Poor Richard III. After his war-torn bones were found earlier this year in a Leicester car park, the controversial king turned out not to have been quite the deformed viper, toad or hedgehog that Shakespeare called him.

In 2000, Robin Chase founded Zipcar in Cambridge, Mass. The car-sharing service was an instant hit; within three months, the firm had 400 members. Chase was about to secure $1.3 million in new funding to grow the business when she crunched the numbers and realized her business model was seriously flawed ...

New leaders often assume they must make a big splash from the outset. So on their first day, they enact dramatic changes or issue bold announcements. Levelheaded leaders, by contrast, resist the urge to rush.

Maybe it wasn’t Andrew Mason’s antics while CEO of Groupon that got him fired. But he sure gave investors pause.

In running a men’s clothing company, Hil Davis, who co-founded J. Hilburn in 2007, admits that his attitude initially got in the way. He says that his arrogance and ignorance led him to make a series of poor decisions during the firm’s early years.

In 1986, Richard Manoogian was CEO of Masco, a maker of faucets and household products that had produced 29 straight years of earnings growth. The firm was generating nearly $2 billion in cash—and Manoogian decided to invest a big chunk of it in the furniture business. Manoogian called it “probably one of the worst decisions I’ve made in 35 years.”

To bring cultures together, identify differences in attitudes and work habits. Then address the differences so that everyone gains a better understanding of their colleagues’ perspectives. Skip this step and conflicts can erupt. This occurred after Daimler-Benz acquired Chrysler in 1998.

Alan Wurtzel, who helped turn Circuit City into a great company, wanted to understand why it collapsed. Here's his assessment of its mistakes.

If you dread administering performance reviews, you may sugarcoat your appraisals by telling employees they’re doing “great” when they need to improve. Dishing out undeserved praise can backfire. By giving honest, thorough appraisals, you can avoid these traps.