See You in Houston!
We're off to the NBMBAA Annual Conference in Houston next week, so there won't be a Netwire, but look for the Conference Daily newsletter every day next week. And it's not too late to join us. Register on-site and take advantage of everything the 35th Annual Conference and Expo has to offer.

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Lehman Brothers' collapse in September 2008 sent stocks on a terrifying ride. Fast-forward to the present, and the Dow has returned to pre-crisis levels and is back to setting new highs. As you look at the key events that transpired since Lehman's collapse, you'll find lessons big and small that are as relevant as ever. It turns out that for better or worse, things haven't changed nearly as much since the crisis as you might have expected.. (Money Magazine)
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Your to-do list shouldn't feel like a foreign document describing an alternate universe. Instead, incorporate everyday (low-stress) tasks to make it feel like part of your day. (Fast Company)
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The world of work is changing fast, leaving a wake of frightening uncertainty that's especially daunting for those of you early in your careers. We're facing an unemployment rate of more than 7%, an online landscape that turns simple daily actions into permanent reputations, and a world so fast-paced that the next in-demand skill may not even exist yet. How can you help yourself stand out? (Inc.)
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We're all just so "busy" these days. "Slammed" in fact. "Buried." Desperately "trying to keep our heads above water." While these common responses to "How are you?" seem like they're lifted from the Worst Case Scenario Handbook, there seems to be a constant exchange, even a a one-upping, of just how much we have on our plates when we communicate about our work. (Harvard Business Review)
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In today’s workplace, employees need to do more than fulfill their job description and develop intangible soft skills. Since it’s easy for companies to find people with the right hard skills, they are hiring more for cultural fit than work performance. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Employers still have the upper hand in most fields, which means you can expect to be scrutinized extra carefully during the interview process. In today's high-productivity, low-headcount workforce, companies know "there isn't as much room for failure when it comes to hiring," says Tom Gimbel, CEO of Chicago staffing firm LaSalle Network. Tips to ensure that you make the best impression. (CNN/Money)
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Business leaders send a powerful message when they demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion that goes beyond rhetoric. But how does diversity make its way to the top of a CEO’s agenda? To find out, we interviewed 24 CEOs from around the globe who ran companies and corporate divisions that had earned reputations for embracing people from all kinds of backgrounds. (Harvard Business Review)
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Want to attract, and keep, top talent? Here's a suggestion: Make a flexible work schedule part of the deal. A poll this summer of 1,215 U.S. managers and employees across a variety of industries, by EY (formerly Ernst & Young), found that members of Gen Y, aged 18 to 32, rank flexibility among the perks they want most, with 33% saying they wouldn't work anywhere that didn't offer it. (Fortune)
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India had seemed tantalizingly close to embarking on the same dash for economic growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in China and across East Asia. Its economy now stands in disarray, with the prospect of worse to come in the next few months. (The New York Times)
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If the most common trope in fiction in the past 10 years has been the "9/11 novel," we may now be seeing the beginnings of the next wave: stories of success (or at least the hunt for it) in Asia. On the heels of two recent novels we reviewed in the spring, Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians and Mohsin Hamid's How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, comes Tash Aw's newest book, Five Star Billionaire. (Fortune)
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First-year M.B.A. students are arriving on campus this fall with fading tans, first-day-of-class jitters and, increasingly, summer internship offers. Companies eager to capture top talent are starting the recruiting process even earlier – in some instances before the school year begins. (The Wall Street Journal)
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A strong performance on the GMAT is a key component of the MBA application to most top business schools. But what can you do if your score is not where you want or need it to be? Any number of factors could have thrown off your game, from illness to test anxiety to insufficient preparation. (U.S. News & World Report)
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It's getting close, but there's still time to register and join us in Houston for the 35th Annual Conference and Exposition. If you don't register online, you can still register on-site, so don't miss the year's most dynamic educational, networking and career event.
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Simmons School of Management/National Black MBA Association Scholarship Offers Up to Full Tuition for Candidates NBMBAA Members and Admitted to Simmons’ MBA Program.
