Being Present

In the past, I have written about the magic of the “Fish! Philosophy” and its four principles: Choose your attitude, make their day, be there, and play. I have found myself, and others around me, struggling with one of the these four, namely “Be there,” or as I call it, “Being present.” There is so much going on around us all the time – cellphones, TV screens, laptops – our brains are almost always over-stimulated. Even watching CNN is a chore, playing into our need to be overstimulated by not only a multi-panel discussion, but a quick moving news scrawler […]

Staying Diversified

Before money can be invested, the wise investor must believe in this crucial concept: don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Asset allocation is the art of balancing risk and reward through the diversification of your investments into appropriate asset classes. It’s one instrument that helps to determine the appropriate blend between fixed and equity assets. It helps to smooth out the peaks and valleys that you find in the more volatile portfolio.

Strategies for Investing Cash

The stock markets are at all-time highs and don’t appear to be ready to change course any time soon. If you have a rollover from an old 401k or some saved cash, you may be asking yourself if this is the right time to invest that money. You may want to have your money invested right away so that you don’t miss the potential upside of the market, or you may want to wait on some or all of your investing for fear that the market may pull back. When clients come to me with cash to invest, I typically […]

Culture Club

Last week, I was facilitating a discussion in class regarding cultural differences in the workplace. Specifically, we had a lively discussion regarding differences in the approach to performance management practices across the globe. For example, in the U.S., we are always focused on formally documenting performance discussions, mostly to protect us from potential employment related lawsuits. In most Latin American countries, as well as in southern Europe, the attitude toward performance management is very informal, usually completed as on-the-spot conversations, and not at all focused on anything written. Perhaps this distinction is a direct result of civil law vs. common […]