TALES FROM THE PATH

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” - Ernest Hemingway

As I did last year, I’ll share some conference highlights here, along with links to additional information you might find interesting.

I enjoy stumbling on good leaders in unexpected places. Buddy Valastro, the fourth-generation owner of Carlo’s Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ and star of TLC’s reality show Cake Boss, is my latest discovery (thanks to one of his biggest fans, my nine year-old daughter). Buddy is a master baker who conjures up...

One of my clients recently decided to write a manifesto to give clarity and depth to his professional value proposition. The result was a simply-articulated yet powerful declaration of the beliefs that guide and motivate him – at work, yes, but also as a human being. As we were...

I’m excited to feature a post today on the importance of being authentic by Michelle Tillis Lederman, my first guest blogger! Read on to learn more about Michelle, her company and her excellent book, The 11 Laws of Likability. People of all ages want to be liked, whether you are 12...

A step-by-step process that should yield some good data about both your strengths and areas for improvement, and can also help you build more open and mutually supportive relationships.

I rarely make an effort to see movies on the big screen anymore, but when my friend Stephanie Silverman invited me to attend a Screen Actors Guild preview of The Iron Lady followed by a Q&A with Meryl Streep (who plays Margaret Thatcher) and director Phyllida Lloyd, I couldn’t say yes fast enough....

      A few months ago, I wrote a blog about This I Believe, and the value that can come from identifying a deeply-held conviction and exploring the meaning behind it. I also decided that, after many years of being an appreciative yet passive consumer of these essays, it was time...

The dictionary definition of heady is exciting; exhilarating and that’s how I’d describe the 4thannual Harvard Medical School / McLean Hospital Coaching in Medicine and Leadership conference I just attended in Boston. The event was organized by The Institute of Coaching, which has – in just a few years – succeeded in...

Was it possible – I wondered this past Saturday as I lay on a yoga mat overlooking the bay, greedily inhaling and then expelling deep gusts of air as gulls circled lazily overhead – that this was the first time I had taken a conscious breath in weeks? It...

Is there a conviction you can’t imagine giving up because it’s so central to who you are? Which core values do you feel most passionate about? If you won the Powerball lottery tomorrow and no longer had to work for a living, what would you do with your time?...

Imagine that you’re jogging down a path and, just off to the side, someone is getting violently attacked by two thugs. What are the odds that you would run right by and not only take no action to help, but fail to even register the scene at all? Fairly...

In my last post I wrote about how Chaz (formerly Chastity) Bono, who is in the midst of a female-to-male gender transition, has developed some unexpected new behaviors and preferences under the influence of testosterone, including a lack of tolerance for idle chit-chat and an enthusiasm for the latest technological...

Earlier this summer I read an interview with Chaz Bono that opened a window onto the unique point of view acquired by someone who was raised on Venus but now calls Mars home. [The backstory, for those of you who don’t read Us or Sunday Styles: Chaz, who began life as Chastity, daughter of...