Blog

Honoring the Best of Care

Oct 18, 2021
Michelle and I bought Ingram’s in mid-February of 1997 and we quickly assessed the content and developed an overall mission and strategy for the publication. We then began to build programs we believed appropriate and necessary for an effective, impactful… more

Who Really Failed the Corporate Diversity Challenge?

Aug 4, 2021
You can get a nuanced argument about this from almost any cultural anthropologist, economist or sociologist, but in general, the history of capitalism—the American stripe, and the various versions practiced around the world—can’t be written without highlighting major tipping points.… more

Just How Do You Promote ‘Orderliness’?

Aug 4, 2021
I asked a British friend, now a Kansas City resident, what his friends and relatives back home thought of his relocation. He told me that those who visit are amazed by Kansas City. When I asked what they found amazing,… more

Take One For The Team

Aug 4, 2021
I’m waking up on day three at North Kansas City Hospital with several broken ribs and a fractured right transverse process of my first lumber vertebra. In a rush Friday morning during the rain, I slipped and fell down a… more

It’s Not the 1 Percent; It’s the 0.01 Percent . . .

Jun 18, 2021
Hey, gang! Dot-connecting time! Let’s play . . . If the reporting is to be believed—big “if” these days—your pal and mine in eCommerce, Jeff Bezos, has commissioned construction of a $500 million super-yacht. The good shipbuilders in the Netherlands,… more

Swimming Through the Mud

Jun 18, 2021
I have to hand it to the companies that earned their place on this issue’s 36th annual Corporate Report 100 ranking. If we were to ever find ourselves in a street fight, I’d want these folks on our side. They’re… more

Can the Circle Be Unbroken

May 6, 2021
In recent years, we’ve bought several homes and developed building lots at the Lake of the Ozarks and have established a pretty popular destination for a number of repeat guests as well as a host of new ones. The pandemic… more

Taking the Lead

Apr 7, 2021
Traditions are a terrific thing, and you’re holding perhaps Ingram’s most valued annual recognition program. It’s hard to believe this is the 23rd year of 40 Under Forty and The Leadership Edition. I vividly remember in 1998 when we selected… more

Cold Calls in 2021 . . . Really?

Apr 2, 2021
I make my living with words, so full disclosure: I’m not a salesman. And neither, it seems, are the legions of people, purportedly in sales roles, who interrupt my day with phone calls asking if I’m the IT guy at… more

Putting the Edge on Small-Town Living

Apr 2, 2021
Everyone who has ever met the aptly named Loy Edge—and that is just about everyone in Kansas City—will agree on one word to describe him: Edge is a character. For all its virtues, our beloved town is rather short on… more