Happy New Year

On this day for the past five years, I have celebrated the beginning of the new business year. Labor Day, in many respects, sets in motion the rhythm of a new business cycle, a fresh start, new agendas, and the launch of a sprint into winter and thru to spring, then finally pacing to a wind-down to next summer, when the cycle begins again. Alas, this new business year is troubling. Unemployment persists, Europe remains gravely unsettled, and we are 60 days from a Presidential vote that will be defining. Increasingly, there is a view that we are not experiencing a persistent recession; instead, we are in the midst of an economic reset that is changing the rules by which we run our businesses. I personally concur with this view, and as executives chart their course for the New Year and beyond, the winners will be those who figure out the new rules and act accordingly.

Tony LoPinto is the Global Sector Leader of Korn/Ferry International's Real Estate Practice and founder of SelectLeaders. The views expressed in this article are the author's own.