Bonnie and Clyde guns expected to go for more than $100,000 each at auction - CNN

Two guns recovered from the bodies of notorious gangster couple Bonnie and Clyde are expected to fetch more than $100,000 each, an auction official told CNN on Friday.

The Colt .45 was found in Clyde Barrow's waistband, and the .38-caliber Colt was strapped to one of Bonnie Parker's legs on May 23, 1934, when they were killed in an ambush near Gibsland, Louisiana.

"This is one of the finest Bonnie and Clyde collections you will ever see," said Bobby Livingston, vice president of RR Auction in Amherst, New Hampshire. "We expect the guns should sell anywhere between $100,000 and $200,000. But really the sky is the limit for these types of guns."

In January, a submachine gun and shotgun reportedly seized at one of Bonnie and Clyde's hideouts was sold by a Kansas City auction firm for $130,000 and $80,000, respectively, The Joplin Globe reported.

According to the website for RR Auction, the Colt Model 1911 U.S. Army pistol was Barrow's "personal pistol." When police officers searched the car Bonnie and Clyde were driving when they were gunned down, they found many weapons, including nine other Colts, but this was the one he favored, Livingston said.

An extra clip for bullets is included, along with a letter from Frank Hamer Jr., the son of one of the Texas Rangers who killed the notorious couple.

Parker's .38 was taped to her inner thigh, Livingston said.

"My father said that one reason she had the gun taped to the inside of her leg was that, in those days, no gentlemen officer would search a woman where she had it taped," a letter from Hamer states, according to the auction site.

Livingston told CNN that part of Hamer's fee for tracking and killing Bonnie and Clyde was the promise he could take some of their possessions, which he split with other posse members and police officers from Louisiana.

The auction also includes items, including his pocket watch, from the estate of Clyde's sister, Marie Barrow, a release from the auction company said.

Potential bidders can register at the www.rrauction.com, Livingston said. The live auction, which will be held September 30, will contain more than 100 lots of gangster-related items.

Bonnie and Clyde, whose legend grew larger through the years in song and film, went on a crime spree in 1932 that lasted 21 months during the height of the Great Depression, according to Britannica.com. They robbed small-town banks and gas stations throughout the Southwest.

According to the FBI's website, Barrow murdered at least 12 people, but Parker "probably never fired a shot."

By Steve Almasy, CNN Jul 13, 2012



Bonnie and Clyde guns expected to go for more than $100,000 each at auction - CNN

The power of 'we' is central to teamwork

A famous organist was performing a concert on a huge antique organ in front of a large audience. The bellows were hand-pumped by a boy seated behind a screen, unseen by any in the vast auditorium. The first part of the performance went well, and at intermission, the organist took his bows as the listeners applauded enthusiastically. During the break, the musician rested in a side passageway. The boy came out to join him.

"We played well, didn't we, sir?" the boy asked.

The arrogant musician glared at him. "What do you mean, 'we'?"

After the intermission, the organist returned to his seat to begin his next number, but as he pressed his fingers down on the keys, nothing happened. The bellows produced no wind, and not a sound came out.

Then the organist heard a whisper from behind the screen: "Say, mister, now do you know what 'we' means?"

Michael Jordan, in his book "I Can't Accept Not Trying," writes: "There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."

In Japanese culture, institutionalized conflict is an integral part of management. At Honda, any employee, however junior, can call for a "waigaya" session. The rules are that people lay their cards on the table and speak directly about problems. "Waigaya" legitimizes tension so that learning can take place.

Teamwork begins with the hiring process. Ask interview questions that uncover teamwork skills. Listen for examples of "we" accomplishments, and unless the candidate was a one-person shop, the answers should include clues to a collaborative attitude.

A team approach requires a specific set of skills and behaviors from your workforce. Lone wolves and mavericks may not mesh well within a team environment, so when you're hiring people for a true team, ask these questions:

Why do you want to join this team? Look for people who are interested in the goals of the team, not in achieving success on their own. Find out what the candidate has done in the past and what other work options he or she has considered.

What relevant teamwork experience do you have? Teamwork skills usually carry over across departments or industries. Probe to find out how the person has worked cooperatively with others in pursuit of group goals.

What's most important in working on a team? Teamwork means different things to different workers. Find out what teamwork skills the candidate values -- communication, reaching consensus, cooperative decision-making -- and discuss these in depth.

How have you handled conflicts on previous teams? No team functions without disagreement. You'll find out a lot about your potential teammate by exploring his or her approach to, and experience with, conflict between team members or between the team and other parts of the organization.

