I grab a seat at the corner of a large rectangular table. The centerpiece is a mason jar of pencils and an old school pencil sharpener. The table is made of reclaimed wood set on top of antique school lockers. In some ways, the school theme is the perfect setting for a morning of conversation […]
What I Learned from Two Weeks in Seth Godin’s Office
I saw the city through the small window next to my exit row seat and I felt a swell of creative energy, anticipation, and excitement well up from my gut. Here we go… The opportunity of a lifetime starts now. On July 21st, 2013, I landed at JFK airport for a two week project with […]
What to Do When You Think You Want to Change Jobs
Allison was nearing the end of her college career as an economics and philosophy major at her university when a friend shot her an email with a job posting he found while browsing LinkedIn. Three (or six or nine) months ago you showed up for your new job excited about the possibilities in front of […]
15 Career Trends Every Young Professional Should Understand
Thomas Friedman stands on stage and delivers a simple, but potentially terrifying message. We have lived to see the end of average. What does he mean? Well, he means that the way the economy used to work was based on industrialization. We worked hard to make everything more efficient, to measure quality using Six Sigma, […]
Mentoring: How to Find and Maintain a Mentor Relationship
When I went to New York, I heard Seth Godin refer to Tom Peters and the late Zig Ziglar as his mentors. When I went to Geneva, I heard Shaper after Shaper talk about their mentors who have helped them avoid certain failure, learn from mistakes, and accelerate towards their goals. In the online world, […]
Customers, Work, and Community (What I Learned from #WDS2014)
I’m back in the saddle after another trip to Portland for World Domination Summit (WDS), put on by Chris Guillebeau and company. 2014 was my third year attending the (un)conference, and I took away lessons that you can just as easily apply in your own work and life. With every passing year, I’ve found that […]
Mastermind Groups: How to Surround Yourself with Remarkable People
The Eagle and Child pub is similar to many other pubs in Oxford. It’s dimly lit, serves beer at room temperature, and cider is an easy find. They have fish and chips along with other pub food. By all accounts, it’s just another common place in one of the greatest college towns in the world. […]
How to Overcome Fear to Get What You Want
I am scared. I am scared of failing. I am scared of dying. I am scared of losing friends. I am scared of ridicule. I am scared of throwing up. I am scared of commitment. I am scared of snakes. I am scared of rejection. I am scared of being called a fraud. I am […]
What Top Performers Do Differently in Their First 10 Years at Work
An afternoon spent with six impressive entrepreneurs showed me one thing: the nature of the world economy and careers has changed forever I had the chance to spend an afternoon/evening at Coca-Cola’s headquarters here in Atlanta during their 2013-2014 annual business strategy and planning meetings with Coke’s entire senior executive team and six other peers […]
Mindset: Why Your State of Mind is Everything for Conducting a Successful Career Search
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.” —Ernest Shackleton Ernest Shackleton is most well known for his Antarctic adventures from 1901-1922. During those years, there was an intense race to be the first human to reach […]