It was lunchtime and the seven of us — two kids and five adults — would be in the car for the next three hours as we drove from New York City to upstate Connecticut for the weekend. We decided to get some takeout at a place on the corner … [Read more...]
The Secret to Ensuring Follow-Through
January 25, 2011 By
"Listen, I would love the reorg to work. But I just can't trust them." I had called Mary* as part of my preparation for an offsite with the leaders of a fast-growing financial services firm. Mary was talking about the newly reorganized HR … [Read more...]
A Life-or-Death Question to Start Your Day
January 11, 2011 By
My wife Eleanor and I were alone on a three-week kayak expedition in Prince William Sound in Alaska. Eleanor was in college; I had just graduated. We had spent plenty of time in the wilderness but never just the two of us, and never this kind of … [Read more...]
The Best Way to Use the Last Five Minutes of Your Day
January 3, 2011 By
Julie Anko*, the head of a division of a retail company I work with, was at risk of getting fired. Here's the crazy thing: she was a top performer. She had done more for the brand in the past year than any of her predecessors had in five years. The … [Read more...]
The Real Point of Gift-Giving
December 15, 2010 By
A few weeks ago was my birthday. I turned 43. 43 doesn't mark a new decade. It's not one of those birthdays people usually celebrate in a grand way, and mine was no exception. No one threw me a lavish surprise party. I had a few small dinners with … [Read more...]
The Value of Ritual in Your Workday
December 8, 2010 By
I recently saw the movie The Last Samurai for the second time. Set in Japan in the 1870s, it tells the story of an American civil war veteran who was captured by samurai fighters and, over time, learned to honor their ways. The first time I saw the … [Read more...]
Don’t Let the Package Distract You from the Message
December 1, 2010 By
My wife Eleanor and I came home from dinner the other night, and found our babysitter, Leslie*, in tears. "Is everything OK with the kids?" I asked. "Yes. They've been sleeping the whole time. It's not that." "Do you want to talk about whatever … [Read more...]
Why Leaders Should Try to Be Overwhelmed
November 19, 2010 By
This was the fourth day of our five days together, and we were swirling in chaos. There were almost thirty of us in a small room as part of Ann Bradney's leadership workshop I wrote about last week. Sara* was on the floor, cradling the arm and … [Read more...]
Why Leaders Must Feel Pain
November 11, 2010 By
I was on a plane, flying back to New York from California where I'd spent the week in an intense workshop, The Radically Alive Leader, led by Ann Bradney. In the aisle across from me, a mother was sitting with her two daughters, one about five … [Read more...]
How to Teach Yourself to Trust Yourself
November 3, 2010 By
Last week I went to an evening to honor and advance the vision of the late Dr. Allan Rosenfield, Dean of Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health for twenty two years. Allan was a giant in global health, dedicated in particular to women's … [Read more...]
