From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
The key component of bravery is integrity. What I saw growing up was the reality that people would often give their integrity to make life more comfortable in the short term; but guess what, that leads to your integrity being chipped away until you are left with nothing.
I don't believe there's a universal formula for success—I can only share what worked for me, which was driven by enthusiasm for new ideas. What I value most in people is enthusiasm—not passion, which I find overused—but genuine enthusiasm to see opportunities and act upon them.
Managing in the age of outrage is not the same as managing outrage. Managing outrage is crisis management—you can turn it over to a part of the organization that's pro at it and then get on with your day. It's firefighting.
The people who influence the best are the ones who take the advice of the ancient Chinese military expert, Sun Tzu. Every battle is won before it's fought. If you put people in a mindset that is congruent with the major focus of the message you are yet to send them, it opens the door to persuasion.
When social distrust mounts- when people feel like the game is rigged against them- they are especially vulnerable to demagogues who come along and want them to channel their rage, anxiety and distrust toward scapegoats.
You need to master the basics and do the little things right. If you want to do something well you do it 1,000 times, if you want to do something great you do it 10,000 times. There's an old warrior saying, the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.
I've done a few very-right things in my life that I'm proud of, and one of them was getting to know Joey and bringing him into the business. Joey was a gift, and we knew we shouldn't miss out on him.
Having negotiation skills means that you can weaponize emotional intelligence. If you want people to cooperate with you… if you want to connect with people who you don't share any common-ground with…. If you want to get a deal done without regrets…. That's where negotiation techniques can work, across all cultures.
a powerful call to action to think deeply about what lights you up—and a guide for how to build a life of meaning and purpose.
I always tried to run my business in a humane way. I had this idea of business being tough and harsh, and thought I could build a business that was humane and kind. Performance metrics and KPIs are relatively straightforward to follow, but doing the 'right thing' is not nearly so clear cut.
You start by asking yourself certain questions: who am I? what is it that wants to know who I am? What do I want for myself and the world? What is my purpose? What gives me meaning and purpose in life?
You can't control what happens to you, you can only control how you react to it. So, focusing on what's in your control and accepting for the time being what's beyond your control is a really useful therapeutic idea.