It’s hard to generate much sympathy for people who are making tens of millions of dollars a year. But at least these CEOs can justify their paychecks by taking on seemingly impossible challenges. They’ve all fairly recently taken over as the top executives at high-profile businesses that lose money hand over fist, have been written off for dead, or that don’t seem to have much reason to exist in the modern-day marketplace. (Time)
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Whether the game involves competing every four years in the Olympics or every day in a business, winning brings advantages that make it easier to keep winning. To understand sustainable success, I compared perpetual winners with long-term losers in professional and amateur sports and then matched the findings to business case studies for my book Confidence. (Harvard Business Review)
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Anyone who's seen the way bureaucracy eviscerates originality, seeks comfort in consensus, and hides from the most benign level of risk-taking has to marvel at the miracle of intact survival that was Danny Boyle’s opening ceremonies. It should be required watching for every CEO. (Fast Company)
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Got a business idea and up for a challenge? If so, register to compete in NBMBAA's Innovation Whiteboard Challenge®. The Innovation Whiteboard Challenge gives you the chance to pitch your great business idea with just a marker and a whiteboard. Take the chance and sell the concept you've been thinking off to a panel of distinguished judges at the 34th Annual Conference and Exposition in Indianapolis this September. 

 

If you think a few tough questions are the worst things you can encounter in interviews, think again. According to a new study from Sausalito, Calif.-based workplace culture website Glassdoor.com, a tough interview can entail anything from a series of formal tests to on-the-spot case analyses. Job seekers rate tech and consulting companies among the toughest for interviews. (FINS Finance)
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The first morning I met Kevin Crain, a Managing Director at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, he was feeling tired, as he did most days. We were at a conference Kevin was hosting for the institutional retirement team and a group of their corporate clients. He'd invited me to the event to speak about managing personal energy. (Harvard Business Review)
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The business world is abuzz with trend stories about unlimited vacation time. At Netflix, for example, they abolished their policy in 2004 and instead allow employees to take vacation whenever they need time (and as long as they get their work done). Gilt Groupe, a fashion-oriented deals site, offers up a similar policy, a sure way to attract talent in the competitive tech space. (Fast Comapny)
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Britain gambled $15 billion on hosting the Olympics, an investment being watched closely across crisis-battered Europe, where the debate over stimulus vs. austerity has reached a fevered pitch. But early evidence is suggesting just how hard it can be for modern host cities to cash in on the Games. (Washington Post)
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A week ago, after Spanish 10-year bond yields had jumped well over 7%, panicky markets were quelled by a few words from Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB). (The Economist)
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European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said Thursday that the ECB will not intervene in the government debt market unless countries take certain actions. (CNN/Money)
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Business school may still be a man's world, but institutions are looking to shake things up by placing female talent at the helm. Eager to achieve – or at least approach – gender parity in their administrative ranks, many schools are "acting affirmatively" by picking women over similarly qualified men to fill deanship slots, says Lucy Apthorp Leske, a partner at search firm Witt/Kieffer. (Wall Street Journal)
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In the past 10 years technology has made consumers more powerful than ever. Social media and smartphones have made it easy for customers to share feedback on the spot, and they expect companies to respond swiftly and courteously when things go wrong. If snafus aren’t serviced, they can quickly snowball, taking careers, profits, and market share with them. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Register now and don't miss early bird discounts for the NBMBAA® 34th Annual Conference & Exposition, September 25-29 in Indianapolis. Visit the Conference website for our new Pre-Conference Planning Guide and get all the information on why Conference is for you, what you get for your registration, costs, hotels, programs and more!
