CFOs should operate as trusted, valuable members of an executive team. Rather than being the guy or gal who "ruins everything by worrying about numbers all the time", he or she should be a go-to professional who gives knowledgeable advice. But if you don't feel comfortable even broaching subjects with your CFO, it's a warning sign you can't afford to ignore.

The value of management training should never be underestimated, and should be strongly considered by businesses of all types and sizes. Management training is not reserved only for big Fortune 500 companies; even very small organizations need to be managed effectively in order to be successful...

Trust is a funny thing, it is difficult to obtain, even harder to keep and can be gone in an instant. When people think about trust it is pretty easy for them to define those major things that will cause them to lose trust in someone or something. However when it comes to the work environment trust turns out to be quite precarious in what can cause it to be lost between the manager, company and employee. Lately we have seen a number of major events that have caused people to lose their trust and faith in major institutions like banking or the investment community. No less important but less publicized is the number of people who no longer trust the companies that they work for due to multiple layoffs, downsizings and restructurings. These types of events are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the ways that trust can be broken.

"Consultants borrow your watch to tell you the time, and then walk off with your watch". So said Robert Townsend, a former CEO of Avis, in his no-nonsense observation on management sillyness - Up the Organization...