The Key Elements in Building a Strong Company Culture

Imagine walking into an office where the energy is palpable, creativity flows like a river, and every employee moves with purpose. This isn't a scene from a utopian movie—it's the reality of companies with strong, vibrant cultures. But how do they do it? Let's uncover the secret to building a company culture that not only survives but thrives.

The Simple Truth: Shared Values

At its core, a strong company culture boils down to one simple idea: shared values in action. Everything else stems from this fundamental truth. When every decision, hire, and policy aligns with your core values, you're on the right track.

Did you know that companies with strong cultures see 4x increase in revenue growth? This surprising statistic from a Deloitte study shows that culture isn't just about feel-good vibes—it's a serious business driver.

As an HR professional, I've seen countless companies transform through intentional culture-building. But don't just take my word for it. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, famously said, "The C in CEO stands for culture, and it defines the success of every organization." Under his leadership, Microsoft revitalized its culture, moving from a "know-it-all" to a "learn-it-all" mindset, which has been credited as a key factor in the company's remarkable resurgence and growth since 2014.

Remember your first day at a new job? The mix of excitement and nervousness? Now imagine if that day began with a warm welcome, a clear outline of the company's mission, and an immediate sense of belonging. That's the power of a strong culture—it turns anxiety into enthusiasm and transforms jobs into purposes.

Let me tell you a tale of two tech startups.
Startup A focused solely on product development, viewing culture as a 'soft' issue they'd address later. They hired based on skills alone and kept their heads down, working long hours.
Startup B, however, defined their values early. They hired for cultural fit as well as skills, celebrated team wins, and fostered open communication. They even turned down a lucrative contract because the client's ethics didn't align with their values.
Fast forward three years: Startup A had high turnover, missed deadlines, and a demoralized team. Startup B? They'd become an industry leader, with a waitlist of top talent wanting to join.
The difference? Culture.

The big question is how to build a strong culture. Let's break down the key ingredients:

1. Define Your North Star: Clearly articulate your vision and values. Make them so simple a fifth-grader could understand and repeat them.

2. Lead by Example: As a leader, your actions set the tone. Be the living embodiment of your culture. When executives and managers consistently demonstrate the behaviors they expect from others, it sets a powerful precedent. Remember, actions speak louder than words.

3. Hire Cultural Contributors: Look beyond skills. Seek out individuals who will add to your culture, not just fit into it. While skills can be taught, values are intrinsic. Seek candidates whose personal values align with your company's ethos. However, be cautious not to create an echo chamber—diversity of thought and background is crucial for innovation and growth.

4. Onboard with Purpose: First impressions matter. Design an onboarding experience that immerses new hires in your culture from day one. Follow this with ongoing training and development programs that reinforce cultural values and help employees grow.

5. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate: Foster transparency. Create multiple channels for open dialogue across all levels. Create channels for employees to share ideas, concerns, and feedback. Regular town halls, open-door policies, and anonymous suggestion boxes can all contribute to an atmosphere of openness and trust.

6. Celebrate Cultural Champions: What gets rewarded gets repeated. Recognize and reward behaviors that exemplify your values. Make heroes out of your culture champions.

7. Create Memorable Traditions: Shared experiences build bonds and reinforce culture. Establish rituals that bring your team together and reinforce your culture. Maybe it's Taco Tuesdays or monthly volunteer days.

8. Stay Agile: A strong culture isn't static—it evolves with your company. Regularly pulse-check your culture and be willing to evolve as your company grows.

9. Promote Holistic Well-being: Show that you value your employees as whole people, not just workers. Policies that support work-life balance, mental health, and overall well-being show that you value the person.

10. Tell Your Story: Every company has a unique story. Share yours widely and often. Share your cultural journey far and wide. Let your culture become your brand. When employees connect with your company's narrative, they become more invested in its success.

Building a strong company culture isn't about installing a ping pong table or offering free snacks. It's about creating an environment where people feel valued, motivated, and united in pursuit of a common goal. Build an environment where people can thrive.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take that step today. Starts with intentional actions. Nurture it, and watch your organization come alive with purpose, innovation, and success.

The future of your business is shaped by the culture you create today. You can lead this positive change.

Embracing Challenge: The Key to Personal Growth

“Mistakes are a part of life,” I told her, “but what you did this time was really unexpected. I am really proud of you!”

My eleven-year-old daughter had a project week in her school. She had to pick a topic, learn, experiment, and make a final presentation to the whole school at the end of the week. There were several topics, all around the central theme of the circus. Activities like cooking, dancing, painting, recording, etc. Many of the topics were familiar to her, but not the one she chose: driving a unicycle.

