On Our Radar Today Interactive

As we've seen, those intent on destroying the world's best health care system keep moving the goalposts, date-wise. First it was last August, then it was Christmas, now it's March 18. >So, how likely do you think it is that we'll have the vote on the 18th?   Read more...

As we've seen, those intent on destroying the world's best health care system keep moving the goalposts, date-wise. First it was last August, then it was Christmas, now it's March 18. >So, how likely do you think it is that we'll have the vote on the 18th?

Here's a story from the front lines of the software biz. See if you see your life in this. Company does cool marketing stuff to drive traffic to an event (webinar, seminar, etc.). Company is disappointed by the response rate...  Read more...

Here's a story from the front lines of the software biz.  See if you see your life in this. Company does cool marketing stuff to drive traffic to an event (webinar, seminar, etc.).  Company is disappointed by the response rate to the email marketing campaign, and as a result, questions whether marketing events that require attendance are really worth the time, effort and expense.  After all, if a good response rate is 1% and half the people that sign up for the webinar don't actually attend, what's the point, right? Then a funny thing happens.  One of 4 attendees to the webinar buys the product, and the sales cycle is a skinny 3 weeks. The lesson?  Life is full of activities that require you fill the top of the funnel with a lot of raw prospects/data, and the number of those prospects that will actually listen is pretty humbling.  Humbling enough to make you quit.  It happens in sales, recruiting and a thousand other activities in life - including finding a job.  Prospecting is a slog, and if you let it get you down, you can actually talk yourself into believing that the 3 people out of a thousand who show up to listen to you isn't a big enough group.  Which will affect your performance in front of the three people who show up. Don't believe the hype.  Life's a stage, and when 3 people show up when you expect 100, you still need to perform.  You can choose to go through the motions because you're de-motivated, or you can choose to make the connection much more intimate as a result.  If you choose the former, you're a victim.  If you choose the latter, you probably make the sale, get the job or make the connection that lands you 3 sales in the next year - or your next two jobs.  All because you cared enough to perform your best in front of a small group.

Preference cascade: the end of false assumptions. As in: when folks begin to understand that it's okay to think differently than everyone else. For example: " everyone knows that x is our only real choice ," until one learns that other folks have expressed a preference for "y.' It's really an extension of group-think or peer-pressure; we don't want to be "different" because we believe that everyone else thinks a certain way....  Read more...

Preference cascade: the end of false assumptions. As in: when folks begin to understand that it's okay to think differently than everyone else. For example: " everyone knows that x is our only real choice ," until one learns that other folks have expressed a preference for "y.' It's really an extension of group-think or peer-pressure; we don't want to be "different" because we believe that everyone else thinks a certain way....

This one goes out to the job seekers out there. For some strange reason I have noticed more and more candidates "clinging on" to their cell phones during interviews, lunch/dinner meetings, video interviews like some sort of adult pacifier, and...  Read more...

This one goes out to the job seekers out there.For some strange reason I have noticed more and more candidates "clinging on" to their cell phones during interviews, lunch/dinner meetings, video interviews like some sort of adult pacifier, and I don't get it. Really. I don't. It's as if they are expecting a call from the White House or Publisher's Clearinghouse with some long awaited good news. Nobody cares that you have a new phone or are expecting a call, so you can close a sale while you are in the middle of an interview. They don't care.    Cell phones actually have NO place in a job interview. Period. End of story. It's inappropriate, un-necessary and down-right rude. Help me here folks. Last week I did several video interviews and during the middle of the interview I could not help notice that the candidate I was interviewing periodically cut his eyes to the left as if he had seen a large insect crawling on the desk near him. Nope that would be incorrect. He was trying to see if he could make out the phone number when his cell phone lit up in the middle of our interview. He did have the cell on "silent mode" which I somewhat appreciated, but it was still on. He apparently positioned the phone to make sure he had a good visual just in case someone called. C'mon. What is the most important thing a candidate should do during an interview? I can think of 3-4 critical items on that list and guess what? It's not checking out your phone.   Then there is the less than subtle technique of using the "Vibrate Only" setting during an interview. I'm not sure which is worse. Whether the phone is in their pocket, on the desk, or strapped to their belt buckle like a loaded 44 Magnum - it does not matter to me. Stay focused people. There is NO PLACE for a cell phone while on a job interview under any circumstances. OK... if you are waiting on a critical call (maybe if your wife is expecting) and you inform the person conducting the interview in advance - that's different, and you should get a pass. However, nobody else deserves a break.  Finally, is it really necessary to conduct a business phone call from a public restroom? I heard someone not long ago discussing his background while in the men's restroom. I wonder how that turned out for him? It was hard to hear exactly what he was saying with all of the flushing and other bathroom noise going on. Pleeeeeease. Just leave your cell in the car or turn it off during an interview. No exceptions.       Editor's Note - Tim Tolan is a partner at Sanford Rose Associates and specializes in Executive Search in Healthcare IT.  He's a closer, and you really don't want to call him unless you're ready to bring out the bazooka to bag some big game...

