The more I read about and try to learn from our civilization’s great leaders, the more I realize how much many of them have in common. Yes, many of these individuals are incredibly brilliant. Some have had life advantages others of us don’t or haven’t.

But most of them are also (intentionally or not) doing the same things to create, cultivate and sustain the leadership and success they’ve achieved. Here’s at least six things I believe great leaders do:

1. Read. I defy you to find a great leader who isn’t, in some way, a scholar. Who doesn’t surround himself or herself with books, knowledge and opinions that give them greater perspective, vision, insight and ability. Leaders are never done learning, and consistently devote time from their busy schedules to devour even more information.

The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) has launched a $10 million investment fund for nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies to provide innovative services, devices, and technologies to significantly reduce costs and improve access to care in California.

Through the angel investment fund set up to ensure quality care for underserved populations, CHCF will be able to support a broad range of entrepreneurs with proven records for developing scalable sustainable businesses in the healthcare market.

The Fund will provide funding at all stages, with a primary focus on early development, including seed rounds as small as $50,000 to total investments of up to $3 million. In addition to providing capital, CHCF can help with regulatory and reimbursement strategies, provide insight into healthcare financing and operations, and connect companies to demonstration sites in the state.

Who Republicans pick to head U.S. House committees will help determine how the GOP will approach business issues in the next Congress.

In most cases, the differences between the contenders for committee chairmanships are more about style than substance. Most House Republicans agree on their priorities: lower taxes, reduce spending, ease regulatory burdens and block the implementation of health-care reform.

If your startup desperately needs an investor, you may not care if the investor is a so-called “angel” investor, or a venture capitalist (VC). The money is the same color in either case. But I have found that making the right choice at the right time can have a major impact on your long-term success, and the decision process is complex.

The basics are simple. Angels are typically high net-worth individuals, investing their own money, interested more in early or “seed” financing of amounts starting as low as $25K. Venture capitalists are professionals, investing other people’s money from a fund, interested mostly in later rounds, in chunks of money from $2M up. Between these extremes is a large overlap.

But beyond the numbers, there are many factual and subjective issues that you should be aware of before you step into the game. These include the following:

1. Investment control. Angels typically have simpler term sheets, don’t squeeze so hard on valuations, and are more realistic on time-frames. VCs tend to exert more control over the team and assert financial control over the company, its strategy and exit plans. Ultimately a larger VC investment can also narrow exit options.

More than 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube per minute, or 50,400 hours uploaded every day — the equivalent of more than 176,000 full-length Hollywood releases every week.

Here are some of the factors contributing to the growth:

• The time limit for videos uploaded by users increased by 50% from 10 to 15 minutes.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG is developing a pill containing an embedded microchip, which it hopes to submit for regulatory approval in Europe within 18 months.

The chip is activated by stomach acid and transmits information to a patch attached to the patient’s skin, which then sends it on to a doctor via the Internet or a smartphone.

Five hundred million people will be using mobile health apps by 2015, according to the "Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2015," released yesterday. "Our findings indicate that the long-expected mobile revolution in healthcare is set to happen. Both healthcare providers and consumers are embracing smartphones as a means to improving healthcare," said head researcher, Ralf-Gordon Jahns.

The study was part of the mHealth Summit, which wrapped Wednesday and offered a picture on industry that's booming at home and abroad.

Of the current health apps on the market, 43% are designed for health care professionals, indicating the future of mHealth has far-reaching personal and institutional potential.

Thanks to The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg has become a controversial figure. From shady IM conversations to mismanaging fellow co-founders, the young entrepreneur has made quite a few mistakes throughout his career.

Is he a jerk, or is he like every other immature teenager? How do other teens handle the pressure of starting a company at such a young age with such little experience?

Despite ultimate success, many young entrepreneurs make a lot of errors along the way. Perhaps it's a lack of maturity, confidence, or career experience.

With so much riding on our country’s ability to turn new ideas into economic progress and job creation for the next generation, it was wise for the National Research Council of the National Academies to review the performance of an important piece of legislation that is hitting its 30^th anniversary: The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980. This important law gave universities ownership over intellectual property arising from federally funded research at their institutions. Although it may seem obscure to the uninitiated, the legislation has since helped spark thousands of new products and new ventures over the last three decades.

In its new report, “Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest,” NRC concludes that Bayh-Dole indeed works as advertised, helping to translate research advances for the public interest. It also concludes that significant room for improvement remains, and through its 128-page report the council proposes useful and concrete suggestions for universities to more effectively apply their research for the public good.

Kinematics, the study of motion and how things move, encompasses the concepts of position, velocity and acceleration, but as anyone who has caught up to someone in a game of tag or on the running track knows, it's acceleration that's the most fun element of this concept.

Some of us start out slow, but acceleration can yield some surprising results when it comes to predators and prey, or basically anyone involved in a chase. As the kinematics episode of NBC Learn's "The Science of NFL Football" states, "NFL running backs would be easy prey, and football itself wouldn't be nearly as fun to watch" without acceleration and other aspects of kinematics.

