It's Personal
An industry veteran looks at the things that are occuring in your marketplace and their potential impact on your business.
Mr. President - Stop Killing the Economy
With unemployment now having broken the 10% threshold, creating jobs is a hot topic. As an entrepreneur responsible for creating over 1000 jobs, I probably know more on this subject than your contemporaries like Barney Frank or Nancy Pelosi, neither of whom has created a single job in the private sector. . What’s hurting this economy? First, small businesses are being attacked. Second, our ...... Read More
Comments (9)Leaders Can't Vote 'Present'
In 1989, at the ripe old age of 34, I bought out my partner and became the CEO of TranzAct. At the time TranzAct had about 100 employees. That summer I visited my father and we had a discussion about leadership. During the discussion I shared my fears and apprehension about leading TranzAct and, as usual, my dad had some sage advice. . “Michael, never forget, leaders must make decisio ...... Read More
Comments (5)Hey Mike, Can You Help Me? I’m Looking For A Job.
The reality of this economy is that a lot of good, capable and competent logistics professionals are unemployed. Over the past 60 days I have literally lost count of the people who have contacted me to let me know that they are looking for a job. Truthfully, it has been very sobering.If you are out of work or simply want a better job, you have two choices. You can complain that life isn’t f ...... Read More
Comments (2)What Am I Missing?
Help me please. I look at what is happening in Washington D.C. and have to ask: What am I missing? Presently, our legislators are working non-stop on a health care bill whose main provisions start to kick in around 2013. In fact, we’re told that this legislation affecting one – sixth of our economy must be passed in two weeks. Meanwhile… SAFETEA-LU, the current t ...... Read More
Comments (10)Are You Taking Your Career For Granted?
Next week, I will be giving a presentation at the annual CSCMP Conference. The presentation is titled: “The Value of a Community.” Last week I got a reminder (not that I needed it) about why this may be one of the most important talks I have ever given. While travelling, I called the office and learned that John had called and left his cell phone number. I immediately returned his ca ...... Read More
Comments (9)Town Hall Meetings and the Highway Transportation Bill - While Rome Burns and Our Infrastructure Crumbles…
While on vacation in Wisconsin, I picked up the local newspaper and noticed that Rep. Tom Petri was hosting a Town Hall Meeting. So I went to see all those (according to the Democrats) angry “members of the mob” who have had the audacity to express their concerns about the things that are happening in Washington DC. With all this anger and dissension and people voicing their concerns ...... Read More
Comments (7)Be Quiet! We’re Watching Theatre of The Absurd
Just in case we needed any more evidence about the incompetence of our political leaders, during his speech at a National Press Club luncheon, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) questioned the point of lawmakers reading the health care bill: “I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill,’” said Conyers. “What go ...... Read More
Comments (8)One Trillion Reasons To Be Concerned
Don’t know if you caught that little tidbit in the news this week about the federal deficit. For the first time ever, the United States annual budget deficit has exceeded $1 trillion. And with the current fiscal year not ending until September 30th, it looks like the annual deficit for the year will exceed $1.5 trillion. Let’s be honest. This staggering amount is just abo ...... Read More
Comments (5)Let Me Be Perfectly Clear, and Make No Mistake About This … It’s Amateur Hour In Washington DC
The readers of this publication are logistics professionals who have their hands full running increasingly complex supply chains. Thus, the prevailing attitude could be: “We’re too busy with work to worry about what is happening on the national scene.” But even casual observers have to be concerned by what we have witnessed from our political leaders over the past couple of we ...... Read More
Comments (7)Hang On - The Scary Part of The Ride Is Coming Up!
One of the interesting things about writing this Blog is the readers might surmise that I am not tremendously optimistic about what is happening in this country. What is ironic though is that by nature I am an optimistic, or glass half full type of individual. That said, as a country, we are on the proverbial roller coaster ride and the scariest part has yet to come. If Warren Buffet’ ...... Read More
Comments (13)In Obamaland All You Need Is The Willing Suspension Of Disbelief ….
In September 2007, when Senator Clinton was questioning General Petraeus about the war in Iraq, she commented that his report on Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief." Little did we know that what she was really doing was giving the nation a “heads up” on what we need to understand what is currently happening in Washington DC. How else can one explain the spectacle of hea ...... Read More
Comments (9)I Don’t Know, You Don’t Know, We Don’t Know
A couple of months ago I was attending a dinner with 30 other CEO’s and Senior Executives. After dinner our host asked the following question: “How has the economy impacted your business?” As we went around the room the answers were fairly predictable; the economy was having a significant impact on everyone’s bottom line. Things changed when the CEO of a mu ...... Read More
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