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282 Resources for

steve tobak

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BNET Author Biography: Steve Tobak is a marketing and strategy consultant based in Silicon Valley. He's a 20-plus year high-tech industry veteran and former senior executive of a number of public and private companies. He also wrote the popular blog Train Wreck for CNET. When he's not airing corporate America's dirty laundry and...; more about Steve Tobak »

BNET Resources

The Boss From Hell: Early in my career I had a boss from hell. Sure, I've had lots of dysfunctional bosses - I was one myself. But this guy was different. I'm talking serious lunatic stuff here. Still, tragedy and comedy often go hand in hand, and this story is no exception. Can you...; Tags: Boss, Professional Development, Career, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-11-20
The 5-Step Career Turnaround: Everybody hits snags in their career. You think you're on the right path, something changes, and suddenly your plan is drailed. Unfortunately, accomplished professionals often lack objectivity when reinventing themselves. The solution is to think of career change like a business turnaround. by Steve Tobak; Tags: Turnaround, Professional Development, Career, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-11-19
How to Balance the Federal Budget: In 1998, tax income from the unprecedented bull market run of the 90s resulted in the first balanced budget in 30 years. While I don't advocate bubble and bust-fueled economic cycles, economic expansion - big and small business growth - is indeed the only way to end the federal deficit....; Tags: Small Business, Personal Finance, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-11-19
The Value of Stick-with-it-ness: Stick-with-it-ness is one of those qualities that isn't on anybody's short-list for successful managers and business people, but it should be. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe because it's difficult to define. More likely because it's such a rare quality. Regardless, it's a pretty good indicator of business success...; Tags: Quality, Stick-with-it-ness, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-07
Five Great Product Positioning Success Stories: Product positioning strategy is critical in today's hyper-competitive marketplace where everybodyâ€™s competing for the same shrinking budget and differentiation is hard to come by. Here are five success stories, including three write-ins from readers in response to Destroy the Competition With Product Positioning by Steve Tobak; Tags: Positioning, Product Positioning Strategy, Branding, Marketing, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-07

How Not to Piss Off Your CEO: We've all done things that piss off our spouses, our friends, and our coworkers. But you might think twice before you piss off your CEO. I know, that sounds obvious, but there are times when you need to hit someone right between the eyes so they get it, and the...; Tags: CEO, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-09
Does Your CEO Value Himself Over Shareholders?: There are loads of public companies that have consistently poor operating performance: they can't string together two profitable or growth quarters or years to save their lives. It boggles my mind. The sad truth is that some CEOs and boards value their own interests ahead of shareholders', and that's simply...; Tags: Shareholder, CEO, Financial Accounting, Corporate Governance, Finance, Business Operations, Corporate Law, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-10
Change Management: Theory vs. the Real World: A McKinsey Quarterly article entitled "The irrational side of change management" really floored me. If you're a regular reader of The Corner Office blog, you know I'm big on management experience and not-so-big on management theory. Here's why. by Steve Tobak; Tags: Theory, Change Management, Leadership, Tools & Techniques, Management, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-13
Andy Grove: What Detroit Can Learn From Silicon Valley: former Intel CEO Andy Grove compares the current transformation of the automotive industry to the computer industry of the 80s and 90s. Had the government intervened then as it is doing now, America may never have gained a leadership position in PCs, semiconductors, software, and ultimately, the Internet. by Steve...; Tags: Industry, Computer, Leadership, Productivity, Government, Strategy, Management, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-14
Retirement's For Old People: In 2003 I retired from the corporate world. Everybody was happy except for my wife since I was about to invade her space at home like a horde of marauding Huns. But my retirement wasn't to be like my father's. I consult, write, work as hard as I did before....; Tags: Retirement, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-02
7 Signs You're Creating Your Own Workplace Stress: Quick, by a show of hands, how many of you have workplace stress? Almost everybody, great. Now, how much of that stress do you think is self-imposed? What, no hands? Well, I'm not surprised, but you may be in for one. You see, most people make their own stress. Not...; Tags: Sign, Workplace, Recruitment & Selection, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-02
The 2009 Halftime Report: The good news is I'm still alive and well and finally going Mac after 20 years of Wintel oppression. Aside from that, the only positive thing I can think of to say is the second half has got to be better. Here's my 2009 Halftime Report: 10 Random Impressions ......; Tags: Wintel, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-06-30
Real Managers Don't Make Excuses: When dogs screw up, they hang their head and tuck their tail between their legs in admission of guilt. When wild animals screw up, it can be fatal. No excuses. It's human to make excuses, but nothing is more success and career limiting. Great managers and successful business people don't...; Tags: Excuse, Professional Development, Career, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-06-30
Madoff Gets 150 Years: Is Fraud Worse Than Murder?: From a Madoff victim: Dante recognized fraud as the worst of sins, the ultimate evil, because it violated God's gift to mankind: love and trust. Is Madoff's fraud worse than violent crime? Is fraud of this magnitude finally being prosecuted and adjudicated as it should have been all along, and...; Tags: Fraud, Madoff, Litigation, Business Operations, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-06-29
How to Give a Great PowerPoint Presentation: Itâ€™s hard to imagine your career going anywhere unless you can deliver an effective presentation and everyone uses PowerPoint. Unfortunately, most managers have no idea how to use it effectively. It's just as important as present skills, and if you follow these tips, you'll wow your audience instead of confusing...; Tags: Microsoft PowerPoint, PowerPoint Presentation, Microsoft Office, Professional Development, Office Suites, Software, Career, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-06-26
What's More Important: Strategy or Execution?: All the best run companies have processes for both, but there are times when one - strategy or execution - is indeed more critical than the other. Recognizing those times and knowing which one to focus on is the key. Here are some examples ... by Steve Tobak; Tags: Execution, Strategy, Management, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-06-25
Did Apple's Board Break SEC Disclosure Rules?: The short answer is yes, I think Apple's board failed to manage the disclosure of material information in a manner consistent with their responsibilities and SEC rules. And make no mistake, a Steve Jobs liver transplant for whatever reason is material information. They broke the rules and they should be...; Tags: Board, SEC, Apple Inc., Corporate Governance, Business Operations, Corporate Law, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-06-24
Is Microsoft's Monopoly Over?: If there was a metric for the amount of time people spend on devices that can access the Web, I think you'd find the percentage of time they spend using Microsoft software is declining. It's too early to call Wintel's demise, but there is a confluence of factors that, when...; Tags: Microsoft Corp., Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-06-23
Nortel CEO Resigns, Shamelessly Blames Economy: Bull: After failing to turn around the 127 year-old networking behemoth that was once valued at $300 billion, Nortel's CEO is stepping down. He blamed Nortel's "capital structure and legacy costs coupled with the economic downturn," but that's a grossly over-simplified, sugar-coated excuse for executive and board incompetence. by Steve Tobak; Tags: Nortel Networks Corp., Corporate Governance, Capital Structures, Business Operations, Corporate Law, Finance, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-08-10
10 "Must Have" Products and How They Did It: What do companies like Adobe, Apple, Jeep, Mazda, Nintendo, Research In Motion, Starbucks, Tivo, Toto and WebEx all have in common? They all beat larger competitors and created entirely new market paradigms by developing and marketing "must have" products with compelling value propositions. 10...; Tags: Adobe Systems Inc., Research In Motion Ltd., Starbucks Corp., TiVo Inc., Desktops, Strategy, Hardware, Management, Steve Tobak; Blog posts 2009-07-15