Money is not worth anything in and of itself. It is only worth what it allows you to experience and to give. Money is the great enabler. Unfortunately, it’s also a topic we avoid all too often for fear of… well for a wide variety of fears. So let’s talk about money. More specifically, let’s […]
Why did you choose that?
Why do you do the work you do? Maria Popova runs one of the most well-curated (and popular) blogs on the internet. Ira Glass runs one of the most well-produced (and popular) podcasts in the world. Michael Jordan was the most trusted person to take the last shot in a close game. The Beatles are […]
Getting Better is the Goal
The startup world can be obsessive over growth rates. “Uber grew by 3,000% in their 37th month of existence.” “AirBnB took three years to hit a 100% monthly growth rate.” Even the Inc 5000 is ranked by three year revenue growth rates. The numbers above are made up. They are not direct quotes about growth […]
Winning Lifetime Customers: A Threads 4 Thought Case Study
Part 1: The Importance of Mission and Values Threads 4 Thought is a sustainable apparel company, founded by a couple who decided to create change by starting a clothing brand in their senior year of college. At first, they only created graphic t-shirts highlighting issues/causes they cared about from sustainable materials. Now, they’ve grown to […]
Introverts, Extroverts, and Ambiverts
The popularity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) combined with the increasing focus on emotional intelligence for career success have led us down some interesting paths. One of these has been a prominent conversation around introversion and extroversion. Most recently, introversion has been recognized as a strength in its own right by researchers like Susan […]
Let’s Talk About Race
In 2012, an initiative called T-SPLOST was turned down by the Metro Atlanta electorate. Something like 70% of voters turned down the measure, which was a proposed sales tax to fund $8 billion for new roads, transit, and local transportation in the metro Atlanta region. Anyone who has spent time in Atlanta knows that it […]
Favors
Sometimes we get so caught up in our own priorities, we forget that not everyone can be a favor taker. Someone has to actually do the favors. It turns out that the doing of favors is much more satisfying than asking for the same favor to be done for you. Embracing that world view of […]
The Transformational Leader
A manager understands the scope of work and the deadlines to be met. She sees the priorities at a high level, in addition to understanding how each of her team members fits into the bigger picture. She orients the team toward the larger goals for the year through status meetings and checkins. The manager holds […]
High Potential
In second grade, I was in the “Discovery Program” for high potential kids. In fifth grade, I was selected as top pitching prospect at Georgia Tech baseball camp. In seventh grade, I was picked to participate in the Duke TIP program for high potential students. In my junior year of college, I was selected for […]
Body of Work
It’s easy to get caught up in vanity metrics. Organizational politics are seductive. Another feature in the media strokes the ego. But when you’ve achieved the vanity metrics… left the organization… and the attention fades from the latest media feature… what’s left? The work. We’re quite creative when it comes time to avoiding the work. […]