November 15 KAZI Book Review Features Author of TOO BIG TO SAVE?: How to Fix the U.S. Financial System

Robert Pozen, author of  TOO BIG TO SAVE?: How to Fix the U.S. Financial System is the November 15 guest on KAZI Book Review on KAZI 88.7 FM, 12:30 p.m. – 1p.m. You can listen to the interview live on the web at http://www.live365.com/profiles/kazifm.

Widely recognized for his leadership in both finance and economic policy, Pozen takes federal policymakers to task for spending huge sums of money with too few benefits for America’s taxpayers. Instead, he urges our government to rein in its bailouts, stop buying toxic assets, and provide more incentives for the private sector to regulate itself.  Pozen argues that:   

• The key to our economy’s recovery is the revival of loan securitization
• Broad-based legislative restrictions on executive compensation tend to backfire
• Fair value accounting did not cause the financial crisis and should mostly be retained
•  International cooperation won’t do much to prevent future financial crises
• Regulatory gaps should be closed without creating omnibus agencies

Within a sweeping analysis, TOO BIG TO SAVE? chronicles the collapse of our financial system, one domino at a time from mortgage-backed securities to stock markets, from money market funds to recapitalized banks, and from the SEC’s mistakes to international protectionism. Pozen then suggests how the securitization process should be reformed, assesses the impact of the financial crisis on the stock and bond markets, and evaluates the federal bailout of financial institutions by buying their stock and toxic assets.

Robert Pozen

 Pozen is Chairman of MFS Investment Management, which manages over $150 billion in assets for more than five million investors worldwide.  He was formerly vice chairman of Fidelity Investments and president of Fidelity

Management & Research Company, the investment advisor to the Fidelity mutual funds.  He served on President Bush’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security and as Secretary of Economic Affairs for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.  He is a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and has contributed numerous articles to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Financial Times.

Strategies for Career Success Focus of October 26 Economic Perspectives

In this time of economic and job insecurity, people need to make their mark and prove that they are essential and indispensable to their company. According to Carla Harris, a twenty year veteran of Wall Street, knowledge and diligence simply aren’t enough to successfully climb the corporate ladder in today’s competitive work environment.  The October 26 edition of Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7 FM features an interview with Harris, author of EXPECT TO WIN: Proven Strategies for Success from a Wall Street Vet.   In her book Carla looks closely at her own ascent to the top and offers strategies that will ensure career advancement and success in any industry.

During her twenty-year career on Wall Street, Harris she’s executed the IPO’s for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Redback, as well as the $3.2 billion common stock transaction for Immunex, one of the largest biotechnology offerings in United States History. While climbing the competitive corporate ladder, Harris sought guidance from her mentors and superiors, but found some of their career advice too general. As her own career advanced, Harris built her “key survival tools” or “pearls,” and vowed when she reached upper management and people looked to her for advice, she would provide them with what they needed to do to fulfill their true career potential.

In EXPECT TO WIN is Harris offers advice in an easy-to-read format using “Carla’s Pearls.” Her proven strategies of success include:

• You Are the Captain of Your Career: The 90 Day Rule
• Leveraging Your Voice: Articulate Your Views and Expectations
• Power in the Network: Competitive Advantage
• Expect to Win: Show Up With Your Best Self Every Day

Carla Harris

Carla Harris is currently a managing director for Morgan Stanley and has spent over seventeen years of her career in capital markets. She has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including Black Enterprise’s “75 Most Powerful Women in Business” (2006), Black Enterprise’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” (2006), Fortune’s “The Most Influential List” (2005), Ebony Magazine’s “15 Corporate Women at the Top” (2004), Essence Magazine’s list of “The 50 Women Who Are Shaping the World” (2003), and Fortune’s list of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America” (2002).

Developing a Better Business Model Focus of October 5 Economic Perspectives

If the founders of Google, PayPal, or Starbucks had stuck to their original business plans, we’d likely never have heard of them. Instead, they made radical changes to their initial models, became household names, and delivered huge returns for investors. How did they get from their Plan A to a business model that worked?  Why did they succeed when most new ventures crash and burn?  How can entrepreneurs avoid the risk of today’s high-risk economy?

John Mullins, co-author of GETTING TO PLAN B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model, will be the October 5 guest on Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7 FM.  In the book, Mullins and co-author Randy Komisar argue that the startup process, largely driven by poorly conceived business plans based on untested assumptions, is seriously flawed. But there is a better way to launch new ideas—without wasting years of your time and loads of investors’ money.

