Laura Berger
The average S&P 500 company must generate more than $1.05 billion in growth by the end of 2016 just to meet shareholder expectations. For sure, the fuel of easy money presents a tradeoff between striking as hard as possible while the iron is hot and ensuring that the fires lit in favor of growth don’t … Read more
While living in Costa Rica, I learned to rappel waterfalls from great heights. I overcame what I thought was an insurmountable challenge — my fear of heights. When my husband and I went on our first rappelling trip, I was instructed on the techniques for gradually rappelling without having to plunge into the water from … Read more
As we admired the north flank of the main chapel at Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai Thailand, we came upon a most unexpected surprise on a cardboard sign reading “monk chat” hung from a cloistered area to our right. Our group of five sat in front of a 24-year-old monk from Mumbai who—as I’ve … Read more
You rush from meeting to meeting, eat lunch at your desk, and need a texting helmet as you bolt down the sidewalk. I must admit I have had a losing confrontation with a parking meter once before—not as bad as a friend who lost a tooth to a light post. This type of behavior is … Read more
As kids in Hawaii, we encountered new adventures every weekend—new underwater caves, trails, and cliffs from which to dive. Every new challenge inspired excitement and uncertainty—much like the rewarding steps we take in our lives and professions. Cliffs were an especially prickly animal, for example. We would first swim the pool below for jutting rocks, … Read more
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius Take a moment to close your eyes and think about your greatest professional aspiration and what you need to do to reach it. How do you feel? When I do this activity with clients, nine times out of ten, I get answers … Read more
Now in a new year with performance planning in the rear-view, as c-level executives and leaders, what more can you do to cascade a culture of achievement throughout your organization? For certain, you have abilities to do good often taken for granted and unexploited. It’s time to look inward for some organic and simple steps … Read more
The Three Gs to Which All Leaders Should Aspire I hear the foremost occupants of the c-suite open the kimono to their thoughts for hours every day—enough to cherry-pick the most essential qualities that mark the true greats in leadership. When moving climbers of supreme potential into the upper echelon of achievement, I mix a … Read more
We undulated the never-ending steep path while clumsily hurdling felled trees many feet in diameter and used limbs lain from bank to bank to cross rivers like a tightrope. Someone did occasionally end up in the drink. The four of us snaked the mountains of Doi Inthanon National Park under the canvas canopy of a pickup truck’s … Read more
Embracing Millennials and the Young Workforce Might Be Your Most Effortless Road to Success Growing up, I—probably like you—caught flack for my music tastes from my parents. Being an avid music fan and the former president of the Duran Duran fan club on the Island of Oahu, I remember my folks’ “Turn that down!” objections … Read more