When is an ad not an ad? Does the movie Borat mock Kazakhstanis, or Americans? Is Bill Clinton really good at faking sincerity? And what does all this have to…

Three cool books to tell you about. Looking Back - The Power of Legacy First is Your Leadership Legacy, by Robert M. Galford and Regina Fazio Maruca. [Disclosure: Rob was…

John Newman heads a highly successful turnaround management company, focused on medium-sized companies. He’s a transplanted New Yorker, a UCLA MBA, with a CPA to boot. He lives in Fayetteville,…

Fortune Magazine has a couple of blog columns. One is called Legal Pad, by Roger Parloff, Fortune’s Senior Editor for Legal Affairs. An experienced and educated journalist who writes well…

I long ago attended a sales call with my boss. When asked by the client, “what experience do you have doing this [narrowly defined] kind of work?” he shocked me…

Last week I suggested that listening was the necessary condition of most forms of persuasion: if you want to convince someone of something, you’re best advised to listen first to…

While trust is experienced personally, it also happens within a given social context. Sometimes we take the context for granted. Other times, it intrudes on us in ways that make…

We trust individuals (or not). We also say we “trust” (or not) institutions—the SEC, Citibank, physicians (as a class), or business in general. Let’s talk about the latter. (Insert your…

“Customer focus” has achieved the status of unquestioned business virtue. Hundreds of books and gurus attest to the power of customer focus to improve sellers’ business results. Customers benefit too…

Suppose you had to give a speech. To which audience would you rather present? The National Speakers Association The International Listening Association Microsoft The NSA might sound the most intimidating.…