I don't typically go looking for inspiration in vinyl stickers, but this one ... *ahem* I got stuck on. Good things come from responding to anxiety with creativity.

What was the best lesson you learned from a teacher, that you have carried with you into your career? Seriously... share your story with me on LinkedIn . I'm looking for inspiration. Tuesdays are good for that (while Mondays are for good for spaghetti). The best lesson I learned was from Prof. Brown in my first year of college. Before assigning us our first essay of the semester, he went on a long rant about how high school failed us by making us think a good essay is a long essay. He elaborated about how, in the many public and private positions he held, brevity was critical. If we wanted to be persuasive, the critical first step would be to ensure we were being brief. He gave us a controversial topic we had to outline in 1,000 words or less. Every word over would get a 1% deduction. For our next essay he reiterated the importance of brevity but also challenged us even more: We had to pick a side, and persuade. 750 words. 2% deduction for every additional word. Final essay. The to...

My daughter ran across the term "Growth Potential" the other day and asked me what it meant. She's long ago come to learn that asking daddy a question usually results in a much longer conversation often with colorful analogies, and the occasional Venn diagram. Whether you call it Growth Potential, a Growth Mindset, or just "Potential" - even for adults, it can feel ambiguous when you wonder how it can be demonstrated and measured.  When I think back to the people I'd interviewed, hired, managed, there were 2 common traits that among those with "growth potential". More importantly it wasn't just about potential - they went on to grow. Those folks managed to find the perfect balance between Confidence and Humility. Let's start with Confidence: A lack of confidence leads to self-doubt, it delegates decisions, it avoids risk (and really - everything begins to look like a risk.) Too much confidence is a label we often apply retroactively when hi...

How often should you be updating your resume? Frequently. Regardless of whether you're looking. In fact, update it especially when you're not looking. Not because you need to be looking. Not because you should never not be looking. Not because the market changes rapidly. Not for any reason other than because it serves as a great reminder of who you are, where you are in your career, why you do what you do, how you have grown, where you are growing next. Your resume is your perspective. Update it. Every 3 months. Every 3 months and, in between, whenever something significant happens. Whenever your perspective changes. Even slightly. If in 3 months you haven't changed - if you can't update a single sentence, replace a single word with a better one, then challenge yourself by asking why. Why has your perspective not changed? 3 months is a long time to grow, even if in small ways. And the power of a refreshed resume can be huge. It should remind you of your valu...

The not-so-interesting-man-in-the-world says... If you've been following taylor desseyn and I, you'll remember we used to have more regular live streams where we review resumes and do mock-interviews in a live stream, offering our honest feedback. Excited to share we're back at it again tomorrow! Hope you can join us! 📆 Friday, January 31st ⌚ 2PM EST Sign up here

After watching the Barbie movie on a flight and being brought to tears (honest question: does anyone else get more emotional on flights?) I remembered how I always felt Barbie's dad, George, is my celebrity-look-alike. Maybe I'll get cast as him if there's a sequel? Not sure if I'm Kenough - but I am Georgequate.

Whether it's your resume, LinkedIn profile, annual review we often face the simple question: how much credit should we get for our team/group/org/company achieving something. Maybe it was a huge revenue win, a massive cost savings, a substantial improvement to some KPIs, an industry award. Simple answer: you should take (some) credit. At the very least, more than none. I say this because too often we're more comfortable diminishing our contributions than we are with the feeling that we've received undue credit. But regardless of your role, if you were there to see it happen, you contributed (sometimes in less tangible ways) towards the achievement. And - more importantly - you likely witnessed some of the work that went into it, the decisions that were made, the impact felt before, during and after. And that makes you and your experience valuable. And if for some reason you were completely out of the loop - you should get right away to asking others about it. It...

"If it weren't for the last minute, I'd get nothing done." Those are words I live by, though they're not my own. They were written years ago by my amazing (now gone) oldest brother. When I think back on my best projects, products, presentations they've all been the result of the last minute. It's not to say I'm a procrastinator, disorganized, or don't plan. I just know that, without that last minute, I'd never reach done (or as some people call it " done-done ".) Lin-Manuel Miranda once described his own creative process - intentionally taking time away from what he's working on, giving himself time to daydream, to do anything but the thing he's supposed to be doing. It's part of the process. It gives the idea room to breathe, to germinate and grow and become something it never could be if it were constrained by your constant attention. None of this is to say planning, preparation and pre-work are a waste of time. You need...

My little lovely turns 10 today ... Reposting something I wrote almost a decade ago in honor of her. Slight spoiler: Yes. There have been more. Ma ny, many more. The love of adventuring was instilled in me at a very young age: walking through thunderstorms and down pours with my brothers, sneaking through office buildings with my Dad (and even getting kicked out by a security officer!) This carried on through highschool (with my best pal Andy) and later in college with co-adventurers Alex & Kieran. Yesterday, I went for a walk with my daughter (she was strapped to me, facing outwards, in the Baby Bjorn.) It was a bright, hot and sunny evening. As we rounded the neighborhood block what started as a puffy cloud became an ominous gray rain cloud. Being already past the point of no return, I knew I had to double time it before it started raining. (This was partly my decision, but mostly a decision my wife had made on my behalf and had called to inform me of.) As I neared the final bend...

I was thinking about a lot of the connection requests I get. All too often it's an impersonal message asking for something - a referral, to be a reference. As a principle, I only do this for people I know well and who have a good track record. But this made me think... how do I go about building my network? With that, here are 5 tips on how to build a better network. 1. Start early, before needing to make an ask, by engaging in their posts. 2. Make it about them, not your ask. 3. Create a conversation that is specific about them and their insights. 4. Feed their ego in specific and authentic ways. 5. Give them something of yours they can react to: share code, projects, whatever it may be and ask for their advice. Then, after enough time has passed and you've built a good reputation, make your ask. This takes time... hence, repeating #1: Start early. I'll also add ... My little "networking menu" is more of a guide than a guarantee. Those times are also best case sc...