• “You’re Fired!’
    getting rid of someone who has stayed too long at the fair - the realities, not Trump show biz
    For anyone who has done it, it’s no fun. For anyone who hasn’t, it’s no fun. For anyone who has been, it’s no fun. But it is often necessary, long overdue, and the best thing for everyone concerned.
  • The Age of Wisdom... hiring older worker
    Hiring older associates can bring a wealth of benefits to your business.
  • There is No Right Way to Layoff People. Period.
    Examining the Most Unethical Business Practice of Our Times
    No doubt your inbox is filled with seminars and articles on layoffs. There is so much garbage out there being foisted on owners and executives as IF layoffs were ethical. You get fired for screwing up somehow. A layoff however, hits good people, many of whom are and have followed their bosses’ orders, had stellar reviews, and are still losing their jobs.
    There is no right way. Layoffs suck. They can destroy people, families, and entire communities.
  • Customer Service: Who Can Make Unhappy Customers Smile in Your Firm?
    A recent hotel experience reminded me of a critical aspect of customer service.
  • Dear Manager: Are YOU Ready for the Interview?
    There is nothing more important to ensuring your enterprise’s success - nothing more significant to establishing your own professional reputation, than having a track record of getting the right people in the right positions, to do the right things. Remember, it’s better to weed out the losers BEFORE they cause you to lose time, money, and morale.
  • Tired of Young Workers’ Bad Habits? 18 Reasons Why Geezers are Great!
    40, 50, and 60-somethings ‘bring a great deal to the table’ when it comes to workforce excellence. First of all, thanks to the ubiquitous layoff, they’re always in great supply.
  • Half of New Hires Fail: Why Do We Need Proof for What We Already Know?
    Do you think it’s technical skills or interpersonal skills that are new hires' undoing? Put another way, do you think the failure is due to the stuff on resumes or how the employees perform with other people?
  • The 2 Most Dangerous Employees You Can Keep
    Among the hiring mistakes you can make, there are probably two that you have already made and now they’re employees. They are poison to your company. They will drain the enthusiasm out of your team. They will sap you and your managers’ energies and attention.
  • Reaching, Rewarding, and Retaining Employees
    How to get and keep good employees? Regardless of the business, the organization, the industry, my advice centers around the answers to four major questions.
  • Staffing in Hard Times
    You are an HME business owner, but what business are you really in? You are in the profit business, a bit redundant given that every business must be profitable in order to deliver products and services consistently to their customers.
  • Monkey See, Monkey Do
    In the late 1980's/early 90's the practice of laying-off employees in order to boost short term earnings and reductions was copied by many. Here we go again. There?s just one problem: the cons outweigh the pros.
  • 10 Expensive Employee Benefits EVERY Organization CAN Afford
    In a world of chaos, fast-paced change, and uncertainty, employees are being lured by ever-increasing benefits packages. Many smaller businesses and nonprofits think they have to be a GM, the American Heart Association or some other giant in order to satisfy the demands of benefits -- not so!
  • Different Workers, Different Motivators
    I hear owners’ and managers’ disappointment after incentive programs don’t work or they observe the same people usually winning. My amazement is why they’re perplexed about their people and not contests.
  • I Wish It Was “Personnel” Again (How Human Resources Went Too Far)
    Do you remember when there was this nice guy or gal in this basement office called “personnel?” That person doesn’t exist anymore.
  • 7 Things To Do When A Key Manager Leaves
    In an organization, key managers leave in one of two ways: by encouragement or by surprise. When they do, retention of staff can become a problem.
  • What About a Bonus for Retention?
    There is an old adage “what gets measured gets done.” Most leaders also know what gets rewarded gets done too! Put an incentive on a product, a service, sales, margins, expense reduction or other performance goals and watch people focus -- it’s a fact of human behavior.
  • Make 'Em Proud
    Pride in a position, industry and employer is one of those often overlooked intrinsic motivators. Here are several ways to increase the pride factor.
