Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow

In recent years, while continuing to learn more about strengths, Gallup scientists have also been examining decades of data on the topic of leadership. They studied more than 1 million work teams, conducted more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with leaders, and even interviewed more than 10,000 followers around the world to ask exactly why they followed the most important leader in their life.

The results of that research are unveiled in Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow. Using Gallup’s discoveries, authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie identify three keys to being a more effective leader and use firsthand accounts from highly successful leaders — including the founder of Teach For America and the president of The Ritz-Carlton — to show how each person’s unique strengths can drive their success.

A new leadership version of Gallup’s popular StrengthsFinder assessment helps readers discover their own special gifts and specific strategies for leading with their top five strengths. Filled with novel research and actionable ideas, Strengths Based Leadership will give you a new road map for leading people toward a better future.

Tweet

Russell Adler Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Federal Election Campaign Act

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Jose A. Gonzalez, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announce that Russell S. Adler, 52, of Ft. Lauderdale, pled guilty before United States District Judge James I. Cohn to one count of conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act and to defraud the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. The defendant was a shareholder of the former Ft. Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler P.A. (RRA).

Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. in Ft. Lauderdale. At sentencing, the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison.

In connection with his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that, in order to circumvent campaign finance laws setting limitations on the amounts which donors can contribute, RRA Chairman and CEO Scott W. Rothstein enlisted some of the attorneys and administrative personnel of RRA, and other persons associated with RRA, including Adler, to make political contributions to various political campaigns which were unlawfully reimbursed to them by RRA.

Tweet

I-55 Bandit, Andrew Maberry, Sentenced on Bank Robbery Charges

Andrew Maberry, 20, O’Fallon, Illinois, who the FBI referred to as the I-55 Bandit, was sentenced to 60 months in prison on bank robbery charges, including the July 2, 2013 robbery of the Commerce Bank in Jefferson County, Missouri. He entered his guilty plea last December and was sentenced by United States District Judge Catherine D. Perry, in St. Louis.

According to court documents, on July 2, 2013, Maberry robbed the Commerce Bank in Arnold, Missouri. He also admitted with his plea agreement to nine other robberies in five states: May 15, 2013, US Bank in Crystal City, Missouri; May 21, 2013, First State Community Bank in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; May 6, 2013, Scott Credit Union in Edwardsville, Illinois; June 5, 2013, Harford Bank in Bel Air, Maryland; June 9, 2013, TD Bank located in Essex, Maryland; July 19, 2013, Wells Fargo Bank in Bel Air, Maryland; July 24, 2013, Susquehanna Bank in Ocean City, Maryland; July 30, 2013, Huntington National Bank in Hurricane, West Virginia; and August 14, 2013, Bank of Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee.

On September 10, 2013, a multi-state press release was issued that included bank security camera photographs of the robber who had been dubbed the I-55 Bandit. The FBI in St. Louis and in other districts received numerous phone calls from individuals stating that they know Andrew Maberry. On the same date, FBI in St. Louis was contacted and told that the I-55 Bandit wanted to turn himself in, and on September 11, 2013, Andrew Caleb Maberry turned himself in to the FBI in St. Louis.

Tweet

Irene Carrera Charged in #ShadyBandit Bank Robbery Case

A woman believed to be the robber who wore a pair of dark sunglasses during a series of robberies at TCF Bank branches on the north side of Chicago is facing a federal charge in connection with one of those robberies. The charge was announced by Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Irene Carrera, 51, of the 8200 block of South Ingleside Avenue in Chicago, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court with one count of bank robbery, a felony offense. She is currently being held on an unrelated state charge, and no federal court date has been set.

Although Carrera was charged with only one count, for a February 11, 2014 heist that occurred at the TCF branch located at 4355 North Sheridan Road in Chicago; the complaint includes details of three additional TCF robberies that Carrera allegedly committed. Those robberies occurred on May 21 and November 20, 2013, at 3531 North Broadway, and on March 6, 2014, at 5516 North Clark.

During each robbery, a woman later identified as Carrera approached a bank teller, presented a demand note for money, and made verbal demands for “large bills” or “big bills,” according to the complaint. Bank surveillance video from each robbery showed an individual wearing dark sunglasses, which led to the Shady Bandit moniker, and FBI agents later recovered sunglasses resembling those shown in the videos during a search of Carrera’s apartment.

Tweet

Alleged #MagnoliaStreetSteelers Gang Member Arrested for Drug Trafficking #OperationWhiplash

A Lynn man who is allegedly a member of the Magnolia Street Steelers gang was arrested for drug trafficking in North Andover. The arrest marks the 44th individual charged in the multi-phase investigation dubbed Operation Whiplash.

On September 25, 2013, Tyrone Shepherd, a/k/a Pooh, 30, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and four counts of distribution of cocaine base. Operation Whiplash was a wide-ranging FBI Gang Task Force investigation of several gangs in and around Lynn and Revere. Operation Whiplash is the successor investigation to Operation Melting Pot which, in 2010, resulted in 62 Lynn gang leaders, members, and associates of the Avenue King Crips, Bloods, Gangsta Disciples, Deuce Boyz/Soldiers, and Latin Kings being charged in federal and state court. More than 40 guns were seized.

The goal of Operation Whiplash was to target the gangs and gang members who remained in and around Lynn, before they were able to fully reconstitute and seize power in the vacuum created by Operation Melting Pot. Operation Whiplash has resulted in state and federal charges against 44 leaders, members, and associates of the Money Over Broken Bitches (M.O.B.B.) street gang in Lynn, the Bloods in Revere, and other gangs. These individuals, including 27 federal defendants, face drug, firearms, and witness tampering charges. Operation Whiplash also resulted in the seizure of 16 firearms.

According to the detention affidavit filed today, Shepherd is a member of the MIC (Magnolia, Intervale, and Columbia) Street Gang, also known as the Magnolia Street Steelers. Shepherd has a tattoo of the insignia of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is also a symbol of the gang. On September 25, 2013, the FBI issued an arrest warrant and offered a reward of $5,000 for information leading directly to his arrest.

If convicted, Shepherd faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison; a mandatory minimum term of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release; and a $5 million fine on the charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base. If convicted on the charge of distribution of cocaine base, Shepherd faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum term of three years, and up to a lifetime of supervised release; and a $1 million fine.

Tweet