Statement

I'm looking forward to sharing posts from time to time about things I've learned in my career at and the . (I also post frequently on Microsoft Gates Foundation my blog .) Last month, I went to Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting.

One afternoon over ten years ago, I was talking on the phone to my boss, former GE Chairman and CEO Jack Welch, when the line went dead. I called his assistant Rosanne Badowski to say we had been disconnected. "No you weren't," she said. "Jack hung up on you."

Barbara Babbit Kaufman, Contributing Writer Barbara Kaufman: Tell me a little about your early life? Kat Cole: I grew up in a single parent home in Jacksonville with my mom and younger sisters. The part of town we grew up in was very casual and industrial.

what he said.

When I was in grade school, I was a real tomboy. I cut my hair short and wore my brother's hand-me-downs. I bullied other boys in my class and commandeered their Star Wars action figures. Strangers regularly referred to me as "little boy" and I swelled with pride.

Steve Ballmer recently announced his retirement setting off a firestorm of analysis of his career at Microsoft. I don't want to get into the pluses and minuses of someone's career - that's for history to decide - but we should acknowledge a very simple fact: Very few people have contributed as much to society as Steve Ballmer.

There can never be forgiveness if we do not first admit our mistakes. Racism is a sin for which we have never atoned. It is a grave injustice that must be addressed before we can ever truly move forward as a nation. Apologies are not excuses, but they are a good start on the road to repentance.

NASDAQ: Amazon.com ( AMZN ) was once the poster child of what happens when excitement about a company detaches from reality. The headlines "Amazon founder named TIME magazine's Person of the Year," and "Analysts Fear Amazon Is Going Bankrupt" appeared within 14 months of each other around the year 2000.

I love what I do. I was fortunate enough early on in my career to discover a love for fashion and retail, and to this day, I wake up every day excited about what lies ahead. Retailing is hard work, but it has taken my career on a journey that has been amazing and fulfilling.

There is nothing more important for a business than hiring the right team. If you get the perfect mix of people working for your company, you have a far greater chance of success. However, the best person for the job doesn't always walk right through your door.

LEWIS SCHIFF is the executive director of the Inc. Business Owners Council . His latest book is Business Brilliant: Surprising Lessons from the Greatest Self-Made Business Icons. In November, he will co-lead the first-ever Inc. Riders Summit , a three-day motorcycle road trip for entrepreneurs through the Nevada desert. @lewisschiff

what he said

Over the past twenty-plus years, I have transitioned in my career from the role of a solo stylist to CEO of an ever-expanding, multifaceted company that encompasses a styling studio, product development department and a digital media group.

Twitter Sladden was hired by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams after she successfully integrated Tweets into Current TV's coverage of the 2008 presidential elections. At Twitter, Sladden's responsibilities include creating and maintaining relationships with the information network's most influential users, from actors to civic leaders.