Greg McKeown

Penguin Random House

Author, "Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most"

Essentialism, Inc

Host, The Greg McKeown Podcast

For 20 years I've been fascinated with the question, "What holds people, teams and organizations back from breaking through to the next level?" The answer, to my surprise, is success.

The problem is not success per se but the undisciplined pursuit of more. The antidote is Essentialism or the disciplined pursuit of less. This enables people to figure out what is really essential, to eliminate everything else, and to make execution of what really matters as effortless as possible.

Author, "Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less."

World Economic Forum

The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a unique, multistakeholder community of more than 700 exceptional young leaders who share a commitment to shaping the global future.

Nominated under 40, these young leaders are proposed through a qualified nomination process and assessed according to rigorous selection criteria that creates a diverse and truly representative body, while accepting only the very best leaders who have already demonstrated their commitment to serving society at large.

Out of the thousands of candidates nominated each year, between 100 and 200 extraordinary individuals are honored each year with the title “Young Global Leader” at which time they are invited to become Active Members of the World Economic Forum. 

I recently moderated a session for the World Economic Forum at the “Summer Davos” in China called, “Unpacking Social Innovation Models for Maximum Impact.” I also served as a panelist at the “Sharpening Your Creative Edge” working session at the Forum.

Young Global Leader

The Wiseman Group

Collaborated on the research and writing of management articles with Liz Wiseman including the HBR article, "Managing Yourself: Bringing Out the Best in Your People" and the bestselling book, "Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter".

Partner

Heidrick & Struggles

Provided psychological and executive assessments to senior leaders in Silicon Valley and beyond.

Leadership Consultant

I teach people how to focus and simplify.

In this pursuit, I've written two New York Times bestsellers, “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”, and “Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most”. Together they have sold three million copies and been published into 40 languages. 

I've spoken to hundreds of audiences as I've traveled to 45 countries around the world. Clients include Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Nike as well as TED Fellows, SXSW and the Navy Seals.

I host The Greg McKeown Podcast which is consistently ranked as a top business podcast. Recent guests include Brad Smith (President of Microsoft),  Ed Catmull (cofounder of Pixar), Ron Jonson (creator of Apple Stores and the Genius Bar) Arthur Brooks (Harvard professor) and Matthew McConaughey (Academy Award Winning Actor).

My work has been covered in print media including in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Fast Company, Fortune, Politico, Inc., and Harvard Business Review. It’s been covered on NPR, NBC, FOX, and many times on The Steve Harvey Show.

I'm an active Social Innovator. I served for 7 years as a Board Member for Washington D.C. policy group Resolve and as a mentor with 2 Seeds, a non-profit incubator for agricultural projects in Africa. I've spoken at non-profit groups including The Kauffman Fellows, Net Impact, and Stanford University (where I also co-created the popular class, Designing Life, Essentially).

Prior to this, I collaborated in the research and writing of "Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter" and worked for Heidrick & Struggles’ Global Leadership Practice assessing senior executives.

I did my MBA at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, my Global Leadership and Public Policy certificate at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and I'm currently doing doctoral research on deep listening and peacemaking at the University of Cambridge.

The key to networking is to stop networking. 

“Nobody wants to have a ‘networking conversation,’ especially those who are at the highest levels of business and politics. 

They are hungry for real conversations and real relationships. 

It just has to be authentic, genuine, and sincere. 

In the end, I put myself in the most target-rich area and then just go with the flow and spend time with those I enjoy.

I've dedicated my professional life to teach people how to negotiate what's essential.

In this pursuit, I've written two New York Times bestsellers, “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”, and “Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most”. Together they have sold three million copies and been published into 40 languages. 

I've spoken to more than 500 audiences as I've traveled to 45 countries around the world. Clients include Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Nike as well as TED Fellows, and SXSW.

I host The Greg McKeown Podcast which is consistently ranked as a top business podcast. Recent guests include Brad Smith (President of Microsoft),  Ed Catmull (cofounder of Pixar), Ron Jonson (creator of Apple Stores and the Genius Bar) Arthur Brooks (Harvard professor) and Matthew McConaughey (Academy Award Winning Actor).

