Last week I told you about failing the GMAT and feeling like a misfit. About learning that intelligence comes in forms our education system doesn’t measure or value. This week, I want to talk about Steve Jobs. But not the Steve Jobs you think you know. In 1995, Jobs sat down for a raw, unfiltered […]
(Why We Need Misfits to Save Us) For the longest time, my biggest regret was failing the GMAT. Not because I desperately wanted an MBA. Because that exam was my ticket to an executive MBA program, as a mature student, fully paid for by my employer. That failure proved something I’d suspected my entire life: […]
I spent decades in boardrooms where the pressure was to DO something. Make the call, launch the initiative, give the board answers we didn’t have yet. The people who cracked under that pressure weren’t less intelligent. They just couldn’t tolerate the feeling of not knowing. So they’d react, pivot, and or overcorrect. They’d do anything […]
I’m six months out from hand surgery. Most people would be completely done and at 95% of what they used to be. As a member of the 1% outlier club, I can report that after a TON of work, I am finally at 75%-85%, with little upside remaining. AND I still have another six months […]
Today, December 21st, the winter solstice arrives. It’s the darkest day of the year, when our ancestors had no choice but to stop. Not because they were lazy or unambitious, but because the world itself demanded it. Short days, long nights, and the simple biological truth that human beings cannot extract indefinitely without breaking. They […]
Have you ever noticed that getting from ‘here’ to ‘there’ is NEVER a straight line? It’s a messy, uncomfortable unravelling of everything we thought we knew. We talk about transformation as if it were a decision. It’s one bold choice (I’ll start a new business, I’ll get a divorce, I’ll get back on my feet […]
“The market demands higher returns.” You’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve said it. My journey in the C-suite spanned 30 years, and not once did the market come knocking on my door. But you know who did? Private equity firms with term sheets. Activist investors with 2% stakes and PowerPoint decks. But never the stock […]
It’s early Sunday morning. November 2nd. Coffee in hand. Still buzzing. Last night, the World Series ended in heartbreak for the Blue Jays. I’m not even a huge baseball fan, but I watched every pitch of that game. And this morning, I can’t stop thinking about what I saw. Not the stats. Not the plays. […]
Have you ever thought about the underlying reason behind why we get mad? Why that white hot flame explodes? The ONLY reason we ever get mad is because we have lost control of the situation. And the truth is, we humans want, love, and need control. Of course we do. It’s hardwired into us. We’ve […]
I had a friendly dust-up this week with an old colleague about a term that, at least to me, feels like fingernails on chalkboards. Servant Leadership. Y’know that lovely, friendly term that means NO leadership! It’s the catchphrase that gets thrown around as if it’s the gold standard we should all aspire to. Here’s what […]