management

She’s amazingly insightful for her years. I’m talking about my niece Paige. Her experience with a grade-school bully and how well she handled it came back to me when I was browbeaten recently at work — yup, at work. More on Paige later.

A new study looking at effective management in manufacturing found that management was a distinguishable factor in productivity.

If you look at research studies and books on success, a key finding will emerge: More is not always better. The business world in which you operate is relentlessly demanding.

We carry them with us every day. Whether sweet or sour, everyone we encounter has them, and no, it’s not their favorite drink or snack. It’s our emotions, and although we may not think about it, they’re with us wherever we go, including at work.

“This land is your land, this land is my land … ” Remember those Woody Guthrie lyrics sung by Peter, Paul, and Mary and, most recently, by Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl?

His text message was brief. Would I be able to meet for coffee in an hour to give him input for his upcoming job interview? Perfect planning — my last call of the day was finished, and I was available.

You need these skills on the job and in your daily life

Hire or fire? As a manager you’re dealing with both, and neither is easy. Finding and hiring the right talent can be challenging and rewarding, but firing can be painful.

Changes loom on wages, bias, family leave, free college.

The Future of Everything. Have you heard about this magazine? The Wall Street Journal publishes it monthly as part of an addition to WSJ subscription issues. It’s a real eye-opener.

What started as a gorgeous, sunny day had evolved into gloomy, stormy mayhem — lightning and hail included. Equally distressing was that activity at work had taken a similar, unsettled direction; there was a disturbance in the force.

Have you ever started a project and then had events pull you in a different direction? That has been my experience this month.

Interest in painting the walls inside your home can creep up on you.

The political primaries go on and on, as do the press conferences, even though the debates have waned.

Senior managers are responsible for many things, none of which is more important than developing a vision for the organization’s future and keeping it current.

If there’s a long line anywhere, most of us avoid it. Yes, I am readily raising my hand as an accomplished long-line avoider, but there are a few places where long lines are the norm and everyone seems fine with it.

During the year I work with a number of organizations and I am a hungry reader, alert to new ideas. I periodically jot them down in my business journal and identify ways I might use them.

There’s a great little breakfast joint near downtown where I meet a friend every few months to catch up. At our last breakfast he was fuming. No, they didn’t burn his bacon (he orders it nearly burnt, anyway). He was burning about something else — his job.

During the summer I got calls from two organizations. Both were considering a mentoring program.

Three, two, one — it’s Monday morning again! The weekend was too short, your list of chores was too long and your alarm is buzzing you out of delicious, deep-sleep oblivion, driving you into another workweek.

For the retail and service sectors of the boating industry, it is likely known as a hoped for “fireworks weekend” — for the bottom line.

Attending a business conference can be a lot like watching planned pandemonium. Hordes of humanity with their heads down, checking cellphones and exploring lists of breakout sessions — or heads up, happily greeting colleagues.