People would be rightly shocked if a job description for a high-tech position said: “whites and South Asians only” or “women need not apply.” They’d be shocked not because racism and sexism aren’t rampant in these firms, but because the company would be explicitly acknowledging that the racism and the sexism exists. Indeed, high tech […]
The Unforgivable Sin in Silicon Valley: Being Gen-X Read More »
Admittedly, I’ve been really bad about reading the news lately. In the weeks leading up to my wedding last Friday, I didn’t read a single story on CNN or even take a peek at social media and, like a little coward, I’d avoid deep conversations about current events for fear of being found out! But once the
#MeToo Just Gave Us a Master Class in Communication Read More »
Chores aren’t supposed to be fun. They keep our houses clean and organized, yes, but we aren’t actually supposed to garner from chores any major positive benefits, right? Surely when we make our bed we don’t change the world at-large. Actually, one retired Navy SEAL and Admiral may beg to differ. In his inspirational commencement
This Navy SEAL Says Doing Just 1 Daily Chore Is Far More Inspiring Than You Know Read More »
I encounter a lot of business owners who lament the mistakes they’ve made and what these mistakes have cost them. I tend to take a different approach, and having made many mistakes over the years, that’s pretty handy. The reality is that there really is no definitive guide when it comes to doing business. We
We Need to Learn to Celebrate Our Business Mistakes Read More »
The question isn’t so much what Mike Rotondo will do for his company but, rather, just how far he is willing to go to support the franchise owners and employees that have turned the 600-plus Tropical Smoothie Cafes into a major player in the fast casual nutritional eating segment. A partial list includes the day
If you’re tired of reading cliché “fail forward” or “failing is succeeding” stories, you’re in luck. This isn’t one of those. This is about the mistakes — big ones — that my professional speaker colleague Kristen Hadeed, entrepreneur and CEO of Student Maid, made over her last 10 years in business. She recently gathered these
When speaking at events, I often start out with some audience interaction. I do this by asking the audience what do they think is the number one indicator that people will be successful. I always get some great answers such as drive, intelligence, self-confidence, entrepreneurial skills, commitment, ability to sell, determination, rich (inherited some wealth),
A senior employee, let’s name him Alex, is pacing outside the executive conference room doors. He is waiting for his manager to get out of her meeting. Alex has been trying to get time with his boss, but she is continuously in back-to-back meetings all day. If he can walk and talk with her as
Job responsibilities can shift dramatically in the course of a few years as a result of industry changes, technology advances, or increased efficiency. Most of us can look back to a time when we started in a job and were surprised by the difference between our day-to-day tasks and what we read in the original
Remember Jesse Itzler? Last we wrote about him here, he had written a book called Living With a SEAL, in which he told the story of hiring a U.S. Navy SEAL to live with him for 30 days–and kick his butt. Why did he do that? Mainly because it would be incredibly hard. That’s the same rationale