Every day, she returned home excited about her improvement. She was determined to challenge herself, and at the end of the week, even though she was nervous, she did it. Was it perfect? Far from it. But her sense of accomplishment was incredible. More importantly, it reminded her that she can tackle intimidating tasks. She also taught me that I need to challenge myself more, too.

We all face obstacles in life. But what if I told you that those very obstacles could be your greatest opportunity for growth?

Nat Eliason's insight on the importance of doing hard things resonates deeply. It's not just about overcoming challenges – it's about building a stronger, more resilient version of yourself.

Think about it:
1. Your past shapes your future. Every difficult task you conquer becomes evidence of your capabilities. It's like building a highlight reel of your own potential. 

2. Small wins lead to big confidence. Tackling tough problems in one area of life makes other challenges seem more manageable. That chemistry class you aced? It's fuel for tackling your next work project.

3. Avoiding difficulty limits you. When we shy away from hard things, even minor setbacks can feel overwhelming. Don't let fear hold you back from your true potential.

 4. It's a gift to yourself. Proving you can handle tough situations is empowering. It's an investment in your future self.

 So, how can you start embracing difficulty? 
• Set a small, challenging goal outside your comfort zone.
• Celebrate your efforts, not just the outcomes.
• Reflect on past accomplishments when facing new obstacles. 

Remember: You are capable of more than you realize. By consistently pushing your boundaries, you're not just solving problems – you're building a stronger, more confident you.

What's one hard thing you'll tackle this week?

Nobody Can Do You Better Than You

Ever feel like giving up?

I recently listened to Lisa Nichols. Her words were a wake-up call. She reminds us that we're each uniquely equipped to face our challenges and inspire others along the way.

As you read, ask yourself: What unique gifts do you bring to the world? How can you tap into your resilience today? Remember, nobody can do you better than you.

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Nobody Can Do You Better Than You
by Lisa Nichols

No one else has to get your vision because God, the divine, did not give your vision to anyone else but you.

Resiliency is not something that you download from Google. It's not something that you look up in the glossary and you instantaneously have it.

Resiliency is that thing that you tap into when you hit a wall, and nothing seems to be going the way you planned it.

Resiliency is that thing that you muster up when you feel like you can't go any further, when the best plan that you made falls right in front of your face, or when the relationship that you thought should go on forever ends abruptly.

Resiliency is that thing you tap into when you say I'm not ready to give up. I'm not ready to stop. I'm tired, but I won't quit.

Resiliency is that space that you go to inside of you where you begin to say the things you never thought you would say and do the things that you never thought you would do because you want to be the woman, the man you've always known yourself to be.

There is a time in your life when you have to find something that you never thought you would have, do something you never thought you would do because you know the man, the woman you're supposed to be, is on the other side of that action. And not everyone's going to agree with you. Not everyone's going to align with you. Not everyone's going to support your vision. Not everyone's going to support your dream.

There are times when you have to carry your dream alone. But in those moments when you are the only one carrying your dream, you're the only one getting your ideas, and you're the only one that understands your vision, see, you're the nurture, the conduit, that there's something unique and divine coming in that can only come through you.

You are the person, you are the perfect person, with all of your imperfection, you woke up enough, you are smart enough, you are brilliant enough, you're wise enough, you're tall enough, you are short enough. You are enough, you are dark enough, you're light enough. You are enough. You are the only person that can bring this divine, unique. And when you rise, and when you lift, and when you breathe, and when you stand again, when you turn the crawl into a walk, and you walk into a run, and your run into a soar, when you do that, you liberate every single one of us witnessing you. You liberate every single young child, every single young woman, every single older woman, every senior citizen, and every single person from two to twenty to ninety who crossed your path and saw they witnessed your resiliency.

Your life is so much bigger than just this moment. Your life is meant to leave and indelible impression on all of us, and you are the perfect person to do it. Look at who you are. Look at what you've been.

Look at who you are. Look at what you've done. Look at what you've come through. Look at what you're going to do. You're perfectly designed for such a time as this.

No one can be better than you. No one can move with your rhythm. No one has your style. No one has your grace. No one has your sense of ownership. No one has your sense of determination. No one can do better than you. And when you do you, and we witness, you give us all permission to do as.

So go ahead.

If you get knocked down, get knocked down. If you sit down for a minute, sit down for a minute, but then get back up. Because who you've been made to be, who you've been designed to be, you will always get back up. It's not in your mind, it's not in your essence, it's in your DNA. You will get back up, and when you get back up, you will stand up tall. When you stand up tall, you will run fast. When you run fast, you will soar high.

