Talent Whisperers®
Quietly motivating and developing leaders of great talent
Imagine you had aliens as customers. From my experience, this is much better than assuming we know them well and completely understand what would best serve them. If they are alien to you: Start Small and Iterate build-measure-learn Get to MVP quickly. Validate by testing variants. Use small steps to continuously innovate and iterate to… Read More
Perspectives are helpful when facing a big, life decision with multiple aspects at play. Read More
After riding the dot com wave as VP, Engineering for the fastest growing software company on NASDAQ, I decided to embrace the challenge to give back by getting my teaching credentials at San Jose State. I walked by this statue commemorating Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ brave protest at the 1968 Olympics on my way… Read More
I devised this Orange Observations exercise in my efforts to inspire my students to be observant. Read More
Powerful Questions and Active Listening Powerful Questions will help when striving for more meaningful, effective and mindful one-on-one conversations, these basic tools that come in the form of questions to open or deepen a conversation. There are also some useful techniques to being an Active Listener which will allow thew other person to feel more… Read More
Why are 10xers so rare if so much thought has been given into what makes a 10xer and what cultivates a Growth Mindset. Why are these Waldos so rare and hard to find? If we imagine that excelling, succeeding, finding happiness is basically a choice, then why aren’t we all enjoying being there? Perhaps because… Read More
Telling someone that they are amazing, naturally creative, resourceful and whole with unbounded potential is NOT an acknowledgement. Read More
There are advantages for mind, body and soul to being calm oneself to be more present and aware. Much of the guidance on meditation starts with focusing on the breath. I found it to be more effective to practice Heart Rate Meditation by focusing via direct feedback. Also, a key to consciously changing your heart… Read More
In his book The Culture Code – The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, Daniel Coyle refers to a competition at Stanford where business students in university squared off against kindergartners. The four-person teams had to beat the clock and build a tower using uncooked spaghetti, tape and string with a marshmallow on top. You would… Read More
Inspiration, curiosity and drive for someone with a growth mindset can be sparked or fed by role models. Here are just a few of the many role models that inspired me If we consider the possibility that the potential lies within each of us to be a Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Malala… Read More
Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish, and you feed them for as long as fish are at their fishing spot. Teach someone to learn, and they may discover that they can themselves … – find other fishing spots – – learn to hunt – – build… Read More
I like to framing styles of leadership as I see them in the fish story. I’m adding a level 5 here that is not as easy to grasp as the others: Level 3 and above leadership empowers, inspires, grows and scales teams and organizations. Level 1 and 2 leadership often leads to under-utilize or diminish… Read More
Radical Candor in the Mirror is about not being delusional or self-destructive. Instead, it’s about recognizing opportunities for continuous growth within ourselves. It’s about positive self-reflection. When we think of looking in the mirror, we often think of Narcissism. This is Delusional Self-Love and seeing ourselves as far better and above all others with no… Read More
The radiant energy that filled on a chance encounter with the Dalai Lama 40+ years remains with me to this day. Read More
My first early childhood education exercise was to go to a pre-school where a teacher was having particular trouble with three very disruptive boys she could not get under control. She hoped just to get a day of relief by having me take them for the day. I approached the boys and told them that… Read More
The path to enlightenment lies not in the footsteps of another. – CD In developing talent, it is important to help them learn to find their own path that not only resonates with them, but that is also appropriate for the unique experiences they will come upon in their path. When I interview someone who… Read More
In Relentless – From Good to Great to Unstoppable, personal trainer Tim Grover explains what he has learned from coaching athletes like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade. Grover breaks down what it takes to be unstoppable, keep going when everyone else is giving up, to thrive under pressure, to never let your emotions make… Read More
Content Strategy seems to revolve around at least nine types or concepts of content that I’ve come up with in the purposes they serve as part of a user experience. This is what I walked away with after our oldest, Tasha, tried to explain Content Strategy and Content Types to me which led me to… Read More
Unconscious Bias and Privilege are things that are easy to claim we don’t have. The City Bus metaphors may help us wake up. Read More