‘True self-confidence is the ability to look at the world without the need to find signs that stroke one’s ego’ Nassim Taleb. This quote is from Nassim Taleb’s book, The Black Swan. You might have read this classic book. Unfortunately – and I’m not immune to this – many executives are egos, going somewhere to be stroked. Here’s a list of points from the book that resonated with me. (excuse my temerity in listing ++. I’m not suggesting that you have under-developed frontal lobes). ‘Read books are far less valuable that unread ones.’ ‘We overestimate what we know – we underestimate uncertainty.’ ‘Be skeptical. In the end it is those who derive consequences and seize the importance of ideas, seeing their real value, who win the day. They are the ones who can talk about the subject.’ ‘If you want to get an idea of a person’s temperament, ethics and personal elegance – you want to look at him/her under tests of severe circumstance. Not under the rosy glow of daily life.’

++’Being an executive does not require very developed frontal lobes,

but rather a combination of charisma, a capacity to sustain boredom and the ability to shallowly perform on harrowing schedules. Add to these tasks the ‘duty’ of attending opera performances.’ ‘Tinker as much as possible and try to collect as many opportunities Black Swan* opportunities as possible.’ Your CALL to Action/HOW to apply for this post: A number of months back in the lobby of the Westin Hotel in Sydney, I approached Australian aboriginal leader, Noel Pearson and asked him what behaviour or attitude had paid off for him in his career. After a substantial pause he said, ‘reading’. With this in mind in the next seven days commit to a regular schedule of more reading, To start you off here is Tim Ferriss‘ (of The 4-Hour Workweek fame) Four hour book club.  * A Black Swan is a rare event. It carries extreme impact and it gets explained away after the fact (making it seem predictable). Check out this post entitled, Transparency: Lose the comb-over.