Ideas

Skilled trade jobs have been the hardest to fill for six consecutive years, according to the U.S. results of the latest Talent Shortage Survey conducted by Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup.

I define attitude as, “The way you dedicate yourself to the way you think.” Think negative or think positive is a choice and a process. Negative is (unfortunately) an instinctive process. Positive is a learned self-discipline that must be studied and practiced every day.

I define attitude as, “The way you dedicate yourself to the way you think.” Think negative or think positive is a choice and a process. Negative is (unfortunately) an instinctive process. Positive is a learned self-discipline that must be studied and practiced every day.

Recently two very different people asked me similar questions. One came from the new owner of a golf course, of all things – a semi-private course with all the extras, including two restaurants and a pro shop. The other came from a dear nephew who, for just a couple of weeks has been in a new and very senior position with a huge global corporation.

What we think about we bring about. Understanding how our thoughts create results is an important skill for business people to learn – as everything first gets manifested in the mind and then becomes reality. This is our EGO at work, which is similar to a database in a computer.

In today's fast-paced world, it has become increasingly difficult for technology companies to be the first to bring a new product to market. Global competition is fierce, and the rapid pace of technology change forces companies to continuously innovate, just to keep up.

Moore's Law, for example, states that computer processing power doubles in speed every one-and-a-half years. That poses a significant challenge for the engineering companies that build their technology stack on top of a microprocessor that will become obsolete within a few years.

Would you accept an offer to become president of a company whose revenue ranks second to last in the industry, whose buildings and equipment are pretty much obsolete, and whose prospective clients often select other suppliers who have a better value proposition?

Wisconsin has emerged as No. 2 in the United States in its “mid-market” business sector in the inaugural Dun & Bradstreet/American Express Power Index survey of 19 million American businesses released last month, outshining entrepreneurial superstars New York, California and Texas. This may be particularly surprising in light of past reports that Wisconsin fares poorly among such measures as number of startups and access to venture capital (although Wisconsin is not bad; high in private equity). In fact, ranking so high in mid-market companies is a likely leading indicator of growth that impacts the wider Wisconsin community, and bodes well for Wisconsin's entrepreneurs, business owners and labor force.

In the one-year period since Milwaukee-based contract manufacturer Tower Machining began in April 2014, it has doubled in revenue and tripled its customer base.

Those of you grew up with Sesame Street may recall that each episode was brought to you by a different letter of the alphabet. I experienced my own version of this phenomenon three years ago, when much of my job suddenly became all about the letter “S”—or more accurately five of them.