Posts By Mark Stelzner

Employing America’s Heroes

Emily King gave me an embarrassed grin as she struggled not to cry. “I always choke up when I tell this story”, she said sheepishly. I smiled broadly and encouraged her to go on. She did, and thus began the first of many lessons she’d share with me that afternoon. In her own words: “AfterRead… Read more »

Common Sense Is Not So Common

Twelve years ago I was working for a rapidly growing technology provider who was preparing for one of their most important client meetings to date. The deal alone – if secured – would crush their revenue goals, so preparedness was key and professionalism paramount. Keep in mind that we were a “fun startup” in theRead… Read more »

The Attention Deficit Recession

Let’s face it, we live in a world of divided attention. Whether talking on the phone while driving, checking email while on a conference call, or Tweeting during a live presentation, we are all guilty of an obsession with multitasking. And as a result of this behavior, we are completely destroying our pathetic little lives!Read… Read more »

What They Didn’t Teach You In Kindergarten

Twenty years ago Robert Fulghum wrote a bestselling book entitled, All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten. It was immensely popular and sat atop the New York Times Bestseller list through 1989 and 1990, which incidentally was my first year of undergrad at the University of Texas at Austin. I was givenRead… Read more »

Two Inauguration Negatives – Groaning & Garbage

By now you’ve either heard or read every possible perspective on what occurred in my fair city of Washington, DC over the past several days. I’m sure you’ve enjoyed the tears, cheers, speeches, marches and balls supplemented by 7×24 coverage, countdowns, videos, pictures, satellite images and punditry. If you’re thinking, “Enough already!”, you’re not alone.Read… Read more »

Lessons From My Childhood – S.P.U.D.

By almost any measure, I had a very typical ’70s childhood. We lived in a young subdivision, explored everything, got in big trouble, suffered injuries, had divorced parents and viewed the world with an overarching sense of wonder and opportunity. We were a very creative group of kids, and since our parents weren’t wealthy weRead… Read more »

Are You The Bad Apple?

Very early in my career I was working on a team project that had fairly broad implications for my firm. There were seven of us in total and we typically convened via phone two to three times a week. We began with a quick roll call, and without fail you would hear this long, drawn-out,Read… Read more »