  • Staffing in Hard Times
    What business are you really in? You are in the “profit business.” It may sound cliché, but more than anything you are in the “people business.” And because you are in the business of “people helping people,” every one of your employees counts.
  • Who's Minding the Store? - Grooming Your Staff
    Independent owners have striven to differentiate themselves from big-box competitors by offering consumers variety and more. While each plays a crucial role, nothing can help or hinder success than employees.
  • Nice work If You Can Get It: Tips on Rewarding Your Team
    Offering key intangible rewards on the job can assure grocers a caliber of associate that money alone can never buy. The most successful grocers I know are constantly asking themselves what it is that their people need and expect from them, besides a paycheck.
  • Degrees of Separation: How to Deal With a Key Employee's Departure
    Losing a key employee is tough, but owners can limit the damage by reacting intelligently. Whether the exit was encouraged or came as a complete surprise, storeowners can exploit any high-level departure as an opportunity to rally the troops, showcase their own leadership skills, and improve their relationships with the rest of the team.
  • The 4 Reasons People Answer Ads
    Forget all the psycho-babble, in-depth research and persuasive advertising theory of why someone answers your classified ad, it comes down to 4 reasons:
  • OK, So What Do I Tell Employees Now?
    The home care equipment and services provider is in a struggle to compete with corporate giants in other sectors of health care and beyond. So what can you do to keep your employees?
  • Layoffs Only as a Last Resort
    We all know home health care is under attack. There are ever-changing reimbursement schemes, increased competition from nontraditional health care providers, accreditation and competitive bidding. Throw in a little headline-grabbing fraud and Medicare/Medicaid mismanagement and … well, things are a wreck. Staff reduction may be one strategy, however, it should be one of the last to contemplate.
  • Closing the Compensation Gap
    Businesses are constantly on the lookout for economies of scale and the old conventional wisdom held that working for a large company was the route to a more rewarding career track, job security and the best benefits. Small firms can compete.
  • Show Them The Money
    Any business comes to recognize sooner or later that there's no substitute for skilled, motivated employees. While "money isn't everything," it is one thing and a very important.
  • How to Deal With Non-English Speaking Workers
    Q. I’m hiring more recent immigrants into my business. Many are dependable, hard workers, but English is a huge problem. Any suggestions?
  • Tackling Employee Turnover: Assessing Your Business
    Q. My last four hires lasted less than a year – two, less than a month. It just seems like no one wants to work anymore. Any advice?
  • Staff Recognition Tips During the Holiday Season
    Q. Every year I struggle with what to do to around the holidays for my staff. Other than the company party, do you have any other ideas?
  • How to Stop Your Staff From Jumping Ship:
    Q. Now that the Presidential election is over, a buddy of mine told me it was time for employees to start shopping for a job. Are there certain times when staff is more likely to jump ship?
  • The Value of Older Workers
    Q. You recently had an article on dealing with younger workers. I hear there’s a trend to hiring older workers (60+) - can you give me some of the pros and cons?
  • How to Help Employees Get On The Team
    Q. I’ve got two employees that just can’t seem to get along with the rest of the team. They’re great workers, but they always want to stand out from everyone else. What can I do?
  • What's Executive Coaching All About?
    Q. I need help developing my people beyond what we’re doing with mentoring and seminars. I’ve heard about ‘coaching’ - can you tell me more?
  • How to Build a Retention Program
    Q. Several months ago I sat down with a consultant to develop a team-building/retention program and it doesn’t seem to be working – any advice?
  • Reviewing Perfomance Reviews
    Q. I just lost an employee and she said it was, “Because her review is four months late.” I know there’s got to be something more, but it got me thinking more about performance reviews – any advice?
  • How to Deal With Badly Behaving Employees
    Q. I just had two employees get into it right in the aisle of our store. They were shouting, shoving, and all of this in front of customers. This isn’t the first time I’ve had employees do this sort of thing. We tend to have a younger staff, so I guess age has something to do with it. How do I stop this kind of behavior?
