... this month in NWAB2B

Building a Better Business Brain: Visualizing to Remember

For you who have concerns about memory—and who doesn’t these days—visualization on is an essential skill to develop.  What I’m talking about is the ability to create visual images mentally.  Visualization is also an important brain skill for comprehension and for conceptualizing problems.  Read More >

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Build a Better Business Brain: Pay Attention

 If you have difficulty keeping up with essential items like keys, glasses and phones, you may suffer from the ‘They-Were-Just-in-My-Hand Affliction.’  Really.

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Building a Better Business Brain:  Why don’t I remember names?
Do you suffer from the ‘Quick Who Is S/He Syndrome?' You see someone coming toward you that you recognize but can't remember their name? Or when your caught in an introduction and can't remember someone’s name. That’s the ‘Quick Who Is She Syndrome,' the name of which was coined by Cathryn Jakobson Ramin in her book, “Carved in Sand:  When Attention Fails and Memory Fades in Midlife.” Read More >

Opening the door for Summer Internships

Small business owners can have the biggest hearts, so why not consider a college intern? Here's how to make the most of your experience. Read More >

Journey into Dyslexia

A recent study revealed that as many as 35 percent of entrepreneurs may be dyslexic. Putting their unique differences into perspective is Carl Schramm, CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, whose mission is to advance entrepreneurship and improve the education of children and youth. Read More >

Spring Training for your Brain

How are your brain skills?  Do you forget people’s names? Appointments? Do you have difficulty making quick decisions? Multi-tasking? Do you need to write things down and then lose your list? It could be that you need trip to the gym for your brain. Read More >

New book turns conventional wisdom upside down
A recently published book authored by two professors looks at how gender and minority status shapes entrepreneurial decision-making. The topic is long over-due, they say, since minority women in the US start new businesses at four times the rate of non-minority men and women. Read More >

Global Leadership and CFK: America's Best Practices?
The term best practice has gotten a lot of play in the business world in the last decade. When you think of the term, you may envision an efficiency process or a set of standards. If you’re a visionary, you might see it as a checklist of the brightest, most engaging, most ideal ways to reach a happy ending. If you’re Adelaide Schaeffer of Champions for Kids, Billy Shore of Share Our Strength, Dr. Ron Ferguson from the Kennedy School of Government, philanthropy expert and author Steve Goldberg, or David Gergen from Harvard -- best practices is not a term you can bundle around what America is doing for its youth. Read More >

The Meaning of Leadership

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things,” says Peter Drucker. Leadership is not a title, an award or reserved for a selected few. Leadership is a passage and a passion. True leaders seek change in their world, promote that change, build the needed capacity to address the sought after change, ensure change will occur and move on to the next challenge. Read More >

How to make decisions with regrets

Here’s the scenario: The CEO had just appointed Bill to be director of the personnel relationship department. Cathy worked as Bill’s personal assistant, and held the same position for the previous director for 10 years. During his first week, Bill wanted to change a few minor procedures. Turmoil erupted. Read More >

The Top 10 Ideas for Overcoming Call Reluctance

Few people enjoy prospecting, or “cold calling.” Yet, prospecting for clients is critical to success. Here are 10 ideas to help you mine this mother lode for solid prospecting rewards. Read More >

An Interview with ‘The Apprentice’ Bill Rancic

 “I think entrepreneurs are raised,” says Bill Rancic, the first winner of Donald Trump’s TV show, “The Apprentice.” We’re sitting in the boardroom at the John Q. Hammons during the NWA Business Conference. In a couple of hours he’ll share his views on being an entrepreneur and leading a business idea to greatness. For now he’s candid about the next generation of entrepreneurs. Read More >

Bill Rancic's 'Entrepreneur Traits'
Entrepreneurs have the ability to recognize an opportunity but more important, seize that opportunity, says Bill Rancic. A self-proclaimed people watcher, Bill Rancic shares his take on the traits – good and bad -- of entrepreneurs and business leaders. Read More >

Leadership for Youth: Five Things I Learned at Harvard

Like many students, I arrived at Harvard in 2008 a bit nervous about the challenges and opportunities ahead of me.  My emotions included courage and fear. But, fear soon faded because I arrived with a question that guided my steps: How do we accelerate impact for children?  Read More >

Local Leaders Share tips from the school of hard knocks

As if the competition of business wasn’t tough enough, recessionary times adds a full gale wind to navigating rough waters. Area leaders of several industries joined to share their experiences at an Economic Summit held and hosted in November by the Springdale Chamber. Read more>

The 'Big Three' Strategies of Leadership

The Big Three has often been referred to the three major automobile manufacturers in America; the Big Three television networks in the United States; and the historical reference, which began with the Big Three World War II leaders. Here are The Big Three in business. Read More >

Have you ever wondered why some employees behave the way they do? As a small business owner, if you’re struggling with some of these issues, it probably means that there is not a Policy & Procedure process in place that sets forth guidelines and rules that govern these behaviors. Read More >

Social media has become a fixture on communication agendas. But according to a new survey by Minneapolis-based Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law, social media use is also generating its share of corporate heartburn. Concerns regarding social media use were acknowledged by eight in 10 businesses participating in the national study of management, marketing and human resource executives. Read More >

Tips to stay smart in business

Today’s technology-driven culture offers many ways to stay in touch with people, get all the latest news and stay up-to-date with developments in our industry. We can find virtually anything we need to know in seconds, and be available to customers and employees 24/7. Read More >

How to Be a Fierce Competitor

When most companies are slashing budgets indiscriminately to stay in the black, solid companies and strong mangers see opportunity. That's the message behind How to Be a Fierce Competitor: What Winning Companies and Great Managers Do in Tough Times has to offer the business person or company that wants to learn how to turn a down time into an opportunity. Read More >

5 Ways to Improve Your Leadership Skills

There is a difference between being a manager and being a leader. Managers have subordinates.  Leaders have followers.  As a business owner, understanding the difference and mastering skills in both areas so you can: 1) get the most out of you and your team and 2) have a positive, passion-filled life.  Here are five ways to improve on your leadership skills. Read More >

Leadership: Qualities of Effective Leaders

Living and working in Northwest Arkansas, it’s easy to find examples of successful business people we would define as effective leaders.  Obvious names like Sam Walton, Don Soderquist, and J.B. Hunt, led their companies to become global and industry leaders. There is no doubt these men encompassed the dictionary definition of leadership:  The process of directing the behavior of others toward the accomplishment of some common objectives. Read More >

7 tips for finding more time in your workweek  
As a business owner, it’s easy to get overwhelmed in the day-to-day work environment, especially when your business is relatively new. How do you find more time? Develop organizational skills that help you get the work done so you can enjoy your life. Read More >

I agree with Mr. Tyson. As a retail consultant and mentor to executives across many industries, I often work with businesses facing big, messy problems — challenges that defy definition and change constantly. In my ten years of process and organizational onion-peeling, lack of passion has never been a root cause of such challenges; lack of discipline, on the other hand, has been consistent in both the not-for-profit and private sector. Read More >