I visited North Korea for the celebration of the anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s birth last April. The trip was eye-opening and amazing. I believe it created more understanding and communication than whatever potential problems. As I’ve explained before here and in my book, I consider such interactions among the best ways to increase communication and understanding with North Koreans, which I consider the best ways to bring about more[…] Keep reading →

Longtime readers know my connections to zoetropes — inventing new types of them, starting business based on them, making art with them, etc. I’ve been upstaged. A longtime friend from school contacted me for the first time in years with news that her son is doing a project on zoetropes for his fourth grade science fair. Check it out! The pictures show he did the most important thing in science.[…] Keep reading →

Following up yesterday’s post on how so many great actors, at least among those I saw interviewed on Inside the Actors Studio, faced so many challenges before their careers took off (and many after, as well, given the challenges of celebrity), I looked up one in more detail. I also covered how acting and leadership both require self-awareness, emotional-intelligence, and ability to manage your and others’ emotions. I think the[…] Keep reading →

I’ve watched a lot of episodes of Inside the Actors Studio. I’ve referred to it before and I’ll keep referring to it as a resource for leadership because actors and leaders share this common element to their craft: part of our jobs is to recognize and manage emotions in ourselves to communicate them and create and inspire emotions in others. Actors tend to inspire laughter, tears, and catharsis whereas leaders[…] Keep reading →

When my friend was in the hospital last month I looked for jokes to cheer her up and found this one online. Now it’s one of my favorites. So much I wanted to share it here. Most jokes as funny as this one are dirty or off-color, so it’s nice to find a clean one this funny. What does it have to do with leadership, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, passion, importance,[…] Keep reading →

Some advice sticks with you more than others. I still remember words a great friend of mine told me in college. I remember he said it while consoling me over a breakup with a girlfriend, which would have put it in 1989 or maybe 1990. Something that stands the test of time like that, I think speaks for itself. He said There are few shoulds in life. I’ve written at[…] Keep reading →

This model is one of my most important ones I think about almost daily. It fits with my practice of having low standards the first time. It also enables you to act on the perspective most successful people I know of realizing the importance of failing. The scene is a martial arts class. A few students learning from a great master. The students ask the master how he never loses his[…] Keep reading →

Everybody faces tasks they don’t want to start, know they have to do, but also know won’t take that long — things you might characterize like pulling teeth, holding your nose and taking your medicine, or grinning and bearing it. We all want to learn to motivate ourselves better. Examples include talking to your boss about a raise, talking to a significant other about a problem that’s been bothering you[…] Keep reading →

Investors describe themselves as helping entrepreneurs and often they do, but somehow every entrepreneur I’ve asked about the challenges of working with investors could still tell me stories about how investors made their lives and business difficult. However much investors want businesses they’ve invested in to grow, their interests never perfectly align with those of management, especially before they invest in the firm in question. I wouldn’t call that difference[…] Keep reading →