Amy Schumer, Denis Leary and Louis C.K. will join Jon Stewart for the three "Daily Show" episodes leading up to his Aug. 6 finale.

"You don't want to hear some of the things I want to do to that man," said the 93-year-old actress while speaking to the Associated Press.

Insomniac, a dance-music promoter, has generated $3.2 billion in economic activity in the U.S. in recent years.

There's a lesson to be learned here.

Mastering the art of the pause is a big key.

This week at the multiplex, we've got spies under siege ("Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation," starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson) and hapless road-trippers ("Vacation," starring Ed Helms and Christina Applegate). Find out what the critics have to say on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fierce CEO, Halley Bock, was interviewed in this CFA Magazine article by Lori Pizzani. It was originally posted here.Which would you rather hear from your boss: praise or criticism? Now ask yourself: Which has more impact on your job and career? Does criticism or a compliment resonate longer with you and teach you more?The results of a survey of more than 2,500 employees from various companies around the globe found that 57% of participants preferred negative feedback from their bosses and 43% preferred positive feedback. For the purposes of the survey, negative feedback included suggestions for improvement, exploration of new and better ways to do things, and pointing out something that was done in a less-than-optimal way. Positive feedback included praise, reinforcement, and congratulatory comments.Professional services firm Zenger Folkman in Salt Lake City released the results in February 2014. Why would employees prefer to hear negative comments from their manager? A significant number of respondents, 72% expected their performance to improve if they were given corrective feedback.The perception that bosses are eager to point out what’s wrong is false. The survey found that giving negative or corrective feedback is something that most managers frequently avoid."People believe constructive criticism is essential to their career development, " says Zenger Folkman CEO Jack Zenger. "They want to hear it from their leaders, but their leaders don’t feel comfortable offering it up." Thus, he concludes, "The ability to give corrective feedback constructively is one of the critical keys to leadership."To read the full article, click here.The post Corrective Leadership: How Should Managers Use Praise and Criticism to Improve Performance? appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Fierce CEO, Halley Bock, is currently writing a column for Business 2 Community. We wanted to share with you her most recent article, published Wednesday, August 20th.We’ve all done it, or had it done to us: An email used as an inconspicuous nuclear bomb meant to annihilate in the most "charming" and brief way possible. Or the dreaded "cc" ploy designed to ensure public humiliation. Or the over-enthusiastic, reply-all that creates another 100 emails on reply-all policy and email etiquette. The list could go on.We have unwittingly uncovered many ways to abuse email - some more obvious than others, some more harmful, some more intentional. Too often, abusers are substituting cold, hard, unemotional keystrokes for real, productive relationships with coworkers. Connection, trust and relationships just can’t be established electronically.When email is the optimal communication option, make sure you aren’t stepping into a digital minefield. Here are 4 tips to avoid an email #FAIL at your workplace.1. Emoticons can’t save you.The most dangerous aspect of email is that the recipient can’t see your face, hear your voice, or read your body language to understand intent. And in the void of any signals, we assume the worst. An email that simply states, "I understand." can be interpreted a multitude of ways. I’ve even had it come back as angry, terse, or clearly put out. When, really, all I was saying was I understood. Isn’t that a good thing?Rather than get into the psychology of humans and why we tend towards "worst case scenario," the invention of emoticons is clear. We put a smiley face at the end of statements to let our audience know that we are happy. Everything is good! In this case, I recommend you use them.However, if you find yourself needing to sprinkle your email with smiley faces every other sentence or paragraph, you either need to pick up the phone and have a conversation, as the topic is too sensitive for email, or you have an Emoji addiction. In either case, don’t leave it to the recipient to deal with the emoticon-loaded message.2. Keep it short.Unlike this article, emails should be short. There are few things more depressing than opening an email only to find an electronic tome in which every bullet point requires an answer.If you have a lot of information to share, consider downloading it into a shared or local document for easier reference down the road. If it is simply an "FYI" recapping the outcome of a meeting AND your team has agreed that receiving notes in the body of an email is in good form, then by all means go for it.And, finally, if your recipient list is more than 5 with more than 5 critical items for feedback, consider pulling the team together for a quick meeting. Chances are you’ll avoid a lot of confusion and make much more efficient use of everyone’s time by coming together in person or on a call.3. Lower the flag.How many of you know someone whose emails are ALWAYS IMPORTANT!! Forever URGENT, as if the world may stop spinning should their emails go unattended to for 24 hours. Where every message line includes "IMMEDIATE RESPONSE REQUIRED," as if the double red flag wasn’t enough of a cue.Look, I like immediate gratification as much as the next person. And, sure, I like to feel important every once in a while. But let me assure you: your emails are not that important all the time. It may feel really important to you, as it should! You’re doing what you’re passionate about. But please recognize that the rest of us have our own important things as well.4. When in doubt, don’t.Finally, words passed on by my grandmother come to mind, "When in doubt, don’t." If you’re concerned that someone will misinterpret your intent or tone, they will. If you think the matter or issue would best be discussed in person, it would. If you suspect the information is too complex to communicate in email, it is. If you know deep down that you are taking pot shots behind the safe veil of an email, they know too.Email is a wonderful tool afforded to us. While it is extremely powerful in communicating information, it severely lacks in the area of creating and maintaining strong personal