President Obama will nominate his White House chief of staff, Jacob "Jack" Lew, to be the next U.S. Treasury Secretary, a source with knowledge of the nomination tells CNN. The nomination is expected to be announced this week. Lew, 57, has been the leading candidate for months and would be the second Treasury Secretary during the Obama administration. (CNN/Money)
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How does he find time to meet with 10 customers a week and make his yearly quota in the first quarter?, a salesman wonders about his top producing coworker. I can barely find time to have five appointments a week and get all my paperwork done correctly and turned in on time. Here's the secret: Your colleagues that zoom ahead of you with seemingly less effort have learned to recognize and excel in what really counts – and to aim for less than perfect in everything else. (Harvard Business Review)
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NBMBAA Appoints Jesse J. Tyson as Interim President and CEO
The National Black MBA Association, Inc, (NBMBAA®) today announced the appointment of Jesse J. Tyson as Interim President & Chief Executive Officer.  Tyson will provide the day-to-day oversight of the Association, effective January 3, 2013.

"We welcome Jesse’s extensive global business and marketing experience to the Association," said Audrey Dillard Hines, chairman of the NBMBAA Board of Directors. "He will play an integral role as we continue to provide the best programming, training and career development to our members and students, providing them the resources, tools and interaction with experts needed to enhance their career paths."
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John Nottingham says he was planning to hire a new design manager eventually. But when he heard a talented fellow alumnus of his design school was looking for a job, he wasted no time: He created an opening and hired the man right away. Under normal circumstances, Mr. Nottingham, co-president of product design and engineering firm Nottingham Spirk, might have posted the opening on the Cleveland-based company's website or LinkedIn page. But in this case, he says, he couldn't afford to wait. (The Wall Street Journal)
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If you are going to make New Year’s resolutions for 2013, do them right. Don’t make lofty and vague pledges without any real teeth. Setting goals is a great start, but that’s only half the battle, says Amanda Augustine, job search expert for The Ladders and host of the upcoming Job Central event Thursday at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. (Fox Business)
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Are you great at what you do, but no one seems to notice? These 3 misconceptions might be getting in your way. Here's the best way to promote the brand called you. (Fast Company)
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Lots of articles describe how to create a more marketable LinkedIn profile, how to find the right groups to join, how to choose the best profile photo... I should know, I've written about that. Oh, and that. Yep, and that too. Since most people understand the value of taking those steps, let's go deeper. To really harness the power of LinkedIn, don't make these mistakes. (Inc.)
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Given investors' confidence in its sovereign debt, and its image as Germany's principal partner in the sturdy, sensible "northern" eurozone, you'd think that France endures as the co-guardian of the endangered single currency. Indeed, the rate on France's ten-year government bonds stands at just 2%, just a few ticks above Germany's. From a quick look at the headline numbers, France doesn't appear nearly as stressed as the derisively titled "PIIGS," Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. (Fortune)
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Ten of the UK's leading business figures have warned David Cameron not to put membership of the European Union "at risk" in negotiations over the country's relationship with Brussels. The prime minister has said the UK is "perfectly entitled" to demand change. (BBC News)
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If this is like most years, administrators at top schools such as Harvard and Stanford will try hard to find talented high school students from poor families in a push to increase the socioeconomic diversity on campus and to counter the growing concern that highly selective colleges cater mainly to students from privileged backgrounds. (NPR)
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If U.S. colleges and universities are ever going to bring down their costs, it means that one day they're going to have to buck up and embrace online learning as regular tool for teaching undergrads. And in order for that to happen, it means their faculty members will have to get on board with the idea. Unfortunately, we're still pretty far off from that point. (The Atlantic)
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The Cincinnati chapter of the National Black MBA Association is part of a national organization that is dedicated to creating partnerships that result in creating intellectual and economic wealth in the black community. The Cincinnati chapter hosts monthly events, including networking, executive recruiting, speaker panel sessions, training sessions and additional events and services to members, along with the broader Cincinnati community. (Smart Business)
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Late December is a time of spring cleaning for many people, and that can mean clearing out the Email inbox: weed out messages that no longer need action, reply to ones that have been hanging around, file others to reference later. For some people, though, striving for a perpetual state of an empty inbox is an ongoing habit – or at least an ongoing effort. (MIT/Sloan Management Review)
