Through anecdotes, exercises, observations, and an extensive list of readings, Dr. Rao offers lessons drawn from both spiritual traditions and business situations that enable you to reconstruct and improve your professional and personal worlds. These unconventional strategies will turn your life around and help you become exponentially more effective in your career and flourish in every aspect of your life. This book is a powerful tool that will help you discover the purpose that can suffuse your life and bring stars to your eyes. The crucial question is Are YOU ready?...

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By: Frumi Rachel Barr, MBA, Ph.D.

If you're tempted to throw in the towel, you're not alone. But drastic measures may not be necessary.

(Fortune Small Business) -- Debbie Dusenberry is the founder of Curious Sofa, a home-furnishings business in Kansas City, Kans. I had heard that she had an interesting take on business and the economy, so one day I checked out her Web site...

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By: Jay Goltz

Your Life's journey is the most important journey you will ever take, and you only make it once! But ironically, most people spend more time planning their two-week vacation than to planning the other fifty weeks of the year. They have little or no idea where they are going with their lives...

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By: Rita Monte, Executive Coach & CEO Forum Chair, CLIENT ADVOCATE NETWORK

At some point in our career, all of us have had that feeling. Waking up at 3 am in a cold sweat, wondering what to do, or what our next step should be.

Whether your business is large or small, several key elements should be in place to reach your goal(s). These are: a written Business Plan, an Organization and Processes to execute the plan, identified Key Measurements for periodic feedback of variance to plan, and proper allocation of Capital, People, and Knowledge...

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By: Gary Drake, Associate Director, Operational Efficiencies and Organizational Effectiveness, Client Advocate Network

The Success Principles will teach you to increase your confidence, tackle daily challenges, live with passion and purpose and realize all your ambitions. The book spells out the 64 timeless principles use by successful men and women throughout history...

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By: Frumi Rachel Barr, Ph.D.

In one of his last interviews with Forbes, famed business thinker and writer, Peter Drucker said, "Make sure the people with whom you work understand your priorities. Where organizations fall down is when they have to guess at what the boss is working at, and they invariably guess wrong...

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By: Bob Prosen, Vistage Speaker

There's no script for running a company in this historic downturn. So what the heck do you do? Here are ten ways to weather the storm.

RESET PRIORITIES TO FACE THE NEW REALITY
Easy to say, hard to do. When a company's view of the world changes, everything changes, and the shift can be traumatic...

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By: Geoff Colvin, Senior Editor, Fortune Magazine

There is only one person responsible for the quality of the life you live. That person is you...

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By: Frumi Rachel Barr, Ph.D.

Entrepreneurs are often advised to Make Your Plan, then Work Your Plan.

What does this mean? How can these concepts help me today? In our current turbulent times, making a plan and then working that plan may mean the difference of your business’ success or failure...

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By: Gary Drake

Building Relationships and managing cash can help firms weather the recession and complete against larger rivals.

The toppling of some of the nation's largest corporations could clear the way for new and small businesses to carve out a profitable market niche or expand their existing business. That is, if they can survive the recession themselves...

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By: Cyndia Zwahlen, Los Angeles Times

Corporate strategy is a difficult undertaking for directors, even in the best of times. While management draws on significant resources to develop and refine corporate strategy, directors have fewer opportunities to contribute to the endeavor. It is not surprising then that while CEOs suggest that participating in corporate strategy is the second most important activity that their boards undertake, they give their boards only the 11th highest grade for their performance in this realm. "What's the board's role in strategy development?...

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By: Andrew Tuch

Wearing the Sweaty Baseball Cap Instead of the Sunday Stetson

Years ago in a Peanuts comic strip, Lucy turned to Charlie Brown and asked, "So, Charlie, do you have any good rules for living?" Charlie replied, "Why of course, Lucy. Get your first serve in; dental floss daily; keep the ball low." A perplexed Lucy responded, "But Charlie, will that get me a better life?"

Lucy’s question is a universal one applied to each of us, personally and professionally. What guidelines do we know produce a better life…at home, in our communities and at work? And at work the question of what rules shall we live by defines the whole world of ethical conduct...

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By: Russell T. Williams, PASSKEYS, Inspiring Ethical Excellence

Over the years, many professionals in the organization development (O.D.) field have studied highly effective and successful organizations to find the common traits and characteristics that exist amongst them.

P.R.I.M.E. is just one of the acronyms used to describe the traits of highly effective and successful organizations. P.R.I.M.E. organizations are said to possess...

