TransformingYourCareerTransformingYourself

  Okay, Warren Buffett bet on the joining of two old-line food corporations - Kraft and Heinz. But those of us who had worked full-time in them as I had and understood that category knew from the get-go: That dog don't hunt.  The cultures aren't what it takes to grow in a challenging category. And, much of the product lines are stuck in the middle. That's at a time when consumers are shopping upscale or discount. In the grocery deli section they can purchase gourmet mac & cheese for about 10 bucks. Or at the dollar store a box of the ingredients for a buck and a quarter. Also there's little innovation or much focus on healthy eating.  So, again law firms Paul, Weiss and Skadden lucked out and nailed being involved in a major transaction. They guided the plan for Kraft-Heinz to split into two separate entities.  So much of the legal sector is speculating if the M&A market in general will pick up. Law firms like Paul, Weiss and Skadden don't have to fret about...

  If you stream enough you've clicked on those noir films in which individuals ("Smoke") and whole villages ("Wetherby") harbor deadly secrets. The message is clearly: Secrets are dangerous.  That motif was played up big during the late 1960s counterculture. Parents, university professors/staff, corporations, government, everyone in your orbit and you were pushed to disclose secrets. Let it all hang out. That will be good for you. And for all the rest of us. The Oprah tribes reinforced the wild sharing ethos. Residues of that often inappropriate openness remain. And, as I tutor my clients, letting it all hang out can get you into serious trouble in romantic relationships, in close friendships, in commercial transactions, in how the medical system treats you and in your career.  The good news: When pressured for voluntary disclosures there are smooth ways to indicate: Nothing to see here, folks. Get it: You have a right to your secrets.  Moreover, our legal syste...

  An extension of Henry Kissinger's observation that power is a great aphrodisiac is that it is too often leveraged by Very Important Men. In verboten contexts. This Romeo Syndrome is so irksome because they probably wouldn't have been able to cast a love spell without their titles. At least not with subordinates in the organization. Usually corporate ethics rules ban such pursuits. Obviously, power is unequal. The latest example is former Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe . He joins the long list of other powerful men who conducted affairs of the heart with subordinates.  And lost big jobs. They range from Steve Easterbrook at McDonald's to Mike Hurd at H-P.  Until academia put a stop to professors becoming romantically involved with students, there were too many dazzled young women who actually entered into marriages with those who had the power. Those females probably should have been on a more extended hunt for the best fit for a spouse. In those days that was what college wa...

  It's about 8 PM New York Time. CNBC reports that stock futures  are up 41 points. So far, that looks like what is traditionally the worst month for equities - September - will open okay. No crash like the one in the fall of 1987. But the situation with equities can change abruptly, given the increasing uncertainty. At the top of the list is that the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled many of the Trump tariffs illegal. The Federal Reserve could lose its independence. What will happen to interest rates . And are the job numbers for August to be believed. A total freakout could be in the cards.  Meanwhile, what kind of sleep will BoomerVille have tonight? UPDATE:  It's 8:30 AM New York time. Dow futures have plunged 300 points.

In the 1970s when I was a coding trainer at a medical insurance company in the midwest a female manager was unpopular and eventually fired. I had a hunch it was because - horrors - she didn't wear a bra.  There was no empathy from other women in the organization about how uncomfortable a bra eight to 10 hours or more a day could be. Not long ago when talking with former female employees at law firm Kirkland & Ellis they told me that what they did first when coming home was: Take off the bras, along with the heels. Well, it might no longer be unthinkable that women in the workplace could go braless, penalty-free.  See, today, The New York Times has an article about how visible bra straps have become a fashion statement. That's part of the trend, of course, of undergarments evolving into outergarments.  Among the 178 comments (so far) to the Times article, there is empathy about the discomfort associated with the social mandate of wearing a bra. One female indicates th...