His work has been covered in print media including in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Fast Company, Fortune, Politico, Inc., and Harvard Business Review. It’s been covered on NPR, NBC, FOX, and many times on The Steve Harvey Show.

I'm an active Social Innovator. I served for 7 years as a Board Member for Washington D.C. policy group Resolve and as a mentor with 2 Seeds, a non-profit incubator for agricultural projects in Africa. I've spoken at non-profit groups including The Kauffman Fellows, Net Impact, and Stanford University (where I also co-created the popular class, Designing Life, Essentially).

Prior to this, I collaborated in the research and writing of "Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter" and worked for Heidrick & Struggles’ Global Leadership Practice assessing senior executives.

I did my MBA at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, my Global Leadership and Public Policy certificate at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and I'm currently doing doctoral research on negotiation and peacemaking at the University of Cambridge.

2X NYTs Bestselling Author

You can't hear what matters if you've already made up your mind.

It's easy to think you're listening—especially when you're confident you're right.

But if you enter a conversation certain of your perspective, you'll only hear what confirms it. 

That's not listening. That's filtering.

Real listening begins when we're willing to let go of being right. 

That's when people start telling you the truth. 

That's when insight surfaces, trust deepens, and better decisions get made.

The best leaders aren't the ones with all the answers.

They're the ones who create space for what they haven't thought of yet.

How are you doing? 

I mean, how are you doing really?

That follow-up question catches people off guard. 

It nudges people from the surface into a deeper, more fulfilling interaction. 

And we could all use a bit more of that.  

Why? Loneliness is increasing in the world. 

Its effects are far-reaching—from mental and physical health to economic and societal concerns. 

The irony of this loneliness epidemic is that we live in a time where it has never been easier to connect or reconnect with family members and old friends. 

Still, many of us feel more isolated than ever because, as it turns out, the solution to feeling more connected is not more social interactions; it's more meaningful interactions. 

It appears that "Less, but better" applies to relationships too, where we might say, "Fewer, but deeper."

Perhaps, as you’ve been reading this, someone has come to mind—someone important in your life. 

My challenge to you is to reach out to them—today—right now if you can. 

It will make your life better and their life better—and don’t forget to ask them how they are doing, really. 

Join over 199,000 readers who get 1-Minute Wednesday straight to their inbox for a quick hit of what truly matters, every week.

Try it here: https://lnkd.in/g9i9J_da

The device in your hand is not a phone.

It’s a three trillion dollar, military-grade, addiction-producing machine. 

What if we could create our own algorithm, independent of the Silicon Valley set of algorithms?

That's what building an essential life is all about – designing a life that is so meaningful, so engaging, so good that you have no interest in being in the digital world that other people have created for you.

So, what does a life that is more engaging than the algorithm look like?

It’s one focused on relationships over likes – hobbies, and passions instead of email and scrolling. 

It’s a life filled with Jeong (deep connections) and Ichi-go-Ichi-e (cherishing each moment).

Today, disrupt the algorithm once. 

When tempted by the digital world, refocus on something essential in the real world.

Prioritizing real connections, cultivating passions, and being present will allow you to live a life more engaging than any algorithm.

If you want to increase clarity, don't amplify the signal; reduce the noise. 

Clarity is the key to understanding, but it's often hard to achieve. 

Not because we aren't trying, but because we misunderstand how clarity works.

One way to better understand clarity is to think of it as a ratio:

Clarity = Signal/Noise

The signal is what you’re trying to say. 

Noise is everything that gets in the way.

When the signal gets weak, our instinct is to add more:

-more words
-more explanation
-more passion. 

Sometimes we even repeat ourselves a little louder, hoping this time people will really “get it.”

But the greatest leverage in clarity doesn’t come from increasing signal. 

It comes from reducing noise.

That’s the power of the clarity ratio: noise sits in the denominator.

So when you reduce noise, even slightly, the effect is dramatic.

That’s what great communicators understand.

