Jack Ma encouraged the entire company to practice and learn Tai Chi in their free time, it is a practice that allows one to embrace the seeming contradictions in the world, and in business. Let me give you some examples – how do you become a profitable business while also doing good for society?

Current statistics indicate that 1 in 3 managers grapple with exhaustion, stress, and mental health challenges. If leaders themselves are struggling, how can they effectively support their teams? It's crucial for leaders to prioritize self-care.

In humanity's relentless drive for convenience and economic growth we have developed a dangerous level of dependency on networked systems in a very short space of time: in less than two decades, huge parts of the so-called 'critical national infrastructure' in most countries have come under the control of ever more complex computer systems.

In business, you get incredible highs and lows… and it can take a decade of work before you start to see the story, and so having peer networks around you helps you realise other people have been through this.

Creative process by its nature involves figuring out all the things that don't work on your way to figuring out the things that do. You can't have it both ways…

Following the crisis, nobody actually pinpointed its cause and hence where the deficiencies were. There were knee-jerk reactions to say hedge-funds caused it with leverage, they're bad and must be regulated…. but nobody looked at the fact that the market created a load of products that nobody understood, and then failed to manage them properly.

Every person is different, but every sale is the same. The question is, where does the person start out on the certainty continuum?

If our senses are really how we understand the world, and there are differences in those sensory windows, then our internal world will be different. Perhaps these differences explain the diversity of beliefs.

We can literally see in science that having an open mind, an openness to the unexpected, and the right goals and direction create a greater likelihood of success. This mindset literally gives people the permission to look- and act- on the unexpected.

People ask me all the time what do you want to be known for? My answer is simple. I want people to say 'Shaquille O'Neal was a nice guy…' forget how much money I made, forget how many championships I won, or what type of businessman I am.

Simply put, a great business will understand its customers, have a clear, sound strategy and a business plan that can deliver against it.

Taking breaks can help us re-engage with the things we've grown accustomed to. Many people experience this when they go away for a business trip and return home, suddenly appreciating their family, home, and even the view from their window more than before.