Michelle Peluso, the C.E.O. of Gilt Groupe, the online shopping site hasn’t had an office in over a year! Her desire to connect and understand the various teams under her leadership has lead her to sit in the open with everyone. She has no interest in an ivory tower feeling disconnected from her people. Learning this approach and the power of positively from her father, an entrepreneur himself, and curiosity from her mother, a teacher, she brings passion and purpose to life and business.
This New York Times Sports Sunday article on female sports agents in the N.F.L. is very interesting. To break into a male dominated profession like engineering is challenging but pro football is a whole other realm! I really respect the women who are up for the challenge and actually succeeding. I often talk about passion, commitment, and perseverance as fundamental aspects of success in life and business. In a profession such as this, Kristen Kuliga, Kelli Masters and others must have all that and more! Good stuff!!
Man Overboard, a New York Times Magazine cover story by Paul Tough, about John Aldridge, A Montauk, NY based commercial fisherman who fell overboard forty miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean at 3:30 am on July 24th last year, is an extraordinary story of perseverance and survival. The water temperature was 72 degrees with five foot swells. His chances of being rescued were minimal due to the fact that his two crew members didn’t realize that he fell overboard until nearly three hours afterwards when they awoke. Through a combination of courage, ingenuity, and sheer willpower, Mr. Aldridge managed to stay afloat for nearly twelve hours before a coastguard helicopter spotted him. The rescue operation involved volunteer fisherman as well as professionals with a rare happy ending given the circumstances!
David Miliband, the former British politician, is reinventing himself in New York working for The International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit focused on helping the world of refugees. This Sunday Styles article made me think about the need to stay flexible and fluid in life and business, something I teach often. After losing the Labor Party leadership to his brother, he moved to New York with his family to start over. He’s obviously a smart, talented guy but the important message for you and me is that’s it’s never too late to reinvent oneself. It takes passion, patience and perseverance for many, especially if we are less talented and less connected. But what’s the alternative? Stagnation? Medication? Limbo? No way!
I read the Corner Office by Adam Bryant every Sunday in The New York Times business section because I enjoy his interviews with business leaders. This week he interviewed Dara Richardson-Heron, the chief executive of Y.W.C.A. In terms of career advice, Ms. Richardson-Heron states: “I tell them life is not fair. Make the best of the cards you are dealt. I also tell them it’s important not to feel entitled or to think people owe you something. You have to earn what you get. A dose of realism is important for people growing their careers. Nothing comes easy. The bottom line is never, ever give up.” Well said!!
Manuel Pires, an emigrant from Portugal and Connecticut entrepreneur, bought his own vineyard in Napa Valley in 2006. This weekend’s Wall Street Journal Off Duty section article is an interesting read! I lived in a guest house on a vineyard in Sonoma for several months back in 2007. Wine country is extraordinarily peaceful and intoxicating! The couple whom we rented the cottage from had fled the intensity of Silicon Valley for the serenity of Sonoma. However, the process of creating your own label is quite expensive and challenging. This story by Lettie Teague does a nice job of highlighting the fundamentals involved. Like most successful businesses, creating your own label takes a combination of perseverance, hard work, and some luck! And yet, for some like Mr. Pires, it’s clearly a soul fit!!
