Somewhere along the way, people became convinced that stasis is safer than movement. Consistency feels comfortable; volatility is frightening. Consciously or not, we attempt to protect ourselves against life’s volatility by cultivating routine in our lives. But, in this ever-changing world, we are constantly forced to reinvent ourselves. And this reinvention process by very nature requires an entrepreneurial mindset. (Fast Company)

Visit http://www.fastcompany.com/3025942/dialed/how-to-reinvent-yourself-with-an-entrepreneurial-mindset to view the full article online.

 

Everyone in a room I was in today dropped their jaws in disbelief when I told them the news that Facebook had forked over $19 billion to buy the global mobile messaging service WhatsApp. It’s most definitely a big number – and, really, jaw-dropping – for the social networking site to pay for one of the most popular communications apps around. Translation: We have now established a price floor for what it costs not to have a mobile operating system in a world in which having a mobile operating system counts for an awful lot these days. (Re/Code)

Visit http://recode.net/2014/02/19/facebook-price-for-having-no-phone-os-19-billion-a-must-have-apps-play-priceless/ to view the full article online.

 

There’s that project you’ve left on the backburner – the one with the deadline that’s growing uncomfortably near. And there’s the client whose phone call you really should return – the one that does nothing but complain and eat up your valuable time. Wait, weren’t you going to try to go to the gym more often this year? Can you imagine how much less guilt, stress, and frustration you would feel if you could somehow just make yourself do the things you don’t want to do when you are actually supposed to do them? Not to mention how much happier and more effective you would be? (Harvard Business Review)

Visit http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/02/how-to-make-yourself-work-when-you-just-dont-want-to/ to view the full article online.

 

As we get further away from the horrors of the Great Recession, it becomes easier for Americans to fall back into bad financial habits. One of those bad habits was not putting enough into a rainy day fund. Even when money is tight and you are trying to pay off debts, you have to save. (The Washington Post)

Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/getting-into-the-savings-habit/2014/02/18/493d8c94-98f3-11e3-80ac-63a8ba7f7942_story.html to view the full article online.

 

The problem: Every night, your workaholic boss is still glued to the computer when you need to leave. How to go home without looking like a slacker? Should you sneak out, hoping to avoid a six o'clock showdown in the hall? Guiltily apologize, promising to be on email all night? Or just walk straight toward the door in the most professional way you can? (The Wall Street Journal)

Visit http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303491404579391103854539542?mod=WSJ_Careers_CareerJournal_9_1&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303491404579391103854539542.html to view the full article online.

 

Each era has its own senior-executive profile. A century ago many of the largest, most powerful corporations were led by entrepreneurs – Henry Ford, for example, who had founded his automaker, and Alfred P. Sloan, whose company had been acquired by General Motors. By the 1920s professional managers were hopping from company to company to fill high-level management positions. By the 1950s lifelong employees of corporations were working their way up the ladder to claim the top jobs. (Harvard Business Review)

Visit http://hbr.org/2014/03/whos-got-those-top-jobs/ar/1 to view the full article online.

 

Dressing for success may create a good impression, but people judge your intelligence and credibility based upon what comes out of your mouth. Here are eight verbal habits that immediately mark you as somebody who's either foolish or shifty. (Inc.)

Visit http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-conversational-habits-that-kill-credibility.html to view the full article online.

 

Mind-numbing meetings, overflowing inboxes and urgent projects that require you to drop everything – do ever feel like parts of your workday are a personalized form of hell? If you’re frustrated by ineffective work processes – and complaining to coworkers over drinks – you’re not alone. (Fast Company)

Visit http://www.fastcompany.com/3026579/work-smart/the-nine-levels-of-work-hell to view the full article online.

 

A few times a year, the Treasury Department publishes a long list of names announcing all of the Americans who have lately abandoned their U.S. citizenship. According to the legal website , the number hovered around 500 a decade ago. Last year, it hit a record high of nearly 3,000. This was not a gradual change. It was a sudden spike. It's a story of dominoes falling, one after another, leading to an unexpected outcome. (NPR)

Visit http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/02/20/275937138/why-more-americans-are-renouncing-u-s-citizenship to view the full article online.

 

For months now, protestors have gathered in the capitals of many developing nations – Turkey, Ukraine, Thailand, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Cambodia, among others – in demonstrations united by some key features. In nearly all these places, protestors are pushing to oust presidents or prime ministers they claim are venal, authoritarian, and unresponsive to popular opinion. Nearly all these governments, no matter how corrupt, brutal, and autocratic, actually won election in relatively free polls. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-20/behind-a-pattern-of-global-unrest-a-middle-class-in-revolt#r=nav-fs to view the full article online.