relationships. Be careful not to coast on email by replacing conversations with electronic memos, where we rely on binary code to do the work of emotional connection.While we can technically "connect" online, we can only forge true, meaningful, long-term relationships face-to-face or in the presence of one another’s voice. So stand up, walk out, and deliver that message in person whenever you can.The post How to Avoid an Email #FAIL appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Fierce CEO, Halley Bock, was interviewed in this Entrepreneur article by Zeynep Ilgaz. It was originally posted here. At my previous job, I worked with a team on an important project. Our group was cohesive, except for one teammate.Nothing was good enough for her. Had the members of the team thought things through before setting the project’s timeline? Why was he in on our meetings? How did we think we could do this better than dozens of others who had tried before?Her bad attitude left us feeling like we were running on a hamster wheel, drained from trying to please someone who couldn’t be pleased — with no end in sight. As the motivation waned, the work suffered. Finally the issue had to be addressed for the team’s productivity.That was the first time I experienced how contagious negativity can be in the workplace. It can spread like wildfire and affect everyone, including customers. If a pessimistic employee is stifling company productivity, address the issue as soon as possible.A "Negative Nancy" is someone who overgeneralizes in labeling situations and people, focuses on the bad in each situation, jumps to conclusions and constantly redirects the blame. In a business setting, these behaviors can result in harmful effects, such as reduced productivity, decreased group morale, increased stress, wasted time, hindered creativity and innovation, and higher employee turnover.A Fierce Inc. survey highlighted just how toxic a negative personality in the workplace can be. Respondents ranked negativity higher than laziness, passive aggressiveness and gossiping when asked to identify the most harmful quality in a co-worker."Allowing [negativity] to fester is much more costly and damaging to an organization’s bottom line than confronting or possibly replacing a single toxic employee," said president and CEO of Fierce Inc. Halley Bock in a statement. "Organizations must foster employee- and company-level accountability by addressing attitudinal issues as soon as they arise."After detecting negativity in an organization, take these steps to nip it in the bud before it spreads throughout the office:1. Identify the negative behavior. Recognize bad attitudes and negativity and identify the individual involved after receiving a tip or spotting something.2. Confront the person. Develop a plan to address the individual in a calm, private setting. Set aside enough time to discuss the situation in detail. There may be a reason or a trigger for this behavior.3. Reinforce positive behavior. During the discussion, set goals for change and even play out scenarios. Listen to the employee’s thoughts and ideas about the situation and emphasize the need for a positive attitude moving forward.4. Follow up. Schedule a meeting to discuss the individual’s progress. Recognize and praise positive improvements and attitude.5. Set a good example. The manager should demonstrate positive behavior for staff members — even on the cloudiest of days. Remind them that problems and setbacks are an inevitable part of business, but each one can serve as a learning experience.6. Invest in positivity. Boost the positivity quotient in the office by fostering programs or activities that will make staffers happy, such as potlucks, games and employee-of-the-month recognitions. Promote physical and mental health by funding employee-fitness programs, planning office yoga classes or creating work spaces with natural light.Even the most positive person can have a bad day, and it’s not uncommon for co-workers with different backgrounds, beliefs and behaviors to have an occasional personality clash. But letting a Negative Nancy disturb the attitudes and work of others can be extremely detrimental to business productivity. The key is addressing the issue quickly and promoting positivity and happiness throughout the workplace.The post Motivating the Negative Nancy on Your Team appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Fierce CEO, Halley Bock, was interviewed in this article by Brian O’Connell and was originally posted on TheStreet.com.NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Can working woman "have it all" in the workplace and home?Maybe not. Many women have given up thinking it’s an option.Exhibit "A" for that case is a study from Seattle-based Fierce saying that 70% of U.S. working woman call trying to achieve a satisfying work/life balance "a major cause of stress."For decades ads have said women in the workplace could have it all, and that it was all a matter of having the right clothes, car or cup of yogurt.Maybe working women were buying that pitch 20 years ago, but today the majority seem to see "having it all" as a false promise and a goal destined to go unfulfilled. To think otherwise risks "taking a serious toll" on women’s health, the Fierce study claims, with the fallout leading to depression, weight gain and loss of sleep.The problem is so pervasive that one in five of all U.S. women leave high-salary, high- pressure jobs for lower-paying posts with a clear path to a better life balance.The study shows women wrestling with the work/life balance, with more negative perceptions than positive ones on the issue:Only 19% of working women say they already "have it all."49% of survey respondents do not believe the concept of "having it all" is realistic.83% say a fulfilling relationship with a partner is the most important attribute of "having it all" …… and 27% say" "having enough personal time" was least important.37% say insufficient funds and/or monetary security were the primary obstacle in the pursuit of a genuinely positive work-life balance. Companies that don’t deal with women’s increasingly negative perceptions of balancing career and a good home life risk alienating female career professionals, Fierce says."As a society we intuitively feel that our lives, and especially the lives of working women, are too stressful, and the data from this survey reinforces this notion," says Halley Bock, president and CEO of Fierce. "This is becoming a critical business issue because successful leaders simply can’t optimally compete if one out of every five talented women in their organization is walking out the door because of inadequate work/life balance."The post More Women Give Up on "Having It All" appeared first on Fierce, Inc..