Containers of goods idling at ports. Reduced sales at sandwich shops in downtown Washington. Canceled vacations to national parks and to destinations abroad. Reduced corporate earnings forecasts. Higher interest payments on short-term debt. Even with the shutdown of the United States government and the threat of a default coming to an end, the cost of Congress’s gridlock has already run well into the billions, economists estimate. (The New York Times)
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The deal reached by Congress on Wednesday to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling averts a financial catastrophe but leaves the weakened U.S. economy facing new threats. The agreement will send about 450,000 federal employees back to work and restart paychecks for the 1.3 million employees who stayed on the job during the shutdown. (Washington Post)
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As one of the world’s preeminent advisers to CEOs and boards, Ram Charan has spent the past 35 years on the road, watching hundreds of executives deal with their toughest challenges. He regularly shares the insights from his experiences in speeches and the classroom and is the author of several best-selling books. In this edited interview, he returns to the topic of decisions and talks about what he’s learned in three decades of helping executives make them. (Harvard Business Review)
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Xerox CEO and chairman Ursula Burns took on the having-it-all debate head-on at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit on Thursday, saying that when it comes down to it, we all just need to chill out. "As long as I've been alive discussing this, and even before, this concept of having it all – that's not the point," she said. Pick the places where you want to be great, focus your energies there, and then go do it, she added. Understand "you're not going to be great at everything, and then relax," she said. (Fortune)
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If you're already as successful as you want to be, both personally and professionally, congratulations! Here's the not-so-good news: All you are likely to get from this article is a semientertaining tale about a guy who failed his way to success. But you might also notice some familiar patterns in my story that will give you confirmation (or confirmation bias) that your own success wasn't entirely luck. (The Wall Street Journal)
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I consider myself savvy when it came to social media, and I thought I had relegated LinkedIn to its proper place: I viewed it only as a way to stay connected to individuals I had already met. In fact, until I started contributing to this column regularly, I had a rule that I wouldn't connect with anyone that I didn't "know." All of this changed for me after a very helpful session with LinkedIn Expert – Alex Pirouz of Linkfluencer – whom I ironically met over LinkedIn after he had read a couple of my columns. (Inc.)
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Let's get this straight: Successful people tend to be more confident, but only because they are usually more aware of their competence. In reality, successful people do not differ much in their confidence levels from their less successful peers. (Fortune)
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In the past, men demonstrated their manliness at work by mooning the trading floor (to quote one conversation I had recently) or pounding their chests à la Alpha-Ape (to quote someone I interviewed a few years back). "Come back with your shield or on it," a partner used to joke in the 1980s whenever someone in my husband’s BigLaw firm went to court. Extreme schedules remain a key metric of manliness. (Harvard Business Review)
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We are about to witness an unprecedented leadership shift over the next decade away from the dominance of white, male, stale CEOs currently occupying the current Fortune 500 CEO roles. Expect a transformation: the two-thirds of Western CEOs who are really professional managers – incrementally optimizing their companies around the short-term – will go. They’ll be leapfrogged by a new breed of CEOs running on an emerging market fuel, powered by dreams, entrepreneurship, innovation and belief. (LinkedIn)
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"There is nothing more absurd than having a target of 49.1% women in management," exclaimed a manager in a big consumer goods company (which, in disclosure, is a client of mine) in Sao Paolo last week. There are few things in business less popular than targets for a fixed percentage of women in management. Men don’t like them, and women don’t much like them either. They offend everyone’s sense of meritocracy. (Harvard Business Review)
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In an era when central bankers like Ben S. Bernanke dominate the global economic stage, few hold as much power within their own country as Georgios A. Provopoulos, the governor of the Bank of Greece, who has played a crucial role in keeping Greece out of bankruptcy and in the euro zone. (The New York Times)
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Can the U.S. learn some lessons from the austerity-driven policies of the U.K.’s Conservative government? Suddenly the British economy seems to be going from strength to strength, confounding experts who only a few months ago were forecasting stagnant growth well into 2014. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Five years ago George W. Bush gathered the leaders of the largest rich and developing countries in Washington for the first summit of the G20. In the face of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the leaders promised not to repeat that era’s descent into economic isolationism, proclaiming their commitment to an open global economy and the rejection of protectionism. (The Economist)
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The master of business administration is one of the success stories of our time. Since it was first offered by Harvard Business School (HBS) in 1908, the MBA’s rise has seemed unstoppable. Having conquered America, it reached Europe’s shores in 1957 when INSEAD, a French school, launched a program. In the past couple of decades, Asia, South America and Africa have succumbed. Today, it is the second most popular postgraduate degree in America (after education). (The Economist)
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Obtaining a master’s degree in business administration has placed Carolyn Sweetapple on the executive fast track at North Shore-LIJ Health System. The Great Neck, New York-based hospital network provided full tuition payment so she could pursue an MBA in quality management at Hofstra University in nearby Hempstead. Sweetapple has been promoted twice since earning the degree in 2008. (Workforce)
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After a 5.8% rise in applications, Stanford Graduate School of Business said that it has enrolled the largest MBA class in its history this year. Some 406 incoming students have showed up, a slight increase from last year’s record 398. (Poets & Quants)
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Have you ever asked yourself what is the new normal for your career success? If not, you should. Listen in to Bill Wells, former NBMBAA Board Chairman and Diversity and Inclusion professional, discuss secrets and strategies for career building success on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at 1 p.m. EST, 12 Noon CST, 11am MST, 10 am PST, and 6 p.m. U.K. This is a live and free webinar. Archives are only available to NBMBAA members.
