Posts by michaelrbaer

Tom Peters, one of the best known thinkers on leadership and management, wrote a book a few years ago entitled The Little Big Things. It’s about all the small, daily things that we can do that make a big difference to our customers and to our employees. One theme repeats itself throughout the book: appreciation.…

So, what will 2012 hold for you? In one sense, continuing change and uncertainty are to be expected. But that doesn’t mean that you need to be controlled by these things—or any other external factor. What do you want to accomplish next year? I don’t mean resolutions per se. I mean, what do you really…

I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t thoroughly enjoy this time of year. Maybe I do but, other than Ebenezer Scrooge, their names aren’t coming to mind right now. For me it’s a time of family—kids, grandkids (mine are the cutest in the world and also the smartest). Love, laughter, pranks, and gifts of…

Here are a couple of links that are helpful for interviewers… http://www.nfib.com/legal-center/compliance-resource-center/compliance-resource-item?cmsid=58964&utm_campaign=Legal&utm_source=SmartBrief&utm_medium=Email   http://www.nfib.com/member-benefits/employee-management/interview-questions

So I had a contract with ATT for our business landline. It auto-renewed about a year ago (without my knowing it). They claim I was notified via my bill but since I get it electronically through my bank I didn’t see it. So, when I cancel my landline in favor of wireless and VOIP I…

Like many people I talk with Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There are lots of reasons. It’s simple (except for my wife who spends days preparing for the mad consumption moment). There are no presents. Just family, friends, and food. How could you not love that? One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot lately…

Every Veterans Day I think of my Dad, now nearly 91. When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939 my Dad was 19. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor he was 21. He enlisted a few months later and was trained as a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps. He learned to fly P-47 Thunderbolts,…

Life is complicated enough and business has enough twists and turns without us making it worse. Fortunately, most businesses can be reduced to just a few things, or even one thing, that is the key to making it all work. There is a great scene in the movie City Slickers in which Curly reduces life…

In our country, and indeed all over the globe, we are facing so many crises that we hardly know which one to address first. But one issue that is rarely identified as a real crisis, which I believe is at the root of so many of these other problems, is a crisis in integrity.  So…