News Updates
(updated periodically)

The Numbers Speak for Themselves:

"Companies that invest in employee development can outperform the market. Just ask their shareholders. In December 2001, Bassi and McMurrer created a live portfolio of companies that spend aggressively on employee development. In its first 25 months since conception, that portfolio has outperformed the S & P 500 Index by 4.6 percentage points . . . each of these three portfolios outperformed the S & P by 17% to 35%in 2003. (Excerpt from "How's Your Return on People" by Bassi and McMurrer, Harvard Business Review, March 2004, p.18) The full article is available from http://harvardbusinessonline.com

Be Careful When Selecting a Confidant

[In a world of countless consultants and coaches that today's organizations have easy access to, the process and outcome of such consulting can make or break a company. Be sure to check your would-be Trusted Advisor's Core Competencies before entrusting your organization's well-being and future.]

"The CEO is often the most isolated and protected employee in the organization. Few leaders, even veteran CEOs, can do the job without talking to someone about their experiences, which is why most develop a close relationship with a trusted colleague, a confidant to whom they can tell their thoughts and fears. In his work with leaders, the author has found that many CEO-confidant relationships function very well . . . Unfortunately, almost as many confidants will end up hurting, undermining, or otherwise exploiting CEOs when the executives are at their most vulnerable. The leader is often the last one to know when or how the confidant relationship became toxic. The author has identified three types of destructive confidants . . ." (Excerpt from "Worse Than Enemies: The CEO's Destructive Confidant" by Sulkowicz (Harvard Business Review, February 2004, p.65) . The full article is available from http://www.harvardbusinessonline.com

Succession Planning

"By the year 2005, virtually all closely-held and family-owned businesses will lose their primary owner to death or retirement. The cumulative effect of these landmark "succession events" will be the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in U.S. history. Approximately $10.4 trillion of net worth will be transferred by the year 2040, with $4.8 trillion being in the next 20 years. (Robert Avery, Cornell University, "The Ten Trillion Dollar Question: A Philanthropic Gameplan," Initiatives) For more interesting family business facts, go to: http://www.ffi.org/looking/facts.cgi?pageid=0