Are You a Warrior?
"Are you a warrior?" is a question I’ve been asking myself at least once a week for the past year. It’s the theme of a workout I started that includes close to 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 50 plyometric lunges and 4 x 400-meter sprints. As you can imagine it’s a pretty challenging workout that usuall [Read More]
A Reflection in Time
Every fall and spring I get a call from an unknown number starting with the area code "517." It takes me a moment but as soon as I answer and hear that nervous young voice asking for "Mr. Markou" I immediately recognize it as a student from my alma mater, Michigan State University (MSU), calling to [Read More]
Changing the Discussion on Suicide
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, but some events this past week motivated me to publish this article early. I served in the United States Air Force for 28 years, retiring six years ago. Last week the Air Force took the extraordinary step of declaring a global operational st [Read More]
Who Cured it Better: Multiple Doctors or the Internet?
The Curious Case of a Belly Button Hernia, Multiple Doctors, and Amazon In March of this year we welcomed a beautiful new addition to our family: Baby Miles. We instantly fell in love with our new little guy and enjoyed every moment together as an expanded family. Even our eldest daughter, Maizey, [Read More]
Signature Spice: Interesting Email Closers
Email signatures have become a common business communication convention these days. While most people use email signatures to communicate relevant company and contact information, many use this digital real estate to convey campaigns or include key messages. Recently I have noticed an increase in cr [Read More]
Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life
Bhutan is a country rich in history, with some archaeologists believing the area to have been settled as early as 2000 B.C.E. The start of the Bhutan society began around 747 C.E. when Tibetan monks fled neighboring Tibet, seeking refuge in Bhutan. Bhutan has always maintained its independence from [Read More]
What We Learn from Overcoming: The Power and Pain of Transformation
The beautiful butterfly is our society’s favorite metaphor for total transformations. Nature’s ultimate metamorphosis changes from a tree clinging, 14-legged pest into the regal flying butterfly. The metaphorical story of the caterpillar to the butterfly is both inspiring and positive. What is left [Read More]
A Chef’s Life: An Interview with Pierce Buckman
To be a chef is to blend science and art into one perfectly plated experimental masterpiece. While artists traditionally appeal to 1-2 senses such as sight, sound or touch, chefs have the unique challenge of appealing to all five senses; a virtually impossible task given the subjectivity of most gue [Read More]
Throw Out the Work-Life Scale: A Father of Twins’ Journey to Imbalance
Work-life balance is the term used to describe the proportion of time we allocate to our careers versus other aspects of our lives such as personal interests, family, social or leisure activities. Whether you are just beginning your career or a seasoned executive, it’s hard to escape the mantra that [Read More]
Leading with “Why” (An Intern Story)
It was 6:00 AM on May 22nd, 2017 and I was out of bed before the alarm had begun ringing. On most days I hit snooze once or twice, but not today. Today was the first day of my internship at Quicken Loans, the largest mortgage lender in the country. It had been five months since I had signed my accep [Read More]
True Success is Making Others Successful
We all define success differently. While some measure success by the size of one’s bank account, investment portfolio or the square footage of one’s home, do those things really bring fulfillment and lasting happiness? What defines the indicators of real success? I believe true success is achieved w [Read More]
Curiosity Did Not Kill the Cat
No one understands how powerful the mind of a child is better than a parent of a toddler. Ask any parent of a three-year-old what curiosity in children looks like and the answer will be: rapid fire questions, continuous talking, loud off-key singing, and a return back to the questions again. Nothing [Read More]
The “Now What” Complex: Evaluating Goals for a Life Better Lived
In and out of the gym, we live in a goal-oriented culture. Even in our formative years, we're conditioned to set goals, meet them, and repeat an ongoing cycle of achievement. Hit a goal? Good, set another one, and then set a higher one after that. We do this continuously. Sometimes, even before we c [Read More]
The Universal Impact of a Smile
The first time I conducted, what I now affectionately call “The Smile Project,” I was sitting on the outdoor patio of a cafe in Lagos, Portugal. It was a January afternoon earlier this year. Picture this: blue sky, light breeze, the sounds of the sea waves nearby, and twenty or so tables full of peo [Read More]
We Are All More Capable Than We Realize
This Thanksgiving holiday we all have so much to be thankful for. I’m a firm believer that we are masters of our own destiny for the most part, personally and professionally, and there are defining moments in our lives that fundamentally shape who we are and allow us to realize our full potential. S [Read More]
Confidence Meets Chutzpah, a Tale of Entrepreneurship
One morning, after returning from a week in Las Vegas for a big event, I had an epiphany; it was time for me to start my own business. It was the calling I had longed for since my days as a neighborhood door-to-door saleskid. I’ve always had the entrepreneurial spark. Growing up, I was master of le [Read More]
Cyber Resilience: Protecting Companies from Cyber-Triggered Business Disasters
We live in a world where data breaches and destructive cyber attacks have become a daily headline. By now, everyone has received a breach notification letter or an email apology from a company impacted by cyber bad guys. Boards are asking, customers are asking, employees are asking, the whole world [Read More]
Never Forget
Few will forget where they were, or what they were doing, 17 years ago today. As I was driving to work this morning I reflected on that morning and the years that have passed since. I can remember it in extraordinary detail. I remember who I was with, emotions, sounds, smells, colors, all of it. My [Read More]
The Five Traits of Effective Sponsors
Sponsors play a critical role in our careers but they are often confused with the role of a mentor (aka coach or counselor) and manager (aka supervisor or boss). But how are these roles different? Your manager provides oversight on the work you do. You have a reporting relationship to him or her and [Read More]
Our Greatest Privacy Challenges Are Yet to Come
Last week Facebook lost twenty percent of its market value - $100 billion, over concerns of the cost of privacy regulations and financial consequences. This was the largest sell-off of a single publicly owned company in Wall Street history and a warning for all companies who collect, process or oth [Read More]
