Latest news with #BecomingYou
CNBC
11-08-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Success comes down to just 3 things: Companies ‘will be in a cage match over you,' says CEO
In the end, success comes down to three things. If you think the first one is luck, sorry! That would be a platitude. Okay, fine, of course luck matters. It matters in the big-big things, like where and when you're born, your health, your class, your race. But it also helps with the small stuff, like when the person sitting next to you in Row 45 on the Tampa-Chicago flight loves your product and places the order that saves you from bankruptcy. But luck is random by definition. As a business academic who studies career trajectories, I've found long-term success is, aside from luck, a function of PIE. It refers to the quality of your: Let me explain. Good news, I'm not going to tell you to network. I hate networking. It's mercenary and phony, and it doesn't work. Instead, invest your time and energy making friends with all sorts of people, and lots of them, at work and out, with no expectation of anything in return. They may be able to help you someday, or maybe not, but if and when they do, their help will have more impact than any networking contact. My dear friend, Hollis, is the publisher of my latest book, "Becoming You." Would she have acquired my manuscript if she hadn't liked it? No, of course not, and our friendship would have been just fine. But you've also never seen an easier, faster book deal brokered. The lawyers had nothing to do. Poor them! Friends, real ones, are what make business go. And the better friends you have, the better it will go for you You don't need a lot of ideas. But I've never met a successful person who didn't have a few really good ones over the long arc of their career. What is a "good" idea? Well, for one thing, it's original. I'm thinking of Jeff Bezos when it dawned on him that he didn't need to sell just books online. He could sell anything. Luckily for the rest of us, an original idea doesn't have to blow up the economy. It can be as small as replacing a bureaucratic process with a clean, simple one. Or a marketing activation that bumps sales 3% or a design tweak that makes an industrial product 5% more efficient. I know a car salesman who, in his first year on the job, doubled his location's sales by bringing a new question to his teammates. When a customer throws a lowball price at you, he said, instead of negotiating off the bat, ask, "Can you help me understand how you came up with that number?" He runs the place now. This is the most underrated success-driver of the PIE triad — which is ridiculous, because any manager in the world will tell you they'd kill for a team member who gets you-know-what done. In my class at NYU, every MBA student must go through 360 Feedback, an evaluation tool that gathers input from former and current coworkers, bosses, and employees, and aggregates it into a report. Sarah, a student, reviewed her 360 results in class and immediately booked double office hours. When we met up, she was in tears. "Professor Welch, I need you to teach me how to be a leader," she said, "because my 360 Feedback results are horrifying." Dear Reader, it was a WTF moment for me, since my reaction to her results had been, "Nice!" The issue was that Sarah's 360 results had shown her to be kind of low on leadership traits. But every single piece of feedback suggested that Sarah was SEAL Team Six when it came to getting projects over the finish line. Her execution was perfect, precise, and invisible. As a leader myself, it made me feel faint with ardor. I needed to make sure. Did Sarah to be a leader? There was a long pause, then: "Honestly? No!" Strategy bored her, she told me. Vision statements made her gag. Just tell me what needs to be done and get out of my way. "Why don't you just aim to have a career as a COO?" I asked. "Every CEO in the world will be in a cage match over you." "But we're supposed to become leaders," she protested. "That's why we go to business school." Ah, but no, I reminded her. You are in business school — you are in life — to become you. My Becoming You methodology helps you answer: "What should I do with my life?" The PIE theory drives much of the information Becoming You digs to unearth: how you relate to people, how your brain works, and how you show up in the world. It's literally set up to set you up to succeed, based on how I believe success actually happens.
CNBC
14-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- CNBC
July's book club pick, Suzy Welch's 'Becoming You,' helps you answer: 'What should I do with my life?'
