Happy Friday! ☀️
Wow, this was an intense week of travel and work and I am feeling ready for the weekend. I spent the week with a new client in Stuttgart followed by a second workshop with a ClimateTech startup in Munich. After intense days and late-night train travel, I look forward to closing the computer and switch on the weekend mode.
What I’m reading 📖
My friend Syd from New York sent me this article a few days ago about Siddhartha Lokanandi, owner of the Berlin bookstore Hopscotch Reading Room. I am bummed I didn’t know about this store before moving away from Berlin and I’ll try to visit during my next visit. The article gave me warm feelings as they describe Lokanandi as a diasporic pharmacist who next to recommending and selling books, he seem to have an ear for the ailments of his customers. Born in India and relocated to Berlin, Lokanandi was named after Herman Hesse’s book Siddhartha. How fitting that he now runs a book store. Read the article and drop by his store if you’re in town.
What I’m listening to 🎧
My best friend Matze and his wife gifted us a French Press for our wedding and since then, my wife, my daughter, and I have spent the first hour of the day together drinking coffee and chatting. It’s become my favourite part of the day and next to breakfast, we play music that fits the mood of the day. For the past few days, we’ve gone back to two albums I rediscovered thanks to this routine: ‘Fear Fun’, the debut album by Father John Misty and ‘Harlem River Blues’, the third studio album by Justin Townes Earle. Listening to Earle still makes me sad that he passed at such a young age (38!) in 2020.
What I’m watching 📺
True Detective is an HBO crime franchise that’s back with season 4. I’ve waited a few episodes before sharing it here and after episode 4, it’s another winner. Titled ‘Night Country’, it’s created by Issa Lopez starring the excellent Jodie Foster who returns to the front of the camera after having mostly done director work recently. Set an a fictional town Ennis in Alaska, it’s set during the dark days of the year around Christmas and again follows police officers to resolve a strange and mysterious murder. It’s chilling and fantastic. Watch the trailer.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
Executive Presence was a theme with my clients this week and I’ve been thinking about how to translate the theme into actionable methods and skills for my leadership workshops and coaching sessions. I am starting with this article by HBR.
What else?! 💯
The French Press our friends got us is the special edition by Moma which makes it even nicer to use every morning. Here it is.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
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