Leadership

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” 

If you have had the right person show up at just the right time in your life to guide you to the next level, then you know how profound this is experience can be.

However, until we are truly ready for that, it can be like the movie “Groundhog Day,” where the lessons keep repeating over and over and over until we finally get it. 

On my journey to being an executive in the life sciences industry, I remember how frustrated and constrained I …

"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." – Stephen Covey

When people think of freedom, they will often think of a spacious green pasture, a sailboat on a vast ocean, or someone at the peak of a mountain over an enormous expanse. In fact, go to any stock photo website, type in “freedom,” and that is pretty much what you’ll see.

But there’s a paradox here because while those images may represent freedom, it’s not what gets you there. In many ways, …

"The main character of any living system is openness." - Ilya Romanovich Prigogine

Have you ever been part of a group where there was one person who completely changed the dynamics? Maybe they were aggressive, or loud, or just plain old negative all the time. I am sure you have experienced this… I most definitely have.

As I have worked with leaders and their teams over the years, I have realized something fascinating related to group dynamics, and it is grounded in nature.

I have come to see …

Every once in a great while, you might meet someone who seems like they are woven from the same cloth as you. They have the same values, the same interests, and same aspirations. Sometimes these people become business partners, peers, or even BFFs.

When I invite a group of leaders together in a room, something unique happens.

They get to see themselves through each other's eyes. Through the eyes of people who truly get them, people they can trust, admire, and respect. Most importantly, you beg…

I recently have been inspired by the latest TED Talk from organizational psychologist Adam Grant titled "What frogs in hot water can teach about thinking again." His new book, Think Again, is fantastic (I am sure I will be featuring it in my newsletter soon). In this talk, Adam uncovers why humans are so slow to react to looming crises, like a pandemic or a warming planet. Surprise! It is because we are reluctant to rethink our thinking. From a near-disastrous hike on Panama's highest mountain t…

How does it feel to know you did something wrong? For most people, there's nothing worse than having to admit they messed up.

And it makes sense. Back when we were running from dinosaurs and pterodactyls, being wrong about something could be the kiss of death for your whole cave clan.

So, we've got this instinctual response to being wrong that feels like we are in the spotlight of shame. But, in today's world, we need to upgrade our relationship with the word "wrong" if we're going to create w…

"If you slow down and take the time to really understand yourself, then bring your full authentic self as a leader to the table, you will see a remarkable difference." 

I recently had the pleasure of being featured on the Culture Design Show hosted by Steve Chaparro. Steve completely blew me away when he connected the dots between my story and a scene from Wonder Woman (2017) when Diana is about to leave her idyllic home of Themyscira to put an end to World War I. Before she leaves, Diana's…

Reading: I am a huge fan of Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus (the team behind The Minimalist), who are on a mission to help people live meaningful lives with less. Their fourth book is due out in July 2021, titled "Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works." 

I want to share one of their thought-provoking essays that stopped me in my tracks recently. It is titled "Success Does Not Exist," and here is one of my favorite lines: "Travel the path toward success if you want.…

Do you have a seemingly obscure passion that no one would ever guess you are into?

One of mine is glass blowing. I’m a huge fan. My wife even bought me a class once. I loved it. Now, you won’t find my pieces in any museums, but they are functional.

I love creating art because inherent within that process is always a bigger picture.

In glass blowing, for example, it’s intense and focused work, but you’re also working with incredibly delicate material, so you have to really understand your mate…

Do you consider yourself to be adaptable? Whatever you think of yourself as a human, you are officially the most adaptable creature on the planet. 3.5 billion years of evolution has apparently paid off!

But our ability to be adaptable comes with some pros and cons.

If you look at the 22 million people living in New Delhi, the most polluted city in the world, you’ll quickly see that these people have adapted to toxic air and water, with garbage everywhere. 

What’s impressive is that it shows h…