Can you outskill bad character?

Can you outskill bad character?

“But what about someone who is just… abusive?” I must have given hundreds of talks on power, from classrooms to boardrooms, and I can say with confidence that this question or some version of it comes up every single time. But what about the boss...
The Lost Art of Not Knowing

The Lost Art of Not Knowing

I was listening to a podcast the other day, a very popular one, with millions of listeners, and the host was interviewing a Nobel Prize–winning economist. As he was listing his guest’s accomplishments, he said, “and then you won the Nobel Peace Prize.” The economist...
Rank Is a Drink Best Served Mixed

Rank Is a Drink Best Served Mixed

Of course it had to happen on a holiday weekend. The rainiest weekend of the spring. Our septic backed up, and with no one available to help, we dug up the earth, well, mud actually, lifted the 100-pound concrete slab, and tried to unclog it ourselves. Without the...
Motive is in Your Hands

Motive is in Your Hands

We’re inundated with coverage of the Epstein files as they trickle out. Headlines, podcasts, and reports dissect what they reveal about Epstein, wealth, and power. Even the release itself tells a story: the Department of Justice holding back some files, redacting...
Are You Too Much?

Are You Too Much?

“Just try to tone it down a bit, Julie.” It took me by surprise. This was a teacher I respected deeply, someone whose judgment I trusted, and she was telling me that I was too intimidating to another student. That I needed to dial myself back. I remember feeling...
What Time Teaches Us

What Time Teaches Us

I truly love this time of year, the threshold between the old year and the new. It’s a liminal space, the in-between. We’re no longer fully in the year that was, but we’re not yet in the one coming. For people who spend much of their time deciding, directing, and...