Comfort reveals our true character just as much as adversity does, challenging us to maintain our integrity in times of ease.
All tagged character
We Yearn For The Next Mile of Freedom
Every generation yearns for that next mile toward freedom. So do we.
Our Duty as Era-Spanners
Understanding the world before and after a major technological change creates an opportunity and obligation to guide how moral questions are answered.
Team 144
I’ve never wanted a Michigan Football team to win more than this one.
2023: The Year of ‘Not Helpless’
2023 taught me a powerful lesson: facing fears and owning up to my choices proves that, really, we're never helpless.
Children bring out our best
In the company of children, we naturally embrace a kindness often lost among adults. It's this child-inspired grace I believe we can extend to all our interactions.
The people who know us intimately and fully.
There’s a secular lesson to take from Matthew 11: don’t over-regulate children. I want to try, at least, to simplify.
The easy path is attractive. But what would that make me? What would that make us?
The algorithm is simple: Light, spread, teach others to spread.
To break the cycle, I must engage in self-purification that results in direct action.
“I hope you are persuaded that our freedom, from the ever growing reach of rules and institutions, is inextricably linked to goodness. But for that to happen, more and more people have to choose the work to walk the path of goodness, rather than power. And that my sons, starts with us and the choices we make every day of our lives.“
Listening is a skill that builds character. To build the capacity to listen, I need to be comfortable with discomfort.
If we explore as artists do and introspect as artists do, we can practice leadership as artistry.
For sure, every person is capable of terrible things. But we, as men, don’t have to believe the delusion that we were born with a monster inside us. We have to stop believing that. We can build our identity as men around the parts of us that are most good.
The question of how to raise good children starts with figuring out how to be a good person myself.
I believe that we all feel invisible, to some degree. How we react to that perceived invisibility is an important choice.
Learning how to win ugly is an essential skill. And yet, I feel like the world has conspired to keep me from learning it.
I have such inner turmoil about feeling like I’m lagging behind my peers, in terms of career development. It’s totally irrational and stupid (and I know it), but I still feel it. I always thought it was just it was social comparison and some inevitability of human psychology.
But now, I’m wondering whether it’s just a response to the kind of covert bullying we adults torture each other with. If career angst is a response to the stimulus of feeling bullied, that’s actually a good thing. Because we can choose to respond differently.
I agree with statements like, “culture matters” or “leaders set the tone”, but they’re not helpful. Everyone knows that, and yet cultures don’t change easily.
It seems to me that one specific vector to change culture is to focus on reactions. I’ve reflected on some work-related examples in the post below. But the idea crosses domains, in my experience at least.
Are there are places where you’ve seen reactions have a big impact on organizational culture?