On January 2 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported the results of their survey of 153 members of their CEO Council. The main question was whether CEOs are optimistic or negative about the year ahead. It turns out that CEOs are optimism addicts. Writing in the Journal of Financial Economics in 2013, a group of Duke University researchers said they studied the traits of more than 1,000 chief executives and classified 80% as “very optimistic”—a percentage significantly higher than what…

WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF THE GOAT & SHEEP. Take a deep breath and listen: According to the 5000-year-old Chinese Zodiac, 2015 is the Year of The Goat and Sheep.The Goat & sheep are Yin energy, a symbol of Peace, Harmonious co-existence and Tranquility. That is the primary and fundamental mood for this year. The Sheep is the symbol of the Arts. It relates to passive and nurturing times. It will help the healing process with regard to past events.…

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s time to finish strong. The journey never ends but the stages do. We’re into the final stages of 2014. No matter what kind of year you’ve had, you can make it great by how you finish it. As JRR Tolkien said, it’s the job that’s never started that takes longest to finish. So start your final play of the year now. There are only two kinds of people in the world…

Here is a PAID secret: Don’t do what others tell you. Do what you tell others. Hi this is Mike Lipkin and I have a powerful message for you: talk is back. The phone call is the money call. According to the New York Times, September 21 2014, cellular voice volume in the United States grew 14 percent last year. Although people have a wider array of communication options, they are increasingly choosing “voice interaction.” Talking to others, or even…

Please look at me because eye contact makes you real and likable. Sawubona. This is the Zulu greeting for “hello” from my native South Africa. But the literal translation of Sawubona means ‘I see you’ and the response, ‘Ngikhona’ means ‘I am here’. Inherent in the Zulu greeting and our grateful response, is the sense that until you saw me, I didn’t exist. By recognizing me, you brought me into existence. A Zulu proverb clarifies this, “Umuntu ngumuntu nagabantu”, meaning,…

The Practice of Self-Rejuvenation and why your life depends on it Last Sunday, I celebrated my 56th birthday with my family and friends, including Johnny Walker Blue. At $300 a bottle, it’s a treat reserved for the most special occasions. As you can see, it’s also finished. But together with its Red, Black, Green, Gold and Platinum siblings, Johnny Walker is the world’s most valuable premium spirits brand. It’s almost 200 years old and it’s becoming more popular every year.…

In 2013, for the first time ever, we measured the Exemplar Values. These are the qualities that define those people who are Exemplars – the models of excellence. The Exemplars share three core qualities…

See it, feel it, hear it, taste it, smell it, do it. It was a great Olympics, especially if you’re Canadian. For ten days, we were all spellbound by the brilliance, the innovation and the courage of the world’s preeminent winter athletes. But here’s my question: what did you see? I know that we all looked at the same events. But we all saw something different depending on what we’ve seen before and what we hoped to see again. Our…