Brad Keywell

Category: Life

  • Sam Zell, My Mentor (and His Two Final Gifts to Me)

    Sam Zell, My Mentor (and His Two Final Gifts to Me)

    Sam Zell was an iconoclastic risk-taker, adventurer, contrarian, industrialist, and quite simply one of the great entrepreneurs of our time. For me, Sam Zell was my mentor. And less than two months before his passing, he gave me two precious gifts.

  • GENERATION: RE – The Official Nomination

    GENERATION: RE – The Official Nomination

    Every generation is given a name – some more accurate than others. Consider this my nomination for the official name of the emerging generation (those born in 2000 to today): Generation:RE “What’s in a name?” mused Shakespeare. Demographers create generational groupings to examine economic trends and social changes over time. These groupings take on names, some…

  • Two Pillars for Effective Remote Work: Asynchronous Clarity & Visible Value

    Two Pillars for Effective Remote Work: Asynchronous Clarity & Visible Value

    We are ten months into this everlong 2020. One hundred and thirty years ago, a German playwright first coined the phrase “Spring Awakening” as the title of his breakthrough play, first performed in 1891. It’s a phrase that comes to mind. It’s lingered in mine since March. This fall, our world is still awakening from…

  • Being “In Integrity” with Yourself and Others

    Being “In Integrity” with Yourself and Others

    I first learned about integrity from my parents, often in reaction to testing the rules — in particular, I remembered “borrowing” something from home and taking it into my third-grade classroom for show-and-tell, mistakenly leaving it at school, and then claiming ignorance of its whereabouts.

  • Beware of the Apostrophe Ts

    Beware of the Apostrophe Ts

    I’ve been in the groove of a morning habit. For a few minutes when I wake up, I try to just sit in bed and think. Not that long — but enough time to give some consciousness to my unconsciousness (a/k/a my dreams) and see what comes to mind as I greet the new day.…

  • Interview Someone You Love

    Interview Someone You Love

    Of course, you should also interview your colleagues (whether you love them, like them, or barely know them). And there are lots of other people in your life, I’m sure, with whom an interview would open your mind, open their heart, and open new possibilities. But let’s start with an interview — your interview of…

  • 9 Decision Biases & How to Control Them

    9 Decision Biases & How to Control Them

    I can tell you one thing for sure — I have made lots of mistakes. Lots and lots of them. And that’s where the fun really happens — as an entrepreneur, the fun is trying to figure out which moves are mistakes, and which are logical and rational steps towards something valuable and important.

  • Why You Must Prioritize a Quick No

    Why You Must Prioritize a Quick No

    No. That’s right, “no.” And quickly. Ok — I know I’m in Jeopardy format. So, the question is this: “What’s the next best thing to a quick yes?” A quick “no” is not easy, but it’s necessary. To be impactful and purposeful with collaborators, prioritizing a quick “no” is the next best thing to a…

  • What Is Your Mindset?

    What Is Your Mindset?

    You’ve heard it over the years from parents or perhaps from teachers: “you can do anything you set your mind to.” It’s interesting that the reference in the saying is literally about “setting” your mind.

  • Four-and-a-Half Rules You Must Break: A Message to 2020 Grads

    Four-and-a-Half Rules You Must Break: A Message to 2020 Grads

    Class of 2020, I’m here to tell you that you need to break some rules. But first I’d like to tell you about five monkeys, a group of scientists, an experiment. And some bananas.