Management Tip of the Day: Regain Control of Your Inbox

A full inbox often means unopened messages, backlogged responses, and unnecessary stress. Here are three ways to clear your inbox and your mind: Read email in batches. Don't scan your email for urgent messages and leave everything else for later; that's how you begin to get buried. Check your email at set times during the day and immediately file messages into one of three folders: follow-up, hold, or archive. Use the "two-minute rule." If an email will take less than two minutes to respond to (and many should), respond right away and get rid of it. Letting those easy-to-respond-to messages pile up can wreak havoc on your inbox. Unsubscribe. There's nothing worse than unread messages from mailing lists that clog your inbox. Think about which lists add value and unsubscribe from the rest.

five attributes of enduring family businesses - McKinsey Quarterly - Organization - Strategic Organization

https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Organization/Strategic_Organization/The_five_attributes_of_enduring_family_businesses_2498

The Daily Stat: Insiders Make Better CEOs

Hiring a CEO from inside the company is a safer bet over the long term than bringing in an outsider, according to research by Anthea Zhang of Rice University and Nandini Rajagopalan of USC. But the insider's performance advantage doesn't show up for a few years, because it takes a while for a leader's initiatives to have an impact, the researchers found in their study of 193 industrial CEOs.

Source: Rice University (PDF)

Management Tip of the Day: How to Prepare for a Tough Performance Review

Anticipating a difficult review can be nerve-racking. However, you can minimize the stress by preparing to receive the feedback and setting a positive tone for moving forward. Here are three tips to get ready for that tough conversation:

1. Know what you've done well. List your accomplishments and what skills and capabilities helped you achieve them. Be ready to share these with your boss so she knows what you are proud of.
2. Acknowledge areas of weakness. We've all got them and you're better off recognizing yours. Don't be defensive or fight the obvious, but acknowledge your weaknesses and identify ways to improve them.
3. Demonstrate your willingness to improve. Don't just sit back and listen. Show your boss what you are doing to make things better going forward.

The Daily Stat: Jobless Ex-Managers Turn to Entrepreneurship

With the U.S. job market still stagnant, many out-of-work ex-managers and execs have quit the labor pool to start their own businesses, says outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The percentage of unemployed workers starting companies rose to 8.6% in 2009, a four-year high, with the biggest increases among people 55 and older, according a survey of 3,000 job seekers.

Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.