Why? Because you always do.

What You Tolerates Define Your Future

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you didn't get your promotion, that salary increase you were expecting, or recognition for your hard work?

This is a hard truth: you don't get what you deserve. You get what you are willing to tolerate.

According to a recent Gallup poll 77% of workers worldwide are unhappy or completely disengaged at work. 77% of people spend most of their day maybe physically present or logged into their computer, but they don't know what to do or why it matters.

If you want a different life, you have to make different choices. You have to set a high bar and refuse to tolerate anything less.

It's not easy. Complacency is comfortable. Real change requires constant self-awareness and discipline.

Small improvements, compounded over time, can entirely reshape your trajectory. When you orient yourself towards excellence, new opportunities emerge. You develop resilience and confidence. You inspire those around you.

As former U.S. Navy SEAL Jocko Willink writes, "When it comes to standards, it's not what you preach, it's what you tolerate." If you accept subpar performance, that becomes the norm. But if you continuously raise the bar, you'll develop insatiable drive and capability.

So, take an honest look at the standards you've allowed to take root based on your own behaviors. Do they align with your vision for your life? If not, it's time to reset and commit to a higher bar.

In the end, the boundaries you set for yourself determine the life you build. What will you choose to tolerate?

The Career-Changing Two-Letter Word

When I was starting my career, my boss had a simple mantra: "We can do it." As an eager young professional, I wanted to jump at every opportunity. I said yes to every new project, aiming to prove my hunger and potential. My plate overflowed with commitments.

Then, a powerful moment of clarity struck during a lunch with a visiting VP. When asked for career advice, her response was an "aha moment" for me. She told us: "Stop saying yes to everything."

Wait, what? I was a young professional who just said yes to everything to show I was a hard worker and team player. But that VP's advice made me see things differently. If you try to make everything a top priority, then really nothing is actually your top priority."

That day was life-changing. Learning to say no allowed me to be more strategic about which projects to pursue, dramatically increasing my impact. I focused my efforts where they mattered most.

Now, I frequently share this advise: say no judiciously. It's not easy, especially in cultures where saying no risks being viewed as uncooperative or even jeopardizing your career. The truth is the opposite - saying no is professional. It shows clarity about your capabilities and confidence in doing exemplary work on chosen commitments.

Protect space on your calendar to respond agilely to real issues and opportunities. As Stephen Covey said, "When you have too many top priorities, you effectively have no top priorities." Master the power of no to reclaim your focus and make your highest impact.

The Integrity Advantage: How to Earn Real Influence

When I started working in a new division with a new leadership team —people I didn't know anything about and unfamiliar with how the team operated— gaining credibility became my aim. It was clear that I needed a thoughtful plan.

Fortunately, I had one. I turned to the wisdom of Peter Drucker and Marshall Goldsmith.

Goldsmith emphasizes that making a positive difference in people's lives matters far more than merely being smart or proven right. But Drucker provided specific principles for earning credibility and elevating one's influence.

Of Drucker's credibility principles, these three deeply resonated with me:

1. Every decision in the world is made by the person who has the power to make the decision. Make peace with that.

2. If we need to influence someone in order to make a positive difference, that person is our customer and we are a salesperson.

3. We should focus on the areas where we can actually make a positive difference. Sell what we can sell and change what we can change. Let go of what we cannot sell or change.

Gaining true credibility as a leader is no easy task. It requires personal integrity at every step. As Drucker knew, integrity is non-negotiable for effective leadership. Without it, a leader has no legitimacy and will not be trusted.

In an era of low trust in leaders, Drucker's timeless wisdom is more essential than ever. Personal integrity, reality-based thinking, and a spirit of service must ground every decision. When our actions align with our stated values, we earn credibility. With that credibility, we gain the power to lead positive change.

Leveraging Your Uniqueness for Maximum Impact

We all want to make a difference and have an impact in our work and lives. But there is often a frustrating gap between our good intentions, hard work, and actual influence. The concept of leverage can help bridge this gap.

Leverage boils down to how much more valuable you are to others than they are to you. It's about scarcity and uniqueness. As Coco Chanel said, "To be irreplaceable, you must always be different."

If you bring common resources that others can easily get elsewhere, you have little leverage. But if you offer rare and invaluable skills, expertise or assets, then you gain leverage over others who need what you uniquely provide.

