What Makes a Great CFO?

“CFO’s don’t bring in money – we force others to bring in money. We then complain that it is not enough and force them to go back out and get some more. When we get money, we hate to part with it and we arm wrestle with those in the organization who think money grows […]

Three Tips for Management Failure

I grew up in a home where both mom and dad were active union members, and they gave me a clear message about working life: there is labor, and there is management. Labor’s job is to make stuff happen. Management’s job is to oppress labor. I was fine with that worldview for a long time. […]

The Job Description, Disrupted

No one is generic. No one wants to be treated as if they are generic. And people who are charged with the responsibility to write job descriptions almost never want to hire, manage, or mentor a generic person.

Is Your Big Data Big Enough?

Big Data. Everyone wants it. It sounds cool, just like big job, big promotion, and big profits. But what’s Big Data in the world of people?

The Usual Trustpects

So how do you know who can be trusted? You can’t, at least not all of the time…

Lessons From the Canal

After I returned from a trip to Panama, which included a visit to its most famous structure, I learned that locks – the means for raising and lowering vessels as they traverse a canal – have been around since 300 BC. But of course, a lot has changed since the days of camels towing narrow […]

Mother’s Day is Not Just for Mother

For the past few years, I’ve been celebrating Mother’s Day by tweeting ‘Momisms’ – those things my mom said to me and the ones I’ve said to my own kids. But this time around it occurred to me that at least some of them might be useful for business. I know…your boss, co-workers, and employees […]