This past month, I was invited to deliver a leadership presentation to a group of international business students at Stony Brook University at the request of a business colleague I have known for over 25 years.  These exchanges of content are an enduring commitment we make to the community.  Our hope is that the fundamental [...]

Work-life balance. Perhaps this term should just be called Balance.  Whatever you call it, I believe in renewal and perspective which provide us with the energy and insights to innovate and remain clear in our vision of what’s important in both our professional and personal lives. Recently one of our Senior Financial Consultants, David Rudofsky, [...]

Every day I read through the pages of The Wall Street Journal and see the announcements:  Another CEO is leaving.  At the same time, a replacement is unveiled, no doubt inspired to lead the company to success in a new way.  Will this new CEO be able to reinvigorate the corporation?  Or will we be [...]

Young Presidents’ Organization recently released their quarterly Global Pulse CEO Survey in April. Optimism is rising among U.S. CEOs regarding 2010 sales and business conditions, producing a 4.1 point increase in the U.S. CEO Confidence Index. However, expectations for hiring and fixed investments are more muted. Interestingly enough, 58 percent of U.S. CEOs still expect [...]

Many signs point to a turnaround for the economy. The stock market is advancing and the employment numbers appear to be improving slowly. “But what about opportunities for older workers?” people often ask me. “Are they finding jobs too?” The answer is maybe. Experienced workers are finding jobs if they have the right attitude and [...]

An often-cited marketing maxim is that women control approximately 80 percent of all consumer purchases. They are the ultimate consumer and decision-makers, and should be taken seriously. While attending a private briefing with Shimon Peres, president of the State of Israel, my wife, Harriet, asked him what he believed was the greatest achievement of the [...]

I often hear colorful stories from colleagues and clients about young people in their organizations.  In response to making copies, while wearing flip-flops, “You should hire someone to do this kind of stuff so you don’t waste my talent.’”  What about the young woman who didn’t understand why everyone kept saying she had to ‘pay [...]

There are countless books on best practices for employee motivation. An Amazon search yields more than 8,000 titles. Combined with lectures and journal articles, you could probably spend the next two years wading through all the information. Many of these writings were sound and offered excellent tools. I intentionally used the past tense “were” and [...]

I just spent the day engaged in one of the most important activities a business leader can perform in these difficult economic times. No, I’m not looking at ways to cut expenses. On the contrary, my goal is to expand the learning opportunities for my team. Invest in your best assets. Expand? While it may [...]

With less than 10 weeks remaining in 2009, there are undoubtedly millions of people who will be happy to see this year come to an end. It’s been a rough one, not only for the global economy, but for U.S. employment in particular. Unfortunately, there continue to be major challenges ahead of us, even as [...]