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- Bottom Line: This is Not the Bottom of the Financial CrisisOctober 18
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Thomas Barrack Jr. is a friend of mine who happens to be a brilliant guy. We’ve partnered on ventures and he’s the CEO of Colony Capital. He’s been following the financial crisis and occasionally sends me his thoughts about what is going on. He makes such good sense that I’d like to quote a few paragraphs from what he sent me a few days ago:
Why Can’t Anybody Find the Bottom?
It all boils down to trust! The mantra of the country is “In God We Trust--but not counterparties.” No buyer trusts any seller, banker, insurer or intermediary. No investor trusts any depository, insurer, broker-dealer or advisor. No Main Street citizen trusts Wall Street, and neither Main Street or Wall Street trusts the government. No counterparty in any transaction has confidence in the other. Values at every level have been artificially adjusted and when the air comes out of the “speculative hope certificates” everyone is pointing fingers at each other for fault and retribution.
The Worst is in Front of Us
Counterparties are renegotiating, borrowers are violating covenants, banks are finding any excuse not to fund existing commitments, insurers are negating liability, and renegotiations of responsibility and liability are being conducted at every level of the capital structure across the spectrum of companies.
Ther - OPECOctober 16
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On a recent interview on CNBC, I was asked a few questions about the current situation with the banks and the market. Here are the questions (summarized) and my answers:
Q: What do you think about the economy after we get through this credit mess.
A: The economy is really driven by oil, and every time something good happens, oil goes up. Oil is the thing that killed the economies of many nations in the first place. OPEC is probably sitting down right now to raise the hell out of oil, and it’s going to take all of the good out of the things done by various governments. Somebody should sit down and have a strong heart-to-heart with OPEC.
Q: What else do you think may hurt the economy? Is credit really at the heart of the problem?
A: Yes. For example, I’m building buildings and people have a hard time closing on their apartments. They can’t get end loans. Banks used to woo me because what they wanted more than anything was to give end loans where they finance apartments and today, people can’t get end loans. This creates a difficult situation for everyone. So something has to be done about financing and refinancing. The biggest industry in the world is the housing industry. We’ve found that out. If the banks don’t sta
- Laid Off? Try Cosmetic SurgeryOctober 2
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With today’s economy, unfortunately more and more people are finding themselves without jobs. Different people, of course, handle the situation in different ways. Some jump headfirst back into the job hunt, polishing their resumes and interviewing skills. Others take some time off to regroup and maybe consider a career change. But there’s a newer, growing trend. Some people are turning toward plastic surgery.
Apparently, a lot of people figure that they need an edge in order to appeal to prospective employers so they go under the knife or at least settle for some Botox. They think that no matter how experienced or talented they might be, first impressions mean a lot. And if you don’t look good - and oftentimes, that means looking young - that can thoroughly affect how other people perceive you.
There have been all sorts of studies that have found that attractive people tend to earn more money and are promoted more than their less attractive peers. But I’m not sure that that’s a good enough reason to get a nose job or liposuction.
Still, people are doing it. A survey by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery found that two-thirds of surgeons said they'd treated patients seeking to remain competitive in the workplace last yea
- Management Tips: Trusting TelecommutersSeptember 29
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It takes a good manager - and a great employee - for telecommuting to work.
With gasoline prices still uncomfortably high, more companies are allowing their employees to work from home at least occasionally. While that sounds great for the worker, it’s often frustrating for the boss. It requires an unbelievable amount of trust as they hope their charges are actually accomplishing work-related missions and not watching TV, doing the laundry or working on the kids’ science project.
In the end, it should be easy to tell if telecommuting employees are getting the job done. Their work output should speak for itself. But it’s still difficult for a hands-on manager to loosen the reins, especially when it’s someone who is used to walking into cubicles and stopping by desks for meetings all day long.
So there’s a huge trust issue. But if you don’t trust your employees, you shouldn’t have hired them in the first place.
Most good managers know their own personalities and the personalities of their employees. They know which workers are self-starters and have good self-discipline. They know if they can have faith that they’ll actually do what they’re supposed to do if they’re not under the watchful eye of the boss. Likewise, employers know their own personality. They should know if they can be hands-off enough to let employees do th
- Office Etiquette: No Jerks Office PolicySeptember 26
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Despite what some people might think, being an attorney and being a jerk don’t go hand-in-hand. At least not at one Atlanta law firm, where office etiquette matters.
Morris, Manning, & Martin has a “no jerks” policy that everyone - from interns and support staff to the highest-ranking partners - is expected to follow. Employees are hired and later evaluated based on how well they get along with other people. Those who don’t play nice don’t stick around very long. Some actually get fired.
“Law firms can be quite high-pressured,” managing partner Bob Saudek told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We have so much external pressure, we didn’t want overbearing personalities or prima donnas inside the firm.”
It’s hard to believe, especially in what can be a cut-throat field like law. But for some people, making sure the work environment is a pleasant one is more important than making sure the most ambitious, get-them-at-all-cost people are hired.
Maybe being the best person for the job doesn’t always mean being the nicest person for the job. And in my world, I don’t put a lot of stock in just being nice. But I can certainly appreciate what this firm is trying to do as far as establishing a code for office etiquette. I’m not sure it’ll make them the most competitive, successful company around. But it goes one step