Leadership’s Shared Purpose

Many in business are treating transformation like a spreadsheet exercise: Cut roles. Flatten layers. Fund AI. Announce a new future. But our people do not commit to a future simply because leadership financed it. They commit when leaders clearly explain why change is happening. They commit when leaders clearly explain what will never change. I […]

Executives v Employees: The Great Divide

Executives are from Mars. Employees are from Venus. On Mars, Executives are thinking about growth, margin, transformation, AI, speed, scale, and the pressure to keep the machine moving. On Venus, Employees are worried about workload, burnout, trust, flexibility, and whether anyone in leadership understands what their day feels like. Executives are asking: “How do we move faster?” […]

Are You Waiting Too Long to Rest?

My friend DJ DiDonna returned to The Courageous Podcast this week. DJ is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard, the founder of The Sabbatical Project, and the author of the soon-to-be-released book Big Time Off. If you’re like me, the concept of signing off for a sabbatical sounds dreamy and unattainable. Why is that? Because I suffer […]

Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions

Knowledge + Faith + Action = Courage And Knowledge + Faith + NO Action = Paralysis And  Way more people talk about shooting their shot than who actually shoot their shot. And That is why, during most scenarios, I am pro taking action… learning from that action… then iterating off of what you learn. But There […]

What Growth Actually Feels Like

BE Understand what it means to just “be”. It’s always been, “human being” not “human doing”. To understand your version of  “be” is to assess, audit, and be aware of who you are at your core. The true you? Is that you on Monday? Only Sunday? All day? Everyday? No days?! It starts with getting […]

Lululemon Has $1.8B. Now What?

Maybe it’s the Vancouver air. Or Canada’s World Cup game today. But I’m feeling inspired by being up here today. So let’s look at a Canadian brand who has an interesting story unfolding right now. Lululemon’s brand has taken some hits. Stock pressure. Competitive pressure. Mistaking a Japanese taiko instrument for a Chinese dagu drum. All in all, […]

United

The World Cup starts today.  Which means I am a kid in a candy shop.  Not just because I love soccer or wrote Landon Donovan’s memoir.  But because for the first time in 50 years I am going to witness a World Cup game live.  I know there’s a big to do about the cost of […]

The Circuit Board Room

Everyone wants to be in the room where it happens. The place where the biggest decisions get made.  Where futures are discussed. Where strategy gets shaped. The Board Room. But here’s the thing: You already are IN the most important board room you’ll ever enter. Actually, the most important board room is already IN you. […]

BOSS

I went solo this week on The Courageous Podcast.  I don’t do that often. It’s only the second time I’ve taken all the air on the podcast for an unaccompanied drive.  So why’d I do it? I had something to say. It’s not that I don’t have something to add when I’m in my usual role as “host”.  But […]

Big Breaks Come From…

If I never… Went to college for Television-Radio, I never would have developed a creative portfolio. If I never… Make a portfolio, I never earn a summer internship at an NYC ad agency. If I never… Take that NYC internship, I never accept the job I didn’t want in Account Management. If I never… Accept that client […]