Category: Self-Knowledge
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Fear of an Ordinary Life
My anxiety: It’s not FOMO but FOOL Last week, I was given the thoughtful gift of a book “How to be Bored“. It describes the anxiety arising from the Fear Of Missing Out, made famous as FOMO. I have a hard time sitting at home doing nothing productive. I have a sense that I am […]
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The 4 Kinds of Work
There are 2 ways to categorize work: cognitive or manual repetitive or non-repetitive. 4 Kinds of Work There are basically 4 kinds of work: Manual repetitive – Assembly line factory worker, farm labourer Cognitive repetitive – Call center operative, Bank teller Manual non-repetitive – Jewellery maker, Custom car builder Cognitive non-repetitive – Project manager, Sales of large complex […]
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Zero Executive Presence: “When I speak, people don’t listen. Why is that?”
Student: “When I speak, people don’t listen. Why is that?” Teacher: “It depends…” It always depends… There are many possible reasons that people don’t engage with you, don’t care about what you are going to say, don’t pay attention. Rarely does anyone come to me and say “I need help. I am boring.” However, this condition is […]
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There are no Answers, Just Stories
On success, there is no one right answer: You cannot learn absolute rules from another person. You cannot take the life recipe of another person. You can learn from their stories, but only you will take what you take from a story. Seek out Stories Tribes, civilisations and families have found that life lessons are […]
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The #1 Obstacle in Teaching Leadership
The mission of the IESE Business School, where I teach about 1,000 EMBA, MBA and Senior Management participants each year, is to “develop leaders who aspire to have a deep, lasting and positive impact on people, firms and society” and I have spent a lot of the last 13 years attempting to find a way to […]
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How to Concentrate
I met Dandapani at EO Instanbul University and have since met him in Barcelona when he came to run a 1 day retreat for our chapter of the EO organisation. He spent 10 years as a Hindu monk, and now shares what he learnt about using our mind and our awareness in an intentional manner. […]
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Making Changes that Stick, Building Good Habits [Video]
Here’s a video I shared recently on my YouTube channel. What is the underlying structure of your life? What habits are made easy because of the layout of your home, your office, the friends you hang out with? How might you change the structure of your life in order to make certain positive habits more […]
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Managing Oneself
Companies today aren’t managing your career. You must be your own HR guru. That means it’s up to you to identify your place in the world and know when to change course. It’s up to you to keep yourself engaged and productive. This is the premise of Peter Drucker’s 2005 HBR article “Managing Oneself”. Peter Drucker asks […]
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It’s Better to Avoid a Toxic Employee than Hire a Superstar
They lie, they manipulate and they pick fights: Some colleagues are ruthless, especially when it comes to their own professional advancement. Avoiding a toxic employee can save a company more than twice as much as bringing on a star performer. The trouble with Toxics is that they are difficult to detect. Often, Toxics are popular with […]