ChrisBanescu.com

7/9/2010 – Liz Ryan -
Reigns of modest but palpable terror are making an unwelcome return at offices all over the country
The U.S. financial crisis has caused fear in the boardroom, and that unease trickles down to every worker. The principal signs of a fear-soaked senior leadership are a preoccupation with looking out for [...]

6/17/2010 – Christopher Steiner and Brett Nelson -
Entrepreneurs can’t completely inoculate their businesses from the vagaries of the market. What they can do is wrestle with the fundamental questions that govern the fate of any enterprise. We’ve done our best to compile the 20 most important ones.
Digging for those answers is a grueling exercise–one that [...]

6/1/2010 – Gregory Ferenstein –
The funny thing about business books is that for many stories, there are countless counterexamples of management philosophies that are radically different, yet still successful. What is inspiring about Zappos.com, the world’s largest online shoe retailer, is that it is possible for a business to be founded on curiosity, [...]

5/26/2010 – Eileen Gittins -
How entrepreneurs can turn what they love doing into successful businesses.
Most people think about their jobs as the thing they do, instead of the thing they get to do. When you can build a culture where people feel privileged instead of entitled, that’s magic. And that’s what the best Silicon Valley [...]

5/4/2010 – George J. Dennis -

My company, TV Ears, specializes in sound. We manufacture TV listening products that have helped more than one million people hear the television more clearly. The idea came about after I tried to find something for my dad that would help him hear the TV. Nothing helped, so I created [...]

Forbes.com | by Helen Coster and Tara Weiss | 3/31/2010
For most people, juggling the demands of a career and a personal life is an ongoing challenge, especially at a time when many companies have slashed their ranks —and expect more from the survivors.
Achieving the elusive “work-life balance” can often feel like an impossible goal, especially [...]

Inc.com | by Joel Spolsky | 2/1/2010
Have you ever invited employees to a meeting just so they wouldn’t feel left out? If so, you may be an overcommunicator.
When was the last time you scheduled a meeting and invited eight people instead of the three people who really needed to be there simply because you didn’t [...]

Inc.com | As told to Liz Welch | 12/1/2009
Former supermodel Kathy Ireland founded a little company to make products for “busy moms” like herself. Now, with revenue of $1.4 billion, she’s busier than ever.
When she was in her 20s and a model, Kathy Ireland says, her job description was “Shut up and pose.” So it [...]

Forbes.com | by C. Caspar, A. Dias, H. Elstrodt | 1/15/2010
The keys to long-term success are professional management and keeping the family committed to and capable of carrying on as the owner. Family businesses are an often overlooked form of ownership. Yet they are all around us–from neighborhood mom-and-pop stores and the millions of [...]

Forbes | by Joan Gurvis | Nov. 25, 2009
If having a balanced life was elusive in the fast-paced good times, it can seem impossible in the fast-paced tough times.
The pressures on leaders are huge. Distractions are everywhere. As work demands grow, our inclination is to continue to try to do more things more quickly, to [...]

Entrepreneurs understand the importance of freedom in the workplace.
City Journal | by Guy Sorman | October 21, 2009

Brian Carney and Isaac Getz’s Freedom, Inc. is a timely book. It’s also countercyclical and somewhat counterintuitive. After all, most of today’s writing about economics and business is haunted by the current crisis: nearly every author and commentator [...]

Inc.com | John Mackey Interview | July 2009
Q: What traits should I look for when hiring for a leadership position?
A: My philosophy about this has definitely evolved over the years. I understand people a lot better today than I did 30 years ago. Back then, I was more impressed with people who were very [...]

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by full authority. There is no worse heresy than the fact that the office sanctifies the holder of it. – [...]

Forbes | by Sharon Allen | July 21, 2009
With everyone’s current focus on the economy, you might assume I’m talking about that traditional financial metric, return on equity. But the ROE I advocate is different. It’s return on ethics. This ROE is really more mindset than measure, an approach to encouraging the highest standard of [...]

From my years of experience working for different companies and teaching various graduate business courses, I developed three rules that management must practice in order to achieve long-term profitability and success. Follow these rules and a business can remain healthy and prosper. Ignore them and failure is virtually guaranteed in the long term.
Rule [...]

Inc.com | by Darren Dahl | May 2009
The first thing you notice when you walk into the Chicago offices of Total Attorneys, which provides software and services to small law firms, is the number of people on their feet. Every morning, the company’s 180 employees gather around the office in groups of five to 10. [...]

BusinessWeek | Suzy & Jack Welch | Mar. 16, 2009
Welch told the Financial Times the emphasis on shareholder value is “misplaced.” In this Q&A, he puts his comments in context
On Mar. 12, the Financial Times ran a front-page story with the headline “Welch Denounces Corporate Obsessions.” The article, which generated widespread reaction in the [...]

Inc.com | by Norm Brodsky | March 2009
It requires conquering your fears and making the right choices. Many business owners won’t do either
Fear can be a motivator, but it can also lead you into bad decisions, particularly in times like these. I have no doubt that a lot of business owners have spent the [...]

Fast Company | by Kate Rockwood | November 2008
How Kenexa is blending psychology and technology to create passionate workers.
At the suburban Philadelphia offices of Kenexa, people grin at one another all day long. Sometimes they hug. Bright posters of the company’s guiding principles dot the walls: YOU’RE ALLOWED TO LAUGH YOUR WAY THROUGH A PROBLEM [...]

InformationWeek | by Rob Preston | Sept. 29, 2008
One school of thought is that if you treat your people right, they’ll be far more motivated and equipped to engage with (and maximize returns from) your customers.
The customer comes first. It’s considered a business management truism. The way to boost profits and market caps is to [...]

Fast Company | by Jeff Chu | September 2008
No one is attacking Washington, D.C.’s stagnant culture more boldly than Michelle Rhee, head of the city’s failing schools. Is there a lesson here for our nation’s leaders?
Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School in Washington, D.C., is one of the worst schools in one of the [...]

Good management has nothing to do with short-term successes and the management elixirs that allegedly led to them. This seemingly banal insight results from a long-term, historical perspective like [Peter] Drucker’s. It cannot be achieved by judgments based on quarterly results, but rather emerges from a deeply rooted understanding of the durable, unclouded by short-term [...]

Inc.com | by Scott Westcott | August 2008
For Linda Skoglund, getting a pedicure on a busy Tuesday afternoon was a career turning point. It ran against her Midwestern work ethic. And certainly, there was plenty of work piled up at J.A. Counter & Associates, the $2.5 million insurance and investment advisory firm she owns in [...]

In this article I’m continuing with my review of the key characteristics of great leaders. Here are some additional qualities that embody superior leadership.
Great leaders surround themselves with greatness. They actively seek out the best possible people and hire them to fill all key positions within their organizations. Great leaders know that surrounding [...]

Inc.com | by Mike Hofman | January 2008
How companies just like yours mushroomed into powerhouses in their industries. A conversation with Keith R. McFarland.
How do you create a breakthrough company? Where do you start?
First, I’d say that it’s not about being in a hot, sexy market. It’s not about having the coolest, hippest product. [...]