Imagine two women who create breakthrough technology in their garage. They're willing to sell it for $1 million. A big tech company like Google sees its potential and is willing to pay up to $10 million for it. Where will the sale price land - closer to $1 million or $10 million? It depends on leverage.

If these women are the only ones with this technology, and multiple companies are interested buyers, then the price will get bid up towards $10 million. The women have high leverage due to scarce supply.

But if instead there are many others also selling similar technology, while Google is the only viable buyer, then the women have little leverage. Price gets pushed down to $1 million due to abundant supply.

The same leverage principles apply whether you're selling a product, pitching an idea, negotiating a deal, or just trying to have more influence. Your impact rises and falls based on your unique value compared to the alternative options.

So cultivate skills that set you apart. Develop expertise that few others possess. Find undervalued strengths to capitalize on. Build your personal brand and relationships.

In essence, make yourself not just hardworking and capable, but distinctly invaluable. That's how you gain true leverage to achieve outsize impact in your career and life.

Getting Things Done When You're Not The Boss

Recently in a program from the Wharton School we reviewed the importance of influence. As organizations become flatter and less hierarchical, we all face the challenge of leading through influence rather than direct authority.

As you know, formal power doesn't guarantee real influence. Just having a leadership title like "Head" or "Manager" doesn't mean people will automatically follow your lead. The typical example in the business world might be a Brand Leader, who is responsible for a product but has no formal authority, has to figure out how to get marketing to do what she wants, how to get sales to do what she wants, how to get finance to play nice with everybody else. She's the Brand Leader, you'd think she could do it well, she's got the challenge of working through these informal channels. Even President Obama acknowledged, "I am president, I am not king. I can't do these things just by myself."

So, how can you cultivate informal power to truly inspire and mobilize people? We discussed four principles, and I added another one that nowadays, it's really crucial. Here are five key principles:

1. Focus on Legitimacy. Informal influence has to be earned through actions, not granted. You establish legitimacy by involving people in decisions that impact them and giving them a voice in the process. But equally important is demonstrating real performance results from the start. As Jeff Pfeffer, the renowned Stanford scholar on organizational behavior and power, states: "Power depends on the reputation for being effective." what you do early sets the tone.

2. Invest in Relationships. Treat people with dignity and respect. Go out and immerse yourself in the real work on the front lines. Listen to customers and those closest to the problems. Show you genuinely care about understanding their perspectives and experiences. Strong relationships provide the foundation for influence.

3. Leverage Symbolism. Your actions are always on display, so be intentional about the symbols you put forth. Travel to customer sites, walk factory floors with employees and make sacrifices that show your priorities. Symbolism conveys what's truly important far more powerfully than memos or speeches.

4. Value Flexibility. Tough challenges rarely have one right solution. Remain open-minded and willing to tackle issues from multiple angles. Clearly prioritize your top goals, but be ready to sacrifice lesser objectives to achieve what matters most. Steadfast commitment signals conviction.

5. Integrity and Coherence. Perhaps most crucially, you must model integrity by ensuring your actions consistently reinforce your messages. People quickly sniff out hypocrisy and disconnect between a leader's words and behavior. True influence flows from being wholehearted - bringing coherence to your beliefs, communications, and conduct.

Real leadership influence takes work. However, cultivating legitimacy, relationships, symbolic actions, flexibility and coherence creates the informal power to unite and inspire people in a way that formal authority alone cannot.

Maybe in Another Lifetime

"Maybe in another lifetime."

No. This is all you get. So please, just fight for the things that crack light into your life, fight for the things that soften you. Protect the people you love, leave them better than you found them. Defend your heart, do whatever it takes to keep it open despite what it has been through. Forgive, not just others, but yourself, as well. Slow down —taste, and touch, and feel and care. Create the things you want to see in this world, stay as curious as possible. Honour your joy, do not shy away from the good that is trying to reach you— do not convince yourself that you are unworthy of it. Be strong enough to be gentle. Be brave enough to break. Be all that you are. Be all that you are.

And when your time does come, when the stars take back what they lent to you, when the dance ends —I hope you leave this world with the heart that is worn out and tender all over, with a heart that aches from loving, and feeling, and caring in the best way possible. I hope you leave this world knowing that you poured hope into everything you did, that you crashed your soul into each day. I hope you leave this world knowing, from the deepest part os who you are, that you connected— that you tried something while you were here.

—Bianca Sparacino

In our fast-paced world, the only thing we can control is how we show up. This poem resonates a lot on how we decide to live.

Are You Really Living?

We're all guilty of it—getting caught up in the hustle and grind, rushing through our days on autopilot. We get so caught up in the grind, obsessing over our productivity and to-do lists, that we completely miss out on actually living.

