Get on the Mat
Now is not a time for frenetic activity or anxious overreaction. Instead, it is an opportunity to hold your center. To stay in the swirl....
Darren Gold
- Aug 1
- 2 min
A Conversation of a Lifetime
You never know when the particular experience you’re having will be your last. The only thing you can be certain of is that there will be...
Darren Gold
- Jul 25
- 2 min
Guided Drift
As you trace back the steps in the lives of the people you admire, you will likely see an unmistakable pattern shared by all – the...
Darren Gold
- Jul 18
- 3 min
The Story of Ferdinand
Whenever someone is having a baby at my company, we each pick out a favorite children’s book and send it to them. It’s a wonderful...
Darren Gold
- Jul 11
- 3 min
The Impact of 1,000 True Fans
You don’t need to reach millions of people to change the world. If you could touch the lives of a thousand people, your impact would be...
Darren Gold
- Jul 4
- 3 min
The Real Declaration of Independence
Real freedom can only occur when our leaders are courageous and skilled enough to forego the seduction of scapegoating and where everyday...
Darren Gold
- Jun 27
- 4 min
What Do We Do?
Today in the aftermath of senseless mass shootings and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we find ourselves as a nation increasingly...
Darren Gold
- Jun 20
- 4 min
The Power of the Ultimatum
The ultimatum should be reserved for situations in which you are completely committed to the action you are threatening and where the...
Darren Gold
- Jun 6
- 2 min
A Moment of Pride
There may be nothing more fundamental than the pride one is entitled to feel for being exactly who they are. I wrote last week about my...
Darren Gold
- May 30
- 5 min
Reflections on Action
IF YOU WANT LOVE, BE LOVE. IF YOU WANT PEACE, BE PEACE. – Coldplay Yesterday, we remembered the members of our armed forces who gave...
Darren Gold
- May 23
- 2 min
The Oak and the Reed
It is the rare leader who is capable of sustaining the strength and conviction of the oak while, at the same time, summoning the ability...
Darren Gold
- May 9
- 3 min
The Source of Action
It is the rare person who lives a life of action. What is it then that lies beneath the almost universal aversion to action? In one word,...
Darren Gold
- May 2
- 2 min
Lateral Thinking
The problems and opportunities we face require much more than conventional thinking. They demand that we expose ourselves to a wide range...
Darren Gold
- Apr 25
- 3 min
Powerful Questions
What if we were more intentional about the questions we ask? What if instead of the standard questions, we asked ones that are designed...
Darren Gold
- Apr 11
- 3 min
Random Acts of Kindness
The path to creating a world of love and kindness will likely be paved by the smallest of steps multiplied by the greatest number of...
Darren Gold
- Apr 4
- 4 min
The Dangers of Reductionism
When we engage in reductionistic thinking, we do violence to the complexity inherent in each of us. Imagine for a moment that our brains...
Darren Gold
- Mar 28
- 3 min
The Return of Dignity
In its simple yet profound stillness, dignity moves people to action. And it is the return of dignity that leaves me hopeful for the...
Darren Gold
- Mar 20
- 4 min
Important Truths
The world we all want is only possible if we have first taken complete responsibility for ourselves. What important truth do very few...
Darren Gold
- Mar 7
- 3 min
No More War
How can a world expect peace when each of us has yet to lay down the weapons inside our own minds and hearts? It has been over a week...
Darren Gold
- Feb 28
- 5 min
A Guide for Leading in Anxious Times
Your primary job as a leader – in your family, community, or career – is to lower anxiety. Period. Your primary job as a leader – in your...
Darren Gold
- Feb 14
- 3 min
Black Licorice Cultures
Great cultures are ones that are distinctive, meaning they should be right for certain employees and not for others. In a week dominated...
Darren Gold
- Feb 7
- 3 min
Emotions are Data
Leaders who live and lead with love and performance are those who have cultivated the capacity to attain states of emotional self-mastery...
Darren Gold
- Jan 31
- 3 min
Love and Performance: The Steve Jobs Counterfactual
Why aren’t there more Federers and Nadellas? Because it’s hard work leading with virtue and character. This past Saturday, three...
Darren Gold
- Jan 24
- 3 min
Who Is Your Hero?
If you grew up in the 1970s and 1980s as I did, you likely did so on a steady diet of relatively limited television content. There was no...
Darren Gold
- Jan 17
- 3 min
To Lead Is to Inspire
In a world that is overwhelmed and exhausted, Dr. King’s lesson is as relevant today as it was over fifty years ago. To inspire ourselves...
