Cream & Sugar, Please A few syllables of kindness can make all the difference. Whether at the coffee shop, the dinner table, or that video call. I see you and appreciate the part of your life you gave me. It’s saying “No, thank you” to recognize they didn’t have to offer. They aren’t there to serve you, even if you pay them with ducats, dollars, or Dominican pesos. They were being kind and helpful. Let’s honor their kindness, and it will amplify. Tell Them When They Get It Right With so many...
Dec 26, 2022•3 min
I interviewed someone recently and asked, “What do you look for in a leader?” They said, “Care. If they don’t care, nothing else matters. If they care, everything matters.” I think that’s right. We need competence, but first, we need care. This isn’t just caring for the team but caring about the mission. Care is a decision. No training, no experience, just show up. Here are a few things that come to mind about people who care. * They take 'it' on as a burden and say ‘I’m accountable.’ * They don...
Dec 18, 2022•4 min
I think about energy. The energy I have for life, the energy I give off, and the energy I get from others—the encouragement, discouragement, and where it leaks. How can I maximize its use? How can I get more through good habits? How can I be satisfied with what I have? How can I replenish it when it’s gone? Most importantly, where am I letting my energy go to waste? I have two that lead my list. Status Seeking Time Travel Status To status-seeking, I shared the story of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius...
Dec 11, 2022•3 min
General James “Mad Dog” Mattis served in the United States Marine Corps for 44 years. Ask a Marine about him, and you will likely hear the reverence in their voice. His book, Call Sign Chaos, provides a glimpse into his style, life, and perspective. Love him or hate him - there is something simple about his approach. Unapologetic, authentic, responsible, and relentlessly focused on better. His “Three C’s” of Leadership are worth considering as you lead. They are: * Competence * Caring * Convicti...
Dec 04, 2022•6 min
Generally, speed limits are set for the maximum safe speed on roadways. A different approach uses Variable Speed Limit (VSL) signs that change dynamically to avoid heavy congestion or accidents. It may seem counterintuitive, but slower speeds increase the number of cars that can travel on the road. As driver anxiety decreases, the distance between vehicles declines, and stop-and-go reduces. Germany saw travel times increase by up to 15 percent, crashes decrease by 30 percent, and car volume incr...
Nov 27, 2022•4 min
It weighs 445 million pounds. I made my way down the cascading elevator bank to the ground floor of the Sears Willis Tower. It is an incredibly well-programmed office building with all the trappings. It’s where Joe gets you coffee or juice, and your greens are of the sweet variety. My feet know how to find a sushi counter I have on repeat to satisfy my sustainably sourced blue fin needs. Tucked on the ground floor, you’ll find that the branding eclipses the sushi with the speed of service beats ...
Nov 20, 2022•4 min
“What if you got fired?” That was the question I found myself asking this week. Let me explain. Economist-philosopher and author E.F. Schumacher said, “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.” That quote sparked a late afternoon session of walking in circles, looking at the floor. Naturally self-critical, I was saying to myself, “What am I doing that’s getting in the way?” ...
Nov 13, 2022•3 min
I grew up on a small island. It was all the things you would imagine and many that you wouldn’t: the colors, the poverty, and everything in between. My memories of being on the water run deep. Those colors are still with me - my walls, photos, clothes, and particularly when I shut my eyes. My fondest memories are with my best friend. Shadrach came into my life when I was four. We learned to sail, swim, and get sandy together. We’d push off this tiny beach in our little sailboat. He’d stand proud...
Nov 06, 2022•3 min
Hi Friends, In a post a bit ago, I shared a piece of wisdom passed on to me from one of my favorite humans. She shared that she keeps a file of compliments that she can refer to when she needs it. She is an incredible human. Kind, gentle, thoughtful, and the personification of care. I’ve taken that an incorporated it into my journaling system. The process is humming and feels too important not to share. In fact, a piece of joy (memory) came up today that I hope i never forget. Thank you journal....
Oct 30, 2022•8 min
A special event on Monday was cause for time travel. I remember it like yesterday—the smell of cheap plastic mixed with sweat. I walked to the third one on the right in a row of 15 treadmills. My form was terrible. Bang - bang - bang as my feet tried to keep up with the never-ending black belt of torture. The red numbers glared at me, whispering, “you suck, you are too slow, and you will fail Vohs - again.” Then the beat dropped. The shady spaghetti-eating self-proclaimed rap god came at me hard...
