1: Fred Kofman was five years old. It was the night before he was to start first grade.
“I had a meltdown in bed,” he recalls in his book The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.
“My parents heard me crying, so they came to check on me. When they asked me why I was crying, I told them that I was afraid that they would get mad … continue reading
1: There was once a woman in Russia who dreamed of becoming a ballerina.
“She practiced hard and eventually wound up taking workshops with renowned masters,” Fred Kofman writes in The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.
One day, she asked one of the teachers what he thought of her technique. He replied brusquely that she didn’t have what it took to be a star.
“The news crushed … 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:Fred Kofman was in the United Kingdom facilitating an executive meeting for one of his clients.
The meeting was scheduled to finish on Friday. Fred would fly home to the United States on Saturday so we could attend his daughter Sophie’s 14th birthday party on Sunday.
However, the executive team was unable to reach a decision on a critical issue. They decided to resume the discussion on Monday.
The … continue reading
1: Fred Kofman was in Shanghai. It was Day 2 of a workshop he was leading for executives at a financial services company.
“Before I could say ‘good morning,’ one of the participants said he wanted to share something,” he writes in his book The Meaning Revolution. He was so eager that I gave him the floor.”
One of the topics the group had explored the prior day was … continue reading
1: Skip was complaining to his boss, Fred Kofman, that he wasn’t getting the service he needed.
Earlier in his career, Fred Kofman had cofounded Axialent, a consulting firm. Skip was the manager of the Sydney-based Asia Pacific subsidiary.
“The firm’s operations center was located in Buenos Aires,” Fred explains in his book The Meaning Revolution, “where we ran administration, finance, marketing, executive assistance, and materials production. It was … continue reading
1: That’s what the Total Quality Management proponents say.
“In the same way that a fever alerts us that something is wrong with our bodies, a defect alerts us that something is wrong with our businesses—or the domain of our lives in which the defect appears,” Fred Kofman writes in his book The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.
When a problem occurs, our tendency is to fix … continue reading
1: Stu was mad as hell.
“We got screwed,” he told Fred Kofman, Fred relays in his book The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.
Stu was a sales executive for an enterprise software company. Fred served as an advisor to the firm and was leading a workshop with the sales team.
Several months earlier, the company had introduced a highly-anticipated new version of its core product. … continue reading
1: It was 6 pm. Andrés parked his car across the street from his home.
“As he stepped out, two armed robbers assaulted him,” Fred Kofman writes in his book The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership.
One of the thieves pointed a gun at him and commanded him to open the front door of his home.
Andrés stayed calm.
“Listen, guys, my wife and daughter are inside. … continue reading
1: Fred Kofman was writing. So was his wife. Who was sitting next to him.
She asked him if he wanted something to drink.
“Yes,” I told her, he recalls in his book The Meaning Revolution. “Some soda water, thank you.”
“Right away, as soon as I send this e-mail,” she responded.
As Fred waited for her to get him a drink, he “felt a deeper sense of thirst … continue reading
