I met a long-time friend for lunch. We each worked at that great securities firm, The Robinson-Humphrey Company. The firm…
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The financial crisis in Greece is illustrative. How can an entire country follow a path for years that leads to…
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Success in sales is often about overcoming negatives rather than emphasizing positives. Similarly, success in management is often about avoiding…
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“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Whether you know this quote from the gospel of Matthew or from Abraham…
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Success in golf eludes me consistently. I always try to do the 10 or 15 things that will result in…
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“Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye,” wrote the Bard in Love’s Labour’s Lost. And just as beauty is…
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In every enterprise managers make decisions every day, and they have to do so in the absence of perfect information.…
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Managers have a lot to consider each day. Strategy. Tactics. Short-term goals. Long-term goals. Budgets. Performance reviews. Communication. Time allocation.…
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I spoke last week with a longtime friend, CEO of a mid-sized company. When I asked how he was, he…
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I was barely out of business school when I initiated a transaction with a top client of my firm. Because…
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I’ve hired bright college graduates for their first job since 1987. At orientation, I emphasize one point: the only dumb question…
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Terminating an employee is always the manager’s toughest task. It needn’t be. A “good” termination begins with a good hiring…
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To me, corporate culture is paramount. I’ve encountered three approaches to corporate culture. In some organizations, culture is acknowledged daily…
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A reader emailed about her “incompetent” manager. “What should I do?” If rational, every manager would welcome constructive criticism. In…
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The Great Recession taught us that trust matters. Every business transaction depends on trust between buyer and seller and on…
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Twenty years ago I visited a company that managed computer networks. On the tour, I saw high-powered engineers everywhere. I…
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Hawthorne wrote about the shame of wearing the “scarlet letter,” “A” for adultery. In many enterprises there is an equally…
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Communication is the Sisyphean task for all managers. No matter how much or how often, a manager’s communication efforts are…
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“Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody. Help!,” the Beatles sang in 1965. And they were right: everybody needs…
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Mark Twain wrote “Training is everything … a cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education.” The best…
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We’re all too familiar with Murphy’s Law. Every organization – a business, a school, a charity – exists to accomplish…
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I had coffee with a friend who was a year ahead of me in business school. We talked honestly about…
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Legendary football coach Lou Holtz once advised against telling people your problems: “80 percent don’t care and the other 20…
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In this space I write about management. But what if you aren’t the manager? You may not have a manager’s…
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Robert Burns penned words that resonate in every manager’s ear: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go…
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Legendary sportswriter Dan Jenkins once wrote that winning is “the happy accident of bringing together …[people] who can’t stand to…
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The first email I saw on January 2nd contained the resignation of a colleague. It was hardly the start to…
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To paraphrase, this is “the most frenetic time of the year.” We dash from Thanksgiving to Christmas, allowing but a…
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My friend Ski is a serial entrepreneur who conveys the lessons he’s learned in handy aphorisms. A favorite is, “You…
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A colleague lamented some recent personnel changes, saying “this place doesn’t feel like a family anymore.” But the workplace should…
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