“Leaders say they owe it to the young people to give them hope. I don’t want your hope. I want you to panic. I want you to act.” Read More

The saying “Haste makes waste” has been around for centuries, but it’s more relevant today than ever. Between the hustle culture of today’s workplace and the instantaneous communication that smartphones enable, it’s easy to forget that just because we can take an immediate action doesn’t mean we should. Read More

When was the last time you succeeded in your efforts to influence someone? How about the last time you gained a real friend? One of the greatest capacities we have as human beings is our ability to influence others, yet most of us don’t realize that it requires a foundation of true relatedness if not intimate friendship. Read More

Hiding a part of who you are is a costly proposition. For the first ten years of my career, I never shared with my colleagues that I was born in Jamaica. Read More

A friend recently confessed the peace of mind she’s found from putting her own and her son’s needs above everyone else’s. She decided to make this change in priorities after an aha moment when she realized that some people, even close family members, will only love you if you fit inside the box of who they want you to be. Read More

“You sound way too educated to play a Native American woman.” Valerie Red-Horse Mohl had encountered such stereotypes before. This wasn’t the first time a white male casting director had dismissed her from an audition because she didn’t fit his narrow vision for how Native Americans should sound, or speak, or act. Read More

“I have gotten pretty good at talking myself through it,” says Laurie Charrington, a shrewd tech lawyer I interviewed for my book on remarkable women. When she was in high school, she was on a plane that almost crashed. They were returning from the Bahamas when the plane began to plummet. The plane dropped from 30,000 to 15,000 feet in seconds. Food flew everywhere. The carts went sailing up and down through the aisles. The stewardesses were crying. Thankfully, they landed safely. But it took her a very long time to get back on a plane. Read More

Everyone feels they have the right to give feedback today. For better or worse, the ease of posting to social media has emboldened unprecedented numbers of people to speak their minds, often without giving much thought to the consequences. Read More

Spend any time with a toddler and you will be immersed in natural curiosity. A study observing toddlers with their caregivers showed that children, on average, ask more than one hundred questions per minute. But as they grow and encounter traditional schools, social pressures and other societal constraints, most children lose the freedom to be themselves and the feeling of security needed to be genuinely curious. Albert Einstein said, “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education,” but fortunately it does. Curiosity allows us to seize opportunities, build relationships, understand the world, and succeed in our careers. Read More

Have you ever found yourself the only person of your gender or ethnicity at a gathering, in a conference room or on a panel? A lot has been written about such situations, particularly about how problematic it is when one token woman is expected to represent the interests and experiences of all women. I agree that such minimal representation is insufficient, especially given that women comprise half the world's population and are earning degrees and entering the workforce at a faster pace than men. Nevertheless, as our world slowly works toward true equity, I believe it's essential to learn strategies that leave us feeling empowered, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. Read More