Morning Briefings

Sectors that traditionally have offered teens their first paying gig — fast-food chains, movie theaters, malls and big-box retailers — have now become the last resorts for out-of-work college graduates or older Americans forced back into the labor force out of sheer financial necessity. The resulting squeeze has left students on the outside looking in.

– Ben Wolfgang, The Washington Times
Number of high-school students with jobs hits 20-year low

If you’re a Marine lieutenant in a firefight, a situation that’s probably as good a proxy as any for hell, then it’s your job to figure out at least 50 to 70 percent of what is going on around you so that you can make intelligent decisions, which translate into good orders, which lead to focused, effective and decisive action. The whole process needs to be rapid to be relevant, but if you are too hasty, then you can lead your men to their deaths. It’s not an easy tension to manage on an ongoing basis.

– Donovan Campell
Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership and Brotherhood

The U.S. reported that businesses were slowing their orders of computers, aircraft, machinery and other long-lasting goods. Measures of business sentiment in Europe slipped, and reports from purchasing managers at manufacturers around the globe turned down.

– The Wall Street Journal
New Signs of Global Slowdown

Memorial Day is much more than a three-day weekend that marks the beginning of summer. To many people, especially the nation’s thousands of combat veterans, this day, which has a history stretching back all the way to the Civil War, is an important reminder of those who died in the service of their country.

–
History.com

Now is the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born for.

– Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea

Introducing people is one of the most important acts in business life.

– Susan RoAne
How to Work a Room: Your Essential Guide to Savvy Socializing

And every tear that had to fall from my eyes. Everyday I wondered how I’d get through the night. Every change life has thrown me. I’m thankful, for every break in my heart. I’m grateful, for every scar. Some pages turned, some bridges burned, but there were lessons learned.

– Carrie Underwood
Lessons Learned

Get all the advice and instructions you can, and be wise the rest of your life.

– Proverbs 19:20
from TouchPoints for Leaders/NIV Translation

You have the need and the right to spend part of your life caring for your soul. It is not easy; there are many obstacles.

– Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. from
Handbook for the Soul

Meet the Meeting Killers: In the Office They Strangle Ideas, Poison Progress; How to Fight Back

– Sue Shellenbarger
The Wall Street Journal