A client in a recent session identified that they were living their life with a “transactional model” where they did things for the outcome they provided. This is how many high achievers were raised e.g. work hard in school to get good grades to get into a good college, work hard to get good grades […]
How to be a great Chief of Staff in tech
I spent almost seven years at Google as the Chief of Staff to Jerry Dischler, the product VP of the Search Ads team (and a few other teams by the end of my tenure), so new Chiefs of Staff at Google were often directed my way to learn from my experience. As the Chief of […]
My Coaching Journey (so far)
I recently realized I announced my recent career transition on LinkedIn, on Facebook, and have even been interviewed about it on the Corporate School Dropout podcast, but somehow forgot to talk about it on my own blog. Oops. The summary is that I left Google in July after working there for almost 11 years, to […]
Bikepacking as a spiritual practice
As I mentioned in my last post, I went on a week-long bikepacking tour along the Lost Coast in Humboldt County a couple weeks ago (pictures here for those interested). I found the bike tour to be a surprisingly spiritual experience, so I wanted to share a bit about my experience. I realize that “spiritual” […]
Gratitude or Greed?
Last week, I went on a week-long bikepacking tour along the Lost Coast in Humboldt County (pictures here for those interested). For three of those days, we biked along desolate dirt and gravel roads through nearly untouched nature, camping at primitive campsites with no running water (we purified the water from creeks like the picture) […]
The Orchid and the Dandelion, by W. Thomas Boyce
Amazon link “Most children are more or less like dandelions; they prosper and thrive almost anywhere they are planted. Like dandelions, these are the majority of children whose well-being is all but assured by their constitutional hardiness and strength. There are others, however, who, more like orchids, can wither and fade when unattended by caring […]
7 Rules for Positive, Productive Change, by Esther Derby
Amazon link Book site Subtitled “Micro Shifts, Macro Results”, Esther Derby’s short but powerful book shares her wisdom on how to enable change in organizations. I first met Esther ten years ago at the Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference, and then got to know her better in 2015 while attending the Problem Solving Leadership workshop that […]
The Coddling of the American Mind, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
Amazon link Book site This book started as an Atlantic magazine article that was later expanded into a book. Their thesis is that trends on college campus such as a greater awareness of microaggressions and emotional safety serve neither the students nor society at large, as those trends are driven by what Lukianoff and Haidt […]
2018 Year in Review
Instead of my normal rumination on what I’ve learned this past year, let’s change it up, and do a picture-based post in mostly chronological order. Those of you that follow me on Instagram have seen most of these, but it’s a nice way to hit the highlights of the year. I’m still in the same […]
Introduction 2018, and a story of personal growth
I like having a page on this blog to explicitly introduce myself, even though you can get a sense of who I am from reading the various posts and browsing the archives. I call myself an Unrepentant Generalist, because I am interested in many different areas and decided not to limit myself to just one […]
