20 Quotes by Rich Karlgaard

To succeed at anything worthwhile in life requires persistence, no matter how gifted, fortunate, or passionate you are. When I interviewed late bloomers for this book, nearly every one said that once you find your passion and your “pot,” you need to hang in there – you need to persist.

Of course it’s pointless to argue whether hard or soft, yin or yang, Mars or Venus, is superior. Both are always needed.

Companies that develop trust have a recruiting advantage. They have a retention advantage and a productivity advantage.

Innovative cultures are safe environments for honest inquiries.

We get smarter and more creative as we age, research shows. Our brain’s anatomy, neural networks, and cognitive abilities can actually improve with age and increased life experiences. Contrary to the mythology of Silicon Valley, older employees may be even more productive, innovative, and collaborative than younger ones... Most people, in fact, have multiple cognitive peaks throughout their lives.

Confidence gets you off to a fast start. Confidence gets you that first job and maybe the next two promotions. But confidence stops you from learning. Confidence becomes a caricature after a while. I can’t tell you how many confident blowhards I’ve seen in my coaching career who never get better after the age of forty.” – Bill Walsh.

How many of us were tagged with “no ranking” in high school, or dismissed early in our careers, or are dismissed even now? What gifts and passions might we possess that haven’t yet been discovered but that could give us wings to fly?

Fifteen is the number of people with whom we can have deep trust in the face of almost any turn of events. Dunbar calls these “sympathy groups.

To these left-brained business titans, the soft edge looks like a realm of artists, idealists, hippies, poets, shrinks, and do-gooders.