The Atlantic: “Why I Run”
In this deeply personal essay, Nicholas Thompson, the CEO of The Atlantic and an American record-holding distance runner, explores how running became both a bond with his complicated father and a safeguard against repeating his midlife unraveling. Drawing on his book, The Running Ground, Nick weaves together themes of leadership, discipline, grief, and how to keep moving forward, offering a powerfully motivating meditation for any leader. “My father led a deeply complicated and broken life,” he writes. “But he gave me many things, including the gift of running—a gift that opens the world to anyone who accepts it.”
CNBC: “I work with execs at Google, Nike and Disney—here’s the No. 1 ‘overlooked’ skill I teach them”
Do adults need to play? Cas Holman says yes: “Play may be the single most overlooked skill that sets leaders apart.” A world-renowned toy designer and consultant for companies like Google and Lego, as well as author of the acclaimed book Playful, Cas argues that play unlocks creativity, resilience, and better decision-making in environments defined by uncertainty. In a culture obsessed with productivity, this article makes the case that play may be the most serious leadership skill of all, and offers 5 ways that leaders can leverage the power of play in their everyday lives.
Fast Company: “You control hidden markets at work—it’s time to start acting like it”
“Your inbox is brimming with new emails, and you need to decide which to reply to quickly and which to ignore,” writes Judd Kessler. “You try to schedule something for next week, but your calendar is already packed with recurring meetings.” These are “hidden markets,” where rules and goals decide who gets what, rather than price alone. A Wharton professor and the author of Lucky By Design, which Lin-Manuel Miranda calls “that rarest of things: an economics page-turner,” Judd shows leaders how to keep their organization running smoothly by optimizing these markets for efficiency, equity, and ease.
The New York Times: “What Women Really Want: To Not Answer Work Emails at 10 p.m.”
Traditional wisdom says that working women want flexibility. But Wharton economist Corinne Low argues that it’s not flexibility but boundaries that makes all the difference. Drawing on rigorous economic research, the author of Having It All shows that workers would give up nearly 40% of their pay to avoid jobs with unpredictable, always-on demands, while valuing clear boundaries far more than remote work. Her conclusion: redesign work with hard stops and predictable schedules, and women won’t have to choose between ambition and sanity—which means you’ll get the best out of everyone.
The Telegraph: “A neuroscientist’s guide to banishing stress, self-doubt and loneliness”
Forget wellness fads. You can get happier by understanding your closest partner: your brain. Neuroscientist Rachel Barr, author of How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend and a science communicator with over 2 million followers, cuts through pop-psychology noise to explain how stress, self-doubt, and loneliness actually work in the brain, and how to interrupt them using evidence-based habits: from experimenting with your identity to “microdosing delight.” Treat your brain like a partner, not a problem to hack, she says, and small, consistent practices will outperform any miracle cure.
The Boston Globe: “Should you trust your gut instincts? Ask these questions first.”
“Gut feel isn’t a scream—it’s a whisper,” says Laura Huang, author of You Already Know. In this clear-eyed guide to decision-making, the Northeastern distinguished professor explains how true intuition differs from emotion, anxiety, or ego—and how to tell which one is speaking. She offers practical tips that leaders can use to train and harness their intuition, from keeping a record of gut feel decisions to checking yourself in the moment with simple questions. By reframing intuition as a trainable skill built through feedback and reflection, Laura offers a smarter way to trust your instincts without being ruled by them.
Man’s Search for Meaning
