact, that is the mission of his company -- Be Good Ventures, LLC where he has published multiple books -- Lead Well and Prosper and Acting Up Brings Everyone Down.

Nick Lives with his wife and three children in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

The Sons of Godwine: Part Two of The Last Great Saxon Earls

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<p>Emerging from the long shadow cast by his formidable father, Harold Godwineson showed himself to be a worthy successor to the Earldom of Wessex. In the following twelve years, he became the King's most trusted advisor, practically taking the reins of government into his own hands. And on Edward the Confessor's death, Harold Godwineson mounted the throne—the first king of England not of royal blood. Yet Harold was only a man, and his rise in fortune was not blameless. Like any person aspiring to power, he made choices he wasn't particularly proud of. Unfortunately, those closest to him sometimes paid the price of his fame.<br /><br />This is a story of Godwine's family as told from the viewpoint of Harold and his younger brothers. Queen Editha, known for her Vita Ædwardi Regis, originally commissioned a work to memorialize the deeds of her family, but after the Conquest historians tell us she abandoned this project and concentrated on her husband, the less dangerous subject. In THE SONS OF GODWINE and FATAL RIVALRY, I am telling the story as it might have survived had she collected and passed on the memoirs of her tragic brothers.<br /><br />This book is part two of The Last Great Saxon Earls series. Book one, GODWINE KINGMAKER, depicted the rise and fall of the first Earl of Wessex who came to power under Canute and rose to preeminence at the beginning of Edward the Confessor's reign. Unfortunately, Godwine's misguided efforts to champion his eldest son Swegn recoiled on the whole family, contributing to their outlawry and Queen Editha's disgrace. Their exile only lasted one year and they returned victorious to London, though it was obvious that Harold's career was just beginning as his father's journey was coming to an end.<br /><br />Harold's siblings were all overshadowed by their famous brother; in their memoirs we see remarks tinged sometimes with admiration, sometimes with skepticism, and in Tostig's case, with jealousy. We see a Harold who is ambitious, self-assured, sometimes egocentric, imperfect, yet heroic. His own story is all about Harold, but his brothers see things a little differently. Throughout, their observations are purely subjective, and witnessing events through their eyes gives us an insider’s perspective.<br /><br />Harold was his mother's favorite, confident enough to rise above petty sibling rivalry but Tostig, next in line, was not so lucky. Harold would have been surprised by Tostig's vindictiveness, if he had ever given his brother a second thought. And that was the problem. Tostig's love/hate relationship with Harold would eventually destroy everything they worked for, leaving the country open to foreign conquest. This subplot comes to a crisis in book three of the series, FATAL RIVALRY.</p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="color:#000000;">“Please read this book and ask yourself one simple question – did I ever grow up? </span></span></font><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="color:#000000;">As I read Nick’s latest work of art, I found myself realizing that I did some of these immature and child like things in my management career. Actually, I’m ashamed to admit it. Thanks Nick for a wonderful book – another compulsory reference book for managers who are honest enough to admit they have yet to grow up. As I read it I could not help thinking of Gandhi’s immortal words: ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world.’”</span><span style="color:#000000;"></span></span></font></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"></p> <p><span style="color:#000080;"><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';">-- Trevor Gay, UK management and leadership trainer, speaker, and author </span></font></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;line-height:14.4pt;"><span style="color:#000080;"></span></p> <p><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="color:#000000;">“Once again Nick has produced an engaging, concise, and actionable offering of essential workplace advice, and this time for all of us. Another winner by the author of <em>Lead Well and Prosper</em>. A must read for everyone who works.”</span><span style="color:#000080;"></span></span></font></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;line-height:14.4pt;"><span style="color:#000080;"></span></p> <p><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="color:#000080;">-- Jim Stroup, author of <em>Managing Leadership is Fine</em></span><em><span lang="en-gb" style="color:#000080;" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></em></span></font></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"></p> <p><span style="color:#000000;"><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';">“It’s true - Acting up DOES bring everyone down. Nick McCormick offers tips to nip this behavior in the bud and get on with the job at hand.”</span></font></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color:#000080;"></span></p> <p><span style="color:#000080;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">-- Wayne Turmel, president </font><a href="http://greatwebmeetings.com/"><span class="yshortcuts"><span style="color:#000080;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Greatwebmeetings.com</font></span></span></a><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"> and host of the “Cranky <span class="yshortcuts">Middle Manager</span> Show” </span></font></span></p> <p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color:#000080;"></span></p> <p><font size="3"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span style="color:#000000;">&quot;Nick McCormick's ability to link damaging workplace behaviors to their childish origins helps us plainly see how destructive these can be to our organization, team, and our own career. Each chapter details the anatomy of a particular behavior and includes great dialog sketches, which are Nick's trademark. This book gets to the point quickly using examples we can all relate to and then coaches/mentors the reader with pointed check lists of do's and don'ts.&quot;<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#000080;">-- Susan Stamm, author of <em>42 Rules of Employee Engagement, </em>president of The TEAM Approach</span></span></font></p>