Blog

  • The Business Lessons of Chanukah

    Last week, I found myself reading up on Chanukah — the Jewish Festival of Lights – as my family and I prepared for the holiday.  As I looked for a new way to talk about the meaning of the holiday with my… Read More

  • Vision: Figuring Out Who You Are and What You Want to Be

    Not long ago, Duke University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke athletic department developed a list of nine principles that defined Duke athletics.  Coach K described these principles as “the things that are essential to who we… Read More

  • Where Company Policy is Concerned: The Devil is in the Details

    Yesterday, we received the catalog from Despair.com. One of their demotivators featured the legend: “Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now.” I thought about this as I was working with a client on revamping her company’s… Read More

  • What Message are Your Employees Really Sending?

    Yesterday, I found myself at a traffic light behind a company truck.  The truck belonged to and advertised a dog waste removal company.  I pondered this.  For a while, I wondered what the job interview was like.  But as the… Read More

  • Rule #1

    It is a simple lesson learned by those good at what they do.  The world’s best software designers use it as their primary focus, as do diplomats, the nation’s top deal-makers, and (believe it or not) legislators evaluating U.S. tax policy.  Whatever the… Read More

  • Avoid Commodity, Distinction Is Key

    Two months ago, our copier vendor called to tell us that our lease was almost up.  The purpose of the call was obvious — they wanted to sell us a new copier.  The result of the call was a business… Read More

  • The Power of the Humble and Much Maligned Meeting…Done Right

    I hate meetings.  To me, they usually seem like 5 minutes of substance packed into 2 hours.  In fact, the best part of any given meeting is time just before everyone gets there — when you get a chance to chat… Read More

  • Prepare for a Storm When the Sun is Shining

    By Michael Lentz, Wagonheim Law Attorney Independence Day tomorrow gives me a good reason to look back on the constitutional uproar of the past week. We’ve had two significant constitutional events: First, the Supreme Court decided National Federation of Independent Business v…. Read More

  • My Week in Good, Great and Inept Customer Service

    My oldest son was became a Bar Mitzvah on Friday, June 30th. In addition to the religious significance, many aspects of that particular milestone involve event planning. For reasons that continue to escape me, our family’s plan involved a catered… Read More

  • The Value of Place

    As some readers may know, my sons are both involved in scouting. My 13 year old is a Star Scout, working toward his Life rank, and my 9 year old will be entering his cub scout Webelo year in the fall. Over… Read More