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Today I participated in Lehigh University’s Global Village program run by the Iacocca Institute. It brings together well over 100 students, many of whom are in their twenties, for a 6 week learning experience every summer from every corner of the globe – Russia, China, Israel, France, Brazil – pick

  What should boards of directors be focused on? Strategy? People? Competition? There might be several choices that could receive votes that you could feel comfortable about. Would you feel comfortable knowing that the board’s top priority is keeping up with new regulation? That’s exactly what is at the top

Every year Americans celebrate the 4th of July, but that’s only a date. The real name is Independence Day. It celebrates a fight against tyranny. A fight for independence and freedom. Americans should celebrate not just by flying a flag and having a BBQ, but by reading the Declaration of

NCIS has been one of the most popular shows on television for years now. I generally don’t like TV crime dramas, but my wife has gotten me a bit into this one over time. The lead character is Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon. Gibbs has a number of

Show me the money! Or at least, show me your plans to have money in the future. One of the most pervasive intrusions to sound strategic decision making and long-term leadership is a focus on quarterly earnings. “We must hit the number” drowns out more sensible criteria such as “what

For those of you who have taken our Lean Experience, you know we have a very structured multi-step process to kick things off in which approximately 40 people read books, distill them to key points, share them with other, build common themes and ideas and prepare a presentation. A part

Don’t generate news; do something newsworthy. Don’t just post on facebook your distaste of political decisions; get involved, go vote, or run for office. Don’t complain at the water cooler; have the courage to have difficult conversations with the right people. Don’t sulk or carry guilt; go apologize. Don’t just

Private equity and lean don’t often go together. Private equity has been blamed for a lot of evils and problems, as this Boston.com cartoon lampoons: But when they do, there are some great synergies. We have worked with many private equity firms, and private equity-held companies. The biggest synergy is

Last week I spotlighted some success and failures in family-held businesses in Zildjian versus Viacom. When done poorly, the family can destroy the business, or the business can destroy the family. How can you avoid some of the bad outcomes? I think two major factors must be considered: influence and

  It was sad to hear of the passing of the legend John Wooden. Of course this can never be validated, but he may be the best coach, of any sport, ever. I don’t really follow basketball, and if I did I would be a Big 10 fan, so this