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🗣️ "The biggest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking

🗣️ “The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.” -Jiddu Krishnamurti

🗣️ “There are two types of people: Those who want to know more and those who want to defend what they already know.” -Morgan Housel

🗣️ "The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already, but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already." -Leo Tolstoy

39 Lessons Learned in 39 Years Every birthday, I reflect on what I've learned over the past year. Here are some of my biggest takeaways. ​Read more​

10 Tactics to Become a Better Nonfiction Reader Here are some helpful tactics to get more out of nonfiction, including how to take better book notes and remember what you read ​Read more​

​Who Knew by Barry Diller​ ​Nonfiction: Memoir, Television/Movies Diller was a rising star at ABC TV before becoming CEO of Paramount Pictures at age 32. In this memoir, he talks about what he learned along the way, including big risks he took throughout his career. ​See takeaways​

​The Odyssey by Homer​ ​Fiction: Classic Literature, Epic, Poetic I don't know about you, but I'm PUMPED for the new Christopher Nolan movie coming out next week. To adequately prepare, I read The Odyssey, and it did not disappoint. Such an epic story!

🗣️ "Often, the perfect moment to give someone more responsibility is before they're ready. Take a chance, and that person will almost always work extra hard to prove you right." -Will Guidara

Throughout my career, when I talk to senior leaders about who they want to promote into manager roles, a similar frustrating concern tends to pop up...

"I don't know if [Person] can do this role. They've never led a team before."

Every time I think: "Well, of course they haven't! They've never been given a chance. Every manager has a first team."

In all the promotions I've witnessed across countless companies, I can hardly remember a single time when a new manager failed to step up and rise to the occasion.

Same thing whenever high-potential people are delegated "stretch assignments": they tend to step up and crush it.

It's rare that any team member already has 100% of the skills they'll need for a given project, but if you choose someone who's humble, hungry, and smart, I bet they'll figure it out.

What this means for you: Stop hesitating. Trust your people.

I was selected as one of the World Cup volunteers in Seattle, and we just hosted our final match on Monday. It was amazing to play a role in such a huge global event.

My role was in Fan Operations, so I stood inside the front gates and passed out a free souvenir to fans (a FIFA Fan ID card).

A few highlights from the Seattle matches:

• Meeting tons of fans decked out in their country's gear
• Getting to know dozens of amazing volunteers on our team
• Watching the US play twice (the win vs. Australia was way more fun than the loss vs. Belgium 😉)
• Watching Bosnia defeat Qatar 3-1 (huge shout-out to all of my Bosnian friends!)
• Watching Belgium come back from 0-2 to top Senegal in a dramatic 3-2 finish

I'll be watching the World Cup semis and finals next week. Can't wait!

I'm excited about today's sponsor. I've been reading their newsletter every morning for the past 2 years. (It's basically the only news I consume.)

Years ago, I had stopped following the news because it just made me mad. Everything seemed bleak, biased, or angering, so I tapped out.

But that changed when my friend Aaron told me about a free newsletter called 1440. He said it's "just the facts"—no commentary and no slant. So I checked it out, and as it turns out...he's right!

Almost 5 million people subscribe. Check it out below. (It's totally free.)

Visit me at BobbyPowers.com for more articles and book reviews about leadership, communication, and personal development.

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