"...conversations at the intersection of business, art, technology, and a great life..."

People Skills – Robert Bolton

“People Skills” is a communication-skills handbook that can help you eliminate these and other communication problems. Author Robert Bolton describes the twelve most common communication barriers, showing how these “roadblocks” damage relationships by increasing defensiveness, aggressiveness, and dependency. He explains how to acquire the ability to listen, assert yourself, resolve conflicts, and work out problems […]

Emotional Blackmail
– Susan Forward

“Successful adult relationships, whether between lovers or friends, require a significant degree of vulnerability, trust, and openness”  “If you really loved me…” “After all I’ve done for you…” “How can you be so selfish…” Do any of the above sound familiar? They’re all examples of emotional blackmail, a powerful form of manipulation in which people […]

Difficult Conversations
– Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton &
Sheila Heen

“difficult conversations are almost never about getting the facts right. They are about conflicting perceptions, interpretations, and values.”  Members of the Harvard Negotiation Project — the organization that brought you the mega bestseller GETTING TO YES — show you how to handle your most difficult conversations with confidence and skill. Whether we’re dealing with an […]

The Empowerment Dynamic (TED)
– David Emerald

The Power of TED* provides a uniquely hopeful way of responding to challenging times. This fable explores the shift from a Victim Orientation focused on the drama triangle roles of Victim, Persecutor and Rescuer to a Creator Orientation and its antidote roles of Creator, Challenger and Coach. How to make this shift happen elicits hope […]

Working for Good
– Jeff Klein

“Working for Good,” subtitled Making a Difference While Making a Living, would seem indispensable for energetic, ambitious entrepreneurs and visionaries who have a strong social conscience as well as a robust business ethos.  Jeff Klein, an ambitious and energetic guy, has written a book with the same attributes and confesses that he “loves to work.” Klein’s […]

Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success
– Adam M. Grant

“highly successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability, and opportunity.”  A New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller from Wharton’s top-rated professor. Named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal– as well as one of Oprah’s riveting reads, Fortune‘s must-read business books, and the Washington Post‘s books every leader should read. For generations, we have focused […]

Nelson Mandela

By the time of his death, Nelson Mandela had come to be widely considered “the father of the nation” within South Africa, and “the founding father of democracy”, being seen as “the national liberator, the Savior, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one”. Mandela’s biographer Anthony Sampson commented that even during his life, a myth […]

Christopher Gardner &
“The Pursuit of Happyness”

[ INSPIRATIONAL MOVIES To Learn From ]   The “Pursuit of Happyness” movie trailer (2006) The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical drama film based on Chris Gardner’s nearly one-year struggle with homelessness. Directed by Gabriele Muccino, the film features Will Smith as Gardner, an on-and-off-homeless salesman. Smith’s son Jaden Smith co-stars, making his film debut as Gardner’s son, Christopher Jr. and Thandie […]

Outliers: The Story of Success
– Malcolm Gladwell

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”  There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to […]

The Dalai Lama

[ PROFILES – ICONS ] an ongoing series on inspiring leaders   “The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.” The Position: The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Tsongkhapa(1357–1419). The name is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai meaning “ocean” and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ (bla-ma) meaning “guru, teacher, mentor”. The Dalai Lama is traditionally […]

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