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If you’re a leader, you’re paid to get it right, especially on things like people and strategy. For many, this means advancing their viewpoints and “winning the argument”; but being persuasive and being right are not the same thing. You can have all the charisma in the world, but if your batting average is low,

We’ve probably all heard that it’s lonely at the top, but does it need to be? No, but many leaders do find themselves in a relationship vacuum that they most certainly helped to create. It’s an easy mistake to make and I’ve made it myself. Have you? Are you making it now? If you’re a leader,

“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” These were the words of an angry God to people that had allowed politics, social status and personal prejudice to completely corrupt their legal system (Amos 5:24), and they certainly have relevance in our society today. But what about the private judicial

Long before there was Rocky, Seabiscuit, The Karate Kid, or Cool Runnings, there was David and Goliath, the original underdog story; but it wasn’t just bravery or perseverance that led to David’s victory. It was a stunning example of good strategy. It was surprising – no one expected that a boy with a shepherd’s sling could be effective in

“I’m not that smart,” is not a statement we’re used to hearing these days from a New York billionaire, yet that’s how Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, starts his book Principles (actually he says something rather more crass). This might seem like false humility, but Dalio appears to be serious. He’s

In Disney’s Aladdin, the young protagonist invites the beautiful princess Jasmine to a date on a flying magic carpet ride with the words, “Do you trust me?” It works out very well as they fall in love while touring some historical monuments. If only real life were so easy. When my wife and I were dating, we

Human beings are tribal creatures. It’s part of our nature, and some of the most important markers that identify an individual with one group or another are not obvious to an outsider. In 1885, a group of high-ranking European diplomats gathered in Berlin to draw arbitrary lines across a crude map of a continent where most

You’ve done your homework. You have a good handle on the situation and a pathway forward has begun to emerge. You have a vision and now, you’ve got a plan. It’s time to be a leader. It’s time to muster the troops that are going to implement these bright ideas of yours. They have been down

The world of boxing is famous for its exaggerated hype, especially when two top-rated fighters face each other. One of the most highly anticipated boxing matches ever was between Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks, two undefeated heavyweight boxers from different leagues who finally faced off on June 27, 1988, in Atlantic City, hosted by none

Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who rose briefly to fame after he delivered an inspirational “last lecture” during the final months of his battle with terminal cancer. His speech has been viewed nearly 20 million times on YouTube and was turned into a best-selling book. He tells the