Oct 23, 2022•4 min
Humans began sharing written words 3,500 years ago. Circa 100 BC, the first ‘books’ show up but on different sides of our little blue ball. They were rolled bamboo held together with silk, hemp, or leather in China. This was also when, during the Tang dynasty, that woodblock printing was created. Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, the Romans are binding vellum (made of animal skin) between wooden covers. Fast forward another 1,500 years, in 1439, and Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press. ...
Oct 16, 2022•5 min
At first, it was called Idlewild Airport. Then it became Major General Alexander Anderson Airport, and after no small amount of city council debate, it was renamed New York International Airport, Anderson Field. A month and two days after the assassination of President Kennedy, it became John F. Kennedy International Airport or simply JFK. The first flight took off on July 1, 1948, with US President Harry Truman in attendance. By 1954 it had the highest traffic of any airport globally. In 2019, ...
Oct 09, 2022•4 min
Once upon a time, I worked for company that had a bar in this hip area of NYC. I was on the job for about a week, and my new boss said, “go extend the bar by four feet.” Being just out of the military, I barked a crisp “roger that” and marched off to execute. I was excited because I now had a chance to prove my worth. After all, I was back in the restaurant business after eight years galavanting around the Middle East and Central Asia. New York City is arguably the most competitive restaurant ma...
Oct 02, 2022•5 min
When you think of Broadway, you probably think of shows Alladin, Wicked, and Hamilton. While these shows take place “On Broadway,” they aren’t located on the oldest North-South thoroughfare in NYC, Broadway St. They are considered On Broadway because they have more than 500 seats. Theaters with less than 500 seats are off-Broadway. Today there are 41 On Broadway theaters and 120 off-broadway theaters. Who knew? I didn’t. There is this thing that happens around these theaters. Restaurants all fil...
Sep 25, 2022•6 min
Rene Girard was a Stanford professor and polymath who was well known for pioneering the idea of memetic desire. He believed that human desire occurs through observant mimicry. Like an infant learning by watching her parents, we imitate others who have what we value. We Copy Luke Burgis, Author of the book Wanting, gets very clear when he says, Basic survival, sustenance, sex, warmth: these are all instinctual needs for which we have biological mechanisms to help guide us. A desire, on the other ...
Sep 18, 2022•6 min
David Cain wrote This Will Never Happen Again . It’s not a long book. I recommend it if you have an hour to take some solid perspective. I’d also recommend his blog. In the book, he says this, "Theoretically, if you know what you love, then every time you make a decision, you’ll have a pretty damn clear idea if it’s taking you closer or further away from what you love. You’ll know the right thing to do. So self-love is a moral issue. It consists of doing the right thing." It’s an interesting ref...
Sep 11, 2022•3 min
I find it easy to stumble around in the forest of my to-do’s chopping wood. Walk, stumble, lean head against tree unable to see anything else, blindly swing ax, chop chop chop. Repeat. With my forehead against the tree, I can’t see the path and chop whatever is in front of me. When I’m too busy chopping, I can’t take time to think clearly. Am I doing the right things? Am I planting new trees for tomorrow? If I’m not careful, I might clear-cut the whole darn place. Chop Chop Chop Think about your...
Sep 04, 2022•4 min
My favorite movie is Braveheart. Given my desire for freedom, this one strikes a cord. The second is Gladiator, an epic action drama that I will assume most of you have seen, and if you haven’t, you have homework. It’s another story of oppression, war, love, freedom, and sacrifice. Here’s the gist - the father (Marcus Aurelius) has a son (Lucius Commodus), the son is immoral and all around not a good guy, the son is passed over for thrown by the father, the father dies, the son is pissed and tak...
Aug 28, 2022•13 min
This episode is made for listening 🎧. Don’t miss it. Discovered in 1811, iodine was originally called iode from the Greek word for violet colored (ioeidēs). By 1931 it had been anglicized to Iodine, and this is where we find a little boy in a school house bathroom. He was sent there by his teacher, Ruth Shaw, to apply iodine to a minor wound. Well, he did what little boys sometimes do, precisely the opposite of his instructions. Bright-eyed and smiling he took this bottle of purple-ish fun and ...
Aug 21, 2022•10 min
This episode is made for listening 🎧. Don’t miss it. TRANSCRIPT For me, life has this sneaky habit of adding more. More appointments, calories, expectations, more desires. My ability to say ‘yes’ is prolific for those who know me. A glance at my calendar, and you will see what I mean. Arthur Brooks shares a piece of wisdom in his new book, Strength to Strength , worth spreading. It was a story about the difference between Western and Eastern art...kinda. A Blank Canvas? Ok, close your eyes. Vis...