 

The GMAT isn’t supposed to be easy. The Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the exam for business-school applicants, has spent six decades tweaking things, striking questions deemed too simple, and ensuring that the result is equally tough on U.S. test-takers and international entrants. Last year more than half of test-takers spent at least 51 hours studying for the exam. What if they didn’t? (Bloomberg/Businessweek)

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-19/i-took-the-gmat-with-no-preparation-dot-heres-what-happened#r=most%20popular to view the full article online.

 

MOOCs are all the rage in academia. These days, you can take online MBA courses from Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton – from the same faculty who teach them on campus. And one student has even figured out how to complete core MBA courses for under $1000. Unfortunately, you don’t build a life-long business network with MOOCs. And just try selling your MOOC degree to a recruiter! But what if you could complete your MBA for just $28,000? For the price of a jeep, you could earn an online MBA from a prominent institution that boasts Apple’s Tim Cook among its alumni. (Poets & Quants)

Visit http://poetsandquants.com/2014/02/20/an-online-mba-for-the-price-of-a-jeep/ to view the full article online.

 

NBMBAA's new website is almost ready to go live. Go in today and update your profile to take advantage of new features, like a résumé review and score! And while you're updating, why not take the time to give your résumé a quick refresh. Whether you're actively job hunting, or just keeping your network active, a current, vibrant résumé  is key to ensuring your future success.

With thousands of applicants applying for the same jobs, recruiters are only spending an average of six (yes, that's 6!) seconds scanning your résumé, Making it past those few seconds is critical.
Click here for tips on refreshing your résumé and login to your NBMBAA member account to update your profile.
Not yet a member of NBMBAA? Join today!

 

Here’s a thought: Maybe it’s O.K. to care about your privacy even if you have nothing to hide. Millions of us share our most personal sentiments and our most potentially damaging data through our smartphones. They’re the most personal communication devices we own, and they are compromised to the hilt. It is time to lock them down. (The New York Times)

Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/technology/personaltech/privacy-please-tools-to-shield-your-smartphone-from-snoopers.html?ref=business to view the full article online.

 

On Wednesday, Google announced it was mulling whether to expand Google Fiber to as many as 34 new cities around the country. Many of these are mid-sized locations like Portland and San Antonio – a sign that Google's early efforts in slightly smaller places, such as Kansas City, are paying off and that the company is ready to take on bigger challenges. (The Washington Post)

Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/02/20/heres-why-big-cities-arent-getting-google-fiber-anytime-soon/ to view the full article online.

 

Small businesses have many different strategies for attracting top talent, but gauging their effectiveness is often easier said than done. So we asked The Experts: What is the one change that many small firms could make that would make their companies more attractive places to work? (The Wall Street Journal)

Visit http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303973704579351063244665386?mod=hp_jrmodule&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303973704579351063244665386.html to view the full article online.

 

In reality, studies show that one of the identifiable success factors in creating a high-growth start-up is having founders who graduated from college and were older at the time they started their companies, because they therefore tended to have more experience and more contacts to build successful large firms. In fact, the average age for founding a successful company is 40. (Harvard Business Review)

Visit http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/02/the-older-entrepreneurs-secret-weapon/ to view the full article online.

 

I think I’ve discovered the ultimate productivity trick (and sanity saver). After 25 years of traveling 50 percent to 75 percent of the time for business, I’ve stopped. Completely. I returned home from my last trip on May 17 and haven’t taken a business trip since. (Inc.)

Visit http://www.inc.com/magazine/201312/brad-feld/the-simple-change-that-makes-you-more-productive.html to view the full article online.

 

Even before it comes to a vote, retailers like Gap Inc. (GPS) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) are weighing the benefits of a proposed increase in the U.S. minimum wage. Gap, the largest clothing-focused chain in the U.S., announced plans to boost the hourly wages of its workers to $10 by next year, getting out ahead of a potential federal increase. The change will affect 65,000 workers, the San Francisco-based company said, drawing praise from President Barack Obama. (Bloomberg)

Visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-20/minimum-wage-debate-prompts-u-s-retailers-to-plot-strategies.html to view the full article online.

 

For the past three weeks, Art Cashin has been calling the weather the "get out of jail free" card for the economy. And it happened again this morning. Stocks were little changed on very disappointing January's housing starts – a decline of 16 percent – the biggest drop in three years. Building permits were also fairly ugly. The bottom line: Wall Street continues to believe that the weather is the primary reason for the slowdown, and this will change soon. (CNBC)

Visit http://www.cnbc.com/id/101427902 to view the full article online.

