I wrote before about how the longer I go without flying, the more people talking about flying sounds like they’re talking about heroin. They sound like they’re craving. They don’t care how much they’ll allow their life to fall apart to make it happen. They don’t care whom their habits hurt. They sound entitled, often whiny. My friend who works with addicts described the squalor they allow themselves to live[…] Keep reading →

You may have read the empty boat parable. I don’t much like it. I get its point, it sounds too contrived and fortune-cookie-like. The people who say it tend to sound new-agey, which is not a community I associate with. Yesterday morning, I experienced the point of the story without the contrivance. First I’ll share the original for those who haven’t read it. A young farmer laboriously paddled his boat[…] Keep reading →

I started collecting adventures and life discoveries I made without leaving home to try to show how available the best parts of life can be, or how accessible greatness is. My big example is swimming across the Hudson–a rite of passage I created for myself at no cost in cash nor much in time. I contrast it with, say, parachuting from an airplane, in which you follow what others curate[…] Keep reading →

Below are a couple recent things people have told me about my work, which I’ll keep anonymous. Do I sound like I’m bragging? Well, they’re sharing ways I served others. About my new book, Initiative, launching next month: “Whether leading or following, you need to read Initiative. I have long yearned for such a book—the most clear and persuasive on personal development and leadership I’ve found in 60 years of[…] Keep reading →

Srini has run his podcast over 10 years. He’s written three books, hundreds of articles, interviewing hundreds of researchers, entrepreneurs, artists and more, plus me. His business is helping people develop themselves to dream, to play, to create, to go on adventures, to find their paths. In this conversation we talked about his development and how he got to help others so it’s more on the leadership development end of[…] Keep reading →

As a professor of leadership, host of the Leadership and the Environment podcast and constant student of acting by my environmental values I live and work in the intersection of leadership, education and the environment. Ken Robinson does too but with one big difference he’s been here for decades longer actively practicing in each. This episode approaches each of education, leadership and environment from several perspectives. I can’t say anything[…] Keep reading →

We’ve all sat in a car in traffic and thought, “If only there was another lane here, this traffic would go away and I wouldn’t have to sit in traffic anymore.” We all think, “LEDs are more efficient than incandescents. We should switch to LEDs. Then we’ll use less electricity.” Well, it turns out that everyone thought that Uber was going to ease traffic but it turns out to increase[…] Keep reading →