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Microsoft on Thursday released Windows 8.1, a vastly improved update of its forward-thinking but flawed PC operating system. On paper, the list of changes that Microsoft made to Windows 8.1 don't seem all that major. No, the app tiles aren't gone. Yes, the Start button is back, but not exactly as you remember it. (CNN/Money)
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Netflix is in serious talks with Comcast and other pay-TV providers to hop onto the cable bundle as a stand-alone channel. Add it to the list of tech companies—Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel—who have internally debated trying to "disrupt" the cable TV business, but have wound up working with the cable companies (e.g.: Apple, Xbox) or simply built their own cable equivalent (Google Fiber TV). (The Atlantic)
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Personal branding is a key to becoming known as an expert in your niche market, but sometimes you may feel like you might not want to have your face all over your small business website. A loyal reader wondered whether race would hold her business back if she became the "face" of her business. As a black woman, she was conflicted by advice received from associates to create a "colorless" business in order to build out her client base, which she focused on securing through internet marketing. (Huffington Post)
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When you write and read about start-ups all day long, you see founders make a lot of mistakes. As an observer of and dabbler in start-ups, I've kept track of all the things I'd try to avoid as an entrepreneur. Here are the most common mistakes early stage start-ups and new founders make. (Inc.)
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Usually, even a psychology study that makes a considerable splash in the scientific community fails to interest the mainstream media. But back in March 2013 – when Michal Kosinski, along with two co-authors, published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that found that what you "Like" on Facebook can reveal extremely personal (and statistically valid) information about you – everything from your race, to your IQ, to your sexuality – it made big waves everywhere. (Entrepreneur)
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If you hit the drive-through, chances are that the cashier who rings you up or the cook who prepared your food relies on public assistance to make ends meet. A new analysis finds that 52 percent of fast-food workers are enrolled in, or have their families enrolled in, one or more public assistance programs such as SNAP (food stamps) Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). (NPR)
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More than two decades ago, then-33-year-old Dan Price had a wife, two small children, a high-interest mortgage, and a stressful job as a photojournalist in Kentucky. He worried daily about money and the workaday grind. "I told myself, 'buck up and pay the bills,'" said Price. "This is just the way normal life is." (CNBC)
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Most travelers know that airline fares change rapidly, often to a shopper’s chagrin. The same thing can happen when you use frequent-flier miles to book a hotel or rental car – although typically you catch a break the more miles you’ve amassed with the airline. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Mother of two Jennifer McAdoo tosses any food past the date on the label so her family doesn't get sick. In fact, Americans chuck 160 billion pounds of food every year: An average family of four throws away $1,560 worth. But a lot of that food is perfectly good. In fact, a new study from Harvard finds that those "sell-by" dates are "confusing" and "misleading." In fact, that food may still be good for weeks, months, even years past the date. (CNBC)
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We all knew that participation in part-time study was in decline, but a 40% drop in enrolments in just two years should come as a warning to everyone, including employers. The figure, cited again today in a timely study from Universities UK (UUK), reminds us of the problem that is now up to higher education and employers to fix. (The Guardian)
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Twitter provides consumers a way to publicly air customer service grievances, forcing companies to consider not only the complaint but how it will play among the millions of users listening in. But the social media site is now helping companies make some of those conversations with angry customers once again as private as a call to an 800 number. (MarketWatch)
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Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro described unfurling from the fetal position as she prepared to take over the embattled agency. Sallie Krawcheck, the former banking executive, shared what it was like to be fired from Citigroup Inc. And Roberta Kaplan, who argued in front of the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, told the crowd about the moment she felt she was finally winning the landmark civil rights case. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Despite presiding over a chamber that nearly drove the country to a debt default, John A. Boehner still has the enduring support of a group that would’ve been most harmed by that event: the business community. Rather than revisit their strategy of supporting Republicans after this week’s near-disaster, influential organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are standing behind Boehner. (Washington Post)
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Say this for Tea Party Republicans: They don’t back down. No apologies for triggering a partial shutdown of the federal government, then refusing to raise the debt ceiling without concessions. Condemnation rains down on them from the White House, from foreign capitals, from public opinion polls, but the Tea Party rages on. They say they have no choice: Deficits are out of control; something must be done and soon. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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Most people want to be liked: It’s one of the fundamental tenets of human behavior. Because of that motivation, many of us have an unconscious desire to avoid conflict. We prefer to "get along," "not make waves," and "act as a team player." We all want to be known as a great person to work with. The only problem with this mindset is that creative ideas and better ways of getting things done often stem from constructive conflict. (Harvard Business Review)
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Your business's most expensive asset is probably its people. It's all about those brains getting your work done, so you want the best you can possibly get, right? But, if you're not careful, you may be inadvertently driving away the best candidates with your recruitment policies. Here are five things good job candidates hate. (Inc.)
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