Aug 14, 2022•5 min
MADE FOR LISTENING - Don't miss out. TRANSCRIPT Over the last year, we have been searching for several senior executives to join our team. While we have an extraordinary team, we have bumped into resource constraints. Said plainly, we don’t have enough time. The business doubled, the team tripled, and the caffeine intake quadrupled. Whenever I spoke to a prospective candidate, I would find myself saying we need additional ‘executive capacity.’ Given my disdain for buzzwords, an internal voice wo...
Aug 07, 2022•9 min
Made for listening TRANSCRIPT I wanted to share a few takeaways and ‘ahas’ from a book by one of my favorite authors. The book is The War of Art , and the author is Steven Pressfield. He was first introduced to me when a ripped copy of Gates of Fire - a novel about the battle of Thermopylae, made its way around a small cohort of us in basic training. This is an extraordinary account of what the men of Sparta did and didn’t do at the hot gates as they faced the Persian horde led by Xerxes. In man...
Jul 31, 2022•12 min
Note: This post is made for listening :) but I’m including the transcript if that is not your jam. TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Hey there. I wanted to follow up on my other note about one of two things leaders are responsible for. The second one is compensation. And there's a whole lot to unpack there, so let's try to do it through a little bit of a story. I'm going to answer a question I get all the time, and that's “why did you join the army?” [00:00:18] And the reason is pretty simple, it was about ...
Jul 24, 2022•11 min
About ten years ago, I was fortunate to attend the JetBlue orientation. What they do is incredible. On day one, everyone attends orientation. The day starts with senior executives joining and introducing themselves. So far, good, but not a big deal. The big deal? Either the C.E.O. or the number two attends every orientation in person. That means, whether you are a baggage handler or an executive, you start on day one with the same attention. They take action to make you feel deeply cared for and...
Jul 17, 2022•6 min
I took another personality test this week as part of my work. It was enlightening, scary, and chock-full of reality. Also, it clicked for me that we are all different. That may seem incredible, but it’s true. I think I understood it intellectually, but I see it now. I’ve spent much time working on understanding myself, my motivations, and my why. I do this to try and be the best version of myself I can be. Buried deep are the reasons why I show up the way I do: money stories, admiration stories,...
Jul 10, 2022•4 min
Let’s roll the clock back a bit. I was sure I wouldn’t make it out alive when I joined the Army. And if I’m being honest, I took risks that I shouldn’t have. The good news is I was wrong. Not everyone was so lucky. When I left the Army, I re-entered the civilian world with a different view of death. I had accepted it as inevitable, but not in a positive way. Worse still, there were times that I embraced in an unhealthy way. For those that struggle with depression and think you’re alone, you aren...
Jul 03, 2022•6 min
NOTE: Made for listening :). The transcript is included below if reading is better for you. A hurricane took away the first thing I bought with my own money. Not quite a teenager yet, a summer of washing dishes resulted in $345. Every penny went to a new camera and film. Unfortunately, that camera, and all of those photos, were lost in 1989 in Hurricane Hugo - but my love for light and art wasn’t. With photography, you can stop the world from spinning. With the right light, and perspective, you ...
Jun 26, 2022•6 min
NOTE: #020 was made for listening :) It was arguably one of the best concerts I've ever attended. A semi-circle of musicians brought us seven songs with a number of impromptu solos. It was beautiful. This group of nervous but confident fifth graders found themselves in a dark, windowless room with excited and proud parents. I arrived curious but excited, and if I’m honest, I left a little bit wiser. Here are some of my takeaways. Stillness “We must be silent before we start,” said the teacher in...
Jun 19, 2022•8 min
Someone's leaving our team, and she's a good one. Both because of what she does and who she is. I had a conversation with her last week in a last-minute attempt to save her. She said something that resonated with me: “I have to think about how this looks on my resume.” That got me thinking about an article I read by David Brooks, and here's what he said: It occurred to me that there are two sets of virtues, the resume virtues, and the eulogy virtues. The resume virtues are the skills that you br...
Jun 12, 2022•3 min
New format this week - give it a listen or a read. Please let me know what you think :). TRANSCRIPT: The author of Atomic Habits, James Clear said in his newsletter last week: Most big, deeply satisfying accomplishments in life take at least five years to achieve. This can include building a business, cultivating and loving relationship, writing a book, getting in the best shape of your life, or raising a family. Five years is a long time. It's much slower than most of us would like. If you acce...
Jun 05, 2022•2 min
