This week has been a big one for me to face my fears and see past the illusions. Many people are reacting with fear to news from Washington of the budget problems. Perhaps your job is affected by that. I want to offer some thoughts here to help you step through any fears or doubts …

Ever feel a meeting start to drift? Not sure if your participants retained what was being said? Or, have you ever been unsure of how to (gracefully) transition to the next agenda topic? That's where checkpoints come in handy... Use a checkpoint at the beginning of a new agenda item or facilitated process to review, preview and big view.

This posting is by Lynn deLearie. I initially want to refer all readers to an excellent post about Needs Statements written previously on this blog by Andrew Grant (see the link at the bottom of this post). In that piece, “Impress Funders With Your Grant Proposal (Writing a “WOW” Needs Statement),” Andrew said that, “the …

[Editor’s note: In this guest post, Don Martin, president of Don Martin Public Affairs, outlines the dangers that arise when legal and PR don’t work together, as well as the benefits to be reaped when they cooperate.] In most corporate situations or crises the inevitable question arises about which role is paramount — the legal …

This posting by: Tony Poderis That riveting question was actually written in the marginal notes of a proposal asking for funding for an orchestra; and, it was written by a trustee of a grant-making foundation during a meeting to review the proposal in question. Another trustee of the foundation, the one who presented the proposal …

Best Degrees and Training for Today’s Jobs (revised) Not being hired in today’s market…Is it even about degrees, training, or lack of experience? It’s unfortunate, but when you need a job sometimes you need both the education degree, training certificate, and the experience just to get in the door. It’s frustrating seeing others without your …

When considering whether to invest in a company, bankers and venture capitalists look first at the entrepreneur, then at the plan. They invest in people, not plans. It’s not the content of the plan that matters, but rather what it says about the entrepreneur — how she thinks, how she collects confirming and disconfirming data, …

While the term “impact investing” (or social capital) has garnered substantial attention in recent years, the more traditional field of microfinance, still by far the largest share of impact investments, gets less attention yet has decades of experience doing social capital. Here are a few of lessons from the micro finance sector worth reviewing as …

How does a small business gain a national audience? Here you will learn social media marketing strategies that will help.

Fighting back with hardball crisis management after a negative review Tesla Motors is at the forefront of the electric car revolution, but a controversial review by the NY Times has created quite a bit of turbulence around the brand over the past couple of weeks. Basically, NY Times reviewer John Broder took the Tesla Model …