LIFE

'The power of imagination makes us infinite.'  

- John Muir  

Having high aspirations and goals is the secret to creating great outcomes.  Every action we take in our lives, whether personal or professional, has implications for the future of our lives; be intentional and be imaginative.  I will be a leader who enthusiastically harnesses the power of imaginative thinking, while simultaneously remaining focused on execution and evolution.

'Life isn’t about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.'  

- George Bernard Shaw  

The great opportunity in our lives, and one often overlooked, is the prospect of becoming more than we are today.  A retrospective of my career is replete with people who have used the opportunities in front of them to grow and evolve and excel.  I will be a leader who exalts curious, hardworking people – regardless of the station in life from whence they sprung.

'An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.'  

- Benjamin Franklin  

Continuous reading and learning are core to the ability to grow one's life.  Be a ‘learn-it-all’ rather than a ’know-it-all’ and you will go much further than you otherwise might.  It is a profoundly cynical view to believe there is nothing to learn from a book, person, or experience; I will be a leader who rejects cynicism and embraces the desire to learn at all times.

'The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.'

- Theodore Roosevelt  

Technical expertise has value and should be celebrated – but technical expertise alone is no virtue; to the contrary, it is the ability to harness that technical expertise and direct it through effective interpersonal relationships that creates great success and great happiness.  I will always remember the importance of not just technical expertise but also interpersonal interaction.

'There are no secrets to success.  It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.'

- Colin Powell  

One of the most common failures of unsuccessful people is the desire to skip steps, or to find a shortcut to the top.  The road is long for a reason – if a shorter way existed, it would be the road.  Want success?  Do the work.  I will remember this at all times.

'Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who will argue with you.' 

- John Wooden  

Life is better with respectful conflict.  So, too, is business.  The engagement and discourse intrinsic to respectful debate is what sharpens our perspective and focuses our minds – and what avoids mistakes.  I will strive to create a culture which remains loyal to the importance of debate and to learning from the smart people we have present.

'We create our own unhappiness.  The purpose of suffering is to help us understand we are the ones who cause it.'  

- Willie Nelson  

Each of us has a choice of how to respond to the circumstances life hands us.  We can choose to respond with discouragement or optimism, joy or sullenness.  We cannot control that which occurs externally, but the happiest and most successful people know that those outcomes are not defined, but internally chosen and embraced and created.

'What worries you, masters you.'  

- John Locke  

The decision to allow worry to linger unchallenged is a surefire path to unhappiness.  To be clear, contemplation and worry are dissimilar things – the former is laudatory, and the latter must be expunged by seeking clarity.  I will lead by seeking to eliminate worry through clarity.

'If life boils down to one thing, it’s movement.  To live is to keep moving.'  

- Jerry Seinfeld  

Good times and bad will be transitory, and ‘tomorrow’ always arrives.  The key to finding happiness and success – both personally and professionally – is to find the ability to move forward, to take action, to assert one's agency in life’s circumstances, both good and bad.  Resting on one’s laurels is as equally toxic in the long term as remaining mired in the muck of self-pity.  I will always choose movement – advancement – in the face of every circumstance.

'Consider the rights of others before your own feelings and the feelings of others before your own rights.' 

- John Wooden  

There is no cost to being polite.  There is no profit in being proactively offended.  There is no happiness in choosing selfishness.  Every circumstance we face is an opportunity and a decision – it allows us to choose the greater good or take the easier path.  I will be a leader who perpetually chooses the long-term good, the benefit of all, and treats others appropriately – even when this requires a difficult choice.

'There is always inequality in life.  Life is unfair.'  

- John F. Kennedy  

Our world is one of scarcity, and scarcity ensures inequality.  True happiness does not come from the achievement of equality, it comes from the achievement of mutual gain.  I choose to lead in creating a culture which embodies the principles of meritocracy and celebrates the wins of its highest achievers, embracing the reality that ‘fair’ is a place to get a funnel cake, and that mutual benefit does not inherently mean the same benefit.