How to Turn A "No" Into A "Yes"
My dear friend Bill Ury recently spoke at a TEDx event about his concept of the third side. Bill is an anthropologist who set out to find a ways to achieve world peace. In the process, he learned it...
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Fitting In
Have you ever gone to a sporting event and seen someone on the subway wearing the same jersey as you and said, “Hey”? Why’d you do that? Was it simply because they were wearing the same clothes as you?...
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True Friendship
Serious question: Do you know who your friends are? What makes your friends your friends? Last night I sat on the couch in my apartment with an old friend and we cried together. She is going through a...
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One Dead Diver
If you want to become a certified scuba diver, they will teach you the importance of always diving with a buddy. Having a dive buddy is much safer than going alone, they will tell you. The reason is...
View ArticleSuccess Is An Equation
There is no formula for success. Meaning there is no specific quantity of ingredients that, if you mix them together, will make you successful. However, there is an equation for success. Talent +...
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When Good Service Goes Bad
I was on a business trip recently and my host was so wonderful. He was polite, he offered to carry my luggage. He offered me a drink and offered to get me something to eat if I was hungry. What...
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Your Quality Doesn't Define My Value
During the 1980s, it was all about "hi-fi." All the electronics companies competed on who could produce higher fidelity sound. But then, in an instant, high fidelity sound didn't matter at all. As soon...
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The Side of the Military Most Don't Get To See
“Carry on, carry on,” he would say to all the soldiers who stood at attention as we walked passed. “Carry on, carry on.” At 6’4”, he’s an imposing figure. A major general in the U.S. Army, he’s one of...
View ArticleOur Priorities Reveal our Values
It has been said that values are the standards by which we set our priorities. This means we can understand the values of a person or an organization by examining their priorities. I listened to a...
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Good Marketing vs. Bad Marketing
Marketing, per se, is neither good nor bad. It is simply the way a company speaks to us. People use their mouths, companies use marketing. It is objective. However, how companies choose to speak to us...
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Sacrifice Should Be Worth The Sacrifice
“Sometimes I wish I had your life,” my sister said to me. “You get to travel and meet all these amazing people and do all these amazing things,” she went on. I interrupted her, “And sometimes I wish I...
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Say What You Are Not What You're Not
“In the United States of America, we don’t practice guilt by association,” said Denis McDonough, deputy national security advisor to President Obama, “we will not stigmatize or demonize entire...
View ArticleGreatness Starts And Ends With Passion
Passion is like bookends to process. Passion starts things. It inspires us to start a business, take classes or take risks. But without some learning, some structure or some process, that passion can...
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Distorting Reality
I went to the supermarket recently. Among many items I bought, I picked up a bottle of olive oil. It wasn't until weeks later that I noticed something quite remarkable. What I bought, what I saw on the...
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The Importance Of A Declaration
The uprising we saw in Egypt was nothing short of remarkable. Thousands of people of all ages, of all classes, of various religions and sects came together in pursuit of a common cause: to see the...
View ArticleDonate Your Birthday
There is something powerful about giving something. There is something even more powerful about doing something small that can result in something big. Massive even. Monumental. Capable of changing...
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When New Gets Old
On February 11th, 2000, jetBlue Airways took their inaugural flight. There was much fanfare for the new airline. They were to be different. They flew new aircraft equipped with all leather seats with a...
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The Giving Mindset
I am fascinated by airports. There are few, if any, other places you can visit where such a diverse cross section of society comes together in the same place. Young and old, yuppies, hippies, stoners,...
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The Better Claim
“Our standards beat their extras,” read the headline on the brochure. The body copy below elaborated, “the most legroom in coach,” it said. When I read the claim on the jetBlue in-flight brochure, I,...
View ArticleYou Don't Know What You Don't Know
You don't know what you don't know; never was there a truer sentence ever spoken. The question is, knowing we don't know everything, what's the best way to learn more? The answer is ironically...
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