What is confidence? “Accomplishments?” “Successful repetition of any endeavors?” To me, Confidence is comfort: • Comfort in knowing that we are playing a game of progress and not a game of perfection. • Comfort that comes from the accumulation of experiences where I survive my own failures. • Comfort in our own skin. I try… Continue reading Confidence is Comfort
Category: Self Knowledge
How To Strengthen Mental Mobility – The Skill to Get Unstuck and Move Forward
My client Andrew runs a F&B group. He was trained as a chef. He opened his own restaurant 10 years ago, and now he owns a group of restaurants. In the span of 10 years, he went from someone who had to deal with avocados and spatulas to someone who how had to deal with… Continue reading How To Strengthen Mental Mobility – The Skill to Get Unstuck and Move Forward
The Mechanism of Small Goals In Skill Building
Say if you want to learn to bake, you won’t begin with a flaming baked Alaska. You start with the humble cookie. Or if you want to complete a marathon, no one in the right mind would try to complete all 42 KM in their virgin run. But why? What is going on here? The… Continue reading The Mechanism of Small Goals In Skill Building
Meditation and Leadership
Out of all the leadership drills and skills I explored, meditation has made the most impact on how I led. This article is going to be a deep cut into meditation and leadership. Life is choosing; Leadership is deciding At the core, life is a collection of moments of decision making. These decisions can be… Continue reading Meditation and Leadership
Challenge: Name 5 Female CEO / Leader
Can you name 5 CEOs? Good. Can you name 5 non-male CEOs? I couldn’t. It was much harder than I thought. Here we go: Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture She was an attorney, and was the first CEO appointed by the company Accenture gave me my first full time job I bought a lot of… Continue reading Challenge: Name 5 Female CEO / Leader
When Life Goals Overlap
I have 3 life goals. Suck less as a boss. Suck less as a dad. Suck less as a spouse. Along the way, I have found a few cool clichés: 1. Leading is parenting; Parenting is leading. Even if this is not true, it is a fantastic way to think about both tasks. For example:… Continue reading When Life Goals Overlap
Endorsing The Unproven
What are you more skilled at? Saying no to your favorite ideas? Or having the courage and tact to endorse and nurture something unproven? Jony Ive on Steve Jobs, “Steve used to say to me — and he used to say this a lot — “Hey Jony, here’s a dopey idea. And sometimes they were.… Continue reading Endorsing The Unproven
What Can You Work On If You Are Not A Creative Boss?
“I can’t come up with breakthrough ideas.” “I am not that creative.” This is a worry many bosses share. The good news is … There is another route for you to be a creative boss. It’s our ability to manage innovation. You see, we don’t have to be the ones with the greatest ideas. We… Continue reading What Can You Work On If You Are Not A Creative Boss?
Speed Bumps to Slow Laziness
Our brains crave easy options. It’s not us. Blame evolution. Here is a good “speed bump” to halt this default laziness of ours: Decision making systems. These can be check lists, a bunch of questions, a morning journal, a routine, a tree diagrams, a few meaningful people to be accountable to …. These systems push… Continue reading Speed Bumps to Slow Laziness
A Director Dragged Me Out Of The Room
We were setting up the quarterly trade show, where hundreds of buyers would come and review the newest sneakers and apparel. We rented a convention centre, littered the rooms with life size posters of Marion Jones and Roger Federer running, swinging. Sneakers were displayed on beige panels. Mannequins that had 6 pack abs wore tight… Continue reading A Director Dragged Me Out Of The Room