Dan Pink's Challenge to You
Some time ago when bad weather forced a commercial flight to divert to Hartford, Connecticut, some 106 miles north of its destination, the plane sat on the runway there for four hours -- without air-conditioning, food or water -- as babies wailed and adults anguished in the darkened cabin. The next day, the airline, which explained that the Hartford airport lacked the customs personnel to process... posted on Dec 26 2012, 9,981 reads

11 Must-Read Books for Young Leaders
"Recently, I wrote that leaders should be readers. Reading has a host of benefits for those who wish to occupy positions of leadership and develop into more relaxed, empathetic, and well-rounded people. One of the most common follow-up questions was, "Ok, so what should I read?" That's a tough question. There are a number of wonderful reading lists out there... But if I had to focus on a short lis... posted on Dec 19 2012, 32,557 reads

The Power of Failure, People & Karma Banking
Six months out of grad school Jim Fruchterman found himself at a rocket launchpad for one of the very first private enterprise rocket companies. "Our business manager was doing the countdown. 5-4-3-2-1, oh, BLEEP. The rocket blew up!" It was a pivotal failure in his trajectory. Fruchterman moved to the Bay Area and started his own rocket company. It failed. He helped start seven other high tech co... posted on Dec 12 2012, 14,863 reads

The Benefits of Poetry for Professionals
"Wallace Stevens was one of America's greatest poets. The author of "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" and "The Idea of Order at Key West" was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1955 and offered a prestigious faculty position at Harvard University. Stevens turned it down. He didn't want to give up his position as Vice President of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company...I've written in the pas... posted on Dec 07 2012, 0 reads

Take Your Life Back
"The waiter was halfway through taking my family's order when his manager called him away."Where did the waiter go?" Sophia, our seven-year-old, asked. Daniel, our five-year old, looked at me and then answered, "I think he had to take a conference call." Even before hearing Daniel's analysis of the waiter's momentary inattention, I knew I had a problem: I work all the time." What follows is the st... posted on Nov 30 2012, 25,789 reads

Are You As Busy As You Think You Are?
"There was a time, not so long ago, when I was busy, busy, busy. At least I thought I was. I told people I worked 60 hours a week. I claimed to sleep six hours a night. As I lamented to anyone stuck next to me at parties, I was basically too busy to breathe. Me time? Ha! Now I work 45 hours a week and sleep close to eight hours a night. But I'm not getting any less done." This Wall Street Journal ... posted on Nov 04 2012, 16,469 reads

How to Work With Someone You Don't Like
How do you work with someone you don't like? The old adage, "grin and bear it", is almost impossible to do. In this article Peter Bregman describes an alternative strategy that is centred on self-reflection, self-awareness, and compassion... ultimately transforming dislike to like.... posted on Oct 22 2012, 41,458 reads

Solving Gen Y's Passion Problem
"This simple phrase, "follow your passion," turns out to be surprisingly pernicious...The verb "follow" implies that you start by identifying a passion and then match this preexisting calling to a job. Because the passion precedes the job, it stands to reason that you should love your work from the very first day. It's this final implication that causes damage. When I studied people who love what ... posted on Oct 18 2012, 11,941 reads

Throw Your Life a Curve
"According to Juan Carlos Mendez-Garcia, one of the best models for making sense of a non-linear world is the S-curve, the model we have used to understand the diffusion of disruptive innovations, and which he and I speculate can be used to understand personal disruption -- the necessary pivots in our own career paths. [...] Our hypothesis is that those who can successfully navigate, even harness,... posted on Oct 11 2012, 19,644 reads

The Odd Truth About Other People's Problems
Recent research reveals that people are more capable of mental novelty when thinking on behalf of others than for themselves. This has far-reaching practical implications at every level of business. Dan Pink shares more in this thought-provoking piece.... posted on Sep 24 2012, 10,386 reads