Character – Peter Saint-Andre, Philosopher-Coach

Decisions Accumulate

In a recent post entitled How a Business Wins, Arnold Kling made the following observation: Building a business, especially an innovative business in a complex environment, requires many, many decisions. You can be lucky with any one decision, but to get enough decisions right to make the business work takes much more than luck. AsContinue reading “Decisions Accumulate”

Egoism, Altruism, and Oxygen Masks

A friend asked me recently if I think that self-improvement is selfish. My short answer was that building up your character is a matter of cultivating your higher self rather than gratifying your lower self, so this activity might exist beyond the dichotomy of egoism vs. altruism. Here’s an analogy that’s fresh in my mindContinue reading “Egoism, Altruism, and Oxygen Masks”

The Self as an Achievement

What is the self? Naturally this question invokes vast reflections spanning philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, sociology, biology, and many other fields. Although I claim no special insight, in my Aristotle readings over the last few years I chanced upon a fascinating perspective that I thought I’d share. In her book Aristotle’s Philosophy of Friendship (SUNY Press, 1995),Continue reading “The Self as an Achievement”

MLK and Personalism

In my recent post on idealism and identity, I mentioned my attraction to the philosophy of personalism, with its emphasis on human dignity. It is perhaps a little-known fact that Martin Luther King, Jr., was greatly influenced by that very philosophy. Early in life he ventured north to study at Boston University, then the centerContinue reading “MLK and Personalism”

Cultivating Curiosity

In my drive to hold fewer opinions (or at least hold them less strongly), for a while I tried to cultivate a healthy skepticism about things I believe – for instance, by attempting to question one opinion every week. This didn’t work, at least for me, because it felt too negative. Instead, now I’m workingContinue reading “Cultivating Curiosity”

Cultivating Empathy

If you ask those I work with or mentor what my distinctive personal qualities are, I suspect that on the short list you might find empathy. For instance, I often reach out to work colleagues if I know that they face significant challenges, if their skills aren’t being fully utilized, if they’re not appreciated asContinue reading “Cultivating Empathy”