There are many age-old questions that drive gender-related stereotypes. What makes women and men different? Are we really as different as many people want us to think? Is personality hardwired in utero? Or is it nurturing and culture that makes our personalities different?

John Gray's wildly popular book, Men Are...

As we look toward the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, I am reminded of the tremendous highs and lows we have witnessed these past two weeks. Every two years, the participating athletes show the world the very best of the human spirit, inspiring us with...

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London lacked the awe-inspiring human spirit that was captured in Beijing, but there were some moments of greatness. I especially enjoyed the tribute paid to Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the Internet, as he composed "This is for everyone"...

Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to become expert at something, whether it's playing the guitar, charting the stars or writing software code. In his landmark book Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell looks at why certain people are successful and postulates that, among other things, a...

As a father, I believe that involving children in sports at a young age is generally a wise proposition. I believe that healthy competition is... well... healthy, that sporting events foster a spirit of teamwork that far surpasses the events themselves, and that active participation keeps children moving and is...

Helping people get what they need most in life is at the heart of successful philanthropy. It is no coincidence that fulfilling peoples' needs is also the foundation of a successful business. I see no contradiction between them.

Any venture, whether it is commercial or philanthropic, should aim at improving...

Social entrepreneuring -- the practice of creating a business with a mission to provide goods or services to people in need at a lower cost or with greater efficiency than any traditional company can -- has never been as important in society as it is now.

In a world...

If you plan to grow your company by hiring more people, think again. The best way to grow your business is by incentivizing existing talent through incentive competitions. Why? Because it creates a magnet for the ideas and people you need to drive dramatic breakthroughs for your business. You will...

As the U.S. economy slowly moves out of the recession, it's a good bet that businesses started or led by immigrants will play a substantial role in creating jobs and driving growth. In high tech, for instance, 52 percent of startups launched between 1995 and 2005 were founded by immigrants,...

Fifty years ago, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. It was an event that spurred on America to catch up and exceed Russia's achievement, as President John F. Kennedy outlined in 1962: "...this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and...

Conventional wisdom says that great companies are built by business leaders with the greatest vision. However, the truth is that groundbreaking businesses tend to come from entrepreneurs who were smart enough to out-execute everyone else in their space. That means getting products out there and growing a loyal customer base...

How important is failure -- yes, failure -- to the health of a thriving, innovative business?

So important that Ratan Tata, chairman of India's largest corporation, gives an annual award to the employee who comes up with the best idea that failed. So important that Apple, the company that...

You spend your evenings scouring industry journals and websites and flatter yourself with the satisfaction of knowing your market inside and out. You keynote regularly at trade shows and are the first to buy a table at large industry conferences. If there's a competitor in the wings, waiting to chew...

Your LinkedIn profile is diligently maintained, your blog is free of comment spam, and you tell your kids to wipe their Facebook pages clean of party photos. You work hard to maintain control of your personal online identity. But do you give the same attention to how your business is...

I've been an entrepreneur most of my adult life. Recently, on a long business flight, I began thinking about what it takes to become successful as an entrepreneur -- and how I would even define the meaning of "success" itself.

I've given a lot of talks over the years...

My generation was the last one to learn to use a slide rule in school. Today that skill is totally obsolete. So is the ability to identify the Soviet Socialist Republics on a map, the ability to write an operation in FORTAN, and the ability to drive a car with...