Today I turn 60. There’s something about that number, but the potential anxiety of hitting this “milestone” was completely alleviated by of a certain distant memory and a trip back to a favorite place of mine. Last week I was lucky enough to spend my time in a cabin in the Muir Woods. These woods are one of my favorite places. When I was a small tyke, my grandfather used to take me there when…
Continue Reading »

Sometime back I wrote about the new generation of leaders. I truly believe that what sets this generation apart is the simple statement, “make my professional life about something bigger than just me.” This group has signaled to the rest of the corporate world that ‘business as usual’ no longer attracts their leadership passion. It should come as no surprise that yesterday, as I scrolled through my newsfeed, Yahoo has decided to pay double for…
Continue Reading »

I grew up surrounded by palm trees, Mexican food, and skateboards. And like many of my fellow Southern Californians, I am a diehard Lakers fan. My childhood included peering into a black and white 13 inch TV and rooting like hell for Jerry West to vanquish the hated Celtics in the 60s. No matter how many times we tried, we never reached the summit. And then came the 80s and a fellow by the name…
Continue Reading »

The situation was familiar to me. How many times had I been in a conference room with outstanding leaders, fighting to get to the bottom of an important concept? Here’s the scene: the ubiquitous chairs and tables, a PowerPoint projector, and unending coffee and water in the back of the room. As is usual in Corporatelandia, the concern is how a business can land a story with their customers. It was hard to shake them…
Continue Reading »

One of my favorite examples to illustrate the difference between “on the ground experience” and “mental concepts,” is driving on the freeway. Imagine you and I are driving together and I simply ask you, “How fast are we going?” I am sure at that point you would look at the speedometer and say something like “65 miles an hour”. Now most people, when reciting the speed, relate to the number on the speedometer. They have…
Continue Reading »