One of the strange things about The No Asshole Rule that took me at least a year after public to understand well is that -- although I believe the content is worth reading (after all, I took a long time...  Read more...

One of the strange things about The No Asshole Rule that took me at least a year after public to understand well is that -- although I believe the content is worth reading (after all, I took a long time to write it) -- just owning, displaying, and -- in particular -- giving someone the book as a present (or even suggesting they read it) can have strong effects, and they are not all good. On the positive side, a senior executive at a large professional service firm reported to me that at a meeting of the firm's partner, the CEO waived around a copy of the book and told them that whether or not the followed the rule would be factored into their compensation decision -- most of them had not read the book, and didn't read it after that, but just the act of waiving around the book and suggesting something like "and if you are a chronic asshole, we are going to push the delete button pictured on the cover" was enough to get their attention and, I am told, did help a few of the most recalcitrant jerks turn down their nastiness. 

A number of people have also explained to me that the book is a useful "defensive tool" or "protective device." An attorney explained that although she had not read it yet, she bought a copy and displayed it prominently in her office – and pointed to it when one of her colleagues started turning nasty.  A senior executive from a large technology

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This week, Bill Moyers's program on PBS touched on the topic "Is the President's Health Care Bill worth supporting?" Bill did a great job of giving his audience two very different perspectives. Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive who ...   Read more...

This week, Bill Moyers's program on PBS touched on the topic "Is the President's Health Care Bill worth supporting?" Bill did a great job of giving his audience two very different perspectives. Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive who ...

HOUSTON, March 11, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) today announced its 56th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. GlobeNewswire  Read more...

HOUSTON, March 11, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) today announced its 56th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. GlobeNewswire

Christian Science Monitor (blog) Does US have free-market healthcare? Hardly. Christian Science Monitor (blog) Thirdly, enterprising people who have tried to set up small, cheap clinics aimed particularly at the uninsured have found themselves the targets of massive ...  Read more...

Christian Science Monitor (blog) Does US have free-market healthcare? Hardly. Christian Science Monitor (blog) Thirdly, enterprising people who have tried to set up small, cheap clinics aimed particularly at the uninsured have found themselves the targets of massive ...

ATLANTA, March 11 (UPI) -- Healthcare reform legislation in Massachusetts had a positive effect overall and for historically under-served sub-populations, federal health officials said. ATLANTA, March 11 (UPI) -- Healthcare reform legislation in Massachusetts had a positive effect overall and for historically under-served sub-populations, federal health officials said.  Read more...

ATLANTA, March 11 (UPI) -- Healthcare reform legislation in Massachusetts had a positive effect overall and for historically under-served sub-populations, federal health officials said. ATLANTA, March 11 (UPI) -- Healthcare reform legislation in Massachusetts had a positive effect overall and for historically under-served sub-populations, federal health officials said.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office has uncovered a potentially anticompetitive practice by health insurance companies that could raise healthcare costs and lower competition. In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Blumenthal called for an investigation of these practices at the national level.  Read more...

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office has uncovered a potentially anticompetitive practice by health insurance companies that could raise healthcare costs and lower competition. In a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Blumenthal called for an investigation of these practices at the national level.