  • How to Find Good Workers
    Q. We have been running short-staffed for over 3 months now and I don’t know what to do. Our pay is competitive. Our benefits are good. Where are all the good workers?
  • How to Communicate Your Ethics Standards in Business
    Q. With the headlines filled with scandals and business getting bad marks, I want to emphasize that we operate under the highest of ethical standards. How can I get this across to my employees and customers without sounding arrogant?
  • How to Boost Morale After a Reorganization
    Q. We recently made a few staff changes and morale seems low. Any suggestions?
  • How to Manage Younger Workers
    Q. Our business is going to pick up considerably over the next few months and we’ll be hiring a lot of college students and recent grads. How do you hire and manage younger workers?
  • How to Correct Employees' Bad Habits
    Q. I know you can’t give me specific advice about a specific employee, but I’ve got a longtime (5 years) employee that seems to always be late, always need extra time for project completions, and always is in my office asking for help about something. Because she’s been with me so long, I certainly don’t want to loose her, but frankly she’s zapping my time and energy. What can I do?
  • How to Hire Quickly
    Q. We’ve got 3 slots to fill over the next 30 days – sales, customer service, and billing. One is due to retirement and the other two were just bad hires. Any tips on how to run an accelerated employee search?
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  • 7 Steps to Fixing Any Problem Learning from the President Obama’s first several months in office
    Thus far, President Obama’s response to fixing problems has been spending money, casting blame, and raising indebtedness. No doubt, he’ll change course if he wants a second term. In the meantime here’s what we’ve learned about fixing any problem.
  • Leadership Success: Not Platitudes, Just Attitude
    I’m not one of these ultra optimistic, motivational, the glass is always half FULL kinda guys; however, I do believe giving up, giving in, and giving out is the last act of a successful man. In other words, I’ll try anything legal to pull off a surprise victory.
  • The Biggest Game of Risk Leaders Play: Kick the Can
    When you look at the U.S. Automakers, government entitlement programs, especially Medicare and Social Security, nonprofit association and charity programming, fees, and fundraising shifts, clearly their respective leaders have been making decisions that kick the can down the road.
  • Sorry Tiger, “This is a private matter” Doesn’t Get It
    4 Leadership Truths for Recovering from Reputation and Ethics Mishaps
    Regardless of your position or title, if/when you do something unethical, illegal, or unpopular, be prepared to be open, honest, and accountable or the incident will live on far beyond your desire.
  • Obama’s “WOW Factor:” Is it a Defining Trait for a Successful Leader?
    Madonna has it. Ronald Regan had it. The U.S. President-Elect Barak Obama has it. “It” is that mesmerizing, charismatic, articulate, confident persona that attracts fans of all walks of life. But isitenough?
  • Leader Beware of All of Those Awards and Accolades
    How recognition can jeopardize ethical leadership conduct
    I’m reminded of Mac Davis’ 1980 hit song, “Oh Lord it's hard to be humble” and the opening line “Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.” While we can all smile, what happens when you’re the focus of attention, accolades, and awards?
  • Staying Ahead of the Curve
    The marketplace can seem cruel at times, especially when the rules are violated. And one rule is: Without innovation, you have more of the same. And no one gets excited about investing in or buying monotony, routine, and old designs.
  • Top 4 Strategy Blunders
    The irony is most strategic efforts fail because executives get in the way of themselves.
  • So How Do You Sell When Nobody’s Buying?
    Hint: decision makers ARE buying, but it’s all about value
    In spite of cutbacks in staff, and budgets or perhaps because of it, people are buying – they’re simply taking more time and raising the bar of vendor standards before they choose. There are three axioms in sales...
  • Saving Stratregic Planning
    Strategic planning has failed the U.S. automakers, the giants of Wall Street, and it seems, our entire free market and regulatory systems. Should strategic planners consider new jobs or new approaches to their craft?
  • Taking The Lead
    One of the greatest challenges for storeowners is to recognize the difference between those who are managers and those who are true leaders within their companies.
