“Performance evaluations are not the favorite tasks of most managers. Evaluations can be a real pain, especially with the work required to complete an evaluation using one of today’s formal systems. A formal evaluation system may work well in a large organization that has a human resources department, but what about the person who manages without HR support?”

“If you are a working stiff like me, you probably have to travel, and travel a lot. And unless you travel by private jet — a treat I had again last week — you probably suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous travel fortune: long lines; maddening, foot-tapping fellow passengers; hotel rooms that smell like gymnasiums; noisy neighbors; hard-to-find taxis; meals that leave you clutching your abdomen at 3 in the morning.”

“This week marks Amazon.com’s 10th anniversary. Profit was down in the first quarter, and the stock price, after soaring to $60 a share last year, has slipped to a plateau of about half that. USA TODAY’s Byron Acohido asked company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos about competing more directly against Google and Microsoft, impatient shareholders and what’s ahead for e-commerce.”

“How did Lou Gerstner from IBM turn a $5 billion loss into a $8 billion profit in just 9 years, or Carlos Ghosn turn Nissan around by $10 billion — they both formed cross-functional teams to lead their revival plans. The only way that you can restructure people’s mindsets is via team building and training.”