Daniel Gulati

Ever been shut down by someone who supposedly knows more than you? It happens to me daily. I get denied by people that are more senior, more polished, and more knowledgeable than me. I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed professional rejection, but I try my best to dust...

The professional world is powered by favors -- busy individuals helping those in their extended networks land highly-contested roles, get feedback on ideas or connect with influencers, typically without the expectation of either compensation or reciprocation. I've been on the receiving end of many professional favors, the givers of which...

Updated CV and cover letter? Check. Newly pressed white shirt? Check. Portfolio of recent work samples? Check. Think you're well-prepared for your next job interview? Think again. A recent employer study reveals that 91% of employers use social networking sites to screen employees, and 69% have rejected an...

The unthinkable happened at a friend's wedding last month. As the groom was asked to confirm his desire to accept the bride as his lawfully wedded wife, he held up his hand, as if to say "wait a minute." The audible gasps amongst attendees turned to relieved chuckles as he...

Stuart stood up confidently and addressed the group: "I studied Art History at Yale, worked at Bain for two years, then Morgan Stanley. After finishing my Stanford MBA, I took a banking job at Goldman Sachs."

I'd asked him and a small group of smart individuals to describe their professional...

Have you noticed that everyone around you now seems to be an expert at something? How your boss gives you unsolicited career advice, based on his own (self-proclaimed) stellar career? Or how your annoying colleague emails you stock tips after reading the morning news headlines?

Welcome to the age of...

As the Internet has grown from 70 million users in 1997 to 2.2 billion, entrepreneurial companies with technology at their core have disrupted entire industries and threatened or eliminated incumbents. For example, Square, the new electronic payment service, has already upended a long-established financial ecosystem, with some arguing...

Are you the seven-foot superhero, the conniving villain, the strong-willed woman or the family-man cop? You'd better be one of them, or risk being cut from the cast. After studying Hollywood actors for three years, MIT Professor Ezra Zuckerman found that actors who typecast themselves (PDF) early in...

Young people have regrets, too.

Last month, I asked 100 people aged between 25 and 35 about what they regretted most. All aspects of their early lives were fair game. Many reflected on their burgeoning careers, others lamented the relationships they had built with family and...

If you ever want to lie awake at night, go ahead and think about your "one thing" -- the one thing you were born to do, the one career you were built to succeed at and the one person you were destined to spend the rest of your life with....

When Facebook announced its recent $5 billion IPO, many applauded the company's mission to connect friends and make the world a more open place. Experts described Zuckerberg as "noble," "grandiose," and "downright inspirational." Twitter CEO Dick Costolo recently presented his vision in...

When I began writing Passion & Purpose in 2009, I met Susan, a young woman on the brink of quitting her investment banking job to pursue her lifelong passion of starting a non-profit. A year later, when I asked how her new venture was going, I was surprised...

When Facebook was founded in 2004, it began with a seemingly innocuous mission: to connect friends. Some seven years and 800 million users later, the social network has taken over most aspects of our personal and professional lives, and is fast becoming the dominant communication platform of the...

At a recent dinner party, I was speaking with a friend who had just been promoted to vice president at a well-known New York hedge fund. The promotion was unexpected, involved an immediate 50 percent pay raise, and came with broad new responsibilities. When he should have been feeling optimistic...