Geithner: No Double Dip
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Tags: Economy, Meet the Press, Recession, Tim Geithner
COME VOLA IL TEMPO. “…DA DOVE DOVREI RICOMINCIARE?”
IL CANE DI FERRO STA GUARDANDO…
E’ da tanto che io non ti ho scritto. E’ interessante che dopo quasi quattro mesi, gli argomenti non abbiano mai cambiato. L’economia continua a dominare le notizie. Qui in America la percentuale di disoccupazione resta ancora al 9,5% e nonostante le parole incoraggianti del Presidente Obama, secondo me, non c’e’ un segno di miglioramento sull’orizzonte. Gli economisti prevedono che questo livello alto di disoccupazione rimarra’ fino alla fine del 2011.
In una rubrica del 17 Febbraio, ho chiesto, “Quando sapro’ che la recessione e’ finita?” Fast forward a oggi e purtroppo la mia domanda e’ ancora la stessa. Molte persone criticano Wall Street per questa crisi. io non scuso, per niente, le finanziarie; e sono completamente responsabili per le loro trasgressioni, comunque, non si puo’ sottovalutare il ruolo della borsa per prevenire la situazione economica presente. In questo momento il mercato si sente l’incertezza e il dubbio. Piaccia oppure no, mentre c’e’ ancora un’ombra d’instabilita’ la ripresa non puo’ cominciare. Ma possiamo parlarne di piu’ nella mia prossima rubrica.
Ho Un Osso Duro…
Volevo introdurrti un’altra parte nuova di Il Cane di Ferro, intitolato “Ho un osso duro”. Ogni tanto io scrivo brevemente su un soggetto per cui mi da fastido. 
Per oggi “Ho un osso duro”: Mi ha colpito che il Presidente Obama che dopo quasi due anni di Presidenza continua ad accusare i Repubblicani per tutti i nostri problemi economici. Signore Presidente, non continuare a fare la campagna, per essere un leader, fa la politica diversa come ci ha detto prima della sua elezione. Prenda la responsibilta’ e faccia la cosa giusta. Milioni di persone sono senza lavoro. L’America domanda il suo leadership. Onora le sue promesse. Le aspettiamo!
Résumé Overload? A Shortcut to Spot Best Hires
If there’s one thing we small-business owners need it’s more time in our days. If you’re like me, you’re constantly on the hunt for the secrets to doing something faster, better or cheaper. 
Hiring employees is no exception. Finding the right people is never easy, but in today’s turbulent economy, job seekers are responding to every job opening they hear about, inundating us with résumés. Many business owners think using the online job boards is a shortcut to finding the right potential employees. But the job boards usually elicit an overwhelming response from unqualified applicants, leaving us with hundreds of résumés and no clue as to how to cull through them all to select the best people.
For years I’ve used a special filtering technique to avoid this problem. My secret? In the ad (about three-quarters of the way down) I tell the applicants, “To prove that you’re a meticulous reader, you have to include the following sentence when you send your résumé: ‘It is with my utmost respect I hereto surrender my curriculum vitae for your consideration.’”
Then we use what I’ve dubbed the “Quick Qualifier” which sounds fancy, but is nothing more than an email filter which searches for the requested sentence. I only consider applications that contain the sentence, which cuts the number of résumés I have to look at by upwards of 80%.
Why does this seemingly silly technique work?
1. Including the sentence shows the applicant has read the entire ad and knows what the job entails and if they’re qualified to fill it.
2. Many people today are blasting résumés (batch responding) to everyone and their mother. They don’t care what the job is; they’re just looking for a paycheck.
3. Using the sentence shows they pay attention to detail.
4. Most important, business owners want employees who will do as they’re told. If they’ve used the sentence, it shows they’re more inclined to explicitly follow directions and do what you expect of them.