It's a simple question without an easy answer: "What should I do with my life?" "Most of us struggle with this our whole lives," writes Suzy Welch in the introduction to her recent book, "Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career." Her goal — as it is in the similarly named course she teaches at NYU Stern School of Business — is to help people answer this "pesky" question. CNBC Make It tends to draw an audience of young professionals who want to be smarter, more successful, and happier with their work, money, and lives. That's why we, with input from our community, chose "Becoming You" as our July book club pick. "It's about self-discovery and career development," says Welch, who will be joining us to discuss the book and answer your questions at the end of this month. The book "presents you with a methodology where you excavate your values, your deeply held beliefs. [You] identify your aptitudes, what you're really really good at. And you narrow in on what kind of work calls you emotionally and intellectually," she says. "You put it together and you pretty much land at your purpose. That's what 'Becoming You' is all about." Welch, a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, has spent over 15 years developing the Becoming You methodology, and more than 10,000 people have used it. Watching so many people grapple with that eternal question, "What should I do with my life?" she's found that "discovering your purpose is a journey. Hard, messy, joyful, exhausting, exhilarating, bumpy, scary, life-giving, and — did I mention — ," she writes. But it's worth the work, because "what a relief it can be to finally figure out the answer! And then, over time, to actually do the thing you're meant to do!" she writes. "It's about you waking up, opening your eyes, and thinking, " Ready to dive in? Start reading, request to join our LinkedIn group, and come chat with us and Welch on Wednesday, July 30, at 10 a.m. ET, at our next CNBC Make It Book Club discussion. In the meantime, you can also read Welch's recent articles, including on signs you're living a "B+ life" and the No. 1 question you should ask in a job interview that "cuts through the BS." Any questions for the author? Email them to us in advance at askmakeit@ using the subject line "Question for Suzy Welch." Hoping to get ahead on the next book? Our August pick is "Rich AF: The Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life" by Vivian Tu. Have suggestions for future picks? Send them to us at askmakeit@ using the subject line "Make It book club suggestion."
Boston Globe
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Suzy Welch wants to help you live a more authentic life
Suzy Welch's "Becoming You" students get a keychain of values, named by Welch. On the right is "Non Sibi" (Latin for "not for self"), representing a "life-organizing principle of altruism." Courtesy Suzy Welch My favorite is eudemonia , for the principle of self-care, recreation, and pleasure. Welch, a these 15 values after years of studying academic research, observing how people make choices, and paying attention to what stops them from living the life they want. No value is good or bad, she says; they're only a problem when we don't acknowledge and live by the ones we care the most about. 'We come loaded with personal values in a certain ranking, and yet, 99.9 percent of us are not fully expressing the values we hold,' said Welch, 65, a Harvard Business School grad, known for her columns, 'Today' show appearances, books such as ' Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up She began working on 'Becoming You' — a method for figuring out what you're meant to do with yourself — in 2020, not long after the death of her husband Advertisement She was grieving while trying to figure out what was next and what was important to her. 'I was trying to become me. It's the most meta story in the world. … I think this is why, when I see somebody have a 'Becoming You' breakthrough … it's so personal for me. It's like, 'Fellow traveler — hi .' Advertisement Welch launched her 'Becoming You' methodology with MBA and In May, she released a book, 'Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career.' (She'll talk about the book with CEO of Boston Globe Media Linda Henry at the Welch wants to reach as many people as possible with 'Becoming You,' which also has a Later this month, she'll host her first people like educators, life coaches, and financial planners, who can use the work with their own students and clients. 'People kept on saying to me … can I get certified in this?," Watch said. 'Finally we went to NYU and said, 'Can we set up a certification program? And NYU was wonderful and said 'sure.'' Suzy Welch's "Becoming You" at a local book event. Aram Boghosian 'There's a whole section in the book about aptitudes and what you're good at. I think there's been a Advertisement As Welch puts it, 'If you're going to live and support yourself, pay the mortgage, and all the other things, you've got to know what you're good at — and your economically viable interests." There are obstacles, of course. Welch devotes a section of the book to 'The Four Horsemen of Values Destruction,' what she calls the roadblocks that stop us from staying true to what we want. More on that later, too. Welch happened to be unfurling her 'Becoming You' classes as people came out of COVID lockdown, questioning why they made certain choices. They were introspective and ready to do some work. As an advice columnist and relationship writer, I'm interested in how and where people find help, whether it's through therapy, books, counseling, coaching, or other avenues. Suzy Welch lectures during her "Becoming You" seminar at New York University in June, 2024. Vincent Tullo After jumping into Welch's work, I did have, as Oprah might say, an A month ago, I bought a bike. I'd realized, after a few vacations, that I enjoy biking on a safe and scenic path. The other day, I rode my brand new bike in great weather; I felt like I was 6 years old, with no cares in the world. I was shocked at how free — and myself — I felt on this bike. Later, I felt guilty. Who was I to be running around — on a Wednesday! — on this bike? How dare I not be working or helping my loved ones? Advertisement Welch's book and method had an answer for that. After taking Welch's questionnaire, I learned a big, maybe simple thing: I value free time and fun activities more than I've ever admitted to myself. I would have guessed my one major value was 'workcentrism,' perhaps followed by what she calls 'familycentricism,' but the latter wasn't even in my top five. Welch said people are often surprised by their results. 