Who backs your solo act

The myth of the lone genius persists everywhere. We celebrate the CEO who “single-handedly” turned around the company. The entrepreneur who “built it from nothing.” The executive who “saved the quarter.” But look closer. Lewis...

Your worst enemy

Olympic legend Michael Johnson dropped a truth bomb that should wake up everyone chasing excellence. On the High Performance podcast, the man who dominated sprinting admitted something brutal: he wasn’t doing what he knew he needed to do. Think about that. Four...

Do we lack time

You get the same 168 hours as everyone else. Jeff Bezos has them. Your competitor has them. The person outperforming you in half the time has them too. The difference isn’t in the allocation of time. It’s in the allocation of attention. We’ve...

Stretch goals matter

Most organizations set goals they know they can achieve. That’s not goal setting—that’s sophisticated planning. Real growth happens in the uncomfortable space between current capability and audacious ambition. This is where stretch goals live, and why...

Delusion of determination

Determination built empires. Steve Jobs returned to Apple with unwavering conviction. Sara Blakely cut the feet off pantyhose despite years of rejection. Colonel Sanders knocked on 1,009 doors before someone said yes to his chicken recipe. But determination has a...

When smart people fight

In 1978, Intel faced a crisis that would define its future. The company’s memory chip business, once dominant, was being crushed by Japanese competitors. In most companies, this would trigger political maneuvering and blame-shifting. Not at Intel. Andy Grove had...