I’ve had a varied career. It has taken me from nonprofits, to healthcare, to the top 25 of the Fortune 500 list, and back again. I’ve gone from finance, to IT, to analytics, and back again.
At the moment, I report directly to a senior executive and my duties and expectations are nearly all-encompassing. I’m the exec’s whatever-needs-to-be-done person.
A book can change your life. It’s a cliché, but that does not make it any less true.
All of humanity’s knowledge, insights, ideas, failures, and lessons learned are contained within books. They have all the answers. The writers have lived lives and encountered problems and, fortunately for us, have reported their findings in the form of the written word which we can use as a springboard for our own experiences. Why start from the bottom when we can stand on the shoulders of others?
As the quote that is often attributed to Bismarck attests: “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.”
Ancient Rome was a crowded place. There were all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds and social statuses jostling in the streets. It would have been difficult to make your way through the mass of humanity.
I’ve had so many bad job interview experiences. For years, it felt as if every time I went for an interview, I walked out feeling dejected and miserable. There were times when it felt like it would never improve. As someone that is now in the position where I interview others to join my team, I’m empathetic to those that come in looking for an opportunity.
Everyone knows 2020 was not a typical year. In fact, it was probably the weirdest and most stressful twelve months most of us have ever experienced.
Some of the items I wrote this year were in direct response to what was happening in the world – both in macro and the micro sense – while others could’ve been published any other time.
The biggest change to my writing routine was my output – or lack thereof.
“Always stay a student.”
— Frank Shamrock
The professor opened class with a simple statement.
“I assume everyone has the syllabus and all of the materials.”
Uh, I didn’t. I looked around the room and quickly ascertained that I was the only one. There was no sense in hiding.
I raised my hand to tell him. He wasn’t too annoyed. He simply said, “Open up Canvas and download it now, please.”
I said, “You got it,” but I thought, What the hell is ‘Canvas’?
One of the perks of my job is that I am fortunate to sit in meetings with the leadership of the organization — President/CEO, COO, CFO, VP’s, fellow directors, managers, whomever.
I was dying to work for a Fortune 500 company.
Generally speaking, economics books are not meant to make for pleasant reading.
You can’t learn everything in school.
In fact, many of the greatest lessons are found outside of the classroom. As someone that went to graduate school (twice) and did get an MBA, I will not diminish it by saying that reading some books is the equivalent of completing a postgraduate degree. It’s not. I learned a great deal from reading case studies, listening to lectures, and engaging with my fellow students.
However, there there were some gaps that business school did not address.
To fill in those gaps, I turned to books.
The Passion of Christopher Pierznik 