Seneca warned against this trap over 2,000 years ago: "You are living as if destined to live forever; your own frailty never occurs to you... How late it is to begin really to live just when life must end!"

Harsh words, but he speaks the truth. It's like a wake-up call. It's a total paradox when you think about it. As Annie Dillard said, "The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it's the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder." We're so focused on checking boxes that we completely miss the mind-blowing fact that we're even here, alive and conscious, in this vast mysterious universe.

Seneca puts it beautifully—we've been given this "spell of time" to experience the profound gift of existence. Too often, we just let it "rush by so swiftly" without truly soaking it in and appreciating the magic. It's time for a wake-up call. It's time to stop sleepwalking and start living with real vivid presence and intensity.

The amazing thing is, it's so simple to unlock. We just have to make the choice to pause, look around with fresh eyes, and be here now. Breathe in every moment we're given like it's our last. Because you know what? It very well could be.

Life is happening this very second, all around us and within us. Are you going to keep snoozing through it? Or are you finally going to start living?

The $1,000 Potential Investment: Who Would You Bet On and Why?

Imagine you had $1,000 to invest in someone's future potential. But there's a catch—it has to be someone you know personally, someone you trust, someone you believe in, someone you would rely on. How would you make that decision?

Conor Neill issued this provocative challenge to a TED audience. It's a question that forces you to define what makes someone a wise "investment." What specific criteria would you use to choose the person most worthy of your investment? The usual criteria like skills, qualifications, and past achievements only skim the surface. 

When legendary investor Warren Buffett evaluated people, he went deeper - prioritizing Integrity, energy, and intelligence above all else.

Take a moment to clearly define your own criteria. What core values, habits, skills, knowledge, and deep motivations would you prioritize? Who in your life would be worthy of that investment?

More importantly, would you bet on yourself?

These are not easy questions to answer. But if you apply Buffett's three-filter test rigorously to your own life, how do you measure up? Are you truly nurturing personal integrity through your actions and choices? Do you bring infectious energy and vitality to pursuing your goals and dreams? Are you continuously stretching your intellectual limits and hunger for learning?

Our life journey is shaped by a series of choices and actions, some easier than others. But these choices compound over time and ultimately define our future potential. We often underestimate what we can achieve in a year, but overestimate what we can achieve in a single day.

In the story of your life, the most important book is the one you write.

The path to becoming exceptional begins when you take full responsibility for your actions, no matter the situation or circumstances.

World Down Syndrome Day

Meet Massimo.

March 21 is a special day—World Down Syndrome Day. For Massimo and our family, every day is Down Syndrome Day.

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is celebrated every year on March 21st.  Why March 21st? Because it symbolizes the extra copy of the 21st chromosome that individuals with Down syndrome are born with.

My hope for Massimo –and everybody else whose life has been touched by Down Syndrome– is that he will be fully included in society. My desire is that we all put our best effort into ending the stereotypes that prevent them from having the right environment to develop their maximum potential.

Stereotypes can be a barrier for individuals with Down Syndrome and other disabilities. They can prevent us from being treated equally. We believe labels shouldn't define us. Discrimination should never change who you are. With the right support and opportunities, individuals with Down syndrome can achieve amazing things. People might say, "They can't.…" but as Massimo and others like him demonstrate every day, "They will."

Let's remember that it's not our differences that divide us; it's our inability to recognize, accept, embrace, and celebrate those differences.

Join us in spreading the message of inclusion and acceptance on this World Down Syndrome Day.

How to Inspire Change With Words

One common question that leaders ask me is how they can be more effective leaders. As people continue growing in the organization, they stop listening to insightful feedback that can guide them to lead their teams. Leaders need to make things happen and learn how to motivate people. Does this sound familiar to you?

 We are living in an important transitional moment, where jobs don't fit into neat boxes anymore, offices aren't the only places to work, and many people don't have or don't want the typical jobs. Most people are looking for more meaningful reasons to do their best because they have it very clear they have a life besides work.

 When we want to convince and inspire others, we need to think differently. The way we talk plays a huge role in this, and the good news is that it doesn't cost anything. We can choose any words we want to create an impactful message. But doing it well—making it memorable and powerful—is quite tricky. Rhetorical leadership is an influential leadership style that involves the strategic use of language and communication techniques to inspire, motivate, and guide others.

Here are eight tools you can consider:

The Power of Clear and Simple Communication
Clear and simple language is fundamental to effective leadership communication. Imagine vividly painting your vision with words that everyone can understand. Research by the Harvard Business Review emphasizes that leaders who communicate with clarity break down barriers and invite everyone to join the journey, fostering a shared understanding that fuels collective action.

