In my work and personal life, it often seems like we are provided false choices. I am suspicious of people who frame issues as only an either-or proposition. I respect leaders who have the courage and character to speak honestly about the complex challenges facing our world.

Maybe that's why I found Michael Bloomberg's commencement speech at Harvard Business School so timely and refreshing. "Calling on the Harvard Business School Class of 2019 to demonstrate “moral leadership,” and to inv...

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While I was in graduate school for my MBA, I read for the first time Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail from April 16, 1963. This letter may seem like unusual reading for MBA students and mostly dedicated capitalists, as Dr. King's letter addressed themes of leadership and social justice.

After reading the view of local clergy, Dr. King wrote his letter in the Birmingham Jail on scraps of paper and completed it on a legal pad provided by his defense attorneys. It is interes...

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This is a wonderful message by an outstanding person and entrepreneur - Michael Lazerow - the cofounder of BuddyMedia.   I met Michael through his efforts to build UWire - which became to the college media market what the Associated Press to national journalists.  He has always been modest, funny and inspirational.  He is also brilliant and this video shows that he filled with gratitude and a mindset that sets him a part.

According to Mashable...

"Buddy Media is not a brand most consumers wo...

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(Just above this post is a PDF of the Letter from the Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King.)

While attending Harvard Business School, I saw many examples of courageous leadership.   Entrepreneurs need courage.  Politicians need courage.  What is interesting to me is that leadership is fundamentally defined by having the courage to express your views - despite opposition, despite fear, despite overwhelming odds.   It is courage that defines leadership. 

One of the best illustrations of exp...
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Holiday weekends are great moments to reflect and think about our lives.  I am not sure where I heard the following quote, but I think it is profound as we try to make sense of the world around us. 

"we live in an era where we enjoy a wealth of information but a poverty of knowledge."

I often say that the first job of a leader is to define reality - not as they might want - but as it is.   Reality may appear different depending on your perspective, but the leaders who have the time to demon...
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