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Bluetooth is ditching the dork factor, and a slew of new dongle devices will make the tech extremely useful. You may never lose your keys, cash, or kids again! (Fast Company)
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Apple Inc. is working on a lower-end iPhone, according to people briefed on the matter, a big shift in corporate strategy as its supremacy in smartphones has slipped. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Jia Jiang's project, 100 Days of Rejection Therapy, is based on the idea that once you’re used to the strange looks, rude comments, and outright dismissal of every thing you’re trying to achieve, you’ll be able to overcome whatever makes you nervous: speaking in public, asking a woman out, or – in Jiang’s case – seeking funding for your tech startup. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Too often, entrepreneurs fail to pay adequate attention to their personal finances, which often are interconnected with their business. Here are six financial issues you might not have on your radar, but should keep in mind. (Entrepreneur)
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You can see why many Americans are opposed to raising revenue in an effort to close the budget gap. They don't like the things they believe their money is buying. Fortunately, as the economy recovers, their money is buying less of these things. In fact most of the story behind America's recent string of large deficits is slump-related, a result of lower tax revenues due to the underperforming economy, and increased spending on things like unemployment insurance, food stamps and Medicaid. (The Economist)
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Time was that a Swiss bank account was synonymous with confidentiality and keeping assets from prying eyes. No more. Last week, Switzerland's oldest bank, Wegelin & Co., pleaded guilty in a New York court to helping Americans hide $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service over a decade-long period. Wegelin's plea, and a $57.8 million fine, forced the bank to shut its doors. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Now that the payroll tax holiday has been sacrificed to the fiscal-cliff gods, taxpayers are left to their own devices to prevent a cut in take-home pay. (Kiplingers)
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Most retirees and those saving for retirement can relax slightly now that Congress has passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 or ATRA – the compromise bill designed to avert the fiscal cliff. Discussion of that law, which President Obama signed late Wednesday, has focused mostly on taxes, many of which will rise for the wealthiest 1% of Americans. (MarketWatch)
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Put an end to those small money drains that you barely notice, and you could save hundreds – or even thousands – of dollars a year. (CNN/Money)
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During the holiday season, Target matched prices with online retailers as it has for the last several years. Today, it announced that online price matching is a year-round policy, promising to match Amazon.com, Walmart and Toys R Us prices. Do you like? Dislike? (Upstart Business Journal)
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January in retail is a little bit like the off-season of a professional sports league. Teams dust themselves off from the grueling holiday season playoffs, evaluate their coaching staffs, and assess the balance of power in their divisions. In this month’s period of exhausted self-reflection, one of the industry’s broad conclusions is clear: Amazon.com is on its way to establishing a dangerous dynasty. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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It is the single most important comment in the history of Internet comments. Probably. Back in the summer of 2011, as House Republicans threatened to force us to default on our obligations, a commenter on Cullen Roche's blog, Pragmatic Capitalism, suggested an inventive way around the debt ceiling: a trillion-dollar coin. (The Atlantic)
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n the many years I’ve spent scrutinizing monetary policy, I had never devoted more than a thought to coins. In the scheme of all things monetary, they seemed, well, pocket change. Needless to say, the prospect of the Treasury issuing a $1 trillion platinum coin to circumvent the debt ceiling changes that. (The Economist)
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You may be dealing with people who believe it's wiser to overstuff communications than be accused of having left something out. That instinct may do more harm than good. (Fortune)
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Breaking down functional silos is key to everything from encouraging communication to building valuable connections to sparking innovation. But, as we all know, bridging interdepartmental chasms is far easier said than done. Fortunately, some companies are starting to come up with creative solutions. Take, for example, Lunch Roulette, a new concept being used at the U.S. arm of pharmaceuticals manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim (BIPI). (Harvard Business Review)
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If one too many surprising holiday credit card charges has you sweating, it's time for a chat with your spouse. Beware: As Deborah Price, author of The Heart of Money: A Couple's Guide to Creating True Financial Intimacy, puts it, "Money is an area where we're prone to being irrational, illogical, and overly emotional." (CNN/Money)
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