  • The 4 Important Mandates for Today’s CEO Challenge
    Great leaders are those who recognize and meet the strategic needs of the firm. That means being responsive, reactive, and revolutionary in the appropriate measures.

    Planning, preparing, and positioning the firm’s capabilities will ensure it’s sustainability through the ups and downs of competition, economic crisis, talent shortages, and other controllable and non-controllable circumstances. Here areThe 4 Important Mandates for Today’s CEO Challenge:
  • US Air 1549 Lessons Learned About Leadership, Planning, and Experience
    While hailed as a miracle, with acts of heroism, the incredible news- breaking story was simply a reflection of parts of sound business and individual contributions. Leadership, planning, and experience characterized the underpinnings of the success of an incident that could have ended very differently.
  • What is the Role of Ethics on Leadership and Strategic Growth During a Bad Economy?
    Ethics has become a highly scrutinized core of leadership and strategic growth. Ethical stamina is especially critical.
  • The Perils of Free Advice
    Whether it’s my ego guy, wanting to look smart or nice guy mode, wanting to help someone in trouble, I respond, “Sure.” Big Mistake. Why?
  • Leadership, Honesty, and Integrity
    Leadership is about consistency in performance, constancy in values, and commitment to achieving the goals. Unfortunately, that can describe the worst criminals and terrorists as well as the most revered icons of our times.
  • Family or Work – How Do Leaders Find Balance?
    The short answer is life defies balance. Balance suggests some equality of focus and distribution of time and energy to each aspect of your personal and professional lives. Can’t happen.
  • Industry Experts (and why you may be better off without them)
    The first thing you must determine before you call anyone is whether your difficulties are tied to industry trends, issues, and specifics or more process-oriented. Don’t dismiss an expert outside of your industry. In fact, you may want to seek out one if you want to set your enterprise apart from the competition.
  • The Eyes of Strategic Growth for Today's Leaders
    Growing any enterprise is a daunting task. Timing and luck seem to favor those enterprises with strong leadership and vision. That kind of leadership happens at several levels - top, middle, and front-line. The most successful organizations have a commonality - the ability to view things with different eyes.
  • Is Your Company Looking Like Dead Grass?
    Whether you are in business, public service, or the nonprofit sector, you MUST be fed. Your organization MUST receive the nutrients to stave off infestation, weeds, and harsh elements. Eventually your enterprise will turn from healthy green to an ugly shade of brown if you do not take regular and proactive steps to fertilize your firm.
  • Rollercoaster Growth (and the realities of leading organizations)
    Having spent three decades being managed, managing, and helping others to manage their company’s growth, I have embraced one truth: the best training for growth is enjoying roller coasters.
  • Positive Change (it all starts between your ears)
    Can you change for the better? How about for the worse? Is your career or success pre-ordained? Can your future be dramatically altered simply by thinking differently? Which is more powerful – logic or emotion?
  • “Learn it Anyway!” (11 Lessons from Grade School... that still apply)
    1) Everybody Gets Picked for Something... even if it’s nothing! Plus 10 others childhood lessons on leadership.
  • 25 Indicators It’s Time for a Change and Time for a Coach
    We all find ourselves in ‘a slump’ or at a stage in our lives, business, or career - when we ask the question: “Isn’t there something else I could be doing?” Here are my 25 ‘warning signs’ that you need to make significant changes.
  • The Four Mistakes that Cause EVERY Operation to Fail
    For over twenty years I worked for corporate and entrepreneurial operations, then was a COO of a nonprofit concern for a few years. Since those days I’ve worked with owners and executives in business and nonprofits in an advisory capacity.
  • Customer Service· Why Is It So Hard?
    Why is customer service so hard? Here are 7 fundamentals for improvement.
  • Success is in the Air
    Regardless of your profession, trade, or status in life, being regarded as successful is often “in the eye of the beholder.” Success can be defined in many ways, recognize them and then take advantage of their proven attributes.
