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The element of surprise is an asset. Regardless of what kind of work you do, becoming a master of the unexpected will take you far in life. I’m reminded of my favorite scene in The Devil’s Advocate, when Al Pacino reveals his litigation philosophy to apprentice lawyer, Keanu Reeves: “I’m a surprise, Kevin. The jury, the witnesses, and opposing council, they don’t see me coming. And that’s why I…

Sentences are my spiritual currency.  Throughout my week, I’m constantly scouring and learning and reading and inhaling and annotating from any number of newspapers, blogs, online publications, books, articles, songs, art pieces, podcasts, eavesdroppings, random conversations and other sources of inspiration. Turns out, most of these sentences can be organized into about eleven different categories, aka, compartments of life that are meaningful to me. And since I enjoy being a signal tower…

You’re not here to be helpful addition. The goal is to get woven into the organization fabric. To be a stand for other people’s greatness. To be a fixture they can build something around. To be a solid foundation with deep roots, from which dozen of other branches can sprout and flourish and seed the rest of the landscape. And if that’s going to happen, you have to bring…

I’m a big believer in selfish creation. Making art for yourself and nobody else. Not the critics, not the masses, not the powers that be, not the mainstream media, not the competition, not the gallery owners, not the distributors and not the cool kids. For you. And in my experience, there are two ways to approach this process. One path is to work from an achievement orientation, focusing on…

Energy is interactional currency. If you want to lead the people around you, pay attention not only to what you do that gives you energy, but what you do that gives others energy. I learned this lesson busking in the park. Turns out, playing and singing music as loud as you possibly can in a public space with amazing acoustics gives people energy. It’s the coolest thing. As folks walk…

I believe in a few things. First, I believe in contributing meaningfully to the growth and well being of every person connected to me. Second, I believe the greatest contribution you can make to someone’s life is to help that person love themselves more. Here’s what might work: Instead of encouraging people to become more of what they are, empower them to become what they never thought they could…

I recently did an extensive interview with Travis Jenkins from The Entrepreneur’s Radio Show. We dug deep. The topics we explored include: How to make a name for yourself, creating a business around your brand, making connections, the writing process, finding balance between brand and business, speeding up your success and dealing with stress. Oh, and I also sang a song about hippopotamuses. You can stream the interview here, download…

My mentor used to have a saying: They are never going to do it, but they will love that you did it for them. I’ve found that mantra be true in almost every area of business, from public speaking to sales and marketing to client service to mentoring relationships. The trick is keeping your antennas up for new ways to leverage it. A few months ago, I was doing…

Sentences are my spiritual currency.  Throughout my week, I’m constantly scouring and learning and reading and inhaling and annotating from any number of newspapers, blogs, online publications, books, articles, songs, art pieces, podcasts, eavesdroppings, random conversations and other sources of inspiration. Turns out, most of these sentences can be organized into about eleven different categories, aka, compartments of life that are meaningful to me. And since I enjoy being a signal tower…

I’m an identity junkie. Few things fascinate me more than the formation, nuance, complexity and absurdity of why people are the way they are. But something I’ve recently realized is, identity is a luxury item. Not everyone is lucky enough to become who they are. There are several variables, most of which are based on pure chance, that keep people’s true identities from being known to the world: There’s…