'They're staring into the face of something they've been denying or repressing. … The phrase I hear the most is, ' This explains everything .'' During our interview, Welch told me I might have been lying to myself about prioritizing my family — perhaps in martyr-ish ways — without making me feel like a jerk. She is good at talking about uncomfortable things. Her style, to me, is a mix of CEO, journalist, influencer, friend, or 'fancy aunt who does not put up with your nonsense.' She shares personal stories and moments when she admits she was a bad mom or scared about her life choices. I attended two Welch events during her recent visit to Boston, including one at MIT, where she spoke to a mostly student audience, some of whom seemed very freaked out about their career prospects amid federal budget cuts. Welch was quick to talk about her own mistakes. She quoted 'Moonstruck' and referenced 'The Iliad.' She spoke about waiting out fraught moments in economic and political history, and acknowledged that many people are in one, so they might as well be honest about what they want. In the audience was Abby Witkin, a longtime Welch fan, who held a copy of '10-10-10,' Welch's guide to decision making. Advertisement Witkin started reading Suzy Welch's columns about business and life in 'I was like, what a perfect thing to do for my birthday — go into a class where you're actually looking at the intersection of all of these [values], and you're trying to find your area of transcendence.' Witkin said she always knew she really liked work , but the program helped her accept that it was OK to love it more than a lot of other things. '[Suzy] doesn't call it workaholism. It doesn't have a negative connotation.' I'm still diving into all of this, especially Welch's ideas about those Horsemen that stand in the way of us living our values (my issues are all about a fear of economic instability). I know this is all very self-helpy, but in Welch's words, she wants us in an area of transcendence. I get glimmers of it when I'm writing, and absolutely when I'm on that bike. 'Look, you can go through periods of your life where it completely ebbs away from you — because life happens. You get a divorce, you get fired. … But then, if you know this stuff about yourself, and you know what the picture of your authentic life is, you can fight another day,' she said. 'But those moments when you're living authentically — that is when you're very exquisitely alive, that's your purpose — and they're worth fighting for. It's worth doing." Advertisement Meredith Goldstein writes the and hosts the . She writes about relationships. She can be reached at
CNBC
04-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
5 signs you're living a 'B+ life'—and what it says about you: Harvard-trained career expert
Does your life feel OK? Good enough? Or does it make you feel ? Vibrant, hopeful, fulfilled? Excited for the next day, week, and decade? If it's the former, you may be living what, in my research and teaching, I've come to call a "B+ life," which is certainly better than a stick in the eye, but can also be more damaging in the long run. Because when things are "OK" and "good enough," we rarely make the effort to make the changes to find something better. For instance, an A+ life, filled with authenticity and fulfillment. By the way, and to be clear, the "grader" in all this life-rating is not society. It's not your family or your boss. It's you. Hear me out. As a business academic who studies career trajectories, I completely understand that just surviving in this complex economy can sometimes feel like a victory. I also know that life's many challenges, like the death of a loved one or a struggle with mental illness, can make achieving a "perfect" life unattainable. But after working with thousands of early and mid-career professionals, as a professor, researcher, and mentor, I know that for many, settling for B+ is not an imperative — but a habit. We get used to living in a suit that's a size too big or too small, to use an image that for many, feels uncomfortably accurate. We tell ourselves, "The dreams I once had were stupid; no one gets what they want." Before I list the more concrete signs you're living a B+ life yourself, a bit of context and background. I'm a professor and researcher who studies career trajectories. The culmination of my work is a scientifically-validated methodology taught at NYU Stern School of Business in a class called "Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need." On campus and in numerous workshops for the public and within organizations, the Becoming You methodology, and its various components, has been used by more than 10,000 people around the world. My method is based on the premise that our purpose in life lies at the intersection of our deeply held values, cognitive and emotional aptitudes, and economically viable interests. Aptitudes and interests are usually self-evident, but unfortunately, very few people actually know their values in specific detail. This information has to be excavated, for lack of a better word, with values testing. But once it is, we can move away from