Interesting article I ran across this weekend.
All posts by Mitch
Three types of kindness
There is the kindness of ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ And the kindness of “I was wrong, I’m sorry.” The small kindnesses that smooth our interactions and help other people feel as though you’re aware of them. These don’t cost us much, in fact, in most settings, engaging with kindness is an essential part of connection, engagement and forward motion.
And then there is the kindness of dignity. Of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. The kindness of seeing someone for the person that they are and can become, and the realization that everyone, including me and you, has a noise in our heads, a story to be told, fear to be danced with and dreams to be realized.
And there’s another: The kindness of not seeking to maximize short-term personal gain. The kindness of building something for the community, of doing work that matters, of finding a resilient, anti-selfish path forward.
Kindness isn’t always easy or obvious, because the urgent race to the bottom, to easily measured metrics and to scarcity, can distract us. But bending the arc toward justice, toward dignity and toward connection is our best way forward.
Kindness multiplies and it enables possiblity. When we’re of service to people, we have the chance to make things better.
Source: Seth Godin
The trap of busy
Everyone who wants to be busy is busy.
But not everyone is productive.
Busy is simply a series of choices about how to spend the next minute.
Productive requires skill, persistence and good judgment. Productive means that you have created something of value.
Perhaps your self-created busy-ness is causing you to be less productive.
Source: Seth Godin
Born to run (things)
The first half of Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography makes some things abundantly clear:
He had no natural ability to play the guitar. In fact, after his first lessons, he quit, unable to play a note.
He had no singing talent. Every group he was part of needed a lead singer, and it wasn’t him.
And just about everyone dismissed him. Audiences walked out, his first agent simply stopped returning his calls and bandmates gave up and moved on.
He didn’t even know how to drive a car. Not only wasn’t he dating in high school, he wasn’t even cruising around town, being a charismatic rock star.
Talent is overrated. Skill is acquirable.
Showing up is something almost every creative leader has in common. In business, in the arts, in society. Consistently shipping the work, despite the world’s reaction, despite the nascent nature of our skill, despite the doubts.
And community is essential. The people you surround yourself with can reinforce your story, raise the bar and egg you on.
After the fact, the community becomes an integral part of your story of success. But first, you have to commit to the journey.
Source: Seth Godin
The Great Grift
NYU Stern School of Business Professor Galloway just published a great piece on the wealth transfer during the pandemic. It’s worth the read.
Excerpt: “The wealthy use this influence to expand their wealth and power. Consider the tax code: Income gained from selling stock in a firm is taxed at a lower rate than income gained from actually working at that firm. A second transfer from poor to rich: A homeowner may deduct mortgage interest on a first and second home, while the less wealthy pay non-deductible rent. If it makes no sense that we’ve functionally decided money (and the money it makes) is more noble than sweat … trust your instincts.”
The next normal arrives: Trends that will define 2021—and beyond
McKinsey and Company just published a great piece on business trends that’ll lead us in 2021 and beyond. It’s worth the read.
The next normal arrives: Trends that will define 2021—and beyond
2020 Books Read
- The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel
- The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
- Whistling Vivaldi by Claude Steele
- The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
- Creative Quest by Questlove
- We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Black Privilege by Charlamagne Tha God
-
The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
-
The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham
- Originals by Adam Grant
- Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- What got you here, won’t get you there by Marshall Goldsmith
- The Alchemist by Paulo Choelho
- Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams
- It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton
- The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida
- The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
- Tough Love by Susan Rice
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Finding Your Voice by Valerie Jarrett
- Heavy by Kiese Laymon
- Evicted by Matthew Desmond
- The Lean Startup by Eric Rice
- Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor
- The Road to Character by David Brooks
- The Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
- The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
- The Color of Money by Merhsa Baradaran
- The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner
- The Third Wave by Steve Case
- The State of Affairs by Esther Perel
- The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
- The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
- The Art of War by Sun-Tzu
- The Souls of Black Folks by WEB DuBois
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
- Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
- Our time is now by Stacey Abrams
- Venture Deals by Brad Feld
- The Defining Moment by Jonathan Alter
- Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama
- Measure What Matters by John Doerr
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi
- Trailblazer by Marc Benioff
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- A Promised Land by Barack Obama
- The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris
Finance & Investing
The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin
The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham
The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner
Venture Capital & Entreprenuership
Venture Deals by Brad Feld
Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor
The Lean Startup by Eric Rice
Zero to One by Peter Thiel
Measure What Matters by John Doerr
The Third Wave by Steve Case
It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton
African-American History & Race
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi
Our time is now by Stacey Abrams
The Souls of Black Folks by WEB DuBois
The Color of Money by Merhsa Baradaran
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Whistling Vivaldi by Claude Steele
Biographies
The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Trailblazer by Marc Benioff
Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama
The Defining Moment by Jonathan Alter
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Tough Love by Susan Rice
Finding Your Voice by Valerie Jarrett
Black Privilege by Charlamagne Tha God
The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger
The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
Lead from the Outside by Stacey Abrams
Marriage & Relationships
Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
The State of Affairs by Esther Perel
Business Management & Leadership
Good to Great by Jim Collins
The Art of War by Sun-Tzu
The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
The Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt
Originals by Adam Grant
What got you here, won’t get you there by Marshall Goldsmith
Random/Miscellaneous
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
The Road to Character by David Brooks
Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Evicted by Matthew Desmond
The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida
The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
Creative Quest by Questlove
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Alchemist by Paulo Choelho
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
