Just be in it

I sat watching a match the other night that I didn’t expect to stay up for. The South African team, ranked well below their South Korean opponents, walked onto the pitch against all reasonable expectation. The commentators were already narrating the inevitable....

The grind is the gift

We romanticize the result and forget the road that got us there. Parents know this. Ask one who is a few years past the hard years. Past the arguments and the ultimatums and the late nights, wondering if they were doing it right. There’s a sparkle in the eye...

Raise it. Don’t lower it

The freelancer drops her price.The agency offers a discount.The consultant throws in extra hours for free. All because someone said no. But no doesn’t always mean the price was wrong. Sometimes it means the buyer was wrong. Not every customer is your customer....

Four freedoms. One truth

On June 19, 1865, the declaration arrived. Freedom, finally, on paper. But paper and practice are two entirely different things. Dan Sullivan spent decades studying entrepreneurs and found something most founders never say out loud: being your own boss doesn’t...

The invisible standard

We talk about culture as if it lives in handbooks. It does not. Culture lives in what we do when no one is keeping score. Japan’s World Cup team left their locker room immaculate. The fans cleared their garbage into bags provided to their supporters. Not to win...