In an alliance at work, the tour of duty represents an ethical commitment by employer and employee to a specific mission that’s expected to last a finite amount of time. An ideal mission is mutually beneficial: the company gains new products, customers, profits, etc. and the employee gains new skills, experiences, connections, and so on. The finite…
Today, eBay Inc. CEO John Donahoe announced that he has hired a new leader for PayPal, Dan Schulman, and that the company will separate its PayPal and eBay payments and commerce businesses into standalone enterprises in the second of 2015 (Read the announcement here). This is a strong decision by John and eBay’s board: It opens a…
Silicon Valley is the best place in the world for adaptation and innovation, as demonstrated by its economic growth over the past decade. If you want your organization to be able to survive and thrive in an environment where change is rapid and disruptive innovation rampant, you need to develop the adaptability that is the…
As I suggested in my first book, The Start-up of You, all humans are entrepreneurs. Our natural inclination to create, adapt and collaborate – all hallmarks of entrepreneurship – are in large part what define us as a species. But as much as entrepreneurship is innate, it’s also a mindset and set of practices that can…
The world of work has changed, and the rules for managers need to change with it. We used to work in an era of stability and lifetime employment. Employers and employees committed to each other, for better or worse, through bull and bear markets, until retirement did them part. Because both sides expected the relationship…
The world of work has changed, and the rules for managers need to change with it. We used to work in an era of stability and lifetime employment. Employers and employees committed to each other, for better or worse, through bull and bear markets, until retirement did them part. Because both sides expected the relationship…
I care deeply about the integrity of our elected officials. Leaders, whether in the public or the private sphere, must understand the responsibilities that come with their role. They are the most visible standard-bearers of their organizations. Holding them accountable to this responsibility protects the promise of our organizations and our communities. Holding our elected…
In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that, by way of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, non-citizen children of undocumented immigrants are legally entitled to a free K-12 public school education, just like U.S. citizen children and the children of legally admitted immigrants. It is a just and practical decision. It is morally consistent with…
Last spring, a shelter in Berkeley, CA needed an architect to help it expand its facilities. A young architect who lives nearby had just made a New Year’s resolution to join a nonprofit board. In an earlier era, they would not have known each other existed. But in this instance the shelter’s executive director used…
In the weeks ahead, there will be a critical national debate on the details of the immigration legislation pending in congress. But this week, let’s all reflect on Emma Lazarus’s famous poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty as a reminder of immigration’s role in our national history. Please watch and share FWD.US‘s newest ad called…
It’s graduation season again and I know that there are a great many students graduating who don’t feel ready for the new world of work. It’s true that the world is changing dramatically, but as a new grad I want you to know that if you have anxiety about what to do next and where…
Each month, we invite luminaries from around the world to the LinkedIn campus to share their insights with LinkedIn employees. Last week, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, and Gina Bianchini, Founder & CEO of Mightybell and Co-Founder of Lean In, joined me for a fireside chat. I have…
Risk tends to get a bad rap. We associate it with things like losing money in the stock market, or riding a motorcycle without a helmet. But risk isn’t the enemy–it’s a permanent part of life. In fact, being proactively intelligent about risk is a prerequisite for seizing breakout opportunities. Many more people would enjoy…
Earlier this month, I wrote that breakout opportunities are what transform your career. Opportunities do not float like clouds. They are firmly attached to individuals. If you’re looking for an opportunity, you’re really looking for people. If you’re evaluating an opportunity, you’re really evaluating people. If you’re trying to marshal resources to go after an opportunity,…
Success begins with opportunities. Opportunities are like the snap to the quarterback in football. You still have to move the ball down the field; you still have to execute. But without a snap to the quarterback, there’s no touchdown. For a young lawyer, an opportunity could mean being assigned to work with the smartest partner…