 

There are more than 40 million African-Americans living in the U.S., but less than 1 percent of all federally chartered banks are black-owned. That’s a disappointing fact that several banking organizations, universities and nonprofit advocacy groups are working hard to change. NerdWallet recently analyzed Federal Reserve data on banks owned by minority groups to discover that, although 13.1% of the U.S. population is African-American, only 0.35% (24 in total) of U.S. banks are black-owned. (NerdWallet)

Visit http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2014/support-growing-black-owned-banks/ to view the full article online.

 

Singles have their own personal finance challenges to contend with. But for couples, the consequences of bad money management – debt multiplied, foreclosure, even divorce – can be far more costly and significant. That's why it's important to jointly develop and frequently reassess a family financial plan throughout your relationship. (Kiplinger's)

Visit http://www.kiplingers.com/slideshow/saving/T065-S001-money-mistakes-couples-make/index.html to view the full article online.

 

Every year Americans scramble to shave dollars off their federal tax bill in December – then miss out on a huge opportunity come January. The beginning of the year is also a great time to strategize, since you can reap the benefits of any changes you make for a full 12 months ahead. (Money Magazine)

Visit http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/01/pf/taxes/income-taxes.moneymag/index.html?iid=SF_M_Lead to view the full article online.

 

Over a few beers after work one spring evening, two junior Goldman Sachs employees started contemplating the best ways to kill themselves. "If the goal is, like, how do I inflict maximum psychological damage, then I think just going up to your desk and blowing your brains out in the middle of the day would be the best," said Jeremy Miller-Reed, 23. (The Atlantic)

Visit http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/the-woes-of-wall-street-why-young-bankers-are-so-miserable/283927/ to view the full article online.

 

Ray Markovich started driving a taxi in Chicago three years ago after shuttering his struggling wireless phone store. Driving a cab wasn’t particularly gratifying or lucrative – he had to pay $400 a week just to lease his 2011 white Ford Escape. It was predictable if monotonous work. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)

Visit http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-20/uber-leads-taxi-industry-disruption-amid-fight-for-riders-drivers#r=nav-f-story to view the full article online.

 

When Federal Reserve officials last met at the end of January, they were surprised by the strength of the economy, cheered by the optimism of consumers and convinced they should continue to dismantle the Fed’s economic stimulus campaign, according to an account the Fed released Wednesday. (The New York Times)

Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/business/fed-minutes-show-optimism-about-the-economy.html?ref=business to view the full article online.

 

Today's Congressional Budget Office report on the raising the minimum wage is a bit of a Rorschach test. Whether or not you support a hike, it contains new ammo for your old argument. On the one hand, the government's chief number-crunchers conclude it's probably a job killer. Increasing the minimum to $10.10 an hour, as Democrats have proposed, would eliminate about 500,000 jobs. On the other hand, they also find it would pull 900,000 people out of poverty, and put around $19 billion into the pockets of low- and middle-income families. (The Atlantic)

Visit http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/liberals-need-to-think-beyond-the-minimum-wage/283916/ to view the full article online.

 

Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday we mark this holiday weekend, had less leadership experience than almost any earlier president. George Washington and Andrew Jackson had been generals, several other presidents had been governors, and all the Southerners had owned plantations. They had run organizations and managed men. President Lincoln, by contrast, was a former state legislator, a one-term congressman and the senior partner of a two-man law firm; he kept his most important papers filed away in his hat. And yet Lincoln filled the office of president so effectively that he regularly tops historians' rankings of great presidents. (The Wall Street Journal)

Visit http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303704304579382882084406374 to view the full article online.

 

Our conceptions of work have shifted, and work is more about finding meaning and independence. Companies that refuse to offer flexible, autonomous, and creative work environments, won’t be able to attract the best people. (Fast Company)

Visit http://www.fastcompany.com/3026566/leadership-now/how-the-knowledge-economy-is-redefining-work to view the full article online.

 

Spirit Airlines is one of the fastest-growing airlines in America. Last week, we flew Spirit from New York to Fort Lauderdale for $68.99 each. Cheap! But that doesn't count fees. We paid $30 extra to pick our seats ahead of time. Once you're on the plane, a bottle of water costs $3. Even putting a bag in the overhead bin costs money on Spirit. Somewhere between New York and Florida, the guy sitting across the aisle from us leaned over and said, "This sucks." (NPR)

Visit http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/02/19/279649208/spirit-airlines-taps-a-nation-of-hate-fliers to view the full article online.