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By: Dr. Ichak Adizes

Hosted IP PBX systems have changed how small and medium businesses use their voice communications. They are the modern heirs to the historic Centrex (Centralized Exchange) systems that were the ultimate in business communications for the past thirty years. But hosted IP PBX systems are cheaper and far more capable than their predecessors...

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By: Jim Ferguson, President, TierZero - communications service provider

Commercial insurance agents and brokers are as important a business relationship as your accountant and attorney. Unfortunately, many small to mid-size companies don't always understand this until there's a problem. The main reason for this perception problem might be with the term "insurance salesman". It's said that most people fall into the field of insurance rather than actually choose it...

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By: Richard Kaley, Colony West Insurance Company

In his article, Have You Crossed The Line? Tim Fulton, a nationally recognized small business consultant and management trainer, recalled a critical experience that shaped his business life early in his entrepreneurial career. He wrote, "I was the owner and operator of a small retail business."

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By: Russell T. Williams, PASSKEYS FOUNDATION Building A Nation Of Character

CEOs dream of delivering efficient and sustainable growth – growth that would put serious distance between them and their competitors. Unfortunately, the way most large corporations generate growth is so expensive and inefficient that for most firms, meaningful, market-beating growth has remained just that – a dream. Until now....

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By: Jean-Cluade Larréché, Alfred H. Heineken Chaired Professor of Marketing at INSEAD

It was twelve years ago, 1996. But the article appearing in The Wall Street Journal titled, For Many Executives, Ethics Appears To Be A Write-Off, penned by Dawn Blalock, offers timeless ethical commentary to the Wild, Wild Mr. Toad Ride that Americans are experiencing this October in the aftermath of the collapse of the financial markets....

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By: Russell Williams, Founder of Passkeys Foundation & Author of the Ethical Edge

Forecasting has never been more important—or harder.

Customers are less loyal, and global competition more fierce, making it difficult to predict where sales are going. Adding to the problem: Products, sales and distribution channels all have proliferated, and the life spans of products have gotten shorter.

As a result, some companies are being forced to adopt new ways to improve forecasting and planning. And a common theme links them all: collaboration...

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By: Chaman Jain, Professor at St. John's University and Mark Covas, Global Innovation Manager for Proctor & Gamble

Every successful company needs a good idea, good people and a good plan. Keeping a company growing, however, is harder still, mainly because the game changes the bigger it gets.

A small business with $500,000 in revenue trying to get to $5 million has different operational, financial and human resources challenges than a company with $25 million stretching to hit $100 million. With that in mind, here are 15 tips to help you navigate growth at three different stages in your company's development cycle.

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By: FORBES.com

Years of rapid economic growth and exposure to global competition are redrawing the boundaries of China's business landscape. In the past, most companies there fell into one of three categories: state-owned enterprises, joint ventures between Chinese and foreign concerns, or wholly owned foreign operations. The new world of Chinese business calls for new ways to describe the playing field.

As in the past, some giant state-owned enterprises, protected from competition by a thicket of government regulations, continue to dominate their industries. But other companies in that category, now fully exposed to global competition, vie for business against hundreds of domestic and foreign companies targeting the same customers...

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By: Andrew Grant, Director for McKinsey in Shanghai office

China has suddenly become the second most important growth economy in the world. On issue after issue, China's ability to innovate and change rapidly is without precedent.

In the past 30 years, 400 million Chinese citizens have been lifted out of poverty. This is about 75 percent of the world's poverty improvement over the last 100 years.

In the past 20 years, China has achieved the same progress in industrialization, urbanization and social transformation that took Europe 200 years...

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By: Brooke Tuttle, President of LHP Technologies

When embarking on an IT project we may find ourselves feeling like the explorer’s of old searching for the New World. We have a vision of paradise in our mind despite never having been there before. We load up our ship with people and supplies based on our own expectations of how long the journey should take. At last, we set sail with enthusiasm and excitement. Along the way we look over the horizon hoping to find land. Supplies begin to run short so we start to ration them. Enthusiasm begins to wane so we lower our expectations. Forget paradise; just give me a piece of dry land. Ultimately, we may find ourselves set afloat in empty blue waters unsure of the final outcome. So why do so many IT projects fail to live up to our expectations?

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By: Stephen R. Jester, Director of Technology Resources for CLIENT ADVOCATE NETWORK

At some point in our career, all of us have had that feeling. Waking up at 3 am in a cold sweat, wondering what to do, or what our next step should be.