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The first social media Olympics have become a minefield for the Olympic movement – especially for Twitter Inc., which has trumpeted its tight connection to the London Games. (Wall Street Journal)
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Infected fake Angry Birds? Autotexting applications that spam dubious Eastern European pay-SMS lines? Here's how the latest Android malware sneaked past Google Play's security. (Hint: Dropbox.) (Fast Company)
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No doubt about it: Outlook.com looks great. The user interface for Microsoft’s just-announced Hotmail overhaul is crisp and clean – I’m a sucker for whitespace. The social and Skype integrations seem winning, and the newsletter filter looks like inbox salvation. Here’s the kicker: When you sign up, before you even see your inbox for the first time, Microsoft makes this promise: "Outlook is private – you’re in control of your data, and your personal conversations aren’t used for ads." (Wired)
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With ever-increasing YouTube lunch breaks and Vimeo dinner dates, online video is becoming a constant companion – one that every brand is rushing to take advantage of. Follow these five tips so you don't turn off would-be viewers. (Fast Company)
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If you are thinking about starting your own business, you need to have the stamina of a marathon runner. And once you start your career as an entrepreneur, a glass-half-full attitude will serve you well as you face a continuous stream of problems to solve and questions to answer. (Entrepreneur)
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Stuck in a job with lousy pay? Better get used to it. Some 28% of workers are expected to hold low-wage jobs in 2020, roughly the same percentage as in 2010, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. (CNN/Money)
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Political infighting over the "fiscal cliff" threatens to wipe out the US's fragile recovery with "very bad" consequences for the rest of the world, a senior International Monetary Fund economist warned Thursday. (Guardian UK)
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Maureen O'Brien told her daughter Emily Macri: dream big. She could pick any college she wanted and they would figure out a way to pay for it. Macri chose the University of Vermont, which costs more than $49,000 in tuition and fees per year for out-of-state residents. O'Brien and her daughter co-signed a private student loan from Sallie Mae for $24,000 and a $30,000 Parent PLUS loan, a federal loan program for parents. And that was just for Macri's first two years of college. (NPR)
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Collecting cans and loose change, launching a get-out-of-debt fundraiser and taking on four part-time jobs are some of the creative strategies these six people have used to tackle their debt. (CNN/Money)
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Like a defecting Syrian colonel or converted climate-change denier, Sanford I. Weill has been heartily welcomed among those on the right side of history. The sheer inappropriateness of the vessel, the breathtaking audacity of the messenger, can oddly confer authority on an idea. If even the creator of Citigroup now believes that the giant banks should be broken up, who could not believe it? (The New York Times)
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Hiroshi Mikitani is not a typical Japanese CEO. He's at the head of Japan's largest – and the world's third largest – e-commerce company . Now he is starting a colossal offensive on Amazon's turf. (Fortune)
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The Postal Service, on the verge of its first default on Wednesday, faces a cash shortage of $100 million this October stemming from declining mail volume that could balloon to $1.2 billion next year, newly available documents show. (The New York Times)
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You needn't look hard to see the contrast between presidential candidates when it comes to what role Washington should play in reviving the economy. Stanford University economist John Taylor has spent decades looking to answer that question, in theory and practice.(CNN/Money)
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In an ideal world Mitt Romney or Barack Obama would rapidly restore job dynamism and financial soundness – but whoever wins has limited room to maneuver. (Guardian UK)
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Whipping out a platitude isn't just annoying. Using some platitudes also shows you're lazy – and not just in words but in actions: "Work smarter, not harder." What happens when you say that to me? (Inc.)
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Several startups are looking to use algorithmically powered job search systems to solve job search woes for candidates and recruiters alike. But can data replace the human touch? (Fortune)
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On average, CEOs recruited from outside the company perform about the same as those who come up through the ranks, the authors’ research suggests. But there are certain circumstances in which outsider CEOs tend to do better. (MIT/Sloan Management Review)
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Lying to yourself – or self-deception, as psychologists call it – can actually have benefits. And nearly everybody does it, based on a growing body of research using new experimental techniques. (Wall Street Journal)
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Pssssst. Want some tips on how the pros travel? Just ask a corporate travel manager. These are the people who spend billions on travel each year and help companies set policies that dictate how millions of people fly. At the annual Global Business Travel Association convention in Boston last week, I gathered the best tips and juiciest secrets of corporate travel managers. Here are 10 ways to improve your travel. (Wall Street Journal)
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