Michael Nash returns to the show to discuss how meetings can be used as a diagnosis of your organization. He can watch your meetings unfold and tell you what your company does well and what your company does poorly. They're reflective of how your company is operating and what it needs to do to improve. 

Michael offers suggestions for running effective, concise, and enthusiastic meetings and that'll improve your organization's overall health.

Brad Israel served multiple tours in the US Army in Afghanistan. As a Green Beret, he saw his share of conflict and has trained and led his share of teams. He transferred into the private sector, bringing his unique military training to a real estate company. I ask him the question - what can a person trained for extreme environments and extreme situations bring to the private sector? And what surprised him the most when he finally got his bearings in the private sector?

His answer to both: A lot!

Lagniappe newspaper's co-editors Ashley Trice and Rob Holbert are making a go of it and doing nicely. They've found a market for newspapers in a time where newspapers are normally struggling. What are their secrets? How have they been successful? They'll tell you its a little good decision making, a little of finding the right people to hire, and a little luck.

Lagniappe newspaper's co-editors Ashley Trice and Rob Holbert are making a go of it and doing nicely. They've found a market for newspapers in a time where newspapers are normally struggling. What are their secrets? How have they been successful? They'll tell you its a little good decision making, a little of finding the right people to hire, and a little luck.

Bibb Lamar and Alex Arendall of ServisFirst Bank' Mobile based operations discuss how small and nimble win the day. Superior customer focus and the ability to be creative in their pursuits of customers is what make this Birmingham based based bank a true success story post Great Recession. In this episode I talk to Bibb and Alex on how they've accomplished all that they have and other businesses can take from their strategy.

Small, regional banks have found a way to make it work. With deposits that suggest many, many more branches than they have, ServisFirst Bank continues to grow at a rate most banks would envy post Great Recession. Bill Lamar and Alex Arendall of ServisFirst discuss their strategy and what makes them stand out in a very competitive marketplace.

We have the ability to control our business' reputation. Whether it be building the reputation, protecting it, or repairing it. Gathering the right type of stakeholders and keeping them close is very important. So is always telling the truth and reacting quickly to anything negative from the public. And our society is a sucker for a sincere apology when things go wrong.

Could an employee who doesn’t like religious music or symbols sue an employer who insists on playing such music or displaying such symbols in the office? “These are real-world scenarios,” attorney Bill Wasden says. “We get this all the time. We advise our employer-clients to make reasonable accommodation to an individual employee’s religious beliefs or practices, and certainly not to discriminate against that employee in terms and conditions of employment.”

Rae and Jon Shanahan of Businessolver discuss trends in benefit plans and how to use them to cater to employee's life stages so that they become effective retention tools.

Skip Ames is an attorney who studies workplace ethics, teaches them at the university level, and travels abroad to teach them to students across the world. His take on the topic is more than compelling, putting you in the middle of some tough decisions. Listen as he talks about how to make workplace ethics an aggressive and proactive business advantage.