I remember the first time I spoke in front of a large audience. The arrangements had been made months in advance, at which time it sounded enticing, even glamorous. Truthfully, I was far more interested in the idea of me as a speaker, rather than concerning myself with the pesky details of the event itself. Besides, how hard could it be, to talk about something you know in front of a group of strangers? But walking in to the cavernous auditorium... Read more
Last week I was asked to join yet another committee. I told the inquiring gentleman that I would think about it for a couple of days, after which I politely declined. “I am very cautious about becoming over-committed,” I explained, but he still seemed somewhat disappointed. It’s happened to me before – over-doing it with outside activities – and it’s not pretty: the running around every night of the week; the burnout; being spread so thin that I’m not much good to anyone, for anything. So I don’t care any more if I... Read more
I have had a prayer partner for the past year and a half. His name is Mike, and he also happens to be a blogger, at The Daily Saint. As far as I’m concerned, this is worth a few extra points, in addition to the prayer. I met Mike at an event put on by A New Equilibrium last year at the Princeton Seminary on the topic of integrating Spirituality and Leadership. At one point in the seminar, our instructor made everyone stand up... Read more
There you are in the conference room, discussing an important issue with your team. Eventually you make a recommendation, one which everyone knows that you are extremely well-qualified to offer. Just when you expect the applause to break out, you instead begin to sense a palpable whoosh of negative energy blowing in from one corner of the room. “Forget it,” says one unenthusiastic team member. “Bad idea. It won’t work.” But you, being the hard-charging and persistent manager that you... Read more
I was hunkered down the other day in a windowless conference room with three colleagues, discussing what we enthusiastically refer to at my company as “Talent Management.” You might think this means we were busy charting Hollywood careers, or perhaps determining how our employees might stack up in an entertainment competition. But no, it’s just the glammed-up version of the function formerly known as Human Resources. We were considering the promotion of a superstar employee from analyst to department manager.... Read more
There is this gentlemen – I’ll call him Ray Smith- who was a prominent business owner in the region. He was well known, not just for his company and the products it sold, but also for their charitable works. Ray had even set up a special non-profit entity for the specific purpose of funneling his company’s profits into missions-oriented and disaster relief projects. One day I was chatting with an entrepreneurial friend of mine whose business was taking off like a... Read more
Last week I attended a large deal-making convention. The place was brimming with investment bankers, private equity wonks, corporate development stiffs, and the like. In other words, it was a room full of suits. When we could no longer take the awesome power networking, the crowd neatly descended upon a cavernous ballroom theatre for a power lunch. Our featured keynote speaker was Ben Stein, the oddball economist who has somehow managed to cobble together a thriving career blending economics, political analysis and Hollywood star status.... Read more
In April 2011, an oil explosion on a BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 people and caused the greatest oil spill in U.S. history. The CEO at the time, Tony Hayward, uniquely rose to the occasion with what will surely become known as the most self-absorbed leadership quote of all time: “What the hell did we do to deserve this?” Mr. Hayward was certainly operating under an extremely stressful situation at the time, immensely more intense... Read more
I spent several days last week completely surrounded by writers, artists, musicians and poets. It was the Writer’s Retreat at Laity Lodge, in Texas, my second year attending. This is a stark contrast from my routine as a business executive. I am usually immersed in the business of running things, of analysis and decisions. But at Laity Lodge, there was no talk of strategy or finances or how to engage employees. In fact, for three solid days, I don’t think I heard... Read more
My friend Howard recently completed a major feat: running a half-marathon, which is an impressive 13.1 miles. As a formerly overweight kid in high school who could barely manage to jog a mile without collapsing, this was a huge accomplishment and major milestone in Howard’s spiritual and personal growth journey. But I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard that for the entire ten weeks leading up to this historic event, Howard’s pedometer had miscalculated the number of miles he... Read more
Shrinking the Camel
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