  • Are You Ready For A Major Fundraising Campaign?
    Whether a capital campaign for new construction, establishing an endowment or launching a planned giving initiative, all embrace charitable estate planning and large asset transfers. Here are 6 steps to consider.
  • Six Reasons NOT TO HIRE a Consultant and Why They're Wrong
    There are all kinds of reasons to think you know more than an outsider. Here are six that just don?t make sense.
  • Alternatives To Organizational Decline
    Mature organizations have alternatives to the typical decline we often see. Some organizations and products can re-build or re-position in order to reverse a decline or stave-off death.
  • Strategic Planning for Today's Organization
    Explore the alternatives of scenario and contingency planning when it comes to strategies for growth.
  • Your Business: Own It! Lead It!
    Owning a business is tough. Owning a business that is heavily regulated by the government is tougher. Therein lies the plight of most in the HME/DME world. Ownership and leadership are very different. The primary difference is that ownership is a financial circumstance. Leadership is a strategic decision. Ownership is simply a result of fiscal responsibility and structure.
  • Transition Resolution: It's All About Succession Planning
    The start of the year is as good a time as any to plan ahead. The new year will also likely bring about leadership changes in many companies as longtime managers, and perhaps family members, pursue new career opportunities promising more regular hours -- and underperforming associates may be asked to follow suit.
  • Who Can Think About Strategic Planning at a Time Like This?
    The problem with strategic planning is it seems like big company, highbrow academic, theoretical junk, not for small to mediumsized operations and it takes too much time, and in the midst of all the industry uncertainty, who's got the time? So forget it, right? No. Just come at it in a whole new way.
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  • The 4 New Leadership Skills for Today’s Troubles
    It is insightful, true, and beneficial to anyone in search of a simple and elegant model for leading people through these uncertain times to discover these four drivers for leaders.
  • Ted, Tiger, and Toyota:
    Icons Never Suffer Lasting Consequences for Misconduct
    In recent months we’ve seen these three images praised in spite of their obvious shortcomings. They have all been publicly admired even though they should be held accountable for their decisions and conduct. We want our ‘heroes’ to be perfect and certainly not suffer like mere mortals. So when one of our heroes screws up, as long as they say “I’m sorry” it all goes away and there are no consequences.
  • CEO Ethics Tip #5: Run, Don’t Walk Away If You’re About to Get a Prestigious Award (or at least put it in its proper perspective)
    We all love attention and don’t get me wrong, I love every awkward minute of people applauding and fawning all over me, especially when I really worked hard to earn the ‘trophy.’ However, let’s really take a look at the three realities of awards and accolades.
  • Three Myths About Teaching Business Ethics Debunked
    Virtually every CEO, executive, administrator, legislator, and regulator who perpetrated incredible acts of unethical behavior graduated from hallowed halls of education - many Ivy League. So formal education may be significantly flawed in the field of effective ethics instruction. Here are at least three myths:
  • “I Take Full Responsibility:” Suffering Consequences of Unethical Actions
    This expression has become symbolic rather than substantive – it sounds good but means nothing.
  • CEOs’ Pay EXCEEDS 400 Times Average Worker (And They’re Not Who You Think
    CEO Pay EXCEEDS MORE THAN 1,000 TIMES the Average Working American! It’s not the Fortune or Forbes 500 CEOs though, it’s your favorite celebrity and athlete.
  • Hey, It’s Only Sex!
    The ethical concerns of the oldest temptation for leaders
    Let’s see TV’s David Letterman, movie director Roman Polanski, school safety czar Kevin Jennings, congressmen, senators, governors, and other politicians too numerous to mention, and of course there’s President Bill Clinton’s infidelity… But don’t stop there – how about teachers and students, professors’ and administrators’ affairs with students and staff? The number one factor that has destroyed more leaders’ lives is sex.
  • 5 Irrefutable Reasons Why Tiger’s Sponsorships Will Disappear (and Should)
    Before I’m accused of kicking a guy when he’s down, there are reasons why Tiger’s brand is and should be severely damaged as a result of a pattern of poor decision-making and conduct.
