Articles
Here are some of my thoughts on how to create a meaningful career and be an effective leader.
The Secret to Finding Lasting Career Satisfaction
This article, originally published in Stanford Business in 2018 and later republished in Fast Company, came out of a workshop I have done for alumni of Stanford Business School. The core ideas are to embrace an experimental method regarding your career interests, step away from the drama of sudden change, and let yourself be surprised by what actually interests you and what you're good at.
5 cosas fáciles que puedes hacer para mejorar tu satisfacción en el trabajo
The same piece published in Spanish by BBC World.
20 Minutes a Day to Career Fulfillment
Making long-term progress in your career by making small steps in a consistent manner.
Effective Listening for Leaders
Most leaders and people, in general, are terrible listeners, and that limits their ability to accomplish good. Here are some practices to change that.
Building a Values-Based Company
In an interview with my business-school classmate, Pierre Trapanese, we dig into what company values really are and how getting serious about company values can make a huge difference both on the bottom line and in the lived experience of employees and entrepreneurs.
A Year In Review - With Yourself
This was originally published in the Shifting Careers blog of The New York Times and was one of the most emailed business articles that year. It grew out of a realization that the greatest obstacle for many people in creating career and life priorities was not "How do I get what I want?" but rather, "How do I figure out what I want in the first place?"
Why Thinking Like a Lawyer is Bad for Your Career
What makes you successful in one realm can make you unsuccessful in another. In this article, I examine how lawyers keep themselves stuck in unhappy situations by misapplying their analytical thinking skills to their hopes, interests, and careers. This is a problem because, as it turns, out, career progress usually does not come from logical analysis.
Have You Been Cocooning?
The single most useful idea I've gotten from coaching literature is the idea of "cocooning," a term propounded by Frederick Hudson. In brief, cocooning means that sometimes your feeling of inertness or blankness may be a sign of growth.
Hillary Clinton, Misunderstood INTJ
Myers-Briggs type theory is a useful tool for understanding how we are different from others, and for finding ways to bridge those differences. In this article, I applied type analysis to Hillary Clinton. I've always been a political junkie and often wondered how people could have such dramatically different views of the same person.
A Zagat-Approach to Your Career
Not sure what you should do for your career? Try asking your friends, relatives, and distant acquaintances. Here's a specific method of soliciting views about your potential options that will get better answers than casual coffees and late-night phone calls.