From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
For me, sports were a sanctuary, the only place where I felt at home, could connect with others, and navigate my life and pain. Providing sports opportunities to children, women, and men in these settings is vital. Our foundation aims to complement these efforts by introducing sports, emphasising not just participation in sports but also backing these athletes significantly.
The truth is that many in the clergy don't know what to do when people come to them with something that can't be prayed away! They need the right training, support and signposting skills to help.
In the 1960s, NASA commissioned a study to identify creative geniuses for hiring, and found that 2% of the adults they tested fit the bill. A few years later, someone thought to give the same test to four- and five-year-olds—and 98% of them qualified as creative geniuses. The researchers blamed the school system.
You achieve your best performance by doing the best you can without having your mind clouded by drifting thoughts of what could happen when something goes wrong. That's what you train for, and your training gives you the ability to build the mental tools and programmes of action to make good decisions.
People don't have to fear the innovation age as being victims of it. They can actually embrace it by saying 'okay, I've got to have some additional skill sets I can go back to, and maybe truck driving is not going to be the whole thing but maybe it's other mobility things so that I can actually use my background of skillsets to get involved in'.
Most leaders are running human organisations, not financial organisations. This means they need to understand how to motivate, inspire and organise people first rather than capital first. This requires a set of skills that traditionally have not been taught in business schools.
My parents instilled in me the belief that everyone you meet can teach you something, regardless of their age, background, or education.
You can't just roll out of bed and be the best in the world at something, you need to have great genes and put in the hard-work, get the breaks, and really have that balance of nature and nurture.
I believe, personally, that movies allow people to be taken places they can't get to on their own- be it travel, or culture, or learning. The arts are not just one, they are all connected- and movies have become a huge part of the arts.
Initially, my goal wasn't to become an entrepreneur; I was simply aiming to earn some money. Given my dyslexia, the academic path was not an option for me; there were no A-Levels or university in my future. My choices were stark: acquire a skill or venture into entrepreneurship. Naturally, I gravitated towards entrepreneurship.
I have shown that anything is possible. I always tell people not to limit themselves. Find out what you are good at or interested in and work hard to be successful in that.
I should be just as excited to find out I was wrong as to prove I am right. Perhaps I should be even more excited about being wrong, because if I am always proving myself right, I'm just affirming my beliefs and not evolving them… and that's not learning at all, is it?