When CVS/Caremark announced that it would forego some $2 billion in sales of tobacco and related products recently, CEO Larry J. Merlo stated that: “We came to the decision that providing health care and selling cigarettes just don’t go together in the same setting.”

A global telecoms company recently decided to do what many companies are doing: figure out how to turn big data into big profits. They put together a preliminary budget and an RFP that asked vendors to take the data the company had and identify opportunities.

Here’s a tip as you put together a leadership development plan – find a few people to sit on your own personal Board of Directors. What is this group going to do? They’re going to help you plan, execute, and assess your development as a leader. You’re going to brief them on your plans, and ask for their advice and suggestions.

If you’re a senior HR leader, you’re expected to have your finger on the pulse of the organization’s top talent. Yet, I still see competent HR leaders blindsided by talent questions from the CEO. Here are five questions you should anticipate.

Working across organizational boundaries was a new way of thinking 25 years ago — one that was largely championed by Jack Welch. Fast forward to today, and we live in a different world. Our communications technologies have dramatically improved, and we have instantaneous access to massive amounts of information. Welch’s “boundaryless organization” should seemingly be the de facto reality for most companies.

Peter Aceto, the CEO of Tangerine, recently said in The Globe and Mail, “I would rather engage in a Twitter conversation with a single customer than see our company attempt to attract the attention of millions in a coveted Superbowl commercial.” This is the preference of a truly social CEO.

It’s a dilemma that faces family businesses all too frequently. We saw it recently when we worked with a $4 billion global manufacturing business in Hong Kong. The company was managed by the founder, who turned it over to his son when he retired.

Why is it that so many companies are ill prepared for the departure of the incumbent CEO, especially if that’s the result of poor performance, ethical issues, death or incapacitation? This article describes seven typical miscues in CEO succession planning, along with suggestions for how improved practices can lead to the preferred outcome: selection of a new CEO who is equipped to address the company’s critical challenges and opportunities and who enjoys the support of the Board.

A friend of mine was having a hard time balancing her career at a large financial firm with her family demands. She worked at one of those all-too-typical workplaces where employees are expected to log 60 hours or so a week — a perfect illustration of what I call a “culture of overwork.”

Sarah was a longtime director of the company that J.P. ran, a Florida-based shopping-center-development group, and she was devoted to both him and his firm. But board meetings had been tense recently, and J.P. had grown distant.