  • Legislating Liars, Cheats, and Thieves Into Becoming Ethical CEOs, Brokers, and Dealers
    So, let’s see, IF we don’t have laws, we don’t know what’s right or wrong. And IF we do have laws, people will do right not wrong.That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.
  • Everyday Ethics: The 10 Desired Outcomes
    There is so much done in the name of fairness and compassion and noble intentions that have been disastrous. These are 10 desired outcomes that come from everyday ethical decision-making posed in the form of questions:
  • Civility is Soooo Yesterday
    How emotional fervor has undermined behavior
    From road rage to just simply yelling in public, it seems we’re wound a lot tighter than generations past. Oh sure, there’s always been yelling and screaming and bar brawls and competitive event disruptions, but it seems at least once a week someone in a prominent position of leadership, celebrity, or visibility is losing it.
  • 12 Tips on How To Remain Ethical in Unethical Times
    How do keep it together while everyone else seems to be breaking the law, bending rules, or acting up? How do you deal with personal losses in the stock market, housing depreciation, job loss or the anxiety that you may lose your job?
  • Want to be a Media Star? Kill Lots of People: The Ethics of Criminal Coverage
    The most reprehensible of media obsession seems to be a preoccupation with the worst of society. This has been evidenced in recent weeks with mass killings: a church in Illinois, a family in Alabama, and a school shootings in Germany.
  • Ethical Mayhem in Traveling With the Family
    Expenses: Personal, Business or Both?
    How does one deal with the ethics of expenses between a business trip with family and a family trip with business meetings?
  • The Ethics Aftermath of the 2008 Presidential Campaign
    I’m writing this on the eve of November 3, 2008, prior to this year’s election. Presidencies have their ethical legacies. Presidential campaigns have theirs too: This is one for the history books.
  • Do You Speak Ethics?
    When scandals hit our headlines, reporters and professionals speak a whole different language, but never call anything “wrong.” In spite of all of the jargon, legalese, and spin, doesn’t it come down to the perpetrators of these dastardly deeds being liars, cheats, and thieves? Wouldn’t it be a refreshing change to hear people say something is “right” or “wrong?”
  • Ethics and President Obama’s Future
    On January 20, 2009 history was made with the traditional U.S. seamless transition of one president to another. President George Walker Bush’s administration came to an end and Barack Hussein Obama’s presidency began. A new leader must take on the same issues: the economy - employment - espionage and terrorism. And underlying all of it, the primary focus of President Obama is unequivocally ethics.
  • How Workplace Culture Inspires Ethical Misconduct
    The revelation of every scandal always uncovers a “pattern of deception” or a “culture of corruption” and that’s what should raise your attention. Do your daily operations, leadership example, and managers’ diligent supervision fosters a culture of ethics and right decision making throughout the firm?
  • Consistency: The Ethics Litmus Test And Why Political Landscape is in Trouble
    One of the tenets of ethical conduct is consistency. In other words, your adherence to values is so admirable that you’re predictable in your response, based on your articulated and demonstrated values. Leaders garner followers because of their constant and consistent application of principles.
  • Are You Better Off? (Ethics, Choices, Results)
    Every election year, presidential contenders always ask the question, “Are you better off?” Lately, the question has been, “Are you better off than your parents?” You see, at least in America, each generation is to make it better for the next. Today, however, it seems a lot of people aren’t doing so well? So I guess the next question is, “Why not?”
  • Government’s Pending Response to Subprime Meltdown: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid!
    Remember Sarbanes Oxley – that regulatory ton of bricks that was designed to fall on any corporate ner-do-wells and punish them with zeal? As with most laws, it ushered-in a whole new meaning for the term oppressive, profit sapping, time-eating, lawyer and accountant fees-increasing, consultant creating layers destined to doom the small company and make giant corporations smaller.
  • Merck Exec Leads International Ethics Program?
