Marriott’s CEO Displayed Authentic Leadership In A Time Of Crisis
Marriott International CEO, Arne Sorenson, is an authentic leader and he proved it this week with the release of a 6-minute video to Marriott employees, shareholders, and customers. “This is what leadership sounds like,” one person said after watching the video on...
Andrew Cuomo: Leadership In A Time of Crisis
There’s a big difference between a person with a leadership title and a truly inspiring leader who brings out the best in us. In the battle to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is emerging as one of the leaders you’d like by your...
Bryan Stevenson And The Power Of Persuasion To Achieve ‘Just Mercy’
“You have to be persuasive when you're trying to change the world,” human rights attorney Bryan Stevenson said at an event to promote the movie Just Mercy, which opened nationwide this weekend. The movie is based on Stevenson’s bestselling memoir of the same name. It...
The ‘Rule of Three’ This A Quantum Physicist Uses To Simplify Complex Ideas
In its simplest definition, quantum physics studies the smallest things in the universe and seeks to explain how everything works—how the particles of nature interact. It gets much more complicated from there. That’s why I was intrigued by a recent article on the TED...
Reach Your Goals In 2020 With This Easy Mental Hack
We really aren’t very good at forecasting the future, but one thing is predictable year after year—most people who set a New Year’s resolution will fail to keep it. Gyms bank on it. Gym owners know that most of the people who sign up for a membership in January will...
Google’s New Ad Campaign Uses Storytelling To Bring Data To Life
Dave and Patti Fuller consider themselves simple New Hampshire farmers, but this month they’ve had more free advertising than they could ever pay for. The couple’s photo, taken in their maple syrup store, has been seen in the New York Times, the Wall Street...
LeBron James Controls His Social Media Posts To 54M Followers And So Should You
LeBron James, the NBA superstar named the ‘athlete of the decade’ by USA TODAY, is also a powerhouse on social media. Under the handle @kingjames, LeBron has 54 million followers on Instagram alone. He has another 44 million on Twitter and 22 million on Facebook....
The Importance Of Carefully Crafting A Mission Statement
I learned a new term this weekend: Yoga babble. It’s a phrase that explains something I hear all too often when it comes to corporate mission statements. I just didn’t have a good way of describing it—until now. What is yoga babble? “It’s as if my yoga instructor went...
Leaders Who Spark Action Focus On The Power Of Words
A day after I finished reading a new book about American revolutionary war writer, Thomas Paine, a 16-year-old Swedish activist named Greta Thunberg gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations on the topic of climate change. Her angry, tearful speech went viral,...
Bill Gates’s Success Is Due In Part To The Contents Of A Tote Bag
Bill Gates made his fortune in the world of operating systems and computers, but it’s an “antiquated” system that he credits for his knowledge. Gates carries a tote bag full of books “everywhere he goes.” Books are so critical to Gates’s life, the tote bag plays a...
6 Tips On Creating A Compelling And Motivating Mission From The Jet Blue Chairman
“Most people want to know they’re working toward a goal that is concrete, important, and lasting,” says Joel Peterson, the chairman of JetBlue Airways and a Stanford business school professor. I caught up with Peterson recently to talk about the new, expanded edition...
How Iconic Hollywood Film Producer Brian Grazer Uses Human Connection To Continue To Grow
Thirty-five years ago, Brian Grazer learned a valuable tip for pitching ideas. The secret sent his career soaring. Once you learn the tip, your pitches–and your career–might never be the same. Grazer, the co-founder of Imagine Entertainment with partner Ron Howard,...
Serena Williams’s 3-Step Tutorial On Peak Performance
If you get nervous before a big presentation, it might be comforting to know that the world’s greatest athletes share the same feelings before taking to their stage. In her Masterclass on tennis, Serena Williams, the winner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles,...
The ‘Inverted Yield Curve’ In Simple Language from the Professor Who Discovered It
On the morning of Wednesday, August 14, an unusual event took place in the bond market. Longer-term interest rates fell below shorter-term interest rates. It caused quite a tizzy in the financial markets. You won’t find ‘tizzy’ among the 2,500 words in the Dictionary...
Migrant Farmworker Turned CEO Talks About The Pivotal Moment As A Youngster That Defined His Path
As one of thirteen siblings in a family of migrant farmworkers, Bobby Herrera woke up at 5:00 a.m. to harvest the fields for onions, potatoes, and sugar beets. "Growing up, I thought it was normal for every kid to work ten hours a day, six days a week," Herrera told...
