Chris Kuenne, entrepreneurship lecturer at Princeton, and John Danner, senior fellow at the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business talk about one of the least understood factors that leads to success at scale: the personality of the company founder. Their research describes four distinct types of highly successful entrepreneurial personalities: the Driver, the Explorer, the Crusader, and the Captain. While popular culture currently celebrates big-ego personalities in the mold of Steve Jobs, the interview guests show how different kinds of people succeed at that level. Kuenne and Danner are co-authors of the new book, “Built for Growth: How Builder Personality Shapes Your Business, Your Team, and Your Ability to Win.”

Irene Yuan Sun, a consultant at McKinsey, explains why so many Chinese entrepreneurs are setting up factories in Africa. She describes what it’s like inside these factories, who works there, what they’re making—and how this emerging manufacturing sector is industrializing countries including Lesotho and Nigeria. Sun’s new book is “The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment Is Reshaping Africa.”

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at the global executive search firm Egon Zehnder, makes the case for finding a company’s next CEO inside the firm. But to find the best contenders, organizations have to learn what to look for, how to find it, and how to nurture it. Fernández-Aráoz is the co-author of the new HBR article “Turning Potential into Success: The Missing Link in Leadership Development.”

Patty McCord, Netflix’s former Chief Talent Officer, sees hiring as constant matchmaking. Building a team of people that gets amazing work done, she says, requires managers to really know what they need, and for HR to actually understand the workings of the business. She says money should not be the reason someone leaves and that we should stop using words like “poaching” and “firing.” McCord is the author of “How to Hire,” in the January–February 2018 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Sydney Finkelstein, a professor of management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, encourages leaders to approach their direct reports like teachers. As Finkelstein explains, being a teacher-leader means continually meeting face to face with employees to communicate lessons about professionalism, points of craft, and life. He says it’s easy to try and that teaching is one of the best ways to motivate people and improve their performance. Finkelstein is the author of “The Best Leaders Are Great Teachers” in the January–February 2018 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Jay Conger, a leadership professor at Claremont McKenna College, goes behind the scenes to show how you can get on, and stay on, your company's fast track. He demystifies how companies (often very secretly) develop and update their list of high-potential employees. And he discusses five critical "X factors" his research has shown are common to high-potential employees. Conger is the co-author of the new book, "The High Potential's Advantage: Get Noticed, Impress Your Bosses, and Become a Top Leader."

Kenneth Frazier, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of North America, discusses his upbringing and how it influences his leadership as chief executive. He is one of the few African-American CEOs in the Fortune 500, and shot to prominence after resigning from a council advising the Trump White House. Frazier discusses the importance of values in leadership and how Merck thinks about R&D and drug prices.

Jennifer Petriglieri, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD, asks company leaders to consider whether they really need to relocate their high-potential employees or make them travel so much. She says moving around is particularly hard on dual-career couples. And if workers can't set boundaries around mobility and flexibility, she argues, firms lose out on talent. Petriglieri is the author of the HBR article “Talent Management and the Dual-Career Couple.”

Daniel Libeskind, a former academic turned architect and urban designer, discusses his unorthodox career path and repeat success at high-profile, emotionally charged projects. He also talks about his unusual creative process and shares tips for collaborating and managing emotions and expectations of multiple stakeholders. Libeskind was interviewed for the July-August 2018 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Marc Effron, president of the Talent Strategy Group, looked at the scientific literature behind high performance at work and identified eight steps we can all take to get an edge. Among those steps is taking care of your body -- sleep, exercise, and nutrition. But the most important is sleep. He offers some practical advice on getting more and better rest, and making time to exercise. Effron is the author of the new book, "8 Steps to High Performance: Focus On What You Can Change (Ignore the Rest)."

