I often enjoy episodes of “The Interview” podcast, by the New York Times. Last September, in an episode called “Brené Brown Doesn’t Want to Be a Self-Help Guru Anymore,” the Times’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro said, “We spend more than half of our life at work. I've never met a content (as…
Almost eight years ago, I wrote a blog post titled “Exposure Breeds Empathy,” which you can read here. The piece is pretty long. If you are even slightly inclined to read it, I urge you to do so. The gist of the piece is the way being exposed to others…
I have family in downtown Detroit, and when we were there in October a driver ran a stop sign and nearly hit me. That led to my being more aware and driving slower for the rest of my trip, and for the time I spent in Detroit when we visited…
Participants at most of my presentations will remember my suggestion to "Say No to Gossip." As I explain, I used to think gossip was something very specific, but it's really anything you say about other people when they are not around. I recently read this New York Times piece about…
Like many other people, my favorite tennis player ever is Roger Federer. Since his 2022 retirement, I have read a couple of interviews with him. As each interview made clear, he is spending a lot of time with his kids. I am glad I prioritized spending time with my kids.…
My mom passed away last year after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer’s. While the first six years were extremely challenging, my mom was in great spirits the final two years – and when the end came, she passed painlessly and peacefully, with my dad (her devoted husband of 64 years)…
We live in a world where companies encourage us to spend, even when we don't need to, for example, to keep up with the latest trends. The practice of spending more upon getting an income boost, is known as "lifestyle inflation." Instead of keeping up with the latest trends, a…
I recently heard a great quote: “Leading is action, not a position.” The quote is attributed to Donald McGannon. According to Wikipedia, McGannon was a broadcasting industry executive during the formative years of the television industry in the United States. As chairman of the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, McGannon was a…
I’ve written before about Peter Singer (no relation) and his important book about giving, The Life You Can Save. I’m on Peter’s newsletter list. Since the start of the pandemic, he has written a series called “mythbusters,” each of which addresses difficult questions and common misconceptions around giving. Here are…
I’m a big fan of books in a category that might be best called Social Psychology. I am a fan of all three of Adam Grant’s books. His most recent book, last year’s Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know, is full of valuable takeaways. I learned…
I was fortunate to hear John Harmon speak last year. Harmon, the Founder, President, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, was speaking as part of Berkeley College’s Larry L. Luing School of Business Leadership Lecture Series. Harmon’s topic was positive outcomes from diversity, equity, and…
Empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another,” or as it is often said, the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. From an article on the Masters of Communcation web site: In simple terms, empathy is the ability to understand things from another person's…