US President Barack Obama and his aides went to Havana with high hopes. Here's a look at what US officials were striving for - and how they did. (BBC)

Our 37th Annual Franchise 500 ranking reveals the impact of the newest trends and the industries poised for growth. (Entrepreneur)

New York City is home to roughly 414,000 women entrepreneurs – more than any other U.S. city. The Big Apple is also a hot spot for women-owned business sales, which generated $53 billion in revenue in 2012 alone – up 25% from 2007. (Black Enterprise)

You need to learn how to push without offending the hiring manager or undercutting yourself. (Inc)

Seven critical steps to help build a more successful career. (Forbes)

The benefits of diversity in the workplace are many. Having a diverse and inclusive work force is linked to greater innovation and creativity. Organizations with females in top management and on boards show better financial results. (Huffpost Business)

Workplaces can be very diverse, and when it comes to navigating that diversity people need to go beyond simply tolerating differences, says workplace psychologist Jennifer Newman. (CBC News)

Most of us don’t enjoy having difficult conversations, period – but when they involve someone from our own culture, we can usually rely on some basic shared assumptions about what the interaction should look like. When we have a difficult conversation with someone from a different culture, however, our task becomes harder by an order of magnitude. Now, not only do we have to address a potentially thorny subject, but we must do so while gracefully maneuvering around a series of cultural trip wires. (Harvard Business Review)

Businessman Troy Nash believes that Afro-Cubans are ready to "embrace all things American, particularly African-American." He added, "The opportunities to do business are great." (NewsOne)

It's a simple task, if you're trying to spot the highest paid employee in a Japanese office. Just look for the oldest staff member. Traditionally, the longer you've been at a company, the more money you earn. (BBC)

Boston-based American Tower Corp. said Monday that it will spend $179 million to buy 1,350 communications towers in Tanzania from Bharti Airtel Limited. (Boston Business Journal)

John B. King Jr. is like no previous U.S. secretary of Education: He's half-black and half-Puerto Rican, and in his (successful) admissions essay to Harvard, he had to explain why he got kicked out of Phillips Academy Andover, the prestigious Massachusetts high school. (Los Angeles Times)

More than 60 years after the groundbreaking decision in Brown v. Board of Education, America’s school systems are still charged as being separate and unequal. Teachers, administrators, and policymakers are all grappling with the chilling statistics on racial achievement gaps, and asking the same question: How do we fix this? (Education Dive)

XPO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: XPO) announced that Gena L. Ashe has joined the board as an independent director of the company, and will serve as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. Ms. Ashe’s appointment expands the board to nine directors, seven of whom are independent directors. (American Journal of Transportation)

According to the IRS, one in four Americans wait until the last minute — and with less a month to go, nearly 50% of us still haven't filed yet. Which is kind of crazy when you realize how simple it is to file taxes right from that trusty smartphone in the palm of your hand. (USA TODAY)

Microsoft's Tay Al is youthful beyond just its vaguely hip-sounding dialogue -- it's overly impressionable, too. (Entrepreneur)

With recent landmark diplomacy between the U.S. and the country, the opportunities are vast. (Black Enterprise)

Here’s what today’s go-getters need to know to create a lasting impact in 2016 and beyond. (Black Enterprise)

Forget about clothes and shoes. We've known that consumers prefer to spend money on technology as opposed to apparel, but Jim Cramer (via Carl Quintanilla) has stated the three places where they're actually choosing to spend their hard-earned cash. (Business Insider)

Hiring a professional financial advisor is tough.To make your search a little easier, here are six questions to ask any financial adviser before you decide to trust them with your hard-earned money. USA TODAY)

It’s not that young people don’t want to own homes. In fact, most Millennials would like to buy a home but haven’t yet done so because they think they can’t afford it. (USA TODAY)

Zelia Z. Wiley, Ph.D., interim associate provost at Kansas State University, became the first multicultural assistant dean for diversity at the university in 2003. A graduate of Prairie View A&M and Pennsylvania State University, Wiley has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture economics and engineering, along with a Ph.D., from Pennsylvania State University in agricultural and extensive education. She shares three fundamental seeds that every woman should sow in order to reap success.(Black Enterprise

The best things in life may be free, but that doesn't mean they won't take time, sweat, and perseverance to acquire. (Business Insider)

How did Curry end up at Under Armour and not at perennial apparel and footwear powerhouse Nike? Curry started his career at Nike, but left in 2013 to join Under Armour. Apparently the decision came down to a terrible — and what I’m sure will become infamous — pitch meeting from Nike. (USA TODAY)

Which "Straight Outta Compton" trailer surfaced on your Facebook feed? It may depend on your skin color. (Silicon Valley Business Journal)

These women excel in their roles as chief marketing officers, pushing their companies further. (Black Enterprise)

Congress sent a message to financial regulators in 2010: no more pay that encourages Wall Street to take extra-large risks. Since 2011, the average bonus at New York securities firms has climbed 31 percent. (Bloomberg Business)

Leaders of world-changing movements, from social leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. to business leaders such as Steve Jobs, persuade people to follow them into the unknown, the unpredictable, the untested. Because change is both scary and difficult, they also help those followers push through their fears and overcome big obstacles. I wanted to see if there was a method to that magic, since it’s so critical for organizations to keep innovating and reinventing if they want to survive over the long term. (Harvard Business Review)

There are things any organization can do better and beyond that, human currents that we can understand and align with more effectively, and when someone is leaving an organization they may want to share their observations about those currents. (Forbes)