Who You Gonna Hire This Year, and Why?

Money magazine says 2017 is going to be the best job market in years. The National Association of Colleges and Employers says things are going to be a bit flat. And ManpowerGroup says to look for a 16% net increase in employment this year, which is a little less than last year. Since they can’t all be right, it’s […]

Teaching is the Best Way to Learn

Sometimes, reminders of important lessons come in the most peculiar forms. I’ve long known that one of the best ways to truly understand a concept is to teach it to others. The Roman philosopher Seneca said, “While we teach, we learn.” Modern behavioral scientists call it “the protégé effect.” You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. […]

It’s the Holiday Season, So Celebrate…Productively

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Know how I can tell? Because no one in the corporate world wants to talk about, think about, or do much of anything until “after the first of the year.”  But I’m also reminded of the following reference from “A Christmas Carol”, by Charles Dickens: “You’ll want […]

Why No One Wants to “Join” Your Organization

A venerable old institution in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida has just announced that after 48 years, it’s shutting its doors for good. The University Club, a traditional (and I do mean traditional) private city club, or what’s sometimes called a fine dining or business club (think heavy oak carpentry, dry martinis, and waiters in […]

Bad Bosses are Bad Business

Who among us would keep seeing a dentist who was lousy at administering anesthesia? Or would knowingly board an airplane piloted by someone who’d never really learned to fly? I think I know the answer. So why, then, do so many of us tolerate people in management positions who have demonstrated a remarkable ineptitude for […]

Eight Lessons Learned While Trapped in an Elevator

Earlier this week, I spent about a half an hour trapped, by myself, in an elevator that I’ve traveled 27 floors up, and down, an average of twice a week every week for the past 25 years. That I so regularly frequent this conveyance at all is slightly amazing, given that I’m a moderately afflicted […]

5 Ways Employee Recruiting is Like Playing Pokémon Go

Let’s start with this: I am not, like some members of my generation, a Pokémon Go hater. In fact, I’ve played it. And I think it’s kinda cool. There are many things worse than moving off the couch, breathing some fresh air, and discovering places in your community you didn’t know existed. A library in […]

Leadership: Principle vs Popularity

The long life of an old family friend came to an end last week. More than a generation ago, this fellow was a high-profile public official in my hometown (appointed, not elected). And something of a controversial figure. I was a kid at the height of his notoriety, and I was always struck by the […]

Brexit and Feet Voting: Are Your Employees Next?

Since the June 23 referendum in which voters in the United Kingdom opted out of the European Union, there has been no small volume of ink and electrons applied to discussing the ramifications, good and bad (mostly bad) of what many describe as a surprising outcome. So rather than heap more words on that argument, I’m going […]

Reputation Recruits, but Reality Retains

In the last few weeks, US universities have disgorged nearly 2 million new graduates into the job market, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. American companies have been working hard (and spending a fortune) to recruit these new graduates, as well as others. They may want to also consider putting more effort into […]