The Digital Hangout of James Hill: Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur
For managers, few things suck more than firing an employee. Terminating a member of your staff is a strangely intimate and perilous action; and all but the most calloused individuals dread having to take such a step. Even though you may feel absolutely certain your decision is right for the company, the team, even the … Continue reading The Unpleasant Business of Firing People
Until embarrassingly late in life, it never occurred to me how much my upbringing affected how I ran my marketing communications business. I was a Presbyterian minister’s fifth and last kid, but because I went into marketing, I didn’t see a lot of obvious connections between his world view and the gritty world of business … Continue reading Making a Good Business, Brick by Brick
Countless times, I’ve been my own worst enemy when hiring. That’s because I spent too much time hiring what I wanted to see in a candidate instead of what I saw. A lot of managers do the same thing, resulting in turnover, wasted money, and internal strife. Assessments and standardized hiring processes help, but as … Continue reading Hire People, Not Your Imagination
After I sold my business in 2006, I stayed on with the parent company for 10 years in a variety of C-level capacities. In 2012, my parent company undertook a private equity-funded merger with a firm of similar size. As is so often the case, the success of the deal hinged on hitting certain financial … Continue reading Two Masters
It might sound like a poor-man's Isak Dinesen, but I’ll say it anyway. I had a marketing agency in Saratoga Springs, 30 miles north of Albany, the New York state capital. I had it for 15 years, in fact, before a combination of factors led me to sell the business to Phoenix-based McMurry, Inc., in … Continue reading The Human Nature of Business