The Power of Smiling
Smiling can change the way you experience the world. And how you experience the world determines the actions you take and the results you...
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Darren Gold
- Jan 23
- 2 min
A Time to Serve
To serve when you yourself are in need is the ultimate act of leadership. The new year has started and, unfortunately, things are not...
Darren Gold
- Jan 9
- 3 min
Of Bread and Circuses
We are increasingly tired of the circus-like nature that has infected our political and economic institutions. Our leaders need to grow...
Darren Gold
- Jan 3
- 8 min
Reflections on the Past Year
The end of the year has been a time for rest, reflection, and reading for me. In this week’s post, I will be sharing a summary of the key...
Darren Gold
- Dec 12, 2022
- 3 min
The Ultimate Wartime CEO
Zelensky is a living demonstration of the ultimate wartime leader. He leads with both a clenched fist and an open heart. Last week, TIME...
Darren Gold
- Nov 28, 2022
- 3 min
The Beautiful Game
The heart-warming scenes of Japanese soccer fans cleaning up after their team’s victory over Germany is one more reason to watch the game...
Darren Gold
- Nov 14, 2022
- 2 min
On Endurance
The great companies and leaders of the next decade will be those who are willing to endure. This past Saturday at 6am, I joined a small...
Darren Gold
- Oct 31, 2022
- 4 min
The Power of the Second Act
Second acts are the mark of a life well lived. While available to all, they are only truly possible for those who are willing to open...
Darren Gold
- Oct 17, 2022
- 3 min
Perspective and Choice
From the stillness of perspective, you get to choose the quality of your experience. It is the power of this choice that determines our...
Darren Gold
- Oct 3, 2022
- 2 min
Why I Lead
Economic dislocations like the one we're currently experiencing, while painful, are healthy. They are the natural, salutary, built-in...
Darren Gold
- Sep 19, 2022
- 2 min
What Story Are You Telling?
Leaders who choose to see uncertainty as an opportunity will be leaders who preside over businesses that not only survive but thrive in...
Darren Gold
- Sep 12, 2022
- 2 min
Growth and Stability
Growth without rest, without stability, leads to the very malaise from which the world was so desperately trying to lift itself seventy...
Darren Gold
- Sep 5, 2022
- 3 min
The Case for Being Great at Something
When we encounter people who have devoted their lives to doing something great, we are reminded of what is inherently true for each of us...
Darren Gold
- Aug 29, 2022
- 3 min
The Power of Compassion
Unlike the taking on of negative emotions that can happen with empathy, compassion, properly understood, is a genuine and loving wish of...
Darren Gold
- Aug 22, 2022
- 4 min
Leverage Your Platform
Identifying what your platform is and intentionally using it in positive ways is a responsibility we each have. It is also a source of...
Darren Gold
- Aug 8, 2022
- 3 min
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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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, 2022
- 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...
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