I read the news—more specifically, pages that refresh daily or more frequently—a couple times a month and usually regret it. It usually reminds me that their main goal is to keep people reading, which it achieves by prompting outrage or some other emotion that keeps bringing you back but doesn’t necessarily improve your life. That is, news is more “want more” than “tastes good.” Anyway, since I read some news,[…] Keep reading →

My series answering the New York Times’ Ethicist column with an active, leadership approach instead of an analytical, philosophical perspective continues with “Can I Turn Down Family Requests for Money?”. My family splits into two camps: people who have money and people who don’t. We didn’t start in different places; we evolved into them. My father, my brother and I are savers and planners. My sister, my aunt and my[…] Keep reading →

Right off the bat, we talk about Olympians, Americas cup winners, and a Crossfit games champion. The places Dawn brought me to were elite — this time a fundraiser on Wall Street, the first time the New York Yacht Club, the next time her sailing facility for world-class athletes, Oak Cliff. Yet Dawn is as down to earth as anyone I’ve met — scrappy, as she put it. She makes[…] Keep reading →

The following aren’t all my nutrition rules, but they’ve served me well. I’ll probably add to them over time. If food advice comes from an American, probably best to ignore it or do the opposite. Avoid talking about protein, carbohydrates, and other scientific concept that you can’t sense. Talk about broccoli, cabbage, and spaghetti squash—things that you can hold in your hand or pick up with your fork and eat.[…] Keep reading →

My series answering the New York Times’ Ethicist column with an active, leadership approach instead of an analytical, philosophical perspective continues with “Can a Doctor Refuse to Treat a Patient Who Takes Cannabis?”. A friend was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of a type of white blood cell called plasma cells. There is often significant pain associated with this condition, and my friend has been treated with high[…] Keep reading →

I put off reading Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking for a long time and I didn’t have to. I should have read it earlier. A book on animal trade by a New York Times and National Geographic writer who went undercover and traveled the world to visited prisons, secret breeding facilities, poachers, and every corner of the trafficking trade might make me cringe with reports of cruelty[…] Keep reading →

This episode is longer, but full of inside views at a leverage point of leadership and the environment. Consulting firms and business schools wish they had access to global corporate leaders at the frontier of change like Lorna. We spoke in-person about multinationals she’s led across the globe. And she takes on one of the longest personal challenges of any guest so far. Lest you think the conversation was all[…] Keep reading →

I recently interviewed Olympic gold medalist and Crossfit Games champion Anna Tunnicliffe Tobias, whom I met through America’s Cup winner and podcast guest Dawn Riley. Given Anna’s achievements, she’s remarkably down to Earth (as is Dawn). In researching her, I found that last year’s Crossfit Games included a rowing marathon—that is, rowing 42,195 meters. The athletes learn what events they’ll do only hours before competing, so they just had to[…] Keep reading →

I met another NYU professor and talked to her about leadership. I told her how many people tell me they want to lead, but when opportunities arrive, they see risk, not opportunity, and fold. Leadership opportunities almost always mean doing what hasn’t been done before, or what people don’t know how to do. If they did, they wouldn’t need a leader. In the abstract, people want to lead. They want[…] Keep reading →