I landed my first corporate job at an ad agency when I was 19. My clients were alcohol and tobacco brands and a tractor trailer engine maker. I was bright eyed, over-confident and very naive. I assumed I was there to contribute and I assumed everyone would (and should!) listen…

The other day, I asked my wife if she had any Valentine’s day wishes. “More time,” she said. Is there a resource more valuable and scarce? It seems there’s never a shortage of things to do and there’s always a shortage of time. We crave more of it, to spend…

One of my favorite cliche-but-its-almost-always-true is, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” When I think about my most significant accomplishments, they’ve always been marathon-like. They’re things that I set out to do, without knowing if I really could. …

January is the social media season of promotions, Big Decisions, and New-Year-New-Me Proclamations. We spiff our profiles up with declarations about how this year will be Great. About how humbled and excited we are to be tapped on the shoulder for something bigger or more expansive. It’s inspiring to see…

Last week, a colleague asked me what my Word of the Year is for 2022. I read their text over and over, wondering if I could just come up with something brilliant. Finally I admitted — to myself and to my colleague — that I hadn’t had (or taken) the…

How do you lead a team of people who know more about what they’re doing than you do? Does it erode your credibility as a leader if you ask your direct reports for help? Can you lead if you don’t have the answers? A mentee recently asked me about this…

I love/hate the holidays. I love the sparkle in my children's eyes. I love the smell of evergreen in our home. I love the twinkling lights, the images we share with one another of little ones learning to follow the customs of their families and their forebears. …

When I was a kid, my feminist mom made sure that I heard the words, “you can be anything you want to be,” often. I took her at her word and invested my future plans in this fundamental truth. When people would ask me what I wanted to be when…

One day, two weeks into a new job, I thought for sure I was a goner. I was working with my team and my new boss on a pitch deck. I can’t even remember the client, but we had been working all day and it was after working hours. My…