The Art of Fielding is a highly-heralded debut novel. Baseball is the backdrop, but it’s not about baseball, the publishers want to assure — so as not to turn off the non-sporting segment of book buyers. Author Chad Harbach is an excellent writer of … Continue reading
September 29, 2011
I overheard an interesting scenario recently. At the onset of the downturn, a professional services firm made a strategic decision to avoid layoffs. The goal was to create a competitive advantage in the recovery. This, in comparison to competitors who … Continue reading
November 18, 2010
Are you strategic-planning yourself toward a nervous breakdown? Psychiatrists call it catastrophizing. It happens in companies, too. We face a less-than-bright economic outlook, no doubt. But, how do you strike a balance between doomsday disaster forecasting and head-in-the-sand denial of the difficulties? Organizational … Continue reading
November 16, 2009
The nature of business structure is changing. Organizations are flattening. Due to the proliferation of outsourcing, many resources are now housed outside of the company. 62 percent of respondents in a leadership survey by Hay Group (excellent recommended reading) indicated … Continue reading
September 17, 2009
Spend a day with one of the world’s top leadership development thinkers — the venerable Dr. Marshall Goldsmith — and this is the zen of his message. He filled an auditorium, no surprise, with a rapt audience. Interestingly, his focus … Continue reading
September 12, 2009
Earlier in my career, I was an on-air contributor to The Bottom Line, a nightly business program on Dallas/Fort Worth’s KRLD — offering “street-smart tips on how to survive and thrive in a changing marketplace.” In the pre-Internet era, the … Continue reading
August 30, 2009
Have you ever heard of metabolic syndrome? It is a cluster of health disorders that converge as a kind of perfect storm, putting individuals diagnosed with this medical phenomenon at greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease. Central among this group … Continue reading
August 24, 2009
I was interviewed for an article in Forbes magazine, Get Hired in Four Easy Steps . In a tight market, why not go beyond the traditional two-page resume to showcase your background and the kind of deliverables you could bring … Continue reading
August 20, 2009
Ray Trapp is a legendary Dallas adman, as well as a former boss/mentor. (See story of how I talked him into the job!) We chatted about his career start in New York and the world depicted in AMC’s Mad Men … Continue reading
August 16, 2009
What does it take to advance inside a large organization? This was the topic of a recent Career Development Symposium that took place over several days at American Airlines HQ. Most of the events drew standing-room-only size audiences. I served … Continue reading
August 11, 2009