    Literally, only days after Merck is slammed with a $ 58 million settlement and less than four months after a $649 million settlement, a premier ethics organization taps the Merk’s ethics officer as a leader for their organization’s research and advocacy program - huh?!
  • Miley’s Done: Ethics Sex Challenge Claims Another Celebrity
    So Disney phenomenon, 15 year old Miley Cyrus is in Vanity Fair magazine topless with a bare back and her front covered by a white blanket, looking like a twenty-something vixen. Her career has since stalled and her newly released album isn’t doing very well on the charts. How did this happen?
  • Heck, What’s a Few Billion More? fiscal bailout: an unethical consequence for unethical conduct
    You have a 70 year old and a 38 year old, they’re in trouble, finances - again. The problem is they’ve supposedly been under strict supervision, oversight, and management if you will, but they’ve gotten themselves tangled up with some bad characters that also have made bad decisions about their monies. These other characters have even loaned money to people knowing they’re probably never going to see a dime of that money ever again. Guess what? Now they’re coming to their parents to be bailed out.

    The 70 and 38 year olds are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, respectively, and House and Senate leaders have a plan to save the failing ADULT children. Under the guise of truth and transparency, let’s realize the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office actually has a plan for taxpayers to save their ADULT children.
  • Economic Apocalypse or Consequences of Ethical Spiral?
    Shares of General Motors have closed below $10 for the first time since Dwight Eisenhower was president of the United States - GM's lowest since Sept. 13, 1954. Are these signs of the final destruction of life, as we know it? No! Life will go on, but it will be very, very different. Does ethics come into play?
  • Budweiser, Belgians, and Buyouts… The Ethics of Mergers
    There are names that just conjure-up a fun time: Budweiser, Michelob, Busch and Rolling Rock. Those brands are all from made by Anheuser-Busch, which will transfer ownership to Belgian brewer, InBev for $52 billion. And I know I’m upset that yet another American icon has been sold off. What are the ethics of M&A transactions?
  • The 5 BIGGEST Land Mines in Ethics (and how to maneuver around them so they don’t blow up)
    Land minds are treacherous war time hazards. They are hidden, just below the surface, and are triggered by unsuspecting feet. They cause horrible damage. In no way do I want to be cavalier about the atrocities of war; however, the land mines metaphor works well in today’s climate of seemingly nonstop battle against ethical misconduct.
  • CEO Means Chief ETHICS Officer
    Regardless of the size of your firm or the nature of your products, services, or tax status - nonprofits need to pay attention too - whoever is at the top of the food chain in the enterprise is the CEO. That has always meant “executive,” but today more than ever, it better include ethics, with a big “E.”
  • Freaks, Fame and Fortune: Ethics and Reality TV
    Hopefully viewers of these shows realize they are scripted and participants are told to assume whatever role would make for outrageous, indecent, and outlandish conduct.
  • Tit for Tat: Re-Thinking Everyday Ethics in the Workplace
    “Tit for tat” is a strategy used in game theory to explain "equivalent retaliation." The idea is that opponents respond ‘in kind’ to the way they’re treated (e.g. cooperation breeds cooperation, kindness begets kindness, conversely provocation yields retaliation). More simply stated: you get what you give.
  • 6 WARNING Phrases Your Ethics Are Being Challenged
    There are a few phrases that generally come just before you’re invited into an ethical misdeed. They seem ordinary, harmless, and commonplace in our everyday professional lives.
  • Ethics - Who Should Get a P.A.S.S.?
    It’s become so commonplace that many hi-profile unethical people get special dispensation to the point of my calling - a PASS - a “Perverted Acceptance of a Special Situation.” The “situation” may be their race, religion, sexual orientation, status, addiction, etc.
  • Ethics: What’s SOX Got to do With It?
    Over five years, and counting, since the landmark bill to fight corporate corruption - the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 – ushered in the most sweeping markets regulation since 1934. Has it really helped?