living by default to living by design. There is no easy hack to it, but the end result is the roadmap from B+ to beyond. To assess whether you are living a B+ life, consider these five signs: Despite hitting external milestones — whether at work or in your personal life — your energy is low and you often feel numb, disengaged, or secretly exhausted. This misalignment can show up in what my values testing instrument, The Values Bridge, calls the "Authenticity Gapthe measure of how muchour outer life doesn't match your inner truth. You talk about what matters to you (self-determination, creative self-expression, service, community), but your calendar and choices don't reflect those priorities. If you're fully honest with yourself, you would have to admit you are curating your image or chasing validation. Dan Harris, an expert on self-awareness and host of the acclaimed 10% Happier podcast, might frame this as a lack of "mindful presence"; you're so caught in striving that you've lost the ability to just . Conflict, resentment, or emotional distance can show up when you're suppressing needs, boundaries, or truths about yourself. My research clearly demonstrates that not living authentically has a strong tendency to distort how we connect with others. You daydream about quitting, running away, or starting over. This is less about reinvention and more about fleeing a life that feels misfitted to who you actually are. As I said, for some people a B+ life is more than they ever imagined given their life circumstances. It can indeed be "good enough." But for others, more fulfillment and authenticity is a yearning that slowly builds, and along the way, causes increasing discomfort, sometimes ending in the kind of disruption that has us starting again, by our own volition or not. The antidote is understanding your values in their specific detail, and just as importantly, acknowledging whether you are living them as much as your heart and soul desire. Only then can we break out of our comfort zone, to something that can be even better.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
6 Books the Wealthy Are Reading This Summer
J.P. Morgan recently published its 2025 Summer Reading List. Here's a glimpse at six of the new books that it recommended for summer reading. These aren't your typical beach reads. You won't find any novels with action-packed plots or whodunit mysteries. These are all new releases in the nonfiction category. Check Out: Read Next: Looking through the descriptions of these books, you'll see a trend. The subjects and tones of each of these reads suggests that the rich aren't so much thinking about money as they are their core purposes in life and ways to optimize their relationships and businesses. They're seeking out techniques for living richer in a philosophical and nonmaterial sense. Let's look at six books that might be must-reads. 'Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life' by Shigehiro Oishi, PhD investigates concepts that we both individually and collectively have positioned as North Stars in all aspects of life: 'happiness' and 'meaning.' Oishi explores how these abstractions form 'traps' that inhibit our ability for enrichment — and discusses potentially better ways to frame and achieve a 'good' life. Learn More: 'Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career' by Suzy Welch is a humorous, poignant and well-researched book that delves deep into core questions such as 'What is my purpose?' and 'What was I born to be?' Based on Welch's popular NYU Stern School of Business class of the same name, 'Becoming You' provides an easy-to-follow 13-part methodology to help readers find their truest selves. Are you having the same arguments with colleagues again and again? Is your business starting to slip into a rut? Do you feel like no matter what you do, you're just not growing or evolving? 'Reset: How to Change What's Not Working' by Dan Heath could be a transformative read for anyone in a leadership position. The book tackles how to reboot your and your team's motivation so that at last you can get things working in a healthy, lasting way. Physical strength will get you far in the gym, but it's mental strength that will get you far in your personal and professional life. In 'Iron Hope: Lessons Learned from Conquering the Impossible', James Lawrence, a self-motivated athlete who completed 50 full-distance triathlons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days, discusses how to commit fully to yourself and build indestructible will power. What's an understanding of one's modern-day raison d'être without serious consideration of the emerging revelation of artificial intelligence and its expanding impact on our lives, both personally and professionally? 'Raising AI: An Essential Guide To Parenting Our Future'' by De Kai tackles the tech movement du jour with a unique approach, perceiving AI technologies not as our overlords but as our children. How do we do right by our nonhuman kids who need us now more than ever? To truly understand our way of being, we must assume an objective perspective — one that considers how people in radically different cultures and societies exist. As its title suggests, 'The Values Compass: What 101 Countries Teach Us About Purpose, Life, and Leadership' by Mandeep Rai explores how people think, build, create and love in places we may have never heard of, let alone visited. The Dalai Lama called this book a demonstration of 'how interconnected we are and how the divisions that exist between us stem from acting with narrow self-interest rather than concern for the good of our human family.' List sourced from J.P. Morgan's Summer Reading List More From GOBankingRates 6 Hybrid Vehicles To Stay Away From in Retirement Are You Rich or Middle Class? 8 Ways To Tell That Go Beyond Your Paycheck This article originally appeared on 6 Books the Wealthy Are Reading This Summer
