Wisdom in fragments

We go to war not because we ignore the costs, but because we know there are costs, but we are willing to pay those costs because we get something from the war which we wouldn't get otherwise.

Economist specializing in conflict, development, and poverty research

There is a famous Iraqi idiom which states that if you think your opponents can eat you for dinner, then you'd better eat them for lunch. If your opponent is too big and powerful to eat you right-now, you'd better eat them for lunch before they eat you. Commitment problems from our opponents lead us to act, and that's another reason why rational man can go to war.

Economist specializing in conflict, development, and poverty research

We do fight a lot of the time. The United States has been at war with somebody (in an active, intensive, pitched-battling sense) for many years of its existence but- importantly- not with most of its potential adversaries. Peace is not so unusual, and perhaps we should also not overestimate the frequency and likelihood of war.

Economist specializing in conflict, development, and poverty research

Today, information is omnidirectional – you have to respond to it immediately- and you have to empower people, in the field, to make decisions, or you will fail. Leaders today are far less involved with telling people what to do, and much more involved with setting goals and providing guardrails.

Editor of Fortune Magazine & Wall Street Journal columnist

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.

Editor of Fortune Magazine & Wall Street Journal columnist

Social media has decreased distance and that means that we are just as passionately bothered about things on the other side of the world, as we are things in our home town. Social media transparency has had, and is having, a huge impact on stakeholder visibility.

Editor of Fortune Magazine & Wall Street Journal columnist

If you look at the balance sheets of Fortune 500 companies 50 years ago and today, 50 years ago, 80% of the value was physical stuff. Today, more than 85% of the value consists of intangibles. Companies must become so much more now that their value comes from their ability to inspire, drive and organise human beings.

Editor of Fortune Magazine & Wall Street Journal columnist

Bill Gates spoke at Davos in 2008, about the need for creative capitalism. Michael Porter started talking about shared value capitalism, John Mackey of Whole Foods started talking about conscious capitalism and Marc Benioff started talking about compassionate capitalism. It was the beginning of a time when everybody felt the need to put a modifier in front of the word 'capitalism,' it was clear the incumbent version wasn't working as well as it could.

Editor of Fortune Magazine & Wall Street Journal columnist

Whatever you are going through, could lead you to something even better. You cannot often control what happens to you- but you can control your response to it. In a way, serendipity is about taking agency over your life more!

Look at someone like Leonardo da Vinci, he was interested in so many different areas, and connected the dots to create his amazing work. Look at Steve Jobs. He took calligraphy at university, and applied it to create the user interface for the Mac! The more we understand, the more we can ask questions.

Instead of saying 'I'm a technology entrepreneur…' you might say, 'well, I run a technology business, but I love philosophy and playing the piano…' the person you're speaking to now has a few more dots to connect! It takes active engagement in conversation to do this – you can't be passive and on autopilot.

We are held back by our deep, underlying fears. Fears of rejection, fears of being the imposter. We need to reframe these fears and work on regret minimisation. If you didn't take that action, spark up that conversation, or try that idea, would you regret it? if you would- then don't hesitate, do it.

Serendipity is about active luck, it's about the luck we create for ourselves and how we imbue meaning into the unexpected. Our reaction to unexpected moments can determine what happens in the future; that's a big component of what we perceive as 'luck.'

Being authentic is a privilege. Not everyone has the ability or luxury to do this. Sometimes as leaders, we need to speak less and listen more, to make room for other voices to be centred. We rein in our authenticity by being more adaptive so others can fill this space with their authenticity.

Canadian actress known for role in "Quantico" TV series

When we show our vulnerabilities, what we are insecure about, we are more transparent in how we lead, this is what unlocks cultures of inclusion, empowerment, agency, and psychological safety. We signal to our team members, 'you can trust me' and as a leader, it is vital we show up more authentically.

Canadian actress known for role in "Quantico" TV series

When we perform, it feels humiliating, exhausting, demoralising, exclusionary to do. When we mask, conform, and hide aspects of who we are, it actually hurts and damages us in the end. The adapted self willingly, happily chooses to adapt, to adjust our behaviour to meet our needs and the needs of others.

Canadian actress known for role in "Quantico" TV series