Ayelet Baron helps leaders thrive – she is a global strategist who speaks, writes and consults people and organizations to gain a 21st century edge. Today Ayelet is at the forefront of fixing what’s broken in business and transforming organizations as a visionary looking at the future of work. At Simplifying Work, she is focused on pioneering more people-centered ways to work that leverage connected networks and build trusted communities. She is currently an Innovator in Residence with Roche/Genentech helping to transform R&D. For more than a decade, Ayelet climbed the corporate ladder at tech giant, Cisco Systems where she held a number of global, executive roles focused on growth strategy, led strategy and competitive positioning. She co-founded Creating.Is, a movement to enlist a new breed of leaders who are making a difference in their communities.
Life gives us everything we need – both challenges and opportunities – toxic and healthy lessons and people come into our path so we can learn discernment; the difference between being in healthy plac …
Understanding which people, food, thoughts and beliefs are healthy is key. Consuming toxic people, food, thoughts and beliefs in your mind, body and spirit will make you sick. Ask yourself, who and w …
Many good people do good and many not so good people claim to do good in the world. But what does it even mean? A wise woman recently reminded me that what most people want is dignity, not handouts. P …
Life is one big playground to learn. But no one teaches us how to truly play, and as we ‘grow up,’ we start learning how to play the ultimate game of societal life. And if we had to be honest, many of …
Awareness of how one’s mind works allows leaders a path to address your deepest issues in a non-judgmental way. It takes work to have an understanding of your path and how you can have others j …
If I listened to all the advice I got this past year, my head would have exploded by now. If there is anything I learned is that no one knows. Everyone makes it up every day. And some people kn …
We are very good at changing the structure of our educational systems like, for example, changing when kids go to school. But we are not that great at adjusting the purpose of education to integrate k …
Organizations may have a great strategy in a PowerPoint slide deck that can be explained in easy terms, but unless they have conscious leaders at the helm who actually live it, they will continue to h …
Everyone you know is going through something. Why? Because that is what life is about. The more we can understand and become aware of root causes, the more we will be able to see ourselves, and each o …
We have been taught to give, and give back. And yet, many of us have not been taught to receive. This is one place where intention is not enough. You can have great intentions, but when the …
Madness is the result not of uncertainty but of certainty. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche Organizations, families, countries and communities that thrive have a mindset that unites people in collective purpose, …
There is always a way. Once you become aware of the way, and your own particular way, you will be on your way. And you will learn your own strengths, and discover the areas where you can get stronger …
You may want to believe what they taught you at school, or you may not (if you went to school). The biggest lessons from schools are not in the content they taught but in the structure they taught. Th …
We live in a world of mostly doers, when we are here to be creators who pursue unknown opportunities. Too often, we confuse doing with knowing and see doers as having wisdom, when in reality they will …
It’s time for each of us to master mind in new and ancient ways. There are people going about their lives quietly every day doing what they feel they are supposed to be doing to survive and take …
We have plenty of people running around the planet criticizing, taking, crushing, and destroying. Many are so busy applying best practices, listening to the latest trends, reporting, analyzing wh …
There are masses of people trying to help, coach and fix others, when our opportunity is to start with ourselves. What is your question? Do you know? Are you a leadership pioneer? …
Most of us have not quite realized that there is something remarkable happening in the world, something that is available to each of us, should we choose this path. Human history repeats itself a …
It is time to lead with our humanity, as leading with structure is no longer sufficient in a world that is shifting towards the value of experiences over things. Every great business idea is born from …
We are already living in the 21st century and many of us are hanging on to practices, processes and systems that no longer serve us. When we continue to pile on much of the same, the result is …
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1996) offers us three suggestions: a brain, a heart, and courage. 1) A Brain Dorothy: “How can you talk if you don’t have a brain?” Scarecrow: “I don’t k …
Before we can address the question of what jobs will be created for humans as automation takes over current roles, we need to focus on a question that most people are not asking. We have so man …
There is this old technology you may have heard of that is about to make a comeback to the business world. It is the secret sauce to the future of life and work that only savvy business people are sta …
More people will pick themselves in the 21st century. Choice is abundant and there is simply a multitude of opportunities and possibilities. That is the exciting new path for people in the …
Dear friend and fellow human being, I have had the privilege to live in four countries so far in my life. Although I became a US citizen in 2009, I see myself as a global citizen and I am thankful for …
The best way to understand the future of work is to go talk to people outside our comfort zone and become an adventurer pursuing possibilities. If we continue to have the same conversations with the s …
I am in the midst of writing a book and I am blown away by the people I am meeting and their generosity in sharing their stories so openly. The last interview I did spanned two days and lasted 4 hours …
I was recently invited to be a mentor at a speed mentoring event in the Silicon Valley. I was curious to experience this 7-minute random sharing. I wondered how it would work and I was a bit appr …
We go through life being conditioned to how life is supposed to be and what is expected from us to have a great life. And yet no one shares with us the secret that no one else knows what we need. How …
One of the biggest shifts that is happening in our world today, and there are many, is that many people are starting to wake up to the fact that life is precious and that we have choices. It’s happeni …
Throughout our lives, people come in and out. They come to teach us by adding to our lives or making a mess in our lives. Society conditions us that there are rules of how we should act and play. Don’ …
We spend much of our lives being told about the golden path that we must follow. I learned about it first in a sociology class I took in high school where the teacher talked about the importance of so …
While resistance to change continues to be alive and well in many organizations, the world is changing every day. We are in a time when entire economies, organizations and industries are transforming. …
If you have been engaging with my thinking on building thriving 21st century organizations, you will know that this is the best time to be alive as we live in an open and connected world. If …
I recently heard a story about a hi-tech executive (we’ll call him Ron) who had a side passion for wine making. It was a life long dream to bring new wines in the world. His friends noticed that his p …
The world we live in today is open. Yet most people still have the same conversations with the same people and wonder why nothing changes. It is those who don’t want to be like everyone else who are o …
Our world needs a new type of leader who is courageous, selfless, humble, innovative and remarkably effective. We desperately need leaders who have a vision and passion for creating new market opportu …
Bring Back Common Sense, Please Somehow we have lost our way when it comes to business. We blame complexity and yet, we are the ones creating complexity with more and process and governance syst …
There is a lot of hype about the future of work, but many of the changes we will see in 2015 and in future years are already taking shape. What we will experience is their acceleration as change conti …
Most of us have been taught to wait and be picked. We feel valued when we get picked to be part of the committee, the sports team and the popular group. If you work in a large organization, you feel a …
I recently was a keynote speaker on Preparing for the Future and the organizers asked me to be challenging and provocative with my messages. When I walked into the room, it was me who was fe …
In life, we are free as children until we are taught to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Our parents are mortified when we slip up and tell the truth: “Wow, is that a boy or a girl …
What if we shifted our focus to the most precious resource we have? And no, it’s not money. Money comes and money goes, and it’s the choices we make about how much we think we need and how much we spe …
How many times have we heard people complain about millennials wanting constant feedback at work? But is this really what they want? Take a step back and consider that maybe this is a generation that …
Lately I have been questioning the right and wrong I was brought up to believe. As I get older, I find that some of the notions that were instilled in me and labeled as being wrong actually now feel v …
The 21st century organization requires bold leaders who understand they live in a world of opportunity to create and lead others around a shared purpose. Unfortunately, the system is still massively b …