Doug Phares is a passionate business consultant who helps executives find ways to get past all the hurdles and challenges that slow us down. From small-scale work like examining product bundling to assisting decision-makers in developing 3-year plans, Phares has seen it all over the course of his career.

In his news media career, Phares was most recently the CEO of the Sandusky Newspaper Group (SNG), a media holding company operating in Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. Before that, he was Boone Newspapers's group president and managed Copley properties.

Today, Phares is managing director of Silverwind Enterprises, a Florida-based firm that provides executive-level business services. He's also the board chair of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches, an organization with 3,000-plus international members comprised of independent business owners and non-profit career centers such as colleges and universities, military bases, workforce development offices and state Departments of Labor in North America.

In this 165th episode of "E&P Reports," we review this year's contributions to Editor & Publisher Magazine from consultant Dough Phares's "The Corner Office, his monthly advice column for c-suite executives. Topics we cover include how to better onboard and retain quality talent, increasing productivity with what he calls a "Big Mac Presentation," and how to bolster sales by "Getting to the no," increasing a manager's self-awareness by asking, "Are you managing or doing?" And there's much more.