Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
Image courtesy of madonna-pix …Mindset. My pal Ben just posted his thoughts on Joseph Epstein’s “Ambition.” In it, Epstein tackles our ambivalence towards ambition: “In the modern world, and especially in America, a new distinction, a cruel twist, has been added: not to succeed means to fail. Leaving aside for a moment what it is … Continue reading What Makes Ambition Good Or Evil Is…
Photo courtesy of babileta From childhood, I’ve always thought of myself as lucky. Good things seemed to come my way, and bad things stayed away. At Stanford, I even adopted a special t-shirt as a lucky talisman. Whenever I wore it, no matter how dire the circumstances, I always seemed to be be able to … Continue reading The Four Secrets of Lucky People
Success doesn’t mean you can take it easy…success just means you have higher-grade problems. I attended a board meeting today for a startup. The team had made impressive progress in nearly every area. We rightly celebrated their achievement. And then we told them that we wanted them to step up their game. “Hey,” was the … Continue reading Success just means you have higher-grade problems.
I often hear people advising young entrepreneurs to “work harder” or “work smarter.” While this is good advice, neither is the ultimate secret of business success. Working harder is a good starting point. There’s no question that all other things being equal, I’ll put my money on the harder worker. The problem is that many … Continue reading The Ultimate Secret of Business Success
In this week’s Ask The Harvard MBA post, I tackle the serious question of whether contentment is incompatible with striving for success. “I have friends who are never content and are always paranoid, and whose self-inflicted misery makes them extremely successful and productive workaholics. I was chatting with one of them yesterday; I asked him … Continue reading How can a person strive for success and excellence while simultaneously trying to be content?
After reading SI’s profile of Kobe Bryant’s incredible drive, Ben asks, “Are the big time CEOs freakishly competitive, mind-blowingly arrogant, and singularly focused on their business goals even at the cost of “balance”? In a word, yes. History is pretty clear on the fact that most great men (and women) are bastards. Even Gandhi was … Continue reading Do You Need A Killer Instinct To Kick Ass?