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Samsung just launched their next, new, big time product. It's the Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Are you kidding? What the heck is a smartwatch anyway? Who needs it? Are we simply going too far? Do we really need yet one more piece of technology to carry around? Well the answer is yes, and you may be surprised why. (CNN)
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If you've ever wondered just how much marketing companies know about you, whether it's your education or income or purchase preferences, today you can see for yourself. With the beta launch of , marketing technology company Acxiom is giving you a glimpse of the online profile your shopping habits have created for you – the one digital marketers use to sell things to you. (NPR)
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It’s fairly easy to get caught up in the fantasy of the idea of your business – before the reality of the challenge hits you. As the leader of your business, you establish the voice of the company. You are often the face of the business, and you drive the energy that will represent the gestalt of the business. (Inc.)
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The health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act will open on Oct. 1. Most small employers – those with 50 or fewer full-time employees – are not required to offer health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Even businesses with more than 50 full-time employees have gotten a one-year reprieve from penalties if they don’t offer insurance. But all companies, regardless of size, are required to notify their employees about the Obamacare marketplaces. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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You probably remember the headlines about "Breadwinner Moms" a few months ago. The Pew Center had published a report finding women are the best-paid workers in a record 40 percent of households with children under 18. That’s practically quadruple the 1960 number. But a little detail was often lost in the large-font headlines. Sixty percent of "breadwinner-mom" families are really just single-mom families. (The Atlantic)
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If you’re a poor child in America, and you’re hoping to climb out of poverty as an adult, where you grow up appears to matter a lot. And if you could choose your hometown, you’d want to pick one with a large middle class, a new study suggests. (The Washington Post)
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Making the move from renter to homeowner is challenging for nearly everyone, and the highest hurdle for most first-time buyers is saving enough money for a down payment. If your No. 1 priority in the next few years is to become a homeowner, financial experts say you'll likely need to make some aggressive moves to cut your spending, boost your income, or both. (Daily Finance)
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There are roughly three stages to getting a raise: 1. Joy: "More money for me." 2. Disappointment: "After taxes and divided over 26 pay periods, it’s really not that much more money for me." And finally, 3. Amnesia: "Where did the extra money go?" (MarketWatch)
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Because it’s an excuse to travel the world: If you’re going to leave the house to go to school, you might as well go all the way. That’s easy these days, with so many executive education programs making travel a core part of the curriculum. (The Globe and Mail)
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With a life script that supposedly goes from latchkey kid to distrustful teenage slacker to recession-battered adult, Generation X hardly seems like management material. But those born between 1965 and 1980 think they’re best equipped to manage, according to a new study from Ernst & Young. What’s more, baby boomers and millennials agree. Not only were Gen X workers viewed as best at generating revenue and building teams, they were considered least likely to be considered "difficult to work with" or "cynical and condescending." (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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International frequent flyers increasingly want to stay connect while airborne and airlines are accommodating their needs. While it's a growing scene and some flights can be affected by satellite coverage gaps and airspace restrictions. Here's an overview of the current state of wi-fi in the sky. (CNN)
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During the height of the 2009 financial crisis, when there was a real and present danger of banks seizing up due to a lack of liquidity, the then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown altered the geopolitical architecture. Brown moved with a sense of urgency to formalize the Group of 20 nations. The strategy was sound. (CNN International)
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One top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday he was open-minded about reducing stimulus this month, as investors largely expect the central bank to do, while another policymaker said the U.S. central bank should actually do more for the economy. (Reuters Finance)
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You spend a great deal of time recruiting and training the best people possible. But are you driving them crazy without realizing it? It’s possible, says human resources consultant Roberta Matuson, founder of Matuson Consulting and author of Talent Magnetism: How to Build a Workplace that Attracts and Keeps the Best (Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2013). Just like few people will tell you if you have bad breath, employees aren’t generally eager to point out the error of these management ways, she says. (Entrepreneur)
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Chris spent years working for a supportive, encouraging manager at a major technology company headquartered in Silicon Valley. In fact, his boss raved about him. His manager gave him top ratings in his performance evaluations, space to do his work, and had never been controlling. He was, according to Chris, terribly, unswervingly nice. Picture perfect boss, right? Wrong. (Harvard Business Review)
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Job site CareerCast recently put them on its "most useless professions" list, many consumers have stopped calling or visiting them, and even some within the industry worry they may soon be out of work. After all, when it’s so easy for consumers to plan and book their own travel online, does anyone need a travel agent anymore? (MarketWatch)
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