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  Some who got knocked out of the box by the Epstein Files have a next.  They will have to lay low, do good works and then orchestrate a credible reset. They are likable.  As Hedrick Smith hammered in his iconic book "The Power Game," likability is a force field. It allows power players to get significant things done, usually without a lot of heavy lifting. Among those with a future, despite Epstein fallout, probably include former US President Bill Clinton, former leader at law firm Paul, Weiss Brad Karp and Yale professor Dale Gelerneter who was a victim of the unabomber.  Others in this volatile economy, driven by technology, should pay attention to the Likability Score. During the depths of The Great Depression Dale Carnegie was saluted as a genius in human relations. He systematized the fundamentals of how to be liked. First in the courses he taught at the Y, then in his bestseller right up to current times "How to Win Friends and Influence People"  Carneg...

  Sure, the glory days of public relations are over. But brand equity still counts a lot. And the value of that should be eroding at Goldman Sachs, all-too-loyal to its top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler. Shareholders push-back , among other pressure points, has already triggered her stepping down. But she's been allowed a genteel exit. That includes staying on the job until June 30, 2026. There was also the gush by the institution's CEO David Solomon in the official announcement. But, now that nicely positioned and packaged soft landing should be blown up. Ruemmler should be sent packing now. And what about implications for compensation, including stock options? That is, if Goldman Sachs wants to remain credible to its constituents, especially shareholders. Today the stock price is down 13.22 (11:30 AM ET). The latest and perhaps most damning snippet from the Epstein Files is what was just made public: Ruemmler's handling of non-public information back in 2012. It was related to t...

 The Department of Justice announced all the Epstein Files had been released. Whether the public believed that or not was irrelevant. It signaled that the fallout from those disclosures had peaked and those in the loop could move on to reputational repair. And their next. At Goldman Sachs top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler, after announcing she was stepping down, is reported to have hired a crisis-management firm. Look to the future ... But the heat has been turned back up. And in a different way: The focus on the identified "miscreants" be considered for legal action. Moreover, the whole influence dynamic - who opens doors for whom - could be subjected to greater scrutiny. Was well-connected Ruemmler properly vetted before being hired by the finance giant?  The game-changer is th e arrest of former Prince Andrew for alleged wrongdoing while in public office. In my coaching the fear is damage to the brandname of the individual and the institution. Not legal action. Usually that issue ...

  But, will Congress save our monthly Social Security payment from a 20% cut in six years? Can anyone envision the profound financial suffering that would inflict? Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 49,809.74 USD ▲  +276.55 (+0.56%) today February 18, 10:02 AM EST  ·  Market Open

  Blessed. Those of us born after WW II. That's how it was. The GI bill was the beginning of universal access to college. The post-war economic boom would be kicking off. Unlike our parents, many immigrants, we wouldn't have been broken in spirit by The Great Depression. Authority figures were socializing us in the graces of the middle class and above. Always use correct grammar. Make friends and influence people. Go to a WASPy church. Yesyesyes, we could become that era's analogue of a Larry Summers, Leon Black, Kathy Ruemmler and more.  Now, through the Epstein Files we have confirmed that maybe the values we were born into were the right way to live. Was all that scramble to become upper middle class so misguided? Actually, impossible? Now we also know what it's like. There is the highly educated leader who held big jobs. Larry Summers. He expected sexual favors in return for snippets of mentoring. He uses the crude expression of going "horizontal." So, tha...

  Once glam and dripping with creative cool, the advertising sector is crashing, documents The Wall Street Journal.  The 3,000 jobs lost last December had represented just the tip of the iceberg. Bigger signs of existential trouble are these: "The market capitalization of Ogilvy parent  WPP  ... has fallen from more than $30 billion in 2017 to less than $4 billion today ...  Publicis Groupe  saw its  shares fall sharply  in February after its outlook failed to dispel investor concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on its business." Amidst this implosion one model is proving effective. Unlike the ethos of the old-line ad agencies it celebrates being midwestern and is based there for cost-efficiency, doesn't aim for rapid growth positioning that as stability, is low-tech and has a close interface with clients. That's the Bark Firm, housed in Casper, Wyoming. Operating in the brand space since 2009, it's thriving.  Could that...