Ideas

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”
– Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Accounting Brookfield-based Vrakas CPAs + Advisors has named Bradley Weckwerth to its shareholder group. Weckwerth has been with the...

Icame across an executive summary recently, published by the Center for Women and Business at Bentley University. The opening paragraph reads, “Challenges lie ahead for companies looking to retain and advance the newest generation of workers, but companies willing to meet those challenges can expect big payoffs in the form of a well-educated, hardworking and loyal workforce.”

Decades ago, when I was new to health care leadership and a young executive, my boss called me into his office for a meeting. I was understandably anxious, and being a new leader, wanted to know more about the meeting's purpose.

What had I done? What had I not done?

What is important to know about your current hiring process?

Whether you’re making a sale, coaching an employee or handling a customer complaint, getting the right information is critical. Author Stephen Covey said “seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

Often though, we’re in a “telling mode,” just doing things the way they’ve always been done, or asking the wrong questions. Here is a recent example:

July 9 was the third anniversary of my father's death. As I reflected on his life, I remembered an experience I had with him when I was 17 years old.

Marquette University president Michael Lovell, Ph.D., has a new running buddy on campus as Brian Till, Ph.D., settles into his post at the head of the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management.

Till, also a regular runner, joined the college in mid-July as the new James H. Keyes Dean, after serving as dean of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University in Cincinnati since 2012.

Till's interest in migrating to Marquette stemmed from his desire to stay in the Midwest – he identifies himself as a “Midwest guy” – as well as his respect for the university's reputation, he said.

Nahid AfsariVice president of the Wisconsin GroupCotter Consulting Inc.735 N. Water St., Suite 1101, MilwaukeeIndustry: Construction managementEmployees: 16www.cotterconsulting.com Nahid...