Happy Friday! ☀️
Hello from Vienna where I spent the week in online coaching sessions as well as a new client in the Climate Lab up north in the city.
What I’m reading 📖
I met Steve Schlaf in New York during my time at SoundCloud and when Steve was a venture capitalist. Today, Steve is a coach too, and I’ve been following his writing and podcast from afar. I love the themes he covers and the way he reflects about life and his personal development as an adult. Steve and I share the same age and a similar journey so his writing resonates with me a lot and makes me feel connected to him even though I haven’t seen him in years. Here are his reflections on turning 44.
What I’m listening to 🎧
Arthur C. Brooks is a Professor at Harvard Business School and teaches courses on leadership and happiness. In this conversation with Tim Ferriss, together they cover a broad range of topics that sparked my thinking and made me reflect and appreciate some choices I made in life. To me, this was a feel-good conversation and I took away a lot from it.
What I’m watching 📺
Reptile is a new crime thriller on Netflix that I enjoyed watching even though the movie got average reviews. Starring Benicio del Toro, Alicia Silverstone, and Justin Timberlake, I like the Hitchcock-esque influences and other classic elements of the genre like the moot costume design. And Benicio del Toro is a perfect fit for the role. Watch the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
You must design the culture you want, otherwise it will be designed for you… and you might not like what emerges. – Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb
This quote was on my mind this week as I was in coaching sessions with several CEOs who are experiencing challenges with the post-pandemic cultures in their companies.
What else?! 💯
My colleague Hugo introduced me to the simple yet effective notion of skill and will when working with team members and I found it again in the Admired Leadership newsletter. I often find that my clients focus on the skill aspect a lot when managing people and struggle to address the other important part of the equation: will. Read more here.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
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