Breaking News

Opinion

NYC mayor race has national ramifications

Columnists

In just a few days, a Karl Marx-quoting communist who has struggled to disavow Hamas is likely to be elected the next mayor of the nation’s financial and cultural epicenter. Thirty-three-year-old New York state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has surged to the front of the race. He leads by double digits in virtually every public poll, he is an overwhelming favorite in the online betting markets. Absent a miracle, in short, Mamdani is going to win and will be the next mayor of New York City. But one might be forgiven for believing in the possibility of miracles. Mamdani must, somehow, be ...

Success always starts with building relationships

Columnists

Do not assume. This thought hit me as I read feedback from attendees of a sales conference. The most often mentioned takeaway is to focus on building relationships. Reading them, I wondered how many of us make assumptions in this area. Do the people we lead know a positive outcome begins by building a relationship? It is not unusual for salespeople to be told to make so many contacts a day. Research likely says a certain percentage of these contacts will be converted to a sale.  In hospitals, managers are told to engage with (round on) every patient in their area. In most ...

Go with the money

Columnists

When considering who would assist the Saudi Arabian oil industry, King Ibn Saud stated in 1933 that he preferred Americans. When asked why, he said, “They work hard! They get the oil, and they don’t get into politics.” This would surprise most U.S. citizens in 2025. It seems that all the United States does is meddle in politics, particularly in the Middle East. Of course, this was before the establishment of the State of Israel. From 1948 onward, the U.S. has had to balance its oil interests in Arabia with its commitment to the Jewish state. This juxtaposition of their ...

Remember

Editorials

There was a time not too long ago when the first Saturday in November meant everyone needed to travel through their houses changing the time on clocks, watches and microwave ovens, and then head out to their cars to make similar adjustments. While that chore has largely been eliminated, thanks to smart phones and watches that always show the exact time no matter where you are, other clocks that automatically adjust and even appliances that are connected to the internet and never fail to show the proper time, the return of Eastern Standard Time represents a good reminder to check ...

Leadership in a time of change

Columnists

This week I found a book on our bookshelf titled “Leadership in a Culture of Change” by Michael Fullan. Although I had forgotten that I had read it some twenty years ago, the truth of the words in my old notes jump off the yellowed paper. The ideas in this book are more pertinent now than ever before. What will happen if we close remote schools and have no bus drivers? In 2025, we are living in a time of cascading changes hitting us every day with something new. The concept that “change stirs emotion” is profoundly true, but our problem is that we have been so beset by ...

Changes

Editorials

The Detroit News reported Wednesday that General Motors has laid off thousands of workers from manufacturing facilities in Ohio and Michigan. Though it is tempting to suggest the reason is purely a matter of GM’s overeagerness to catch up to the electric vehicle push, the reality is a bit more complicated. At the company’s Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Warren, Ohio, there are expected to be approximately 550 cuts and 850 temporary layoffs, according to a report by CNBC. There will also be approximately 700 layoffs at the Ultium Cells plant in Tennessee. Those gleefully ...