Yesterday began my fourth year of burpees. I’ve written about them at length, so I’ll keep it brief today. A few sets of burpees are good fitness exercise. A few years of burpees is a solid foundation for a healthy life. Here are the top things they create for me. Sticking with them for a long time without missing any creates discipline, which is a foundation I can build other[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of alternative responses to the New York Times column, The Ethicist, looking at the consequences of one’s actions instead of imposing values on others, here is a take on today’s post,”A Boy Named Dana.” I have applied over email for internships with several high-tech companies in the Bay Area, and I suspect I have benefited from my potential employers’ incorrectly assuming that I am a woman. Many[…] Keep reading →

Do you miss an activity you used to feel passionate about, used to work hard on, but don’t do anymore? When you feel inspired, you work hard, sometimes very hard, often long hours, often sacrificing other things you would otherwise enjoy. Then when you look back you miss how inspired you felt. You’d rather feel that way and sacrifice again than to have free time or enjoy mild pleasure. You[…] Keep reading →

I noticed a package of chocolate on my shelf I’ve had for a while. I got it at an event at the Tesla store in Chelsea, which seems like a classy place. It looks like classy chocolate. It’s a package of four little truffle-like pieces. I don’t love chocolate like some people do. The first ingredient on this package is sugar. A while ago I might have eaten it, but[…] Keep reading →

NYU posted my course next semester: “The Meaning of Leadership.” I designed it to cover developing the fundamental skills of leadership as comprehensively as one semester allows. I expect many students to find it one of if not the best class they ever take. From the syllabus, the course description begins: The Meaning of Leadership will prepare you to practice effective leadership and teamwork in a variety of contexts—business, politics,[…] Keep reading →

My friend Dave got tickets to a rappelling class over the weekend. It may not have much to do with what I normally write about, but I can’t help sharing some pictures. Come to think of it, people do courses like these as part of leadership training. Taking that first step off the platform to where only a rope was holding you up, and that rope wasn’t tied around you,[…] Keep reading →

I hear people consistently say that if the climate warms the market will correct it. I think they mean that they expect new technologies will help solve the problem and that market forces will lead costs of pollution to drop and so sustainable energy sources will become more affordable. In a corporate context, “correction” almost always means that some companies or divisions will lose many and some may go bankrupt,[…] Keep reading →

Increasingly my answers to questions about certain topics are not to give information but to tell a process by which the person can find out the answers for themselves. I read a lot of leadership, professional development, and personal development books. Almost all tell people principles instead of how to learn things themselves. Principles sound great, but people who know the principles didn’t learn them from being told them, they[…] Keep reading →

[EDIT: I covered this series in more depth in Leadership Step by Step, so I recommend the book, but the core is here. I use The Model as a part of my life, basically daily.] Here is The Model—my model for the human emotional system designed for use in leadership, self-awareness, and general purpose professional and personal development—in series form. Click in the table of contents to the left for each[…] Keep reading →