Certainly, sports provide easy examples of teamwork in action. Perhaps the most visible example of how much a team values contributions of everyone involved in great success is when the time comes to award championship rings. A few years back, I spearheaded a committee to save the men's golf program at the University of Minnesota. That same year, the team won the NCAA men's golf tournament. The championship ring that they presented to me never comes off my finger.

Mackay's Moral: "We" is a little word that sends a big message.

by Harvey Mackay Jul 9, 2012



The power of 'we' is central to teamwork

Your Handwriting Means | Ғасєвффк Әят

Your Handwriting Means | Ғасєвффк Әят

A good manager knows when to delegate

"The surest way for an executive to kill himself is to refuse to learn how, and when, and to whom to delegate work," said James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney Co.

When you grow, you have to know when to let go. You have to know when to delegate so you can rise up. The inability to delegate properly is the main reason that executives fail. I've learned people will seldom let you down if they understand that your destiny is in their hands, and vice versa.

Delegating is a key management skill, but managers often mistake delegation for passing off work. Failing to effectively delegate wastes your time as well as the company's time and resources.

Personal experience starting and running Mackay Envelope Co., now MackayMitchell Envelope Co., taught me this. There came a day when we had grown to the point where I had to hire a person below me to run the company day to day, while I scanned the horizon, studying our industry and the company's future direction.

The reason? You don't want to be micromanaging and end up macromangling. The captain's place is on the bridge and not knee-deep in the bilge. As the person steering an enterprise, you keep your head high and your vision unobstructed so you can study the big responsibilities while maintaining authority and control. Many aspects of this art can't be taught. Pulling it off successfully can't be analyzed or quantified, but it can be qualified. If you don't get quality people, you're doomed.

In his book "Further Up the Organization," Robert Townsend wrote: "Leaders delegate whole important jobs. Non-leaders make all final decisions themselves."

Learning to delegate often requires a detour outside your comfort zone. How do you start delegating successfully?

Don't look for perfection. Your objective is to get the job done, not create a masterpiece. Establish a standard of quality and a fair time frame for reaching it. Once you establish the expectations, let your staff decide how to carry out the project.

Provide complete job instructions. Make sure your employee has all the information needed to complete the job. Confirm that he or she understands -- and accepts -- the requirements.

Stop believing you're the only one who can do the job properly. Just because an employee does things differently doesn't mean he or she won't do the job right. If you establish expectations of the end goal and the standards to follow, then methodology shouldn't be an issue. An important and often overlooked part of delegation is that it helps develop employees for advancement and creates a better work environment.

Focus on teaching skills. Delegating doesn't mean passing off work you don't enjoy but rather letting your employees stretch their skills and judgment. As you hand over greater responsibility, it's important to understand that learning new skills sometimes includes making mistakes. Don't punish employees who make a good-faith effort to do things right.

Check on progress. Let the employee do the work, but check in periodically. Don't look over employees' shoulders or watch their every move. When you outline the expectations in the beginning, make sure you build in checkpoints for follow-up.

Thank the people who have accepted the responsibility. Make sure employees know their efforts are recognized and appreciated.

A new hotel employee was asked to clean the elevators and report back to the supervisor when the task was completed. When the employee failed to appear at the end of the day, the supervisor assumed that like many others, the employee had not liked the job and left. However, after four days, the supervisor bumped into the new employee. He was cleaning one of the elevators.

"You surely haven't been cleaning these elevators for four days, have you?" asked the supervisor, accusingly.

"Yes, sir," said the employee. "This is a big job, and I've not finished yet. Do you realize there are more than 40 of them, two on each floor, and sometimes they are not even there."

Mackay's Moral: The most successful managers aim at making themselves unnecessary to their staff.

by Harvey Mackay Jul 2, 2012




A good manager knows when to delegate

Sexy Fireman Makes Margaritas After Saving a Kitten - Cats : People.com

There's nothing like a man in uniform – well, unless it's a man in uniform making margaritas (for you) with a kitten.

Sauza Tequila hopes this hot-man-and-baby-animal combo will entice you to try their latest brew. In a new ad called "Make It with a Fireman," a hunky firefighter whips up a "Sauza-rita" with supervision from a fluffy kitty.



"Being a fireman is more than just putting out blazes and giving kittens CPR," says the ad's ripped star, clutching an adorable kitten as smoke billows around him.

Off comes the flame-resistant jacket and things get down to business. Firefighter man gives a sizzling lesson on how to mix water, limeade, a bottle of light beer and blue tequila to make a refreshing drink.

"Kittens make everything better," he says. Couldn't agree more.

by People Magazine Apr 17, 2012


Sexy Fireman Makes Margaritas After Saving a Kitten - Cats : People.com