Teresa Sinel

As a former big city girl living in Denver during my formative years and Chicago in my 20s and 30s, I always wondered what life in the country would be like but never enough to give it more than a passing thought.  I was sure it would be too boring for me and that I would miss the hustle, bustle, and abundance of shopping and entertainment venues that had become part of my routine.  The pace of rural life would simply be too slow for me and the lack of amenities would get very old very quickly.

It wasn’t until the late 90s that I really started giving the whole country living idea some strong consideration.  Even though I loved Chicago and it’s still my favorite big city, I was burned out in my career and fed up with the daily grind.  I just couldn’t do it anymore – the hour-plus commute back and forth each day, crazy people on the freeways, tolls, and the indifferent, stressed out coworkers and management team.  Even a move back to Denver didn’t cut it.  I was really being...

My household after work is probably not a lot different from yours.  Assuming everyone is home for the evening meal, there is the requisite “what do you want for dinner?” question followed almost religiously by the “I don’t know…you pick” response, which invariably leads to an uninspired selection based on how quickly and easily it can be put on the table.  After dinner and at times during dinner if I’m being completely honest, we sit down to watch a comedy because it’s something the three of us usually agree on and it sets a positive tone for the night.

Once the meal is over, however, all nighttime viewing bets are off.  My husband, son...

How did you shop over the Thanksgiving weekend?  If you’re like a growing number of consumers, you may have taken advantage of in-store craziness on Black Friday but by the end of the weekend, you and 226 million of your fellow bargain hunters were looking forward to the quiet and comfort of virtual shopping at home.  It was a good long weekend for online retailers, too.  Black Friday raked in $816 million and Cyber Monday has been projected to generate a record-breaking $1.2 billion, both increases over last year.

Rounding…Proactively, engaging, listening to, communicating with, building relationships with and supporting your most important asset (your employees). ~ Studer Group

The phrase “making the rounds,” also known as “rounding,” clearly has medical roots. It brings to mind individuals in white coats walking through hospital corridors at regular intervals to check on those under their care.  All the while, they are paying attention to vital signs and making adjustments to care accordingly.  While rounding may seem like something best left to the medical profession, the concept itself is universally applicable in any business setting.

The idea behind rounding is to make concerted efforts to touch base with your stakeholders (i.e. clients, team members) on a regular basis.  With clients, rounding can mean weekly meetings to talk about ongoing initiatives, monthly calibration sessions to ensure that service delivery meets expectations, and/or comprehensive quarterly...