  • “Yeahbut” -- THE Most Dangerous word in Ethical Misconduct
    “Yeahbut” - is actually two words usually juxtaposed when someone who is well-liked commits an unethical or illegal act. It goes something like this: immediately following an allegation or conviction of wrongdoing, someone says,”He did something wrong, yeah but...
  • 7 Things to Do When Someone Good Does Something Bad (that don't make things worse)
    Headlines in our neighborhood papers, city papers, and national news are filled with examples of good people getting caught doing bad things. So what is the right thing to do when someone you know does the wrong thing?
  • “One Bad Apple” - “An Isolated Incident” - “An Honest Mistake”
    THE 3 Most Dangerous Myths About Ethical Misconduct (and how to combat them)
    Over the years, my experience has born out that these are truly ‘honest’ responses that are totally false. Not that the person uttering the words are knowingly lying or covering-up, but they simply don’t understand the myths.
  • The Question is: Why Aren’t More Leaders Corrupt?
    The end of the 1990’s leading into the new century marked a period of misconduct, morale decline, and leadership corruption. From the White House to God’s House -- Wall Street to Main Street every community in America witnessed the most egregious, self-centered, arrogance and abuse of power and criminal activity.
  • Have Everyday Ethics Brought Down GM? (And the Big 3)?
    GM is in big trouble. Ford has been in trouble for a while. Chrysler is in trouble again. Sales, profits, and reputation - how did the Big 3 U.S. automakers plummet so far, so fast, and so hard? Perhaps it was everyday ethics, or rather the lack there of.
  • Today’s Ethics... It’s Not The Clintons - It’s Us!
    The tarnished legacy of President Clinton is ironic. Unlike any ‘average citizen’ - he was not reprimanded even though he was:
  • Obama, Plagiarism, and Ethics
    Obama’s aura is based on being someone who is fresh, exhilarating, and well… a change. IF indeed he continues to take words without giving proper credit, it’s stealing, it’s duping the public, and it’s sending a message to those seeking leadership positions that stealing is the quickest way, and perhaps justifiable way, to succeed at influencing others to follow.
  • Executives, Ethics & Crisis
    Today's headlines include wayward priests and the Catholic Church, Enron, and executives. Last year's headlines were about Ford Explorers and Bridgestone/Firestone Tires. Headlines of the past have included United Way of America, President Clinton, Watergate, Tylenol tampering, the Exxon Valdez, Apollo shuttle disaster, etc, etc, etc. What do these all have in common?
  • Ethics...who cares?
    Most of us (at least privately) think it's a big deal. Ask anyone if they want to be treated fairly, justly, respectfully, honestly and they'll say, "Sure."
  • In Praise of Blame - Step #1 in Correcting ANY Situation
    From our earliest years of sibling rivalries, sandbox squabbles and classmate antics, we are told “don’t tattle” -- “it isn’t nice to blame.” As we grow older, it’s “now you can’t blame anyone but yourself”
  • Sex, Politics, Religion, and Race – What a Week for Democrats and Ethics (March 9, 2008)
    The week was March 9, 2008. Gov. Spitzer, Mayor Kilpatrick, Nominee hopeful Obama's preacher's anti-American remarks, Ms. Farraro are all caught-up in the political correctness and corruption of their own parties. Is it politics as usual or their party's politics as usual?
  • The Ethics Surrounding the GM Strike (and every other Union/Management environment)
    September 2007 -- As I write this article, the UAW’s 73,000 members in 80 plants throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Canada have decided not to show up for work for a second day. If you get a sense that I’m anti-union arrogance, you’re right.
  • Good Business: Everyday Ethics in Your Workplace Culture
    It pays to check whether ethics policies are ingrained in your culture, day in and day out.
  • “It’s a Personal Matter!” (The Issue of Compartmentalizing Ethics in Leadership)
    CAN we separate personal and professional ethics? SHOULD we? As professionals, do your customers look at your personal or professional conduct? Do our spouses, children, or parents see you as two people?
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