Tapping into Emotions for Lasting Impact
Great leaders stir emotions in addition to mastering logic. Different studies and experts support the idea that emotional connections create a sense of shared experience. Whether through personal anecdotes, powerful metaphors, or relatable stories, the ability to evoke emotions can inspire passion and commitment, turning a group into a united and motivated team.

Crafting a Compelling Vision
A compelling vision is the North Star that guides successful leaders. Picture the future you aspire to create and articulate it with passion. Harvard Business Review notes that a well-crafted vision becomes a rallying point, aligning everyone toward a common purpose.

Building Trust through Authenticity
Trust is the bedrock of leadership, and authenticity is its currency. Leaders who openly share experiences, vulnerabilities, and triumphs build trust with their teams. Authenticity breeds credibility, creating a foundation for building strong and enduring relationships.

 Empowering and Inclusive Language
Language has the power to uplift and empower. Leaders who use inclusive language make everyone feel valued and essential to collective success. According to Forbes insights, leaders foster a sense of belonging by emphasizing "we" over "I,” motivating individuals to contribute their best towards shared goals.

Mastering the Art of Repetition
Repetition is not just for memorization; it's a strategic device to emphasize key messages. Harvard Business Review notes that by reinforcing crucial points, leaders ensure their vision and goals remain in everyone's minds. Repetition fosters clarity and helps embed the desired mindset within the team.

Embracing Positive Framing
In the face of challenges, great leaders frame setbacks as opportunities for growth. Forbes suggests that leaders cultivate a resilient and optimistic culture by focusing on solutions and positive outcomes. Positivity becomes contagious, creating an environment where obstacles are viewed as stepping stones rather than roadblocks.

The Strategic Use of Silence
Sometimes, the most profound messages are communicated in silence. Leaders who strategically use pauses allow their words to resonate. Silence creates a moment for reflection and emphasizes the gravity of the message, leaving a lasting impact on the audience.

These are eight powerful communication strategies. However, their effectiveness relies on how consistently leaders embody their values. Hypocrisy can quickly erode trust, and we all quickly notice and dislike it.

As you embark on your leadership journey, remember that your words have the power to shape the future—choose them wisely.

Doing the Right Things Even When It's Hard

When times are challenging, we cannot let spontaneity or emotion lead our actions. Because, among other things, we cannot always control our emotions or invoke them at will. We need to develop our character so that we can act according to what we think is the right thing to do.

How are you forging your character so you can stay calm in tough times, be fair under pressure, act consistently in complex situations, and be courageous when things are unfair?

Being aware and willing is not enough to make a good decision, as only those who have the habit of acting rightly are capable of following their conscience. Additionally, besides knowing what is good, they also have the strength to act accordingly.

Leadership is a decision and so are the actions you're taking to be a better person and a better leader.

Not Everything Has to Be Okay

Have you ever reflected on how you embrace challenges?
We often find people very energetic and positive when they start a new project or a new role or when they hit the target results. However, in the long game, not everything is okay.

Sometimes, we forget that the most important life decisions are long-term. So, we are not going to see any results at the end of the month. (if you have ever been in a commercial role, you know how important the end of the month is) and we need to build resilience and be consistent if we want to move forward.

In long-term goals, the results are not linear, and there are no quick wins, so the probability that something does not go well —even when you know you made the right decision— is very high. And it is ok if we learn how to embrace it, learn from the process, and keep playing.

In the short term, we need to prioritize, focus, and accept that not everything will work as expected. We should be more concerned with our current trajectory than with our current results.

A few years ago, I heard from Seth Godin this powerful concept: "The person who fails most wins."
When we see failure as part of the learning process, we gain valuable experience and knowledge. But you know that it's not always easy. That's why we need to learn to embrace failure. Even better, change our concept of failure to one that we deeply understand that this is only part of the growth process.

If you have a great idea, you must test it, interact and engage with the market, and see what happens. Then, adjust what is needed and move forward, but you have to ship it. Tiny steps are the ones that will define your future self.

Tribute to Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman (11 May 1918 – 15 February 1988) was an incredible scientist. Known for his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, sharing it with Julian Schwinger and Shin'ichirō Tomonaga for their independent work.

 Feynman wasn’t famous just for being a world-class scientist; even more importantly, he was an amazing teacher. He leveraged the power of teaching to improve learning.

