Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Barbara Khozam, internationally recognized customer service speaker and trainer. We hope you enjoy Barbara’s wisdom and perspective.

Negativity has always been easier to pass along than positivity. This is largely due to our antiquated human nature of day-to-day survival against the world around us. Our existence depended, historically, on knowing where dangers could be found. So passing on this negative knowledge was essential to our lives. However, we no longer live in such an era. But, as human citizens of a modern world, why not make the conscious decision to make positivity contagious?

Anyone trying to run a company today knows it can be complex, difficult, and full of change. The one thing that seems to be a constant in a world of change, is the need for top talent. Whoever has the best talent typically wins. Securing that talent is challenging on a good day, and depending on your specific situation, can be darn near impossible on others.

Of course, to acquire and keep the best talent, you have to offer a competitive total compensation package, including salary and benefits. There are standard employee benefits such as medical, dental, retirement accounts, etc. And then there are differentiators – benefits some offer but most do not - that set you apart from your competitors.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Mike Cahill, President of Banking Services at Ruoff Home Mortgage. We hope you enjoy Mike’s wisdom and perspective.

By chance, I was visiting with a former coworker the other day and two things popped up. One, I saw a copy of the book The Energy Bus on a desk in the office. Two, the person I was talking to shared how a coworker always had something negative or cutting to say. There was never anything positive forthcoming from them. This coworker could not seem to see this about themselves.

It is no surprise that Gibson is an avid supporter of and believer in ESOPs and all the benefits they can bring to a company. While there is no such thing as a silver bullet, we believe in the power of ESOPs and the many opportunities they offer to improve a company on so many levels.

An ESOP can offer significant opportunities in:

• Succession planning/perpetuation of ownership
• Employee engagement
• Corporate culture
• Building retirement wealth

In August of 2009, I was named President of Gibson. The fourth one in our entire history. Most of you remember what it was like in our country back in 2009-10. "The Great Recession" was crippling our economy. Companies were laying off large chunks of their workforce or closing their doors entirely.

Today we're sharing insight from guest blogger Mary Josephs, Founder & CEO of Verit Advisors and Forbes Contributor with a focus on ESOPs. We hope you enjoy Mary's wisdom and perspective. 

With stock prices perched at precarious levels, and an Internet-technology stock selloff already partially in motion, there’s a great anxiety among many business owners and investors hoping for a smart exit strategy.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger René  Boer,  a Certified Implementer of EOS. We hope you enjoy René's wisdom and perspective.

Car crashes are a leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13. Many times, deaths and injuries can be prevented by proper use of car seats, boosters, and seat belts. On average, two children under 13 were killed per day in 2016 while riding in cars, SUVs, pickups, or vans. Below are some tips to follow to ensure that a child is properly secured in your vehicle.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Ron Kitchens, Chief Executive Officer at Southwest Michigan First. We hope you enjoy Ron’s wisdom and perspective.

When hiring new team members, typical organizations focus on resumes and references. Great organizations, on the other hand, focus on selecting the best people based on talent, strengths, and fit. It may be faster to scan credentials and hire based on pieces of paper, but I guarantee that a strategic approach will lead to fewer regrets in the future. Simply put, we as leaders need to know what to look for and how to find it.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Scott Downes, founder and principal of Thomas LLC, an independent communications consultant. We hope you enjoy Scott’s wisdom and perspective.

As I was partaking in the annual holiday known as “Shark Week”, I thought a recent re-watching of the original summer blockbuster Jaws might provide a worthy metaphor to explore some leadership lessons. Chief Brody, Hooper, Mayor Vaughn, and that old salty dog Quint provide so many pearls of wisdom throughout the movie that I’m sure we could all learn from.