Ming Zeng, the chief strategy officer at Alibaba, talks about how the China-based e-commerce company was able to create the biggest online shopping site in the world. He credits Alibaba’s retail and distribution juggernaut to leveraging automation, algorithms, and networks to better serve customers. And he says in the future, successful digital companies will use technologies such as artificial intelligence, the mobile internet, and cloud computing to redefine how value is created. Zeng is the author of "Smart Business: What Alibaba's Success Reveals about the Future of Strategy.”

John Kerry, former U.S. Secretary of State, shares management and leadership lessons from his long career in public service. He discusses how to win people over to your side, bounce back from defeats, and never give up on your long-term goals. He also calls on private sector CEOs to do more to solve social and political problems. Kerry’s new memoir is "Every Day Is Extra."

Caitlin Rosenthal, assistant professor of history at UC Berkeley, argues there are strong parallels between the accounting practices used by slaveholders and modern business practices. While we know slavery's economic impact on the United States, Rosenthal says we need to look closer at the details — down to accounting ledgers – to truly understand what abolitionists and slaves were up against, and how those practices still influence business and management today. She's the author of the book, "Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management."

Kimberly Whitler, assistant professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, believes the days of transplanting well-worn Western marketing practices into national markets may be numbered. She has researched marketing campaigns in China and finds they are faster, cheaper, and often more effective than traditional Western ones. Moreover, she argues they may be better suited to today’s global marketplace. Whitler is the author of the HBR article “What Western Marketers Can Learn from China.”

Peter Cappelli, professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and director of its Center for Human Resources, says managers at companies large and small are doing hiring all wrong. A confluence of changes, from the onslaught of online tools to a rise in recruitment outsourcing, have promised more efficiency but actually made us less effective at finding the best candidates. Cappelli says there are better, simpler ways to measure whether someone will be a good employee and advises companies to focus more on internal talent. He's the author of the HBR article "Your Approach to Hiring is All Wrong."

Eugene Soltes, associate professor at Harvard Business School, studies white-collar crime and has even interviewed convicts behind bars. While most people think of high-profile scandals like Enron, he says every sizable organization has lapses in integrity. He shares practical tools for managers to identify pockets of ethical violations to prevent them from ballooning into serious reputational and financial damage. Soltes is the author of the HBR article “Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?”

Helen Lee Bouygues, founder of the Reboot Foundation, believes that a lack of critical thinking is responsible for many business failures. She says organizational leaders often rely too heavily on expertise and then jump to conclusions. Instead, leaders should deliberately approach each problem and devote time thinking through possible solutions. The good news, she says, is that critical thinking skills can developed and practiced over time. Bouygues is the author of the HBR.org article "3 Simple Habits to Improve Your Critical Thinking."

Richard Boyatzis, professor at Case Western Reserve University, says that every professional can benefit from having a coach — and serving as one for someone else. He says that a coaching relationship moves beyond mentoring or sponsoring in that it focuses on long-term values and aspirations. The best coaches encourage a positive mindset and ask probing questions to help people make the best choices, not only in their careers but also in their personal lives. Boyatzis is coauthor of the HBR article "Coaching for Change."

Jennifer Petriglieri, associate professor at INSEAD, studied more than 100 couples where both partners have big professional goals. She finds that being successful in your careers and your relationship involves planning, mapping, and ongoing communication. She also identifies different models for managing dual-career relationships and explains the traps that couples typically encounter. Petriglieri is the author of the book “Couples That Work: How Dual-Career Couples Can Thrive in Love and Work.”

On The Anxious Achiever, Morra Aarons-Mele explores the way anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues affect people at work – for better or worse. In this episode, she speaks with clinical psychologist Ellen Hendriksen and Arvind Rajan, the CEO of Cricket Health, about the tension between work and social anxiety. "The Anxious Achiever with Morra Aarons-Mele" is part of HBR Presents, a new network of business podcasts curated by HBR editors. For our full lineup of shows, search “HBR” on your favorite podcast app or visit hbr.org/podcasts.

