Successful Leadership in a Complex, Globalized World

Nichole Thiel

Nichole Thiel is a respected presence in the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho community who has extensive experience in organizational leadership. Having been active with the Idaho Leadership Institute for three years, Nichole Thiel has a particular interest in the experiences that have informed successful figures in business.

Speaking at a TED event, one veteran strategy consultant described leadership development programs that are based on past models as being a significant detriment to success in today’s business world. Conducting a study that spanned 4,000 companies, she found that a majority of businesses experienced major gaps when it came to filling critical leadership roles. This came despite significant expansion in leadership development expenditures.

A major reason turned out to be that, within a world of increased digital communication and transparency, a complex matrix approach is required to successfully navigate the intricacies of globalized workplaces and marketplaces. Traditional 360 performance assessments and performance criterion often result in a blindsiding, as core realities are ignored and false positives generated.

One effective approach involves bringing together different, often geographically diverse teams from within the organization to hash out the specific issues they are facing and place them within the corporate context. The end result is one of proactive course correction that addresses potential market shifts and organizational failures, before these challenges undermine the company’s core mission.

A Brief History of United States Postal Service Stamps

As a former athletic trainer at the high school and university levels, Nichole Thiel has worked with world-class athletes, such as John Friese of the Seattle Seahawks and Mark Schlereth of the Denver Broncos. After a successful career in collegiate athletics, Nichole Thiel recently obtained a position with the United States Postal Service (USPS), which pioneered the postage stamp system.

The US Postal Service released the first federal stamp in 1848. From the inception, stamps featured prominent people, including Benjamin Franklin, who served as the country’s first postmaster general.

Before the advent of postage stamps, recipients paid for postage on arrival. However, this resulted in countless returned letters and unpaid delivery fees. Prepaid postage stamps effectively solved this problem, though the public was slow to take up the new practice until Congress made stamps compulsory in 1855.

The USPS earns hundreds of millions of dollars each year from stamp sales. The 1993 Elvis Presley commemorative stamp alone sold more than half a billion copies.

The USPS has released special stamps honoring famous historical figures, artists, musicians, cities, natural wonders, and notable inventions. In 2019, the USPS will commemorate R&B singer Marvin Gaye and the children’s television series Sesame Street.