Yesterday I turned 50.  I’ve been thinking about it for months.  Not in a good or a bad way, just in a profound way: What does it mean? When I turned 40, the theme was, “it’s the new 30, just a number!”.  The last big birthday milestone for me was 21, the age of legality …

If you live in the greater Chicago area, I’ll be giving a rare public talk next Tuesday morning in Oak Brook at the Hyatt Lodge in Chicago.  It’s an early event: 6:45-8:45am. The event is hosted as part of the Executives Breakfast Club series.  Visit the Executive Breakfast Club program page for more information on …

I shot this video @ home on Monday, but waited until today to share it with you.  I want you to take some time off this weekend.  As much as possible.  The more you take off, the better you’ll be next week.  Check out this video clip for the screed: The Value Of The Pit …

Yesterday, I gave the opening keynote at a Nokia Siemens Networks event in Washington DC (Environment As Economic Engine).   During my talk, I identified Cloud Computing as a mega-trend that would foster egalitarianism and Green IT.  It’s the buzz of the tech-blogosphere, where the common perception is that “the sky’s the limit for cloud …

Confidence is the rocket fuel for success.   When you stamp out uncertainty in your point of view, confidence rushes in and gives you resilience, power and boldness.  Show me a successful entrepreneur and I’ll show you a consistently confident persona. Confidence gives you risk tolerance.  It fills you with charisma, attracting others to follow …

From my email etiquette training program, here’s a simple but hard to follow rule: Don’t use email to get your way via escalation.   I’m sure all of us have either used this passive aggressive technique or been abused by it.  Using email to pull rank on someone is a prescription for disaster.  This is …

I’m getting ready to launch a podcast (Sanders Says).   One of my segments will be “Ask The Lovecat.”  If you know me, you know that I love to give professional and business advice.  That’s what I do in my books and during my keynote presentations.  If you have a question you’d like to submit …

Recently, I gave a talk on the subject of finding opportunity from this recession.  History is dotted with stories about companies that leapfrogged their competitors immediately after a major recession.  Kellogg did it to Post during the Great Depression.  Nokia did it to Motorola after the ’91 crisis.  Google did it to Yahoo after the …

If you live in the positive feedback loop, you are happy, confident and effective.   I’ve been thinking about this loop a great deal lately, and this video reflects my emerging ideas on how to feed the positive feedback loop.  The #1 fuel for the loop?  Encouragement.  (PS – I’m having fun with this, I …

Here’s some advice on how to travel safely this cold and flu season.  Every year I travel between 100 and 150 days. The key to my year is remaining healthy. The way I see it, every major bout with a flu/cold will cost you about 5% of your annual productivity. Over the last few years, …