Rather than focusing on Lebron James being the first black man on the cover of Vogue (alongside supermodel Gisele Bundchen, no less), the blogosphere is aflame with criticism, stating the cover perpetuates racial stereotypes. And you know what, ladies and gentlemen? They’re right.

Yeah…it’s oh-so obvious that famed photographer Annie Leibovitz was going for that ‘black man takes all the white women’ vibe, and did so flawlessly. Yeah!

Yeah…nah. This has to be one of the stupidest and most shameless stunts by bloggers to get attention. Hell, now I’m part of it. Let’s put it this way: if über-cutie Patrick Dempsey was clutching Gisele like this, nobody would bat an eyelash. You know it’s true.

But see, the difference is that I’m going to throw in The Top 25 Magazine Covers that have stirred up controversy…after the jump, of course (keep those clicks coming! - ed).

Let’s get racy after the jump. Read More »

It could be stocks, cars, widgets, ads, stereos, it doesn’t matter: there’s a high percentage of you that will ‘get’ to experience possibly this less-than-glamorous career path.

“The word ’salesperson’ conjures up a lot of stereotypes,” says Jeffery Fox, a Harvard Business graduate and founder of Fox & Company, an award-winning marketing consulting firm. ‘It makes me think of Glengarry Glen Ross. That is NOT a good example of a sales person. It can be a school teacher selling students on writing, parents selling a kid on cleaning a room - it’s more than just sales.”

In his book Secrets of Great Rainmakers, Fox goes to great lengths to differentiate between a normal salesperson and a rainmaker, who is a salesperson that “sells the most, makes the best, and does it during any condition.”

The good news? Fox can make you rain - or is that reign?

Is becoming a ‘rainmaker’ easy? Is it teachable?

The best sales people are actually modest, quiet and ask a lot of questions. That’s something that can be taught. But it’s hard for schools to do. Very few faculty have the necessary battle scars; they come from an academic-oriented mindset, a lot statistics. That’s not what I teach. Read More »