He did a series of lectures that are still available, which were for people who didn't specialize in physics. He was a great example of how one could explain things in a fun and interesting way to anyone. He used very simple concepts to explain how physics worked.

Despite his accomplishments, Feynman considered himself “an ordinary person who studied hard.” He believed that anyone was capable of learning with enough effort, even complex subjects like quantum mechanics and electromagnetic fields:

There’s no miracle people. It just happens they got interested in this thing, and they learned all this stuff. There’s just people. —Richard Feynman

He pushed himself to have a deep understanding. His approach to knowledge was always looking for different possibilities.

Throughout his work and life, Feynman provided insights into his process for considering complex concepts in the world of physics and distilling knowledge and ideas with fun and simplicity. Many of these observations about his learning process have been collected into what we now call “The Feynman Technique.” 

The Feynman Technique is a four-step process for understanding any topic. This technique rejects automated recall in favor of true comprehension gained through selection, research, writing, explaining, and refining.

True understanding requires a more active process. The Feynman learning technique is a way to learn new concepts thoroughly by teaching them to others or at least pretending to.

The worthwhile problems are the ones you can really solve or help solve, the ones you can really contribute something to… No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it. —Richard Feynman

How to identify High Potential Employees

We all want to work with the most talented people. Being surrounded by talented people impacts our organization and our results and increases our expectations of what can be accomplished. We want to have the best talent on our teams, and it's a constant challenge to identify them.

But let's start with how you measure potential.

How do you measure potential?

The most common practice is to look into past performance. We are used to looking at where people start, how far they grow, and how fast they reach the highest point.

As part of the selection process, people look for test scores and educational background.

But you could be looking at false indicators. As Adam Grant highlighted: "Potential is not a matter of where you start, but how far you travel. We need to focus less on starting points and more on distance traveled. (...) When we confuse past performance with future potential, we miss out on people whose achievements have involved overcoming major obstacles."

For many years, people assumed that potential was a gift, whether you had it or not. Only if you are lucky enough to be "gifted" will you be able to accomplish greater things. And even now, many companies are looking for gifted and talented people. Thankfully, this is changing.

Everyone has potential, and we can learn to develop it. Growth is not about how hard you work but how well you learn. We all can learn.

With the right opportunity and motivation to learn, anyone can build the skills to achieve greater things.

Are you really looking for a person who wants to transform things for the better? Knowing people's drivers, characters, and values can help you understand if they are looking for status or if someone really cares enough to seek and make a difference. 

Learning is a process we choose to go through, and learning needs to happen more.

We can continue doing the process as we know and have always done, but we can choose to do better. We can give more people the chance to achieve greater things. We can and have the responsibility to create and improve our systems to allow more people to thrive —regardless of their background.

We can choose to level up.

Instead of only looking for geniuses where we expect to find them, we can reach humanity's greatest potential by cultivating the genius in everyone.
—Adam Grant

Charlie Munger on three rules to be successful in life

Charlie Munger, the billionaire investor and Warren Buffett's business partner and right hand, passed away on November 28 at the age of 99. He was one of the most brilliant minds who inspired and influenced so many people with his wisdom, including myself.

Charlie's Munger journey to career satisfaction was far from linear. Munger reflected on his experiences, offering invaluable insights into his unconventional path. He shared that he had three fundamental rules:

I have three basic rules for career satisfaction that have always helped me. While meeting all three is nearly impossible, you should try anyway.

1. Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself: The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want. It’s such a simple idea. It’s the golden rule. You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end.
There is no ethos, in my opinion, that is better for any person to have. By and large, the people who have had this ethos win in life, and they don’t win just money and honors — they win the respect and the deserved trust of the people they deal with.
Plus, there is huge pleasure in life to be obtained from getting deserved trust. Reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets — and can be lost in a heartbeat.

2. Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire: You particularly want to avoid working directly under somebody you don’t admire and don’t want to be like. It’s dangerous.
We’re all subject to control to some extent by authority figures, particularly authority figures who are rewarding us. Dealing properly with this danger requires both some talent and will.
I coped in my time by identifying people I admired and by maneuvering, mostly without criticizing anybody, so that I was usually working under the right sort of people. A lot of employers will permit that if you’re shrewd enough to work it out with some tact.
Generally, your outcome in life will be more satisfactory if you work under people whom you correctly admire.

