Illustrated Blog

The civil engineer leans against his desk. “Want to know the best part of my work?” he asks. I, the only other person in his office, nod vigorously enough for a crowd. The engineer pulls his khaki pants over his sizable belly and walks past his MIT diploma to a pinned-up blueprint of his current project. He places his nicotine-stained index finger on a small symbol that, to me, resembles a letter from a foreign alphabet. I ask the engineer, also known as dad, “What is it?” My father manages a team of road engineers for the Venezuelan Ministry of Transportation. His current charge is to eliminate chronic traffic created by the Caracas international airport which sits on a narrow strip of land between the Caribbean Sea and a formidable

[tm_pb_section admin_label=”section”][tm_pb_row admin_label=”row”][tm_pb_column type=”4_4″][tm_pb_text admin_label=”Text” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] Peony, being elderly and arthritic, moves with difficulty. Fortunately, members of her community fetch what she needs and steady her as she hobbles to social gatherings. Why do these individuals, most of whom are unrelated to Peony, help her without any expectation of personal benefit? Do we innately care about the well-being others? Or are we naturally selfish but society imbues us with an overlay of morality? Many philosophers through many millennia have wrestled with this question. Recent science answer it. In the case of Peony’s helpers, nature unequivocally drives their service. They have never heard a third-grade or Sunday-school teacher preach the virtues of kindness. They, and Peony, are chimpanzees who live in Emory University’s Yerkes Primate Center’s field station

Most of us will take half our waking breaths at work. As if this hefty contribution of time weren’t enough, we also invest emotionally. We agonize over a conflict with a colleague, obsess over a forthcoming presentation, rejoice in attaining a quarterly goal and otherwise live the ups and downs of our workplaces. No wonder we arrive home barely capable of boiling water for a macaroni dinner. Work consumes whatever enthusiasm, brilliance and patience we might have possessed upon awakening. The next day we repeat the cycle of expending most of our time and energy at the plant, store or office. In other words, work is rarely a sideshow to life. Most often, it’s the immobile core around which we find time to enjoy neighbors and family, pursue interests, find

We’ve all suffered through it. Whether it’s because of a sick child, late-night concert or, in my case, ridiculous vampire novel, we’ve showed up to work sleep deprived. We try to excel but can’t drum up motivation. Caring about the quality of our product or attentively listening to a coworker takes herculean effort. Without enough sleep we’re foggy, sluggish and joyless. Guess what? For performance and well-being there is something we need as critically as sufficient sleep, but get less often. What is this vital work element that most of us unknowingly lack? It’s social purpose. Social purpose involves fighting global hunger, keeping a mile of highway trash-free, taking the single mother who works across from you to visit her hospitalized daughter or otherwise making a meaningful contribution to others

Raul is why I changed college majors, attended graduate school, started my business, donated to charity last week and wrote this post. I came across Raul in Caracas, Venezuela, when I was nine years old. I was staring out the passenger-side window of the family air-conditioned sedan trying to tune out the chatter emitting from my twin 12-year old sisters with whom I shared the backseat. I was sipping syrupy soda through a blue and white striped straw. We were on a congested highway. I had no idea the carefree portion of my life was about to end. He entered the frame of my window from the left as our vehicle inched forward, a still figure between rigid rows of cars marching past. He was my size but with tattered

If you’re an American business leader, this week likely threw you into a professional conundrum: Should you take a public stand against white supremacy knowing you’ll jump into treacherous political waters? Brands have traditionally been mute on political issues and active only in apolitical societal causes — reading to children, feeding the homeless and supporting injured veterans, for example. This approach minimizes the possibility of offending, and possibly losing, customers and employees. In today’s bizarre political context, there is the additional risk that our country’s president will exert revenge on a brand. No wonder many business executives are taking shelter from the white supremacy storm behind a shield of silence. Don’t be fooled, though. Inaction in the face of nation-shocking events is replete with risks. By staying silent, you might:

Are you motivated to strengthen your community, clean up our environment or otherwise make a positive impact on others or society? If so, don’t squelch this desire to contribute for fear that you’ll neglect your own financial wellbeing. Research by Anthony Burrow from Cornell University (my alma mater!) and three other academics found the opposite to be true: purpose, defined as acting to make contributions to the world beyond ourselves, modestly increases wealth (see full research report.) Burrow and team studied over 4,500 individuals between the ages of 25 and 74. Those with a sense of purpose had roughly $2,600 higher income and $15,000 higher net worth that could not be explained by educational levels, personality or other variables but instead resulted directly from the purpose. What’s more, purpose appears to have a

During one particular week in each of the last nine seasons, the New York Yankees have won 72% of games. This not only beats their regular record, which is 56% wins, it also beats the best team in baseball on almost any day (for example, the Houston Astros lead the major leagues today with 67% wins).[1] Why do the Yankees play outrageously well during this one week every year? No, fellow Red Sox fans, it’s not because they’re trouncing our team. The best explanation is that the Yankees are on something that provides a mental high and a performance boost: Social purpose. This winning week is Yankees HOPE Week. During HOPE Week, every member of the Yankees plays a role in surprising worthy individuals, families and organizations by celebrating their