People didn’t follow Martin Luther King because he wanted equality and freedom. They followed him because they wanted equality and freedom. Elon Musk isn’t so popular because he loves electric cars. He’s popular because we love electric cars, and their benefit relative to gas-powered cars. Dwight Eisenhower didn’t enjoy leading the D-Day invasion. The allies, soldiers, and their families feared Hitler and wanted to protect themselves. Eisenhower’s description of leadership[…] Keep reading →

My latest Inc.com story “Resilience: What The New York Times, New Yorker and Most of Academia Got Wrong” begins Resilience: What The New York Times, New Yorker, and Most of Academia Got Wrong If you want to be resilient, not just know about resilience, research and the media won’t help you. [the story starts with a picture of an athlete covered in mud, struggling to make it] You’re covered in[…] Keep reading →

If you want to lead people, letting them act on their existing motivations will motivate them a lot more than not recognizing those motivations. If that motivation builds in caring about others’ interests, all the more effective. A lot of people look down on others who do things for personal recognition, applause, glory, and things like that. “You should do it because it’s good, that’s all,” they say. Often they[…] Keep reading →

Today’s world presents leaders leading a group of people like a king or glorious leader, like Mel Gibson in Braveheart. It inspires people to seek that glorious position where they feel people look up to them. We misunderstand that view, the more I think about it. When armies went into battle then, the first person charging took the biggest risk. He made himself most vulnerable to attack, risking his life.[…] Keep reading →

As far as enjoying life goes, I see it like running a marathon, though you can substitute any challenging activity with a specific goal. You might think the glory is in the step across the finish line, but every step is as important as every other, be it the first step, number 1,234, number 2,341, or whatever. Realizing every step is as important as any other lets you enjoy every[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on people who succeed despite adversity. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Continuing my series on people who succeeded adversity, I’ll start with deaf football player in today’s Superbowl, as shown in these two videos. and Person Achievement Adversity Derrick Coleman First[…] Keep reading →

I’ve done burpees daily since December 22, 2011, at 40 years of age, starting with 10 a day, building to over 50 per day. I haven’t missed a day or burpee. I started them with a friend and they became one of my top daily habits—the first I simply started from scratch and never stopped. Why burpees? Top burpee values: If you know of any other exercise with these advantages,[…] Keep reading →