Editor's Note - March/April 2014 Issue

It doesn’t matter if you live north, south, east or west. It’s been a long, hard winter. One of the longest, hardest winters in recent memory, in fact. Along with chapped skin, frostbitten fingers, slushy streets and salt-crusted sidewalks, the result has been an epidemic of seasonal affective disorder that’s left many of us feeling as dreary as we are cold.

The extreme weather we’ve had this year is reminiscent of another severe season we’ve all had to grin and bear: that of the economic downturn. Like winter, it arrived suddenly and has long outstayed its welcome. And just like winter, it’s caused its fair share of damage to people, property and morale. So much so that many people are afraid to move, lest they slip and fall. So, they stay put, waiting for warmer weather that never seems to come.

Although it hasn’t completely let go of either, there are signs that winter finally is loosening its grip on both nature and the economy. Slowly but surely, days are getting longer and temperatures warmer. Meanwhile, stocks are soaring, and they’re beginning to lift home values and hiring with them. Spring, it’s safe to say, is nearly here.

This is especially welcome news in the business community. There, it’s not flowers and grass that grow, but sales and revenues. To help them bloom when the ground thaws, we’ve filled our 10^th issue of Forefront with tools to help you till your corporate soil, courtesy of the best business growers we could find.

For instance, there’s Allyson Willoughby, Senior Vice President of People and General Counsel at Glassdoor, who shares her recipe for creating a thriving corporate culture. Additionally, retired swimmer Greg Freiberg, former Chief Financial Officer at Dex One, who offers tips for executing the business equivalent of a butterfly stroke. And Gerry Mecca, Vice President of Information Technology for Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, who describes his one-of-a-kind approach to leadership.

From Human Resources leaders like Colleen Edwards, who says Harry & David’s focus on talent management helped it go from struggling to successful, to Regional Presidents like Joanne Zaiac of DigitasLBi, who explains her secret to work-life balance, our featured executives sow seeds that—implemented in your own business—promise to sprout new leaves as the economic mercury rises.

In the meantime, bundle up; it’s still chilly out there!

-The Forefront Team