A Relationship Story - Our Legacy in the Stories People Tell: Guest Post

I was talking about my Great Grandfather the other night with my Dad. I know very little about the man that everyone in my extended family still raves about. "He was a great man" my cousin says every time I visit him in San Diego. "He fed the British army during World War II when they were stationed in Iran" my Grandmother used to say. "Rahim Khan was a great man!" people who knew him say. Yet my Great Grandfather was not a Rockefeller, a politician or a celebrity. He was a hard working man from the North of Iran who worked night and day his entire life to raise 7 kids (5 boys and 2 girls), farm his lands and produce enough food to feed the villages and towns that were in the North of the country.

LeBron, Cleveland and France's World Cup Team Lessons To Us All

A good friend and mentor of mine once said "Life's lessons are all around us. The trick is to recognize them, learn from them, and live from them!". It sounds pretty obvious but how aware are you of the world around you and all its lessons? And more importantly, are you applying these lessons to you and yours?

Why We Need The Rich...: Guest Post

As America celebrates Independence Day 2010 I am in Europe discussing opportunities that will (hopefully) eventually lead to creating jobs in America. In my discussions over here I often get feedback about the Nomad Influencer blog and suggestions on how to improve it. One recurring comment from readers over the past months is why my blog posts do not address the ever turbulent political landscape of America. I have thought about this many times and firmly believe the Nomad Influencer is not about politics (albeit everything touches politics regardless of how much we like to think otherwise). However, I did agree with a European reader today that since the Nomad Influencer is about perspective then it makes sense to share the perspective on what is going on in America today. 

Somewhere Over The Skies of Colorado

I'm sitting on a plane heading to the East Coast and my neighbor decides to vent her frustrations that her management "doesn't get" her role as a Senior Manager of the company. We got into a heated debate about how important the role of the manager is versus her view that the business world revolves around the needs of each and every employee. 

Dress The Part

"Dress shabbily, they notice the dress. Dress impeccably, they notice the woman."

--Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer

Three Tips To Take A Leap

I had lunch today with an old friend and colleague in Pittsburgh, catching up on life and work. Its probably been 18 months since we got together last. A great conversation, good to see him again and see how his kids are growing up so fast. He lives in Toronto and work brings him to Pittsburgh regularly, but this was the first time we had seen each other in ages. Conversation turned to business and while I won’t share the context of our (private) lunch, I was reminded of three key lessons that life has taught my friend and I since we first met as colleagues in Brussels in the 90s.

Introducing the DoBand Campaign

In today’s fast paced internet world where ideas, action and start-up businesses make headlines every day its hard to separate the really good ideas from the short-lived hypes. Thanks to a team of students at Cornell University I am pleased to share one of the best ideas I have seen in a long time. The DoBand concept (www.DoBand.org) was inspired by the movie Pay It Forward, but takes the concept from the movie to a whole new level of personal involvement.