Picone Advisory Group Client Kurt Johnson Publishes Science Fiction Thriller

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(Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois)—Picone Advisory Group, LLC has announced that its client, author Kurt Johnson, has published a science fiction thriller: Raystar of Terra: Peace. Love. Family. War.

“We congratulate Kurt on this exciting publication and are certain this book will be a success,” said Christopher L. Picone, President of Picone Advisory Group. “We look forward to future works by this gifted author.”

An entrepreneur and management consultant as well as author, Johnson is the CEO of K8 Ventures, LLC. Headquartered in Chicago, the firm invests in and accelerates early stage companies. With the company creation supply chain and go-to-market know-how, K8 has achieved significant capital efficiency and is redefining how early-stage capital is invested.

Johnson has dreamed of writing a science fiction fantasy novel since he was a child. He draws inspiration and motivation from Chicago’s tall buildings that reach toward the stars. Raystar of Terra: Peace. Love. Family. War. chronicles the adventures of Raystar, a 13-year-old resident of the sleepy agricultural planet Nem. Raystar leads a near picture perfect existence until her world radically changes when the pan-Galactic conflict that everyone thought was long over shows up on her doorstep. In a blink, Raystar discovers that she has immense powers and that her very survival is threatened. To live and protect those she loves, she must learn to control the tremendous powers at her disposal. To save humanity, she needs to unlock the secrets of her legacy and to save herself, she must figure out what it means to be human.

Raystar of Terra: Peace. Love. Family. War. is now available on Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Raystar-Terra-Peace-Love-Family-ebook/dp/B01N5HAWPH/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8).

Through May 31, 2017, 50 percent of all the net proceeds from the sale of Raystar of Terra will be donated to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

Based in Chicago, Picone Advisory Group provides consulting services to an international client base in a wide variety of industry settings including: financial services, professional services, manufacturing, aerospace, building and construction, food and food service, homeland security and first response, healthcare, energy, real estate, wholesale and retail services, technology, telecommunications, and transportation.

Improve Your Company’s Performance With Employees Who Embody Your Corporate Culture

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We often work with companies seeking to improve their operations. As we dig into details, we often find employees with consistently poor or mediocre performance ratings and/or negative attitudes. Sometimes these are longer term employees who at one time were contributing at a high level, but for a number of reasons drifted into mediocre or poor performance and have developed negative attitudes that are all too common in mediocre and/or poor performers.

While no one likes to fire employees (especially ones that have been with the company for a number of years), the cost to the company of not doing so is significant. First, the lost productivity forces other workers to have to work harder to make up for the poor performers. Second, the toll on morale is often underestimated. Many times we hear of cases where once good employees were corrupted by the poor performers and their negative attitudes. Why should I work hard when Jim doesn’t and he makes the same money as I do, is a common theme heard in companies that tolerate poor performers.

In addition, negativity breeds negativity and all these toxic attitudes can be an impediment to a positive culture of teamwork and achievement. It is important that companies remain vigilant about replacing poor, constant complainers and negative personalities with positive achievers. Your employees will appreciate it, your company’s performance will improve, and your corporate culture will change for the better.