The Leadership Lesson Lee Iacocca Learned After Giving Hundreds Of Speeches
The articles about Lee Iacocca’s death at the age of 94 have understandably focused on the tangible outcomes of his executive actions: introducing the Ford Mustang, saving Chrysler, launching the first U.S. made minivan, and many other notable achievements. We...
Learn How To Inspire Others With Tips From Award-Winning Speechwriters
Every year, Vital Speeches of the Day distributes awards for best speechwriting. Named the Cicero Awards for the Roman statesman who called rhetoric a “great art,” the awards recognize the speechwriters and speakers who inspire their audiences. While most of the...
Legendary Investor Offers Five Essential Pitch Tips
Scott Kupor, the managing partner and CEO of famed venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), is behind some of the biggest names in the startup world. The firm's portfolio of investments includes multi-billion dollar ‘unicorns’ that have gone public or are...
Graduates Who Excel In ‘Soft Skills’ Will Be Irresistible To Employers
Earlier this month an anonymous bidder paid $4.5 million to have lunch with Warren Buffett. If the bidder asks Buffett for career advice, we already know what the billionaire will say—and it won’t cost you a dime. “Communications skills are the first area I would...
Amazon Leadership Meetings Start In Silence. Why Yours Should Too.
Former Amazon executive John Rossman recalls attending meetings of the company’s senior leaders (S-teams) and sitting in silence for fifteen or twenty minutes before an active discussion began. During that silence, CEO Jeff Bezos and the other senior leaders were...
Simple Pitch Tips From Canva CEO Melanie Perkins Who Turned Her Idea Into A $2.5B ‘Unicorn’
“We like to set crazy big goals and make them happen,” Canva CEO and co-founder, Melanie Perkins, told me in a recent conversation. Crazy big understates Canva's rare and remarkable accomplishment. Canva is one of only 300 or so private companies around the globe that...
Tyrion’s Monologue In ‘The Game Of Thrones’ Finale Is A Lesson For Real Life Leaders
Ask Game of Thrones fans about the final episode and you’ll get an earful. There’s no shortage of opinions on social media. While the finale might be debated for years, what isn’t up for debate is that the show scored a home run for HBO, setting a record with 19.3...
The Real Story Behind The Allied Forces Winning WWII And How It Can Help Your Business Succeed
The secret weapon that helped the Allied powers win World War II nearly didn’t see the light of day. The U.S. Navy had the tool in its possession for eighteen years and didn’t even know it. The weapon was radar. In 1922, two engineers—including the Navy’s senior radio...
Malala Credits Her Father For Giving Her The Voice That Changed The World
Malala Yousafzai was just eleven years old when she discovered the power of her voice to advocate for a girl’s right to education. Six years later, she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the youngest-ever Nobel laureate. Malala credits her father, Ziauddin, for...
New Research Shows How You Use Gestures In Your Presentations Matter More Than You May Think
The next time you pitch an idea, pay attention to what you’re doing with your hands and arms. Your gestures communicate more than you think. According to new academic research, entrepreneurs who use gestures to underscore their message are considered to be more...
Emotional Stories Deepen Your Connection With Your Audience – Use Them
People are easily bored. We tune out of conversations when our mind wanders. Every once in a while, however, we hear a story and we pay attention. We pay attention to stories that we relate to. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had an emotional moment on...
Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s Storytelling Skills Help Him Stand Out In The Democratic Field
For more than twenty years I’ve studied, interviewed, and spoken with business and political leaders who have mastered the art of rhetoric to capture the imagination of their stakeholders. I’ve met with CEOs and billionaires, entrepreneurs and scientists, presidential...
Ray Dalio Creates A Simple, Compelling Narrative To Convey A Complicated Topic; Reforming Capitalism
Simple writing is hard work. Explaining complex subjects in a way that's simple but not simplistic is tough to do. That’s why I follow business leaders who think about communication as much as I do. Those leaders include Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and...
Learn How To Be A Better Leader By Understanding What Followers Need
If a business book teaches me something new—and offers a fresh perspective on leadership—then I know it’s a rare find in the category. Nine Lies About Work is just such a book. It’s so thought provoking, I contacted the authors to speak with them directly....
Learn From Lyft’s Clear and Consistent Mission
I don't work for Lyft but I know the company's mission better than many people know their own company's own mission statement.Mission statements serve as a company's North Star, pointing everyone in one direction. A short, powerful and consistent mission...