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There’s No Time Like the Present
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership Life is short, and best lived when enjoyed. For me, the pandemic was a reminder of this fact. There are no guarantees in life. And time spent worrying about the future, or vegging out on Netflix, is not time spent living in this moment. There’s an old saying that life is…
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A Growth Mindset Brings Out Your Best
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership Is an engineering degree the right degree? What is the best job out of college? These kinds of questions have come up more often in my life as my kids are all in or approaching college age. When people ask for my advice, I offer something different than what they typically…
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America is Still the Land of Optimism
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership The last few years have been turbulent. Even beyond the pandemic, our politics, culture, and economy are changing fast. While some people fear rapid change, I am convinced that our dynamism is amongst our greatest strengths. The pandemic has been painful. A lot of people lost their jobs, and a lot…
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A Pandemic Lesson for Business Leaders
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership Business leaders have earned their stripes. We’ve honed our business judgement through years of experience and wins. But exercising good judgement day-to-day requires more. It requires mental sharpness and vitality. Coming to each decision, and moment, with openness and a fresh mind. For me, and many others, personal habits help keep…
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How Much Remote Work is Right?
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership As many companies officially return-to-work, organizations are finally rethinking stale conventional wisdom about how things get done. Should everybody return to the office? Should employees be able to work from anywhere they want? What is the best way to efficiently produce high quality work? These questions are front and center for…
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Is Inflation on the Horizon?
Financial December 17, 2021/Financial Recent reports show that inflation has ticked up to some of the highest levels we’ve seen in a long time. While there is no call for panic, this is definitely something to keep an eye on. It has been decades since the United States has seen significant inflation. Many adults, including…
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Computer Chips, And Short-Term Thinking
Technology December 17, 2021/Technology Over the last year, a shortage in computer chips has hobbled production of a wide variety of popular products like cars, phones, and gaming consoles. These chips have become a key input in our economy and few people appreciate what a huge disruption this is. What is so remarkable about this…
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Mixing Politics at Work
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership Politics are very polarized these days, and unfortunately that is bleeding into the workplace. This can be a challenge, but it’s solvable with leadership. When faced with cultural battles at work, many executives’ first instinct is to make rules. For example, I recently saw in the news that the tech company…
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The Case for Optimism
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership These days, I hear a lot of pessimism about the future. There are always valid reasons to worry, but I see even more reasons to be really excited. From across the political spectrum we hear narratives after those left behind, American decline, China is stealing jobs, big corporations destroying democracy.…
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Corporate Virtue Signaling is Complicated
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership Recently, many businesses have been getting more involved in politics. Major League Baseball pulling the All-Star game from Atlanta is the latest high profile example in a trend that I’m watching with interest. When there is an issue on the table that affects an organization’s mission or operations, then of course…
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Case Study: Creating Value In Lease Renewal
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment When a lease termination date approaches, many commercial real estate property owners will sell, rather than risk vacancy or face difficult negotiations with corporate lawyers over lease renewal. Many times, their risk aversion is Alliance’s opportunity. Some of our best investments fit this profile, including a recent big success. We found…
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The Suez Blockage Is Another Reminder
Investment December 17, 2021/Investment Recent events have offered strong reminders of how fragile economic ecosystems can be. The pandemic has badly hurt a lot of businesses, not to mention the people who have gotten very ill. Last week’s saga of the Suez Canal blockage is just another example of a grey rhino. The Suez Canal…
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Grey Rhinos are Inevitable
Leadership December 17, 2021/Leadership The ongoing pandemic has exposed a lot of short-term thinking. Many businesses were caught unprepared for lockdowns and supply chain disruptions. While it was hard to foresee the coronavirus, crises are inevitable. In many ways, today’s business culture encourages short term thinking. A typical CEO at a public company might only…
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Move Before the Market Does
Technology December 17, 2021/Technology Over the last few months, I’ve noticed a lot of stories about cybersecurity breaches. In technology and beyond, change creates opportunities for some and risks for others. Hackers love to find previously unknown vulnerabilities, or so-called zero day exploits. Recent examples include incidents at leading IT companies like SolarWinds and Microsoft.…
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Are You Missing the Boat on SPACs?
Financial December 17, 2021/Financial There’s a hot new trend on Wall Street right now. People have been asking me whether they’re missing the boat if they don’t invest in SPACs. Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, or SPACs, are essentially shell companies that exist only to buy other companies. Why? To shepherd these acquisitions into public markets…
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