In GETTING TO PLAN B, Mullins and Komisar present a field-tested process for rigorously stress-testing your initial business idea, and using the evidence you uncover to make swift corrections that tip the business equation in your favor. Focusing on five elements that determine any business model’s economic viability— its revenue, gross margin, operating, working capital, and investment models—the authors’ approach significantly reduces your risk of failure by:

• Comparing your idea with existing models to steal what works and avoid what doesn’t
• Identifying “leaps of faith”: the as-yet-untested questions you bank your business on
• Conducting fast, inexpensive, data-driven experiments to test your assumptions
• Using this data to make smart strategic changes and course correct before it’s too late

Through examples from their firsthand experience and research in large businesses around the world like Skype, Ryanair, and Costco, and smaller startups like Silverglide Surgical Technology and the African Leadership Academy, Mullins and Komisar reveal how companies have used such systematic experimentation to transform their current business into a viable Plan B.

John Mullins is the author of the definitive book on assessing new venture opportunities, The New Business Road Test and an Associate Professor of Management Practice at London Business School.

“Missing in Action: Black Women in the Boardroom” Focus of September 21 Economic Perspectives

Dr. Wendy Johnson, author of Missing in Action: Black Women in the Boardroom, will be the September 21 guest on Economic Perspectives, 5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. on KAZI 88.7 FM.  Dr. Cornel West, a Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University, describes Missing in Action as “a powerful intervention into our public discourse about the American business world. It is a courageous-and badly needed-book that lays bare the ways in which the grand talent and genius of Black women remain relatively untapped. Don’t miss this book!”

Dr. Johnson, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin has over 20 years of business experience, a BS in Accounting/Economics from Lakeland College, an MBA from LeTourneau University and a PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University.

She is the President of Emerge Consulting Group, LLC, a management consulting firm and the parent company of Dr. Wendy and Emerge Publishing.  Dr. Johnson is also president of the Houston chapter of the National Black MBA Association.

Marketing of Consumer Debt to America Focus of September 7 Economic Perspectives

Charles Geisst, author of COLLATERAL DAMAGED: The Marketing of Consumer Debt to America, will be the September 7 guest on Economic Perspectives.  Geisst believes today’s credit crisis  is the result of Wall Street’s orchestrated maneuvers to fuel what he calls “cannibal consumption.” In COLLATERAL DAMAGED Geisst explains how a nation of savers became a nation of consumers and how Wall Street turned Americans addiction to spending into the toxic securities that have crippled the global economy. A thorough and penetrating analysis of how the marketing of consumer debt has radically transformed global economics, COLLATERAL DAMAGED connects the dots from consumer spending, to credit cards, to home equity loans, and beyond.

Geisst is a professor of finance at Manhattan College and author of eighteen books on finance and economics.  His books include Wall Street: A History, Wheels of Fortune: The History of Speculation from Scandal to Respectability, and Undue Influence: How the Wall Street Elite Put the Financial System at Risk.  His books have been on the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and New York Times best-seller lists.

How the Best Leaders Inspire Their Teams Focus of August 17 Economic Perspectives

John Zenger, coauthor of The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate, will be the guest on the August 17 edition of Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7 FM. In their bestselling work The Extraordinary Leader, performance thought leaders John Zenger and Joseph Folkman revealed the 16 key competencies that separate the top 10 percent of leaders from the rest. Since that book’s publication, they and coauthor Scott Edinger discovered, through an extensive study conducted over four years, that leaders who possessed the ability to inspire and motivate outperformed all others.

The authors found that the impact of inspiring and motivating others is consistent across different kinds of organizations and within different cultures. The Inspiring Leader reveals the authors’ newest proprietary research on how top leaders inspire teams to greatness. It discusses the behaviors exhibited by the most successful leaders and includes advice on how to implement them.

John H. Zenger, D.B.A., is the  CEO of Zenger Folkman, a firm that brings empirical research, innovative development methods, and software tools to leadership development. He is a member of the HRD Hall of Fame and has authored or coauthored eight books and 50 articles on leadership, productivity, and teams.

Making the Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur Focus of July 20 Economic Perspectives

Pamela Slim, author of Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, will be the July 20 guest on Economic Perspectives.  Pamela’s book provides a wide variety of information for those dreaming about making the transition from employee to entrepreneur.  It covers not just the nuts and bolts of starting a business, but a full discussion of the emotional issues involved.

Pamela Slim spent a decade traveling all over the country as a self-employed trainer for large corporations. She was surprised to find that many of the most successful employees at these companies harbored secret dreams of breaking out to start their own business. They would pull her aside after a meeting and whisper, “I would love to work for myself, but have no idea how to get started. How did you do it?”

So Pamela started a blog—Escape from Cubicle Nation—to share her experience and advice. Soon, questions and stories poured in from corporate prisoners around the world. As her blog gained popularity, she also interviewed some of the brightest experts in entrepreneurship on topics from finance to branding to marketing via social networks.

