Some people laugh at the notion of being nice and decent and noble. “That’s a sign of weakness,” I hear. Nope. It’s a sign of strength. Anyone can put themselves first. Piece of cake. What takes guts is to stand for something higher and to be of service to others. Like Mandela. Like Gandhi. Like King. Heroes of mine.

So stand for something higher. Have impeccable manners. Be the kindest person you know. Be there for people. Show them you care. And, above all else, be good. No one ever regretted being the best person they knew as they rested on their deathbed.

Lead with Kindness

Victims make excuses. Leaders deliver results.

Your excuses are liars, your doubts are thieves. The more times in a day that you rationalize why you can’t become all that you wish to be or handcraft the life that your best self wants, the more you’ll hardwire the neural circuit of that belief into your brain.

And that which you keep practicing is that which you’ll become a pro at. We become amazing at the things we repeat.

If you keep excusing away your power to do remarkable things, grow stronger amid adversity, and live the life of your ideals, you won’t do the work required to realize these feats.

So your very mental habit will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. And actually limit the glory of your potentially awesome reality.

The Game-Changer's Protocol

Ready to learn about “WRAM Syndrome”? [one of the primary reasons good people fail].

Set to learn how to maintain the “white-belt mentality” requires to dominate your domain and live the life of your highest ambitions?

Fascinated in learning what “the bald man in the big Mercedes” can teach us about winning, mastery and reaching legendary?

If yes, go ahead and listen to this episode of The Mastery Sessions.

The Bald Man In The Big Mercedes

It’s been 30 years since the landmark self-management book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was published. It’s been called the most influential business book of the 20th century and the principles it espouses have become embedded in our culture. The 7 Habits has had a big impact on my own life since the first time I read it over 20 years ago as a high schooler. A 30th anniversary edition of the book is out with new insights from the late Stephen Covey’s children. Today, it’s my pleasure to speak to one of them, Stephen M.R. Covey. Stephen is the oldest of the Covey children, played an instrumental role in the launch of the first edition of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, as well as in his father’s company, Franklin Covey, and is himself the author of the book The Speed of Trust. Today on the show, Stephen and I discuss why The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has had such staying power and why it’s just as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. We then walk through the seven habits, exploring how each is lived individually, as well as work together to create a flourishing life. If you’ve never read The 7 Habits, this episode is a great introduction. And if you’ve read it before, this is a succinct refresher on a set of principles worth building your life around.

Get the show notes at aom.is/sevenhabits.

#607: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Amy Chang is an executive vice president at Cisco. Following the acquisition of her startup Accompany by Cisco in 2018, she led Cisco's multi-billion dollar Collaboration business and its Webex portfolio. In this talk, she describes an approach to networking that’s built on affinity and even friendship rather than short-term, transactional goals. She shares how her relationships and network shaped her career as she navigated a path from electrical engineering at Stanford to her current roles at Cisco and on the Proctor & Gamble board, with formative stops at McKinsey, Google, and elsewhere.

Amy Chang (Cisco) - Networking with Curiosity

Kevin Weil is the VP of Product for Novi, Facebook’s digital wallet for the Libra payment system. Previously, Weil was VP of Product at Instagram (overseeing consumer, growth, and monetization products) and SVP of Product at Twitter (where he led product development and design across Twitter’s consumer and ad products, as well as Vine and Periscope). In this talk, he explores the mission that drives both Libra and Novi, and shares a number of crucial insights on digital product design.

Kevin Weil (Novi) - Improving Product Design

What if entrepreneurship education placed ethics at the same level of importance as fundraising and product-market fit? In the fourth episode of our “Entrepreneurship and Ethics” miniseries, Stanford professor Tom Byers speaks with fellow entrepreneurship educators Laura Dunham (University of St. Thomas) and Jon Fjeld (Duke University) about how they’re elevating the role of applied ethics in entrepreneurship education.

Teaching Ethical Entrepreneurship

Adam Pisoni co-founded Yammer in 2008, and oversaw product, analytics, and engineering as the SaaS company scaled to 500 employees and was acquired by Microsoft in 2012 for $1.2 billion. More recently, he has turned his attention to the US education system. Abl, the company he founded in 2015, aims to help all schools move beyond the 20th century model of education. In this talk, he describes how inequities manifest themselves in K-12 education, and explores the roles that innovative social ventures can play in addressing those inequities.

Adam Pisoni (Abl) - Innovating for Equity

Delane Parnell is the founder and CEO of PlayVS, which is building the technology infrastructure for high school and college esports leagues. Prior to starting PlayVS, Parnell worked at IncWell Venture Capital, where he became the youngest black venture capitalist in the United States. In this talk, he explores his own journey from undertaking small-scale business as a teenager to building a billion-dollar company. He also explores the complexities of creating a multi-stakeholder business, and addresses how he and his team have responded to racism and gender disparities.

Delane Parnell (PlayVS) - Extreme Focus

You can play with your phone all day, or you can change the world. You don’t get to do both. ⁣⁣

I love technology. Many of my most adored clients are tech giants like Microsoft and Satyam Computers. But it must be our servant – not our master. We must apply technology to advance our dreams – not spoil our days. 
⁣⁣
Starting today - turn off all notifications on your phone, as the distraction and interruption they generate is costing you a fortune.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
And stop using your phone as an alarm clock. It’s just too easy to begin your day checking email or notifications this way, taking you down a digital rabbit hole of terrific distraction and toxic interruption.⁣⁣

Your Phone is Costing You Your Fortune

Groundbreaking research on elite performance and ultra-achievement has confirmed that keeping a journal on a regular basis boosts mental focus, increases self-confidence, elevates your mental attitude and increases the levels of happiness that you feel.

It’s a fine place to record your gratitude, process through pain, note your victories and reclaim your most luminous self in hard times.

Keep a Lockdown Journal to Magnify Your Positivity

The team at Stanford eCorner believes in the powerful combination of evidence and imagination. We share original stories from informed leaders in academia and industry that focus on innovation, startups, culture, and strategy. The goal: empower you to bring bold ideas to life. 

Stanford eCorner is led by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center in Stanford University’s School of Engineering.

Adam Pisoni (Abl) - Innovating for Equity

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