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Building from Brilliance
Some communities have developed recognizable economic signatures. Jewish merchants, shaped by centuries of restrictions on land ownership, mastered literacy and finance, creating networks of trade and professional services. Indian diaspora families, carrying memories of colonial merchant roles and extended kin systems, now own large shares of global hotel and corner-shop markets. Ethnic Chinese networks, long…
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The Hidden Tax of Influence and the Real Cost of Outsourcing Transformation
In a recent New York Times Magazine interview, [you can listen to the interview here], Brené Brown named something rare that and also costly. She described the “care tax”—the hidden toll of being treated as a national therapist, expected not only to share ideas but to absorb people’s deepest stories of pain and trauma. After…
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We Are Not Helpless: Sawubona and Strategic Alignment
We are not helpless. Change can still happen, but it requires responsibility-collective responsibility. – FARHIA NOOR Every so often I come across someone saying something as if they were speaking directly to me. Recently, it was a post by Farhia Noor. Rooted in her African heritage, she invoked Sawubona — “I see you, I honor…
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Fast is the Enemy
Patience isn’t passive—it’s the discipline to keep moving at the right pace, even when the world demands speed. Whether you’re composing music, crafting a watch at Patek Philippe, or building a business, there is only one speed that preserves excellence. Fast is the enemy. Patek Philippe has built its name on what cannot be rushed:…
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Misleading Surfaces & the Myth of “We’re Doing Fine”
In Mission Blue, the compelling documentary that follows oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle’s lifelong crusade to protect the oceans, one moment in particular stayed with me. A voice noted that the ocean, from the surface, always looks the same. Calm. Blue. Infinite. But beneath that glassy surface, ecosystems are collapsing. Coral reefs are bleaching. Species are…
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Can You Align Your Professional and Personal Purpose?
In an Atlantic article “The New Old Age” (by David Brooks, Aug 2023), we meet people who’ve spent decades in high-powered careers — CEOs, prosecutors, doctors — suddenly confronting a sobering truth: their professional résumés no longer define them. David Brooks, shares Anne Kenner’s story — a former federal prosecutor who walked into Stanford’s Distinguished…
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Searching for a Mustard Seed
The tiniest spark of belief can unlock the impossible. Most of us in the Caribbean grew up hearing the phrase: “faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.” It’s a line that carries great comfort in knowing that what is required to unlock potential and possibility is a mustard seed sized helping of…
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There is no Hero watch at Patek Phillipe
British historian Nicholas Foulkes first used this phrase to describe the brand, and later Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern expanded on it: Why does Patek Philippe have so many collections? Because while each collection has a different character, each one allows us to innovate and to express ourselves… It is for this reason that there…
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Why do some Employees Tune Out at Work?
I came across an article in Inc. recently by Kit Eaton: “How to Fight Clock Botching, the Latest Threat to Productivity” (published August 13, 2025). Up until then, I’d never heard the phrase clock botching before. I know of clock watching. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. That’s the “please-let-this-day-end” routine where the only thing…

