Tag Archives: executives

U-Turn Ahead: Uber hits brakes over new hire’s refusal to help in trade secret defense

In a move that surprised no one watching the drama between Uber and Google’s Waymo self-driving vehicle division, Uber fired engineering whiz Anthony Levandowski on Tuesday. The company thought it scored a real coup last year in hiring Levandowski to … Continue reading

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Crass Executive Spending Puts Leading Veterans Charity under a Cloud

As obvious as it seems, abusing an expense account with lavish personal spending is one of the most common ways a CEO can get into trouble. Being an executive comes with reasonable perks that are necessary and helpful to doing the job. But some people get carried away and forget that these funds are not for their personal use and enjoyment. Continue reading

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Executives Who Resort to Fear, Intimidation Can Lose Support at All Levels

Watching the news, it’s hard not to notice a lot of executives losing the support of their companies’ boards of directors. The travails of recently resigned Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn come to mind, but there are others. What usually precedes … Continue reading

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What to do when your successful business unit is sold

Success is sometimes rewarded in strange ways, such as when a company sells off a highly profitable business unit in order to raise cash (as Nestle did when it bought Cadbury and as Barnes & Noble is considering doing with … Continue reading

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What’s the Best Way to Take People With You to a New Company?

I’ve devoted a couple of blogs (here and here) to what things executives should and should not take with them when they change employers. Simply playing that part right can help avoid litigation with former employers. Where it gets really … Continue reading

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Changing Jobs? Here’s What Not to Take With You

In my last blog, I discussed what executives should take with them when they’re leaving their company. In this blog, we’ll go over something just as important: what they shouldn’t take with them. The short answer is, besides the employment … Continue reading

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Executive Deposition Tips, Part 6: Lose the Ego

Executives face several perils in a deposition, but perhaps none more perilous than their own egos. Few executives got where they are by being shy, retiring types. They probably achieved success the old fashioned way: by being disciplined, demanding, type … Continue reading

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Executive Deposition Tips, Part 5: Ambiguities and Ventriloquism

When I’m preparing an executive for a deposition, I have to remind him or her that even though the deposition may be held in a run-of-the-mill conference room, it may as well be in a courtroom because what’s said there … Continue reading

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Executive Depositions Tips, Part 1: Answer the Question

When I’m preparing my executive clients for a deposition, I turn on the recorder and ask them the following question: “Do you know what time it is?” The recorder is crucial in this exercise because the client—used to normal human … Continue reading

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Business Continuity vs. Employee Safety: An Easy Call

Goldman Sachs took some heat recently when it was reported that top-level executives told the company’s Japan-based employees not to leave the country, despite their concerns about radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. I should say, for … Continue reading

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