I’ve used the “Quick Qualifier” dozens of times and it has rarely failed to select the best qualified people for the job. In fact, the best employee I ever hired not only included the sentence in her email response, but wrote, “Yes, I’m so detail-oriented I am including the sentence you requested. However, I also noticed you spelled the word ‘meticulous’ incorrectly, and here’s the correct way to spell it.” We hired her immediately and she ultimately became a partner in one of my companies.
This method may seem like a gimmick to some of you, but it’s been a timesaver for me. And it shows that the fastest path to hiring may indeed be the best.
Source: WSJ.com
Tags: resume, toiletpaperentrepreneur.com, wsj.com
Getting in the Slow, And Stress Free, Lane
If job stress is wearing you down and you want more leisure time, but you can’t—or don’t want to—quit altogether, it can be easy to feel stuck. But there’s an alternative to consider: a voluntary demotion. Plenty of professionals dream of scaling back on their workload or ceding management responsibility, here’s how to do it:
• Adjust your thinking. Start out by re-evaluating your goals and how you measure yourself. A successful career doesn’t have to include a 60-hour-a-week beeline to the top, says Joel Mausner, a business psychologist at Workplace Psychology, a consulting firm in New York. He recommends first considering how you want to live your work and home lives. Research routes to advancement within your company or industry that will satisfy the personal need you have, be it family time, less travel or the pursuit of a hobby. “The harder part is being able to accept the idea that you’re limiting your ambitions,” Mr. Mausner says.
• Boss less. If you’re a manager, downscaling could mean applying your skills to a position that doesn’t involve overseeing employees. “Not everybody is cut out to be a manager,” says Lynne Eisaguirre, an employment attorney and consultant from Denver. She has seen many talented technical employees promoted into management jobs that didn’t suit them. Some return to their old jobs or make a lateral move. If you have proven yourself and provide something valuable to the firm, asking for a downward move or a move to a role with fewer direct reports won’t be viewed as negatively.
• Be upfront. Whatever you decide you want to do, it’s important to communicate your intentions to show that you’re still committed to the job and company. Explain the positions at the firm that you see as a good fit and have a frank discussion about why you want to make a downward move. “Play to your strengths and how [the move would] better benefit the company,” says Ms. Eisaguirre.
• Prepare your finances. Take the time to plan financially before making changes that impact your salary, recommends Lewis J. Altfest, a financial planner in New York. Adjust your expenses and budget to the expected new income level before you make a move and save as much money as you can for a cushion.
If you’re scaling back on work because you’re nearing retirement, hold off on drawing Social Security or pension benefits for as long as possible, Mr. Altfest advises. “If it’s not a hardship, use your nonretirement savings and what earning you make to live on. That way you get the most from your investments and it’s a hedge against long life,” he says.
• Think ahead. If you do change your mind later, taking a step down isn’t something you can’t overcome. You can spin it positively when applying for jobs both internally and externally, says Ms. Eisaguirre. The key is to prepare a strong story about why you moved sideways or down in your firm, and why you’re now ready to get back on track. “Tell them what has changed,” she suggests.
Source: WSJ.com
Summer Calls, But Getting Away Is Tricky
The official start of summer may be just days away, but for many small-business owners, relaxing at a beach resort, touring a foreign city or camping in a remote forest is still
tough to picture – at least not without a cell phone, laptop or other communication device by their side.
More than half—55%—of 750 entrepreneurs surveyed in May say it’s been two or more years since they last took off for a week or longer, according to Discover Financial Services, which commissioned the study.
This year, 51% of business owners say they don’t plan on taking a vacation. Of those, more than three quarters blame the sour economy for their inability to get away, with 47% looking to save money instead, the survey shows.
But with “staycations” being a low-cost alternative to traveling—just 8% of respondents say they’re planning vacations at home this year—business owners who never break from work may only have themselves to blame.
“They feel they’re too important,” says Rod Means, a district director in San Diego for SCORE, a nonprofit small-business mentoring and training organization. “They’re afraid to leave the business with their employees. Nobody can make a decision but them.”