Whether your business is large or small, three things must be in place to reach your goal(s). These are: a written Business Plan, a Process to execute that plan, and proper allocation of Capital, People, and Knowledge to achieve your success. These efforts will define your Business Model. Your Plan and Process must be in writing. If it is not in writing, then it has not been said.

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By: Gary Drake, Director of Consulting Resources for the CLIENT ADVOCATE NETWORK

While debate goes on over internal control requirements for public companies of all sizes, private companies face control risks that range from overly-complex spreadsheets to the controller who decides to shun the IRS.

One of the greatest sources of controversy in the business world in recent months has been whether small public companies are capable of maintaining the level of internal controls prescribed by section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

But even as that debate rages on, say experts, private companies — which are not subject to Sarbanes-Oxley — face serious threats as a result of poor internal controls; the smaller their staffs, and the fewer their resources, the greater the risks.

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By: Helen Shaw, Writer, CFO Magazine

Have a comment on this issue? Tell us what you think.

In business, it is common for companies to aspire to be family-like. In fact, there is a long history of business cultures trying to be like a family.

However, as organizations, businesses and families have very different functions. Serious problems can arise when people confuse the two.

In my life and in my business career, I have been a part of very potent and powerful family and business organizations. I have also been a part of dysfunctional family and business systems. In both cases, it is obvious that whether functional or dysfunctional, powerful or terrible, both systems are very different.

The incompatibility between these systems often shows up in family-owned companies, especially as they pass on to the second generation. Why? Because the rules that govern successful business organizations are radically different from the rules that govern successful family life.

The intermingling of these different sets of rules can have drastic and terrible effects. It is like playing baseball while using the rules of football, or soccer with the rules of hockey. No matter how hard you try, it won't work.

To read more about managing a family business, click on the link below.

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By: Bruce Hodes
Vistage Speaker and President of CMI Consulting

As the owner or CEO of a small to mid-size business, your job is to lead the company and let others manage it. This requires getting very clear about the difference between leadership and "managership," and making sure you focus your time and attention on the tasks and activities that only the leader can perform.

The first job of the leader is to inspire, influence and transform the "human currency" in the business. Everything else comes second. Without good human currency walking the halls, your plans and strategies can't get implemented and your goals won't get achieved.

Leaders inspire people by painting a picture of success beyond what people think is possible for themselves. Teach your people how to be successful by modeling what success looks like. Influence your people by role modeling, coaching, mentoring and spending one-to-one time with them. Above all, take responsibility for growing and transforming your people.

To read more about leading your organization, click on the link below.

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By: Ole Carlson
Vistage Speaker

Entrepreneurs share many of the same characteristics – they are risk takers, they crave independence, they are free thinkers and visionaries, they have passion for their businesses, and they seek to control their own destiny.

Unfortunately, entrepreneurs share other characteristics – they wear too many hats within their organizations, they do not typically like to ask for help until it is almost too late, and they do not have an organized support structure around them (i.e. board of directors / advisors).

To read more about balancing an entrepreneurial company, click on the link below.

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The first step in selling a business involves determining not how much or to whom, but when. Proper timing can increase the value of your business by millions of dollars. It also has an impact on the quantity and quality of potential buyers, and it affects the company's ability to continue on after you sell.

Ideally, you will have a written exit plan in place that addresses these issues in detail. If not, suggests Currie, start by asking the following kinds of questions:

• When is the right time to sell?
• Do I want to stay with my business after I sell?
• To whom should I sell?
• What is my business really worth?
• What kind of help do I need?
• What are the risks involved in selling?
• What should I be doing now to prepare for the sale?

Of these, the last question may be the most important. Selling a business isn't like selling a car or even a home, where a little bit of paint or some new flowers in the garden can make things look like new. Depending on how you've managed the business, it can take months or even years to get it in presentable shape.

To read more about how to sell your business, click on the link below.

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Culture is destiny for a firm. Companies make money off their employees’ knowledge, skills, motivation, and attitudes. If the company’s culture does not line up squarely with customers’ needs, that company is going to be in trouble. Cultural differences largely account for why Target is so successfully financially and widely admired and shopped at, and why K-Mart, in the same industry with the same basic strategic approach, is not.

To read more about the importance of corporate culture in your organization, click on the link below:

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By: Dr. Francis D. (Doug) Tuggle
Partner, Insight Consulting Partners, LLC

This section addresses issues and topics related to the operational and organizational side of business; workflow, efficiencies, corporate culture, business management, succession planning, etc.