Future of Work Briefs

Shelly Lazarus has been building brands at Ogilvy & Mather for more than 40 years. In this condensed and edited interview, Lazarus shares her thoughts on what “brand” really means in a career context, and why simply being yourself may be the best strategy of all—for women or for men.

Sarah was a longtime director of the company that J.P. ran, a Florida-based shopping-center-development group, and she was devoted to both him and his firm. But board meetings had been tense recently, and J.P. had grown distant.

In an interview, Cisco CEO John Chambers once remarked on his intimate knowledge of rival CEOs. He claimed that based on this insight he could anticipate their market moves one or even two steps in advance. I thought he might be exaggerating. I decided to test his claim.

Market Basket employees don’t seem to stick around just for the wages and good benefits. The rallies for Demoulas suggest that they truly believe in his leadership and the direction he set for the company.

I have published one book and completed another. The published book is a history of Intel Corporation, largely told through its three famous founders. The finished book deals with the emerging science of team-building and management. And at the intersection of the two lies an interesting story.

Firms run by CEOs who had won major awards (such as CEO of the year) showed significant declines in stock prices, return on assets, and ability to meet market earnings expectations in the 3 years after the awards were won.

Sheryl Sandberg may have claimed one of the catchiest titles of the decade for a whither-women book — Lean In — but Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi has a pretty good one too, if she ever wants to go there.

The ordinarily decisive George Washington was paralyzed by indecision. It was the summer of 1776, and the Continental Army was being routed by the British in New York. Sick from dysentery and smallpox, 20 percent of Washington’s forces were in no condition to fight.

Monday’s Hobby Lobby decision by the United States Supreme Court marks the first time the government has recognized that some for-profit corporations have religious rights. Usually, Supreme Court decisions clarify matters; but in this case, the ruling has thrown commentators into a confused frenzy.