Why Verizon, Blackstone, and BMW Hire the #KillerPitchMaster
Speaking. Everyone thinks they can be a great speaker yet very few know why some speakers are highly sought after and booked repeatedly. For the past 31 years, I have been one of those speakers. What I bring to the stage cannot be taught by AI. No slight to AI yet conference organizers, event planners, […]
Keys to Professional Development and Career Advancement
A few weeks ago, I received a message from someone seeking mentorship. His note was straightforward but carried a sense of frustration. “I feel stuck,” he wrote. “I’ve been working hard, but my career isn’t moving forward the way I expected. I’m not seeing the growth I hoped for.” It’s a message I’ve heard many […]
The Imposter Monster Is Real. And AI Just Made It Worse. Here’s How to Tame It.
Why reframing imposter syndrome as a manageable mindset, not a personal flaw, is the leadership shift your organization needs right now. I still battle with imposter syndrome. And in this AI era, I genuinely believe it has intensified. We’re living through rapid change. Technology is evolving. Careers are shifting. The future of work feels uncertain. […]
The Single Most Reliable Predictor of a Leadership Ceiling Isn’t Strategic Thinking
Strategy, discipline, and a well-known MBA program aren’t the best predictors of leadership success. The thing that quietly caps how high a leader can climb is something almost no executive development program is measuring. By Dr. Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. A senior executive at a CPG company sat across from me last fall and described, in […]
The Most Dangerous Negotiation Mistake Leaders Make
By Adi Rotem Throughout my career, I participated in some of the most sensitive negotiations imaginable. Some involved hostage situations. Others unfolded during national crises, under intense public pressure and severe uncertainty. People often assume that successful negotiators possess exceptional persuasion skills. They imagine negotiation as a contest of arguments, influence, or tactical brilliance. In […]
You Hired for the Strategy. Not for What It Takes to Execute It.
The head of Risk Management at a major payments business looked across the table at the digital transformation team, during a 2002 meeting, and said: “Digital won’t be a factor in acquiring new customers to our business for ten years.” The team had the data. They had the customer research. They had a working roadmap. […]
The Stupid Side of Business Intelligence
I learned how to think about decisions in a place most people never have to. Federal prison. Eighteen months of solitary confinement. No data. No dashboards. No AI. Just the consequences of the decisions I had already made and a long, quiet runway to figure out how to make better ones. That experience is the […]
Before You Build, Learn to Listen
If you are building anything in 2026, you are probably moving faster than ever. AI gave us superpowers. We can prototype in hours, architect systems in days, and ship features in sprints that used to take quarters. The problem is that speed without direction is just expensive failure happening faster. I learned that the hard […]
The Single Most Reliable Predictor of a Leadership Ceiling Isn’t Strategic Thinking
Strategy, discipline, and a well-known MBA program aren’t the best predictors of leadership success. The thing that quietly caps how high a leader can climb is something almost no executive development program is measuring. By Dr. Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. A senior executive at a CPG company sat across from me last fall and described, in […]