If anything is certain in leadership—whether you’re leading a large company, a mid-sized team, or a family of four—it’s that bad things will happen. Ultimately, you will bear the responsibility of sharing the news. Shouldering the burden is the mark of a leader committed to gaining control of an unfavorable situation before it devolves into […]

How do you feel when there’s a difficult conversation brewing at work that you won’t be able to duck? Unless you’re a sociopath, the answer is usually “not good.” Most of us know the ill effects of dreaded discussions. A brewing conflict will make you more distracted and irritable, which has knock-on physical effects, which […]

“Does it get easier the more people you fire?” someone once asked me. I’ve been in leadership for decades now, and there’s no escaping letting people go from time to time. But that doesn’t make it easier. “No,” I said, “it hasn’t. And I hope to God it never does.” But while frequency doesn’t translate […]

Let’s play a word-association game: Toss out the first several words or phrases that come to mind when you hear the name “Bill Gates.” Don’t overthink it. Just say them out loud or write them down. Ready? From an informal survey I conducted, some of the terms you might have come up with include: a) […]

I began my career as a proud workaholic. I measured my contribution by the hours I clocked and the coffee I consumed. So the Michael Hyatt &Co. culture came as a bit of a shock. It was the best kind of shock, though. With a core value of radical margin and an unlimited PTO policy, […]

One of the more unlikely museums in London is located in the basement of the Treasury, between 10 Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster: the Churchill War Rooms, the underground complex from which Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his ministers and generals fought World War II. The War Rooms is a large warren of […]

I work with a lot of young people getting started in their careers. Those who chase the highest possible starting salary, most prestigious title, or sexiest-sounding company do worse than those who ignore all of that and focus on value creation, no matter how humble. You are your best investment. There is no IRA, real […]

One unavoidable piece of advice today is be positive. We’re supposed to filter out supposed negativity in meetings, reports, and general conversation because we think positivity produces the results we want. Optimism is almost mandatory in some environments. As Dan Lovallo and Daniel Kahneman point out, critical feedback is discouraged and treated like disloyalty. “The […]

Sometimes you just have to say no. That isn’t always easy. But there are strategies that can help say no when you need to—and save your time, energy, and sanity in the process. Motivational speaker Byron V. Garrett, my former boss at National PTA, often says that you only have twelve hours a day to […]

I have always been an avid reader, but over the last few years, I’ve become much more intentional and ambitious in my reading. In 2015, I set my first challenging reading goal: to read fifty-two books in one year. By the time the year was done, the total was seventy-six. I still read at least […]

In deference to easily scandalized students, Cambridge University has begun adding trigger warnings to English classes that teach some of Shakespeare’s plays. That’s a shame if it deters participation. Students—and the rest of us—could all benefit from what the Bard can teach us about personal growth. Declan Fitzsimons, Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD […]

Leaders and entrepreneurs fail for a million reasons. The usual suspects include lack of cash flow, dearth of technological savvy, or insufficient planning. But according to researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the cause behind a failure to thrive in both personal and professional settings may be much simpler to explain. At least for married folks. […]

Over the years, I’ve met many influential and successful people, and I’ve observed a common trait in nearly all of them: they were all lifelong learners. If you want to win at life, this is non-negotiable. You have to become teachable. And the more teachable you are, the more successful you become. One of the […]

When we think of someone with integrity, we think of someone we can count on to come through on what they promise. Unfortunately, that’s not always a safe bet today. Over the last several years I’ve noticed a change in the way we use the word integrity. Having integrity requires staying true to your word—even […]

One of the most important lessons I have learned about productivity is this: It’s less about managing time and more about managing energy. Why? Because time is fixed, but our energy can flex. Most people get this exactly backward. They cram their day with tasks, thinking they can get it all done. Instead, they end […]

I spent an afternoon last week cleaning out my closet. It was high time I did. I had shirts, pants, shoes, and hats that I had not worn in months—in some cases, years. When I thought about it after, the whole experience became a kind of a metaphor for improvement. It occurred to me that […]

We often assume that people simply are a certain way. “She’s such a bright, sunny person.” “He’s always such a gloomy Gus.” Nature gives us optimists and pessimists, and that’s all there is to it. But according to Jon Gordon, that’s a myth, a limiting belief that may be holding you back. He says this […]

In June, some of the Michael Hyatt & Company team signed up for our first month-long mindfulness challenge. Folks meditated every day and reported back in a special Slack channel on what worked and didn’t work for them, and whether or not they found it worthwhile. You might wonder why we would do this as […]

Sometimes I think that introverts and extroverts are from different planets. This is fine, until they find themselves married to one another or working in the same office. If they are not conscious of the differences, they can quickly frustrate one another—or worse.

At this point in my career, I’ve sold a lot of books. But I was hardly an overnight success. First came work in publishing and agenting. I learned how book sales worked—and didn’t work—well before I published a word of my own. I want to use my experience here to puncture a thought bubble I […]

Years ago, I learned a valuable lesson: the answers we get are determined by the questions we ask. Here are seven better questions you can ask in the midst of adversity.

I am about to embark on a sabbatical for the next month to get away, enjoy time with family, and do some long-range thinking. Americans typically don’t take all of their vacation days, much less go off on sabbaticals. The idea of an extended period away from work may sound like an exotic concept or, […]

The days are getting shorter again, but it’s not too late to take a few days off before the end of summer. August is often the perfect month to take some time away from work. You should consider getting away for a bit because you probably need it. Vacations are vital for rejuvenation, especially for […]

Many of us know what it’s like to feel stuck in our careers. We settle into a particular role and one day we look up and wonder why we’ve spent so long doing something we’re not fully invested in. There are many reasons why this happens, but a big one is fear of failure. We […]