What does it take to become really great at something? — Mastery is a fascinating phenomenon — one that many people talk about, but few attain. Is it possible? Yes, it is. But what is it really? The dictionary defines mastery as “possession or display of great skill or technique.” OK. Good start. If you’re fluent in French, for example, you…

You are NOT in this alone, even if you think you are — “You can do anything, but not everything.” — David Allen Last year, I facilitated an online course whose purpose it was to help people transform their inspired ideas, dreams, and ventures into reality. …

It’s time to get out of your burrow and see the light of day — “Life has a curious way of repeating itself.” — Bill Murray T.S. Elliot’s iconic poem, “The Wasteland”, was first published in 1922. And ever since then, the first line of that poem has been quoted so often it has become a meme for many: “April is the cruelest month.” …

Moving people sometimes requires a different approach — Fifteen years ago I was invited to teach a course on “Innovation and Business Growth” at GE’s Crotonville Management Development Center for 75 high potential, business superstars of the future. The GE executive who hired me was a very savvy guy with the unenviable task of orienting new adjunct faculty…

A timeless lesson about relationships from the martial arts — Sometimes, in life, a single word or a single sentence can make a huge difference — an unexpected communication that penetrates to the core of your being and then radiates from the inside out for the rest of your life. …

How to Find Peace in a Noisy World — Prem Rawat’s New York Times bestselling book, “Hear Yourself” is a total treasure — demystifying the “spiritual” and cutting to the proverbial chase of what life is really all about. I read this book like I sip cognac — savoring it slowly. Each page felt like a portal into…

How a single story can help you arrive at an elegant solution — Storytelling is the swiss-army knife of transformational catalysts. Told well, it can be used to build community, inspire, delight, transmit tacit knowledge, share wisdom, educate, inform, change behavior, and spark elegant solutions. The following story (a re-telling of a classic tale), accomplishes many the above, but is primarily about sparking…

A flight of fancy that felt more real than some days of my life — Luciano Pavarotti just walked into my kitchen. He is crying, not for all those arias that made their way through him when he was a much younger man, but for the ones not yet written, the joy of a thousand composers still unborn. He asks if I have a…