Oftentimes for business owners and managers the word ‘negotiating’ causes one’s stomach to get queazy.  Seasoned leaders can quickly conjure up an event that went sideways and imploded upon them somewhere in their past. But what if negotiating was a “neutral” emotional event?  What if we could go into a negotiating session, whether it was with a [...]

I am a very driven person.  I always need a new challenge.  I get bored easily when I am in a “maintaining the status quo” mode.  Even though I am self-aware of my strenghts and their correlating ‘shadow’ side, it has taken me years (actually two decades) to discover and embrace this stuff about myself! In [...]

The winds of change continue to blow. I often remind clients that the work of 'change' is very difficult and fragile. Yet, when managers are waist-deep in the change process, they remark about how much more difficult change is than they anticipated.

Business Week recently had some statistics on Business Innovation that caught my attention.  The article in part read, “Building a great business and operating it well no longer guarantees you’ll be around in 100 years, or even 20.  In 1958, the average length of time a company remained on the S&P 500 was 57 years; by 1983, [...]

Ever wonder why in this land of great opportunity we have so many poor people? I am not talking just about those who have had a series of tough events in life that have knocked them for a serious financial loop, or even those on Medical Assistance (or some other government assistance program) who can't seem to quite get ahead financially.

Over the past year, I've watched the season of economic uncertainty cause clients and business managers to have a number of "Crucial Conversations" with their staff and key customers. Periodically over the next several months, I'll address some of the more frequent conversations that I've observed and offer my insight (and hopefully hear yours)...

I was reading last week about Blockbuster Video (and thinking about one of our local video chain locations that is closing their doors) and had an 'ah-ha' Economics Lesson.

I just got back from my first week long vacation where I was "connected" with my world throughout my travels. I thought I did a pretty good job staying connected, but not compulsively so... my wife felt sorry for me and felt that I was 'over-connected' and not relaxed enough. Somewhere in between is most likely the "balance". Hopefully I will figure out what that looks like for me before my next vacation this summer!

I came across some additional communication statistics earlier this month that are a little bit mind-bending regarding Social Media. It continues to show that Social Media is not just a passing fad, but rather a new style of communication.

While watching the football playoffs during the past few weeks, I could not help myself from turning inward and wondering how difficult it must have been for the Green Bay Packers management team to make the decision to trade Brett Favre.