Participants at most of my presentations will remember my suggestion to "Say No to Gossip." As I explain, I used to think gossip was something very specific, but it's really anything you say about other people when they are not around. I recently read this New York Times piece about…
Like many other people, my favorite tennis player ever is Roger Federer. Since his 2022 retirement, I have read a couple of interviews with him. As each interview made clear, he is spending a lot of time with his kids. I am glad I prioritized spending time with my kids.…
I am very happy to share a link to this piece I wrote for the insurance industry publication, Leader’s Edge. I am grateful for all the positive feedback I received when I posted a link to it on LinkedIn. All my best, David
We live in a world where companies encourage us to spend, even when we don't need to, for example, to keep up with the latest trends. The practice of spending more upon getting an income boost, is known as "lifestyle inflation." Instead of keeping up with the latest trends, a…
I recently heard a great quote: “Leading is action, not a position.” The quote is attributed to Donald McGannon. According to Wikipedia, McGannon was a broadcasting industry executive during the formative years of the television industry in the United States. As chairman of the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, McGannon was a…
I’ve written before about Peter Singer (no relation) and his important book about giving, The Life You Can Save. I’m on Peter’s newsletter list. Since the start of the pandemic, he has written a series called “mythbusters,” each of which addresses difficult questions and common misconceptions around giving. Here are…
I’m a big fan of books in a category that might be best called Social Psychology. I am a fan of all three of Adam Grant’s books. His most recent book, last year’s Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know, is full of valuable takeaways. I learned…
Empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another,” or as it is often said, the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. From an article on the Masters of Communcation web site: In simple terms, empathy is the ability to understand things from another person's…
The war in Ukraine is upsetting to everyone who is paying attention to it. As with other humanitarian disasters, there are calls for donations. I made a donation to an organization I know that helps Ukrainians, having donated to them in the past when a dear friend began volunteering for them.…
About 20 years ago, I read one of my all-time favorite books, The Children, by David Halberstam, about a group of young people, including the late Congressman John Lewis, who put themselves in harm’s way to advance the civil rights movement of the early 1960s. In that book, I read…
I have extremely strong feelings regarding customer service responsiveness. Whether I am providing service or receiving it, whether in my personal life or my professional life, my standards are very high. Last fall, a client complained about one of my colleagues not responding to an email. When I spoke with…
During the summer of 2019, my cousin married a Parisian woman. The wedding was in Paris and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. We arrived several days early to be able to spend some time exploring and experiencing Paris. It was a phenomenal week. On the first…