Darren Gold
- Jan 10
- 2 min
The Case for Purposelessness
The new year represents an opportunity to discover an atelic activity – one with no aim other than the joy of the activity itself. I love...
Darren Gold
- Jan 3
- 3 min
We Are All Makers
Over the holidays, my family and I had the chance to see the Tony-winning adaptation of A Christmas Carol in San Francisco's Golden Gate...
Darren Gold
- Dec 20, 2021
- 3 min
Personal OKRs
The end of the year presents each of us with a fundamental choice. Will you let life happen to you? Or will you lean in to help shape...
Darren Gold
- Dec 13, 2021
- 3 min
The Third Most Important Day of Your Life
It is said that the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. The saying speaks to the...
Darren Gold
- Dec 6, 2021
- 3 min
Fire Yourself
At key strategic inflection points, “firing yourself” is essential. It allows you to step outside the constraints of your existing...
Darren Gold
- Nov 29, 2021
- 2 min
Not Yet
A simple word or turn of phrase can transform what’s possible. One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is my morning walk with my now...
Darren Gold
- Nov 22, 2021
- 3 min
A Stoic Guide to Thanksgiving
Regular readers of this weekly blog are undoubtedly familiar with my interest in Stoicism. From time to time, I will explicitly write...
Darren Gold
- Nov 15, 2021
- 2 min
I’m the Only Person Who Can Offend Me
I am in control of the meaning I give to the words someone utters, and my emotional response is the consequence of that meaning I choose,...
Darren Gold
- Nov 8, 2021
- 3 min
Be Nice and Be Kind
If you're looking for what you can do to make a difference, there may be no better act than to be kind. A few weeks ago, Northern...
Darren Gold
- Nov 1, 2021
- 3 min
Change is Local
All great leaders have realized that real change begins, and often is sustained, by taking responsibility for altering the conditions...
Darren Gold
- Oct 25, 2021
- 2 min
A Life Worth Remembering
What does it mean to live the good life? Living your life consistent with what it is that you want to be remembered for may be the best...
Darren Gold
- Oct 18, 2021
- 4 min
A Culture Test
Exceptional cultures are not right for everyone. And they remain exceptional to the degree that its leaders are willing to make difficult...
Darren Gold
- Oct 11, 2021
- 3 min
A Nobel Prize for Courage
Today, the world needs courage at a time when it seems to be in short supply. This year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two...
Darren Gold
- Oct 4, 2021
- 4 min
A Failure of Vision
The leadership failures over the last three decades have largely been failures of vision. In every case, leaders missed the opportunity...
Darren Gold
- Sep 27, 2021
- 4 min
Life Lessons from Ted Lasso
Understanding your past gives you access to the programming that runs you. With access, you can rewrite the code of your underlying...
Darren Gold
- Sep 20, 2021
- 4 min
Moments of Knowing
There are moments in time during which one experiences a deep sense of certainty that cannot be logically defended but nonetheless is...
Darren Gold
- Sep 13, 2021
- 3 min
On Doing and Being
We need both doing and being in our lives. We become fully alive when we are powerfully generative (i.e., doing) and deeply present...
Darren Gold
- Sep 6, 2021
- 3 min
The Value of Constraints
We’re overwhelmed and exhausted. This is the almost universal complaint I hear from the business leaders I work with. There are, of...
Darren Gold
- Aug 30, 2021
- 3 min
On Friendship
Deep friendships have the unmistakable quality of being immutable. At the same time, they demand to be treated as fragile, never to be...
Darren Gold
- Aug 23, 2021
- 3 min
The Proximity of Extraordinary Performance
We don’t have to look far for examples of people who have achieved extraordinary things. It is the “ordinary” person, often right in...
Darren Gold
- Aug 16, 2021
- 3 min
The Magic of Gratitude
Last week was a bit of a dream come true for me. I had a chance to see the first live appearance (since the start of the pandemic) of my...
Darren Gold
- Aug 9, 2021
- 3 min
The Fallacy of Limits
If nothing else, these Olympics were yet another reminder that records are meant to be broken. That the limits these records seem to...
Darren Gold
- Aug 2, 2021
- 4 min
Setback Stories
Life is shaped not so much by the incredible accomplishments you achieve. Nor is it determined by the disappointments and failures you...
Darren Gold
- Jul 26, 2021
- 3 min
The Case for Congruent Leadership
Extraordinary leaders regularly ask one very powerful question, “What am I doing or not doing that is inconsistent with the very things...
Darren Gold
- Jul 19, 2021
- 2 min
On Sickness
As I write this, I’m not feeling physically great. I’ve been under the weather for the better part of a week. I considered skipping this...