Esther Duflo, an MIT economist, won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for her experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. Duflo’s early life working at a non-governmental organization in Madagascar and volunteering in soup kitchens in her native France inspired her to study economics and research the root causes of poverty. With her fellow Nobel winners Abhijit Banerjee of MIT and Michael Kremer of Harvard, Duflo showed that effective policies often go against conventional wisdom and popular economic models. The only way to find out what works, she argues, is to rigorously test solutions on the ground, and she encourages businesses to do the same. With Banerjee, Duflo also wrote the new book "Good Economics for Hard Times."

Horst Schulze, cofounder of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, started out cleaning ashtrays as a busboy before working his way up through some of the world's best hotels and becoming COO of Ritz-Carlton and later CEO of Capella Hotel Group. He shares the principles of stellar customer service to which he credits his success — and explains how they apply to every business. Schulze is the author of the book "Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise.”

Joel Peterson, chairman of JetBlue Airways, has spent a career leading teams, building businesses, and managing people at every level. Along the way, he's learned valuable lessons about the best ways to bring on new talent – as well as when and how to let people go. He also teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is the author of the book “Entrepreneurial Leadership: The Art of Launching New Ventures, Inspiring Others, and Running Stuff.”

ValeGift aims to shift the Brazilian gifting culture from traditional products to personal experiences.

Committed to bring continuous excitement to reading, FarFaria adds musical component to already stellar library.

If you are still looking for that cool gift for your friend or family member, make sure to stop by GiftNowOnline.com where you will be able to find one of the largest varieties of unique products and items ever found online.

For those who end up doing their Christmas shopping a little late in the month 4giftsnsuch.com came up with a variety of cool deals and promotions specially designed for those last minute shoppers. All deals are available right now at 4GiftsNSuch.

FirstQuintile announces the launch of a major t-shirt eCommerce shop just in time for the release of the Hobbit movie. Proving it could be done against all odds, they completed JackOfAllTrades.com for licensed apparel manufacturer of the same name.

Stocking everything from original Scotch whisky to interesting blends from Ireland, Japan, Canada and the United States, Whisky Marketplace is a one stop destination to research and purchase the best brands in time for the holidays.

Wags-n-Whiskers-Giftbaskets.com showcases a wide range of gifts and gift baskets dedicated to pet lovers concerned with the health and welfare of their four-legged companions.

Arttowngifts.com helps customers make Valentine's Day unforgettable with gifts that will make this special day one to remember.

An Avenue Apart is an eCommerce platform for boutiques all over the world that offers a wide selection of handmade fashion products selected from international boutiques, including Italy, India, and Argentina.

Harmon Brothers is the name of the social media ad agency that created the unforgettable Squatty Potty video spot. They've cranked out a number of other ads that also went viral (Poo-Pourri, Purple mattresses, Chatbooks, Lume deodorant), helping propel those businesses into multimillion dollar companies.

To help product companies that are struggling during the downturn, Harmon Brothers has announced they're giving away, sweepstakes-style, a $100,000 video marketing campaign. As long as you've got "a product or service that solves a real problem for real people," you're eligible to apply to their "$100K Poop to Gold Giveaway," as it's called.

Ten semifinalists will be chosen, and the Grand Prize winner gets the free campaign. But the other nine aren't left to hang: They get free coaching and/or a year of free access to the online Harmon Brothers University, where they've distilled their formula for going viral into online lessons.

Here are the details of how to enter:

Don't you miss last year, when we were killing each other with weapons rather than airborne droplets? When mass shootings and home invasions dominated the news, a company called Battenshield rolled out their design for a virtually unbreakable door barricade.

It's not the greatest-looking thing in the world, but I will say the functionality of the design is clever, along with half of the installation. The system with the battens simply hangs on the door.

What I'd worry more about is the ability of the average homeowner to install the brackets (particularly over trim with a wavy cross-section) and get the lags driven into the studs.

Interestingly enough, the system was designed by a former SWAT officer whose role was, you guessed it, the "entry team member" who breaches doors.

