Category: 1

Here’s a sad story: I arrived home to find Fast Company in my mailbox with the cover story being the world’s 50 most innovative companies and not a single one is a U.S. bank. Not one. An entire industry that underpins our whole economy, indeed the world economy, and none are innovating to a high enough level. Of course this isn’t surprising – what is surprising is that this sorry fact is not lighting a fire under the banking industry’s behind. And it should.

This can’t continue. Innovation, rapid, responsive, tech-savvy innovation, has got to take the banking industry by storm in short-order. And I’m not talking about the shenanigans of creative accounting that almost brought our entire economy to a complete halt in recent history. I’m talking about enhanced servicing, products that people crave, and new lines of business that enable ordinary people to live extraordinary lives. I’m talking about innovation that invigorates the best, brightest, and most creative minds we’ve got to do the most good in the world that can be done.

Bankers have got to stop watching out for their bonuses more than their customers. They’ve got to be more concerned with being great than being rich. And this isn’t a naive wish – this is reality. If they are going to survive, let alone thrive, banks need to get with the program, stop thinking like stodgy old has-beens, and start thinking like passionate entrepreneurs who have a great sense of urgency. The top 50 most innovative companies list needs to be littered with financial services companies, not devoid of them. And it’s up to us in financial services to see that this gets done.

“Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” ~ Rumi

This year I’ve been very fortunate to bear witness to come of my very favorite people finding the loves of their lives and getting married. Some people will say that they hate going to weddings alone because it makes them feel badly about their own romantic situations, or lack thereof. Though I do wish I had been at these weddings with the love of my life there with me, I never for a moment would say that it made me feel badly to go to these weddings on my own. If anything, they left me feeling more hopeful and joyful about love.

Tonight I had the great honor to attend Leah and Peter’s wedding. They are friends of mine from college. I’ve ever been to a wedding where there was this much love so abundantly present; there was no way to pack even one more ounce of love into the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity without it bursting. It was a beautiful thing to see, and even more incredible to feel love in that magnitude.

As an institution, I find marriage slightly terrifying and as a result have shied away from it in the past. It’s only this year, and actually only in the past month, that I’ve been able to see that a marriage based on love and respect and kindness is quite possibly one of our greatest hopes for happiness. To see two people bring their lives together with so much courage and faith in one another is awe-inspiring. As Rumi says, it’s not about meeting our love, it’s about finding the love that has been with us all along.

Peter said it so beautifully to Leah in his vows: “I have been sailing home to you all my life.” And that line did it for me – that sentiment helped me make the leap, leaving fear behind. No wonder my friends who have gotten married this year haven’t felt scared about marriage. No wonder they could put their trust into someone else so completely. Love is about finding our way home, about providing a home for the heart of another. In its most authentic form, it is about being on a journey toward someone who has been journeying toward us. Here’s to love, and those brave enough to take up the journey.

The photo above is not my own. It can be found here.

“Do not turn back when you are just at the goal.” ~ Publilius Syrus, Latin writer of maxims

As often as we seek success, I have been noticing that some people are truly afraid of it. They will spend a lot of time building a goal and working toward it. Reaching a goal can be a frightening prospect. We see this with students who get increasingly nervous as they approach graduation and with professionals who inch toward retirement. What they do has become so much of who they are that they can’t imagine life after their goal.

With writers, these emotions play out in a strange form. Writers, when close to completing a piece of work will often procrastinate by starting another new piece of work that consumes them, leaving that first project undone. This is procrastination by distraction. There is a great risk of this happening if the main contributor is allowed to determine their own time line.

So what do we do if we see ourselves turning away from our goals just as those goals come into focus? Here are a few techniques to help drive to completion:

1.) Understand that there is always another goal out there. For writers, there will always be more material out there. For students, there is always more to learn. For professionals, there is always a new career opportunity, even in retirement.

2.) Remember that incredible high that comes from achieving a long sought-after goal. While it may be scary to approach it, there is also a tremendous sense of accomplishment and pride that comes from achieving goals. Don’t deny yourself that joy because of fear.

3.) Utilize a buddy. A brilliant friend of mine is delaying the completion of his PhD. He has some valid reasoning for taking as long as he is to complete the degree – the need to work full-time to support himself, for example. However, he is certainly putting off the completion of his degree by distracting himself with other interests. I give him a hard time about it every chance I get, and so do some of his other friends. He needs people to remind him where his sole focus needs to be.

4.) There is something to be said for self-control and willpower. Completing tasks is all a head game. It has to do with strong, conflicting emotions, and the key is to manage those emotions and get them to work in our favor. Fear and anxiety, if we use them properly, can give us a tremendous amount of energy. If channeled through meditation, yoga, and visualization, that energy can be used to work toward a goal instead of running away from it.

The photo above can be found at: http://pro.corbis.com/images/RF243246.jpg?size=572&uid={005D0CD4-98F3-4129-93D1-46B13233B07B}