3. Work only with people you enjoy: I’ve found that intense interest in any subject is indispensable if you’re really going to excel. I could force myself to be fairly good in a lot of things, but I couldn’t excel in anything in which I didn’t have an intense interest or enjoy.
If at all feasible, you want to maneuver yourself into doing something in which you have an intense interest alongside people whose company you enjoy. 
Another thing you have to do is have a lot of assiduity. I like that word because, to me, it means: “Sit down on your ass until you do it.” I’ve had marvelous partners, full of assiduity, all my life. I think I got them partly because I tried to deserve them, and partly because I was shrewd enough to select them, and partly because there was some luck.

Munger's wisdom extends beyond these rules. As a legendary and pragmatic investor and active philanthropist, Munger was known for his wide-ranging wisdom across many disciplines — including psychology, economics, biology, history, and physics. Charlie Munger's life was a testament to the impact of wise career choices. To learn more about his insights, "Poor Charlie's Almanack" is a good start.

How to make great decisions

No one has taught us how to make great decisions, and the decisions we make daily could make all the difference in our lives and how we decide to live them.

Some decisions with low impact are reversible, while others with high impact are not. Usually, we stop to think about the high impact of, for example, getting married, accepting a job offer, or investing our savings. However, on low-impact decisions, we tend to go in automatically and dismiss the compound effect in our daily choices. For example, eating healthy food, exercising, or setting aside time to spend quality time with our family.

Learning how to make great decisions will make a huge difference in our lives, like getting the best results, achieving our goals, solving problems, building trust, and, not less importantly, driving us to the person we want to be and establishing our personal growth. The quality of our decisions eventually determines how far we go.

Improving our decision process is not only a skill but a series of tools and frameworks that we can learn to incorporate into our mental toolbox. Learning to make great decisions consistently will help us improve our lives and move above average or merely good.

In his book Clear Thinking, Shane Parrish shared insightful guidelines for making wiser decisions each day.

One important factor to improve our decisions is knowing our blind spots and managing them. If we don’t, the defaults will take control.

There is a gap in our thinking that comes from believing that the way we see the world is the way the world really works. Only when we change our perspective—when we look at the situation through the eyes of other people—do we realize what we’re missing. We begin to appreciate our own blind spots and see what we’ve been missing. 
—Shane Parrish

In his book, he shared two principles to evaluate and improve our decision process:

1. The process principle: When you evaluate a decision, focus on the process you used to make the decision and not the outcome. Even the best decision-makers get bad results from time to time, though. Making a good decision is about the process, not the outcome

2. The transparency principle: Make your decision-making process as visible and open to scrutiny as possible. If you don’t check your thinking at the time you made the decision—what you knew, what you thought was important, and how you reasoned about it—you’ll never know whether you made a good decision or just got lucky.

 He continues reflecting on the importance of good decisions:

Most errors in judgment happen when we don’t know we’re supposed to be exercising judgment. They happen because our subconscious is driving our behaviors and cutting us out of the process of determining what we should do. (...) Managing your defaults requires more than willpower. (...) Overriding your defaults requires implementing safeguards that render the invisible visible and that prevent you from acting too soon. And it requires cultivating habits of mind—accountability, knowledge, discipline, and confidence—that put you on the right track and keep you there.

The improvement you make in your decision process compounds.  All good decisions are effective, but not all effective decisions are good. The actions we take today are the actions that will separate our past from our future.

¿What are you doing to learn how to improve your decision-making process?

The worst behavior you tolerate determines the culture of your organization

What do you do if you find a person stealing at work?

• Do you confront them and ask what's going on?

• Do you report them to their supervisor?

• Do you report them to the legal department or the corresponding department?

• Do you do nothing? After all, it's not your concern.

The likelihood of overlooking theft is very low. In many countries, it is considered serious misconduct and means the immediate termination of the employment relationship. Regardless of the amount, it is an act that breaks trust and the person's credibility. It is highly unlikely that anyone would question the termination of an employee for theft.

The question is, what happens when you have a star performer in your organization who consistently delivers results and helps grow the organization's sales but at the expense of mistreating other people? What if this same person disrespects a colleague or abuses their authority to get things done?

What do we do with that person? When similar situations arise, people often categorize it as a gray area. Unfortunately, many times, nothing is done.

We usually justify results to allow behaviors we would not tolerate in others. Worse yet, these are often the people who are promoted or internally recognized without even evaluating their impact on the organization.

People and teamwork are your greatest competitive advantage. To understand your organization's culture, it is important to go deep and understand what each process in the company is telling employees about what is important.

One of my favorite definitions of culture is "the way things are done here." But understanding what creates culture cannot be better captured than in the quote by Gruenter and Whitaker:
"The culture of any organization is determined by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate."

What are you doing to think strategically and create systems that allow you to manage people and teams to gain a competitive advantage?