Pandemic-time party pioneers in Germany have been holding social-distance-obeying drive-in raves. The cars line up in rows and no one gets out of the cars, so presumably your dancing is limited to whatever you can pull off in a seated position. Also, since all cars have built-in noisemakers, attendees aren't shy about using them.

I'm sure it was fun for the people who went, but between the honking, the flames and whatever that music is, it looks and sounds like a living hell to me. But I recognize I'm not the target market, and I hope this helps attendees blow off steam.

Handrail manufacturers often weld straight pipes to elbow connectors, then must grind the welds smooth. To speed this task, some use contraptions like this MB 650 RV product by German power tool manufacturer GeBrax, which attaches to an angle grinder to turn it into a flexible strip sander:

Other German companies, like Flex Tools and Fein, make dedicated pipe sanders:

There are also a host of sketchy-looking "As Seen on TV"-type companies flogging their own angle grinder attachments…

…but I think I'd stick with the reputable German brands.

Climbing coconut and arecanut trees to harvest their prizes is strenuous, dangerous work, and requires a young body. But in Dakshina Kannada, India, "there is a substantial migration of well-educated youngsters to the cities for white collar jobs," K. Ganapathi Bhat told India's The News Minute. "There is a huge scarcity of employment in labour-intensive sectors like agriculture, especially those skilled in climbing trees."

"Having been born in a family with an agricultural background, it was painful to see the ripe coconut and arecanut either eaten by birds or falling across the fields," Bhat says. At 60 years of age, he's too old to climb the trees himself. But unlike most farmers, he has a Bachelors of Science in Physics, Chemistry and Maths. Thus he cobbled this together:

The bike-based contraption runs on gas, using what appears to be a chainsaw motor. After testing it out for two years on roughly 2,000 arecanut trees on his own farm, Bhat reckons the "mileage" is 90 trees per liter of gas (360 trees/gallon), and that the machine can carry an 80kg (175-pound) person to the top of a 30-meter (98-foot) tree in 30 seconds--safely. If the brakes fail, a backup brake kicks in to jam the wheels in place. As long as your tree isn't mushy and algae-covered (he tested those, too, and found the performance unsatisfactory), you're in business.

Here's more footage of the machine in action, including Bhat jumping up and down on it, to demonstrate that it safely stays in place:

Although he's been approached by several manufacturers, Bhat has turned them down, as he's not interested in profit. "I wish to partner with an organisation that would help me share the technology with the farmers to benefit them," he says. "I do not wish to seek royalties for such a venture. But I want to make sure that this product reaches as many farmers as possible, so that, in some way, it helps in the development of the overall agricultural scenario of the country."

Under the Crescent Moon This is my contribution to the Day of the Dead exhibit happening now at Tohono Chul Gallery.  This image has a mock frame on it, but the original has a real, antiqued gold frame which looks … Continue reading →

The post Day of the Dead Exhibit at Tohono Chul Gallery appeared first on Regina Lord of Creative Kismet.

I’m so happy to be able to participate in this event.  Many local artists were able to paint and decorate a Mexican ceramic pig in their own special way.  Here is my piggy: For those of you that live in … Continue reading →

The post Year of the Pig Exhibit appeared first on Regina Lord of Creative Kismet.

Welcome to National Scrapbook Day on Craft Critique! I’ve got a great giveaway to celebrate with thanks to Graphic 45 – and a simple layout that I hope will get you inspired to scrapbook today! [Disclosure: Some links below are links to Nally Studios advertisers or are affiliate links that pay a commission at no […]

David E. Hartley, CPA, CISA, partner and Director + Advisory Services, is speaking on a cybersecurity panel at the 2019 St. Louis CIO Executive Leadership Summit on Thursday, October 3. The summit, Future State 2025 – Driving the Digital Roadmap… Read More

The post David Hartley Speaking on Cybersecurity Panel at CIO Executive Leadership Summit appeared first on Anders CPAs.