Pamela’s expertise in personal and business exchange was developed through consulting for corporations such as Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, and Charles Scwab.

Innovative Strategies for Business Survival During Recession Focus of July 6 Economic Perspectives

Scott Anthony, author of The Silver Lining: An Innovative Playbook for Uncertain Times is the July 6 guest on Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7 FM.  TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW CLICK HERE: Scott Anthony Interview

In The Silver Lining Anthony argues that while the economic shock of 2008 constitutes the new normal, too many managers are slashing costs indiscriminately.  He says smart managers continue innovating during tough times by stopping ineffective initiatives, changing key business practices, and starting more productive behavior.  The result is the smart managers’ companies emerge from downturns stronger than ever.  Providing a wealth of ideas, tools, and examples from diverse industries, Anthony explains how to safeguard your company’s profitability even during the toughest recessions.

Anthony is President of Innosight, a management consulting firms focused on innovation. Anthony has worked with Fortune 500 and start-up companies in industries such as media (print and broadcast), consumer products, investment banking, transportation and logistics, healthcare, medical devices, software, petrochemicals, and communications equipment. In 2005-2006 he spearheaded a year-long project to help the newspaper industry grapple with industry transformation (Newspaper Next), and in 2003-2004 led a multi-month project to help the government of Singapore understand how to create an environment that fosters entrepreneurialism and innovation.

It’s Not About the Coffee: Former Starbucks Executive on June 15 Economic Perspectives

Former Starbucks International president Howard Behar will discuss his principles for business success on the June 15 edition of Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7.  TO LISTEN TO THIS INTERVIEW CLICK HERE: Howard Behar Interview.

Behar, who served on the board of directors of Starbucks from 1996 to 2008, is the author of It’s Not About the Coffee: Lessons on Putting People First from a Life at Starbucks.  During his many years as a senior executive at Starbucks, Howard Behar helped establish the Starbucks culture, which stresses the importance of people over profits. He coached hundreds of leaders at every level and helped the company grow into a world-renowned brand. Now he reveals the ten principles and the memorable wisdom that guided his leadership and success—and not one of them is about coffee.

“It is my humble but firm belief that it is people—in the best of times, and especially in the hardest times—who will inspire you, sustain and grow your organization, and get you through. As I’ve learned throughout my career, and my own trials and tribulations in leading myself and others, the easy high-flying times are guaranteed not to last. Ups and downs, even severe ones, are part of both the economic and human cycles,” wrote Behar in his book.

Behar joined Starbucks in 1989 when the company had just begun to venture outside the Northwest region. Initially serving as vice president of sales and operations, he grew the retail business from 28 stores to more than 400 stores by the time he was named president of Starbucks Coffee International in 1995. Under Behar’s leadership, Starbucks opened its first location in Tokyo in 1996. Following this historic opening, over the next three years he introduced the Starbucks brand across Asia and the United Kingdom. After a two-year hiatus, he returned to Starbucks as President of Starbucks North America until his retirement in January 2003.

EVERYBODY GETS A CAR! Profiting from The Power of Surprise

To listen to the interview click here: Andy Nulman Interview

“Everybody gets a car!” No dear reader, I’m not Oprah, but it did grab your attention, or at least it did when Oprah did it. The quote is one of the many examples of the “power of surpise” provided by Andy Nulman in his new book, Pow! Right Between the Eyes: Profiting from the Power of Surprise.  Nulman will be the guest on the May 25 edition of Economic Perspectives on KAZI 88.7 FM, 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. 

Nulman spent 15 years as the CEO of the Just for Laughs International Festival in Montreal, Canada, the worlds largest comedy festival drawing over 2 million visitors a year.  The main revelation of the book, or as Nulman puts it, “the big statement,” is,

“The element of surpise is the most important aspect of contemporary business,” writes Nulam in plain, unadorned language. Nulman builds on his big statement in the chapter Shock 101, calling on entrepreneurs “to be bombastically fantastic, to howl among a world of whisperers, to be the glowing neon in a palette of flat black and white…”

Andy Nulman has been creating and leading major media projects for over three decades. Currently the President and CMO of Airborne Mobile, which he co-founded in 1999 with Garner Bornstein, he provides the company with the insight and creativity necessary to successfully strengthen brands like Maxim, Family Guy, the NFL and Taco Bell through the creation of innovative mobile content and applications. In 2006, Airborne was honored as North America’s 4th-Fastest Growing Tech Company in Deloitte’s Fast 500 ranking, one year after being sold to Japan’s Cybird Holdings for over $100 million. In 2008, he and Garner repurchased the company and are now the majority shareholders.