1: “Screw them. We could run a better convenience store than these folks!”

Twenty-one-year-old college student Ron Shaich was mad.  He and his friends had been “escorted” out of the Store 24 convenience store directly across from Clark University, which they attended.

The “beefy security guard . . . had taken one look at the trio of scruffy kids lingering over the ice-cream freezer and decided we were intent on … continue reading

1: When couples divorce, one of the main reasons they give is, “I didn’t feel appreciated.”

If creativity were our love partner, do you think it would feel appreciated?

That’s one of the provocative questions Gay Hendricks asks in The Genius Zone: The Breakthrough Process to End Negative Thinking and Live in True Creativity.

He encourages us to examine the relationship we have with our creativity.  We can ask … continue reading

1: It was a warm California evening in May 2021. Sahil Bloom and an old friend sat down for a drink.  

“As we settled in at our table, he asked how I was doing,” Sahil writes in The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life.

“I gave him the standard response that we’ve all grown so accustomed to: ‘I’m good. Busy!'” he recalls, “with … continue reading

1: One evening, future LinkedIn CEO and Executive Chairman Jeff Weiner was enjoying a pint of Belgian beer with his business coach, Fred Kofman. 

He shared with Fred that his personal mission was “to expand the world’s collective wisdom.”

“That reminds me of a Buddhist teaching,” Fred recalls saying in his book  The Meaning Revolution.  “Wisdom without compassion is ruthless; compassion without wisdom is foolish.”

“Hmmm,” Jeff answered.… continue reading

1: “If you’ve ever seen a picture of your mother or father as a young adult, you know how startling it can be,” Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz write in The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.  

“They seem like people we might have met along the road rather than the parents who created us,” the authors observe.  “They often appear less burdened, more … continue reading

David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, was among the first executives to embrace the power of purpose.

Back in 1960, talking to HP’s training group, he said: “I want to discuss why a company exists in the first place,” he began.

“In other words, why are we here? I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a … continue reading

1: Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning has sold over ten million copies and been translated into twenty-four languages.

It’s not your typical best-seller, however.  

The topic? Viktor’s experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps.

“Wondering why some prisoners survived and others didn’t in an atmosphere of hopelessness and despair, he concluded that those who made it lived with a greater sense of purpose,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott … continue reading

To become a transcendent leader, we must understand what truly motivates people.

Author and leadership expert Fred Kofman believes there are four levers leaders must utilize to capture the hearts and minds of their team members.  

Yesterday, we looked at the power of purpose.  Today, we detail three other powerful tools transcendent leaders tap into to build inspired organizations: Principles, People, and Autonomy.

First up: Principles.  

“As a culture architect,” … continue reading

1: Michi, Fred Kofman‘s then seven-year-old daughter, saw him packing for a business trip.  

“Please, Daddy, don’t go,” she begged.

“I was tempted,” Fred recalls in his book The Meaning Revolution, “to give her a perfunctory and dismissive response like ‘I wish I could, sweetie, but Daddy has to work.'”

But that’s not what he said.  Fred paused for a moment.  He would be traveling to the headquarters … continue reading

1: Management author Daniel Pink observes: “When it comes to motivation, the only reason to put money on the table is to take the issue of money off the table.”

What exactly does that mean?

Monetary and material rewards are “hygiene factors,” says management psychologist Frederick Herzberg.  Their “absence or unfairness can cause people to disengage, but their presence doesn’t make them feel engaged.”

Which is something most leaders … continue reading