In our society, leadership is often perceived as a personality trait: Either you have it or you don’t. People are “born leaders” or they’re not. That’s only partly right. Leadership development professionals say personality does play a role—but that’s one factor, along with opportunities to

We’d all like to imagine ourselves as the perfect blend of super-attorney and star entrepreneur. But of course, none of us are, really. We’re all imperfect, and we all have certain innate strengths and weaknesses that differ from those of other people. (This, by the

We all want to know how, exactly, winners win. What do athletes eat, drink, or do to win gold? How many hours a week do top students study to get into Harvard? What strategies do the top performers use to separate themselves from the pack?

“Life balance” may seem like a luxury most entrepreneurs can’t afford. After all, shouldn’t people launching their businesses be working all night and eating at their desks? A recent article in Entrepreneur made a list of ways to avoid burnout and find balance. Start Smart:

You’ve probably known someone who just seems…lucky. They happen upon a great deal, getting the timing right, sit on the plane next to the right person. It just seems that opportunity is always opening doors for them. America loves an overnight success story, so we

There are some forces of nature you just can’t predict. Tornados, flooding, earthquakes—they’re not personal, they just happen. And no matter what you do, there’s nothing you can do to actually prevent the ground from rumbling. The only thing you can do is prepare and

If you want to be a great marketer, you should probably have an MBA in marketing, some creative writing chops (as proven by a degree or published work), great people skills, expert insights into markets, design ability and a gift with language. After all, that’s

The outdoor clothing brand Patagonia has received praise for its business philosophy and mission. Its mission statement, “we’re in business to save the home planet” clearly expresses the need (“save”!), the means (“business”) and why it matters—and why you should help by fulfilling your role

Resilience is the “ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” It’s an intangible quality that helps people bounce back from defeat and come back stronger. It’s that final hoist of Rocky, the zinger when a detective can finally say “take him away”,

We all have goals, whether they’re about how productive we’ll be at work or how fit we’ll get for the summer. But as often as we’ve set goals for ourselves, we’ve probably often struggled to reach them. Or, worse, we’ve abandoned them altogether. Habits, on

Have you ever felt like you just stumbled on some successful strategy by accident—but when you tried to recreate it or reverse engineer it, you couldn’t make it happen again? Conversely, are you plagued by some repeating problem or issue that you don’t know how

Let’s get clear about one thing. Your team IS your business. You can have an incredible mission statement, an awesome marketing strategy and mad skills as a lawyer…none of that really matters without a solid, reliable team to back it all up.  The true scalability