Category: Oswald Letter

Dan Oswald, CEO of Simplify Compliance, writes about management, leadership, and the workplace. Occasional guest articles are written by other leaders and C-Suite executives from BLR. 

Is Business Still Fun?

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend and colleague — more friend than colleague. We were discussing the economy, business, and some of the challenges we’re experiencing at our company. As we wrapped up our conversation and I headed for the door, he asked me, “Are you all right?” His question […]

Truth or Consequences: Not So Much

Help me out here. Less than 48 hours ago, I wrote about the need for CEOs to earn back the trust of their employees and gave a few suggestions about how they might do that. This morning I turn on the television to find none other than Elliot Spitzer providing commentary on the current state […]

Employee Trust: Going, Going, Gone!

Trust. Webster’s defines it as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; or one in which confidence is placed.” Based on this definition, how many of us would say that the average employee trusts senior management? Not many. In fact, research shows that less than half of all employees […]

Careful What You Wish For: GM Management’s Payback to Obama and the UAW?

I read Tuesday that General Motors Corporation outlined a new plan that would give the U.S. government a controlling stake in the company. In addition, GM said it would use stock to pay off half of the amount it owes the United Auto Workers (UAW) to cover retiree benefits. I checked my calendar. It wasn’t […]

Dazed and Confused in an ‘Uncertain Economy’

I’m in the process of writing my Q1 report for our board of directors and I’m trying to come up with the appropriate adjective to describe the current economic environment and explain its impact on our business. As I searched for the right adjective to describe the business climate we’re facing I first considered “challenging.” […]

Do Shareholder Rights Matter to Obama?

I was amazed when I first learned that the Obama administration had requested the resignation of GM CEO Rick Wagoner. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I became dismayed. Did Rick Wagoner deserve to lose his job? I don’t know. But I do know that it is not the role of government to […]

An Executive’s Thoughts on Executive Pay

Imagine for a moment that you own a company. Unfortunately, your company, like many companies recently, has experienced some problems that have put its mere survival in question. You’ve taken action, removed the employees who were responsible for creating most of the problems, and even brought in a new senior executive — a seasoned industry […]

Insights from the C-Suite

I’m Dan Oswald, president and publisher of M. Lee Smith Publishers, and the newest blogger on the Employment Law Post. My first posts appeared on the Human Resources News blog. Here’s a list of those posts. The Time for Bold Action Keeping Your Eye on the Ball Bad Economy No Excuse for Not Succeeding Keep Long-Term […]