About 25 or 30 years ago, there were two national construction companies that were positioned for continued success. Over time, leadership either passed away or retired, and those two companies are no longer in business. Seeing them break up was jaw dropping. Both had outstanding individuals doing their thing, but when leadership changed and got …
“History will remember Paul Volcker and Jerome Powell as standing on the opposite ends of the inflation canyon, with the former taking desperate actions to try to tamp it down and the latter…to announce an unprecedented effort to crank it back up.” (source) When I read the statement of Chairman Powell’s presentation this week, it …
This picture of trench warfare in WWI might be 100 years old, but it sums up the way many have felt the last few months, including me at times. When we stick our heads up, we are not sure what’s around the corner or right over the hill. Having said this, it’s important to remember …
In Western culture, leadership can get a lot of accolades. Leaders are thought of as visionaries who make decisions and inspire action. But someone has to make that vision a reality. That’s where the interdependent role of “followership” comes into play. To me, the skills of a follower complement a leader and vice versa. A few things that seem …
We’ve known for a long time that periods of stress in the American economy accelerate change in a way that’s sometimes generational. Think about the Great Depression and the resulting economic protectionism. Or the women World War II brought into the workforce. Those were really good things that came out of exceptionally tough times. It’s …
Students in the design world learn about an interesting effect described as “1 + 1 = 3.” This means that when two objects are placed close together, the space in between them creates a visible interaction, almost like a third object. You are perceiving information that wouldn’t be there without the proximity. I’ve always thought about …
Herbert Stein was an economist who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He was also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributor to the WSJ. Herb was father to comedian Ben Stein, so he must have had an interesting perspective. He …
Winston Churchill was first credited with saying, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” It’s my hope that we’ll all find a silver lining in the extra time as we are all hitting the pause button. In the meantime, I am working in my yard in the evenings and parallel planning for the future. …
It’s easy to focus on the person at the head of the table. That person is undoubtedly important, but I would argue that he or she wouldn’t be there without the team of people sitting nearby. I’ll add that for us, it’s a long table. Those in leadership make big commitments, but someone must back …
Strange indeed. We are all facing this same trifecta, a worldwide pandemic with severe health implications, crippling markets and now oil wars to top it off. I got to thinking about my own parents and others who spent a decade scratching out a living after the Depression, then they had to fight a world war …
Last Saturday, I got to attend a symposium entitled, “Faith Meets Business: Climate Solutions for the Common Good.” One of the panelists included our friend Dr. Jim McClintock, an endowed Professor of Polar and Marine Biology at UAB. Jim is recognized internationally as one of the leaders in this field. Coincidentally, I read this past …
I spent some time recently with a couple of long-term customers. Both have national presence, but one is small and the other large. Each is successful in its own way, with the smaller company’s strategy relying a fair amount upon the corporate culture and its boots on the ground, and the larger historically using a …