Bite-sized insights for curious leaders & learners every other Sunday.

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🗣️ "The surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others." -Eleanor Roosevelt

🗣️ "All you can take with you is that which you’ve given away.” -Peter Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life)

🗣️ "Some singers want the audience to love them. I love the audience." -Luciano Pavarotti

🗣️ "Only when we forget about ourselves, when we get out of the thoughts of ourselves, can we fruitfully communicate with others, listen to them, and influence them." -Leo Tolstoy

​Never Lose a Brilliant Idea: An Easy System to Capture Stories and Quotes to Use Later​ Creating a commonplace book is the best way to track memorable ideas. Here’s how to do it. ​Read more​

​Wise Words from Wise People (July 2026)​ Here are the quotable gems I found in books, articles, and podcasts last month. ​Read more​

​You Can Just Do Things by Cate Hall​ ​Nonfiction: Self-Improvement, Business Hall has a fascinating background: she co-founded a biotech startup and was the world’s top-ranked female poker player. In this book, she unpacks how to become a world-class problem-solver. ​See takeaways​

​Murder Book by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell​ ​Nonfiction: True Crime, Graphic Memoir If you love true crime or have always wondered why people are so obsessed with it, you should read this book. As a true crime fan, I swallowed it whole.

🗣️ “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” -Judy Garland

It’s natural to think you need to copy the style of your previous boss(es). But what worked for your boss almost certainly won’t work for you because you’re a different person than they are.

For example, maybe your past boss was someone who made a lot of snap judgment decisions and acted quickly. That may have worked for them, but if you’re a slow processor who prefers to evaluate decisions from every angle, you’ll never be successful if you try to copy their style.

The only style that will never work for you is one that doesn’t align with who you are as a human.

You have to find a way to lead that’s connected to your personality, values, and communication style.

I’ve known excellent leaders who are quiet and others who are loud. Ones who dive deep into the weeds and others who operate at a high level. Ones who are extroverted and others who are introverted.

There is no “one way” to lead. There is only your way.

Leadership is a process of self-exploration. The better you know yourself as a person, the better you’ll be able to lead others.

I'm back in my favorite city in the world: New York!

My wife and I are here with a few friends this week, hitting up "Oh, Mary!" on Broadway, a Comedy Cellar show, The Strand bookstore, chocolate chip cookies at Levain, and a delicious family-style meal at a skyscraper restaurant.

Btw, if you're ever in NYC and feeling nerdy, you should visit the Morgan Library in Murray Hill (pictured below). It was the private library of banker J. P. Morgan, and it's a bookworm's dream.

Sincerely,

Thank you to today's sponsor, Morning Brew!

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