This interview with David Rosenblatt, chief executive of 1stdibs, an online marketplace for high-end goods including art, antiques, jewelry and furniture, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant. Q. Were you in leadership roles early on? A. I was president of my class and co-president of my debating society in high school. But leadership was never my goal. I studied liberal […]

This interview with Jody Greenstone Miller, co-founder and C.E.O. of the Business Talent Group, was conducted and condensed byAdam Bryant. The Business Talent Group provides independent professionals for project-based work. Q. Were you in leadership roles or doing entrepreneurial things when you were younger? A. From the time I was 12, I always worked, because I […]

January is always a good month for behavioral economics: Few things illustrate self-control as vividly as New Year’s resolutions. February is even better, though, because it lets us study why so many of those resolutions are broken. But a more important question may involve a resolution that so many of us fail to make. It […]

Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday we mark this holiday weekend, had less leadership experience than almost any earlier president. George Washington and Andrew Jackson had been generals, several other presidents had been governors, and all the Southerners had owned plantations. They had run organizations and managed men. President Lincoln, by contrast, was a former state legislator, […]

Dear Dan, I recently met up with an old friend whom I hadn’t seen for a very long time. I had been eagerly looking forward to our lunch, but I left very disappointed. All she did for more than two hours was complain—mostly about her husband, with some breaks to complain about her kids. It […]

Most reasons the most talented and productive people flee a given workplace can be avoided. Here are common mistakes, along with better alternatives. Here are 10 ways to guarantee that your best people will quit: 10. Treat everyone equally. This may sound good, but your employees are not equal. Some are worth more, because they produce […]

Five years, two articles in this space, assistance from the Labor Department and the Internal Revenue Service and prodding from one no-nonsense bankruptcy judge — that’s what it took for owners of the 401(k) plan sponsored by Penn Specialty Chemicals to gain access to their money last month. Finally, these 401(k) holders have been released from the limbo where they’d been trapped […]

Neurotics rejoice. If you can. Research suggests that the more anxious and withdrawn among us tend to gain respect over time at work, while more outwardly confident extroverts lose some of their initial esteem. To some degree, the research shows the value of creating low expectations, said the study’s lead author, Corinne Bendersky, an associate professor at […]

Silvian Marcus, the CEO of the global structural engineering firm WSP, recently showed the good people of World Architecture News around the building site—which now tops off at roughly 600 feet, less than half its final height. In his tour, Marcus explains how the building’s exceptionally thin profile is supported by a conventional central column core, but […]

The Haggler by David Segal In this week’s episode, a rare twofer. That’s right. Two aggrieved consumers, one action-stuffed column. While the rest of the world offers less for more, the Haggler delivers more for the exact same price. Pretty sweet, isn’t it? “Not really,” the Haggler can hear you say. The length of the column is […]