The Happiness Equation

Is happiness a choice?  Is it predictable?  It would seem so, in the view of happiness expert, Mo Gawdat, author of “Solve for Happy”. In fact, he has a Happiness Equation. His experience with losing his son in a tragic event, distilled a complex truth into a simple realization: the journey to happiness or unhappiness is seldom straightforward. He argues that happiness isn’t about external events but our reactions to them. For example, rain can cause happiness or unhappiness depending on our desires in that moment — when you want to water plants, rain makes you happy. If you want to sunbathe, it’s got the opposite effect.

Healthy intensity and difficult conversations

Intense leaders have an impactful presence: they inspire their teams when they share their purpose and focus with compassion and vulnerability, as a result, they are able to drive their teams toward success. And yet, the focus and intensity such leaders bring could trigger negative reactions in others. 

A crucial aspect of healthy intensity is the courage to engage in difficult conversations when such situations occur.

Authentic Leadership and the Masks we sometimes wear.

This is a story about Authentic Leadership and the Masks we sometimes wear to hide ourselves. It’s also a story about removing the masks to reveal hidden gifts of joy, freedom, creativity, and inner alignment. It is a story about connecting to our Authentic Self.

Achieving effortlessly – the challenge of turning effort into ease

As a lifelong workaholic, a trait that has driven me to become successful in banking and coaching, but at no small personal cost, my aspiration now is to do less, effortlessly. If Malcolm Gladwell was right about the ’10,000 hours’ theory of expertise he put forward in his 2008 book Outliers [arguing that “Practice isn’t […]

When the most audacious question is a ‘stupid’ question

What stops people from asking the most audacious and important questions is often a fear of seeming stupid.But one of the best business lessons I ever received came from a mentor I had during my banking career.He said to me “If you cannot explain an investment in the language that a 7-year-old child would understand, […]