More inspiration from Martin Luther King, especially if you haven’t achieved much yet

on January 20, 2014 in Blog, Education, Freedom, Leadership

Perhaps the best honor one person can give another is to understand them and continue their legacy. I’m writing today’s post to suggest you can do that with Martin Luther King more than you think. Many people believe Einstein got bad grades, but I understand he didn’t. Martin Luther King, Jr got bad grades. He started graduate school at a school near Philadelphia called Crozer. Note among his grades —[…] Keep reading →

The shells we put around ourselves

on October 26, 2013 in Awareness, Blog

As children we start defenseless. I don’t mean physically, though we start physically defenseless too. I mean kids don’t protect themselves from being emotionally hurt or having their identities challenged. Kids say things we adults recognize we would catch in mental filters before speaking. What mental filters? Everybody knows what I mean. As we get older we learn to protect our vulnerabilities. We learn protocol and manners. We learn how[…] Keep reading →

Method acting, leadership, and improving your life, from James Lipton

on October 25, 2013 in Art, Blog, Education, Leadership

I’ve written before about the television show Inside the Actors Studio and how much the young field of leadership training could stand to learn from the longstanding field of acting training. Below is an interview of the host of Inside the Actors Studio, James Lipton, describing the transformation acting training went through with Constantine Stanislavsky. Leadership training stands to benefit from similar changes, and that field inspires me to help[…] Keep reading →

Integrity in successful leaders: Gandhi cleaned toilets

on October 19, 2013 in Blog, Freedom, Leadership

This post is about integrity and sticking with your values. A few years ago I visited my father in Ahmedabad, India, the country he has studied his professional life. We visited Gandhi’s ashram, a community where people who wanted to learn about and support him went. It still exists, though mainly as a static, historical site. It’s a humble place on the banks of a river, humbler than you’d expect[…] Keep reading →

How to lower executive pay

on October 18, 2013 in Blog, Education, Leadership

The New Yorker this week has yet another article on executive pay, how high it is, how it continues to grow, and how attempts to slow it aren’t working. Everybody knows the situation. We’ve read tons of such articles. We know executive pay is high enough that it isn’t getting what shareholders are paying for, but no one can stop its growth. Want to lower executive pay? Basic economics and[…] Keep reading →

You tell me what you do best. I’ll tell you what you do worst.

on October 16, 2013 in Awareness, Blog, Leadership, Tips

Today I’ll cover an exercise I do in my seminar and when I address a group of professionals. You can do it while reading this post. It teaches you about Yourself Self-awareness Teamwork, especially team building I can cover it in a few minutes or can use it to discuss teamwork, self-awareness, and my experience for thirty-minutes or more. Introduction I start by telling the group “I’m going to ask[…] Keep reading →

A book I haven’t finished and why I recommend it

on October 14, 2013 in Blog, Leadership

I first met Sebastian Marshall about five years ago in New York City through mutual friends. Though he was just over half my age at the time, I don’t hesitate to say I’ve learned as much from him as nearly anyone — and I’ve studied with Nobel Prize winners. He’s been a great friend since. We’ve since met in Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, and often on the internet. I continue learning[…] Keep reading →

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