Yet that kind of attitude can actually hurt a business’s long-term success, he warns. “Teams win and individuals lose,” says Mr. Means.
Besides, he adds, the basic principle behind entrepreneurship and working in general is to be able to afford a healthy and happy existence off the clock.
“Work is but to feed the fun of life,” says Mr. Means.
And that’s why some business owners have come up with strategies for taking vacations—real ones that involve no contact with their workplaces other than in cases of grave emergencies. Here’s how they do it, and their best advice for other entrepreneurs.
Source: WSJ.com
Modello Americano vs modello Italiano: immobilismo vs fiducia nel futuro
Mi sembra evidente che mai come in questi mesi si parli insistentemente di innovazione in Italia. Sarà perché lo iato tra chi è avanti e chi insegue, come noi, si sta facendo incolmabile; sarà perché la crisi apre nuove strade a chi le sa trovare; sarà perché non siamo riusciti ancora a rovinare la parte più creativa del nostro DNA; sarà anche in minima parte per un libro che sia chiama L’Italia che innova: ma mai come in questi mesi si è visto un fiorire di iniziative, barcamp, competition, e mai come ultimamente si è parlato di venture capital, di business planning, di scouting. Sembra proprio ci sia tanto entusiasmo. Ma c’è davvero?
Ora, innovare significa cambiare in meglio, e se c’è un posto nel quale change è divenuta la parola magica, questo è l’America. Tralasciando quanto di vero ci sia nel change di Obama, è evidente che la sua campagna elettorale ha dato un terrificante impulso all’innovazione; che il suo messaggio ha costituito benzina (facciamo benzina … verde) per chi ritiene la cultura americana quella destinata a guidare il mondo; che la sua comunicazione, sia per contenuti che per mezzi, ha rivoluzionato un sistema che non sarà mai più lo stesso. Obama ha tanti meriti riguardo a ciò, e lo dice uno che ne giudica estremamente negativamente i primi mesi di presidenza. Ma quello che mi interessa qui non è parlare di Obama, ma di cosa significhi la spinta ad innovare che arriva dagli USA, per noi italiani. Mi sembra acclarato che tutti coloro che parlano di innovazione si rifacciano, volenti o nolenti, consapevoli e non, di sinistra e non, al modello statunitense. Non c’è solo la Silicon Valley, che pure è il centro del mondo dell’innovazione ed un vero mito per chi si avvicina a questo universo: anche l’area di Boston e recentemente anche la mia meravigliosa New York stanno sperimentando attrazione per capitali, idee, persone geniali e dedicate. Noi qui in Italia arranchiamo fra uno scandalo e l’altro, una distrazione di fondi promessi alla banda larga e una classe dirigente che in parte non capisce la necessità di implementare la rete e in parte la capisce anche troppo bene, ed è per quello che non la implementa. Ma non è nemmeno la tirata qualunquista che mi interessa. View the rest of this posting
Tags: Sideleaders.it, Umberto Mucci
Selling a Business Is Not a DIY Project
I recently met a woman (I’ll call her Pam) who owns a successful line of clothing that has captured a loyal following of women who buy her products through a group of retail 
clothing stores across the U.S.
In addition to having her own clothing line, Pam produces a private label brand for a large apparel maker. Pam has proven herself to be a valuable supplier with a keen sense of trends—so much so that her private label customer has started to make overtures about the possibility of buying her business.
When I last saw Pam, she was understandably excited about the prospect of selling her business and was seeking information about my experience with the process.
The buyer had asked Pam to present a price she thought the business was worth. Pam hired an accountant to prepare a valuation, and in her excitement, she told her employees. Instead of being happy for Pam, her employees reacted with a mix of fear and resentment.
Unknowingly, Pam had painted herself into a tough corner: Her employees were disrupted and concerned about the possible sale of her business, and the acquirer, rather than making an initial offer, was asking Pam to negotiate with herself to come up with a price for her business. View the rest of this posting
Tags: Inc.com, John Warrilow, M&A