Policy makers and local economic developers could improve the economy by pursuing a strategy of cultivating existing businesses called "economic gardening," reports WWJ. Economic gardening enjoys widespread support from local governments across the state.

A report from the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan reveals that more local economic developers are targeting their efforts toward existing businesses rather than trying to attract new businesses to relocate in their jurisdictions.

A growing number of positions for graduates will be generated in China as the nation moves from "a labor-intensive to an innovation economy".

This is according to an article by Xinhua quoting Oxford University's professor of the economy of China Albert Park, who explained that it will become increasingly easy for those with degrees to secure work as demand for skilled employees rises.

He pointed out that the rate of economic return on higher education is "very high" and is expanding as there is a shortage of available graduates compared with the labor force as a whole.

There are certain defining traits successful business leaders possess. Any venture capitalist will tell you that investing in a team is often more important than the idea itself. VCs see qualities in founders that make them believe their money will be in good hands.

Do you have what it takes to convince the world you're an entrepreneur? We've compiled a list of key personality traits from across the web. Check out each of the following statements and record your number of Yes/No responses. With each "yes," your chances of becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg or Sergey Brin increase.

Well if you don’t, get one! – Having a mentor is a great way to keep that Entrepreneurial flame alight, following in the footsteps of a successful person who has already been in your shoes and focused on their dream hard enough to make it a reality.

By following a mentor and studying the process which took them from being an ordinary person to a wealthy and successful entrepreneur, you are increasing the chances of becoming a success yourself.

The digital economy is transforming the lives of people and organizations. There is a revolution in media, market relations and consumer behavior. Also there is a revolution of rising expectations by crowds of people who are rejecting old business philosophies and outdated management practices. Revolutions create change as changes accelerate through spheres of influence. Revolutions create buzz because the human network is attracted to changes that create meaningful value.

The buzzword is social media. The term social media goes beyond what we are witnessing today in terms of human interaction and the subsequent changes fueled by the interaction. Conventional spheres of influence are accelerating changes in business processes, market dynamics and buyer preferences. However the marketplace of sellers considers these changes as merely an alternative to make a channel for marketing or selling product on and off line.

We call this wisdom

In the old days, the hiring manager was the person to know if you wanted to get a job. They would read your resume and compare it with the “bell curve” in their mind. This bell curve contains a statistical sample of all similar situations that the manager has witnessed, the variables involved, and a range of outcomes observed across their long and illustrious career…Ohhhmmmmmm
We Call This Simulated Wisdom

Modern HR systems try to simulate this wisdom through a series of innovations such as key word search, structured interviews, personality tests, and employee incentives. Now we can use Google (an information company) to derive sort of a proxy for wisdom as we assess search results in our own image. Facebook and Linkedin go a step further by providing us with another filter through which to pass judgement upon a future employee or partner. The problem is that the more we look into these systems, the more they deliver back to us a reflection of ourselves…Ohhhmmmmm

If the holidays are a time for giving, why do we always expect something in return? With so many people unemployed, homeless and starving today, we cannot afford to sit back and do nothing. There are plenty of organizations around the country that are committed to helping people in need, but that shouldn't stop you from lending a helping hand this holiday season. You don't have to volunteer every waking hour or donate your retirement savings to a charity in order to give back. Even the smallest deeds, such as visiting a lonely senior citizen on Christmas day or cooking a meal for a needy family goes a long way. Here are 20 selfless things to do this holiday season:

1. Volunteer: Volunteering is one of the single greatest things you can do this holiday season and the rest of the year. No matter what you volunteer your time and efforts towards, volunteering is a selfless act that betters the community and brings joy to all players involved.
2. Donate: Donating is another selfless act that you can participate in this holiday season. Donating is easy to do and it makes a big difference. You can donate money to a charity, donate clothes to a homeless shelter or donate food or toys to needy families this holiday season.
3. Fundraising: Fundraising is another selfless way to help others this holiday season. Fundraising is the key to raising big bucks for organizations and raising awareness for cause that matters to you.

With its strong environmental mission and its consistent brand communication through its “Protecting Planet Home” campaign and numerous other channels, Seventh Generation has been considered a top green business leader. A recent challenge by P&G showed the vulnerability of the Seventh Generation position. With the new FTC rules more clearly defining green terms, the recommendation to be totally transparent is more important than ever.

Procter & Gamble challenged a Seventh Generation commercial that they said implied Seventh Generation products did not contain hazardous chemicals and were all natural referenced in an article on Greenbiz.com. While I do not have the details to know whether P&G’s claims were valid, in the National Advertising Division (NAD) review they found P&G and Seventh Generation’s products contain hazardous chemicals and that Seventh Generation refrain from making false claims that their products are all natural. While a child cleaned with a Seventh Generation product the commercial announcer said “no one holds their breath while cleaning” and also said “people everywhere are saying no to hazardous chemicals…and yes to a safe and naturally effective way to clean”.