They don’t push harder. They quiet what gets in the way.

If everything is input, nothing becomes insight.

The impulse to consume more is often driven by fear—fear of falling behind or missing the one idea that will unlock everything. 

But constant input has a hidden cost: it trains us to skim, rather than to see.

When everything is urgent and novel, nothing gets absorbed. 

Your brain becomes a transit hub—ideas rush in and out, but none are allowed to stay. 

If ideas can’t stay, they can’t compound. 

They can’t shape your thinking, your decisions, or your life.

Insight isn't a product of volume. 

It's the result of choosing to sit with an idea long enough to let it take effect on you.

High performers don’t win because they know more. 

They win because they notice more.

We tend to think the only way past disagreement is to convince the other person.

But the real shortcut is understanding them first.

When you reflect back what they mean and they say, "Yes, that's it," everything changes.

Walls come down and common ground appears.

That's the breakthrough we're exploring in this week's 1-Minute Wednesday.

Illustration by Pejman Milani

#essentialism #effortless #1minutewednesday #listening #understanding #leadership #communication

The more expertise you gain, the harder it becomes to explain what feels obvious to you.

That’s why great leaders don’t just speak clearly—they create clarity.

This week’s 1-Minute Wednesday is about how to bridge that gap.

#essentialism #effortless #1minutewednesday #leadership #communication #listening

Don’t start with strategy. Start with identity.

When we feel stuck, our instinct is to fix the plan. 

- We tweak the strategy
- We chase the next productivity tool
- We push harder. 

Starting with strategy often leads to short-term wins and long-term misalignment.

Starting with identity changes the game. I

It’s the difference between asking, “What should I do?” and “Who am I becoming?” 

One keeps you reactive. The other makes you intentional.

When you begin with who you are—and who you want to be—you make choices that align now and in the future. 

You stop chasing results that don’t fit and start designing a life that does.

There's one simple exercise to get you there: 

Write:  “The kind of person I’m committed to becoming is...”

Decide:  What’s one action I will take today to become that person?

✍🏼 your thoughts when you try it. 

Join over 199,000 readers who get 1-Minute Wednesday straight to their inbox for a quick hit of what truly matters, every week.

Try it here: https://lnkd.in/g9i9J_da

John Abrahamson

Whatever has happened to you in life, whatever hardship, whatever pain, whatever regret, these things pale compared to the power you have to choose what to do now. 

It’s not too late. Let’s get to it.

You can win the argument and still lose the person.

Or you can do something rarer—be understood.

In this week’s 1-Minute Wednesday, learn how to turn disagreement into genuine connection.

#essentialism #effortless #1minutewednesday #understanding #communication #leadership

Critical reminder: Simplifying isn’t about less; it’s about depth.

Simplification is the art of organizing your life around purpose.

The goal isn’t elimination for elimination’s sake but to remove distractions from what’s essential.

The essence of simplification lies in clarity: knowing what truly matters and letting go of everything else. 

When you clear out the nonessential, you’re left with a path that aligns with your essential purpose. 

Each choice becomes a vote for what’s most important.

The greatest misunderstanding is believing there isn’t one.

We assume people know what we mean—but they don’t.

And we rarely notice it. 

We walk away thinking we’ve been understood, only to find later that something got lost between what we said and what was heard.
 
At Stanford, researchers illustrated this gap through a simple game. 

Participants were asked to tap the rhythm of familiar songs, while others attempted to guess them.

The tappers believed half the group would recognize the tune. 

Only two percent did. 

The tappers could hear the melody in their minds, but the listeners only heard noise.

Psychologists refer to this as the curse of knowledge. 

The curse of knowledge blinds us to how much context lives inside our own heads. 

We fill in the blanks without realizing it. 

We assume others see what we see, but they’re starting with a blank page. 

Until we slow down and share that missing context, we’re not really communicating.

And in leadership, this problem only grows.

The more expertise we have, the harder it becomes to explain what feels obvious to us. 

We speak in shorthand, move too quickly, and expect others to keep up. 

What feels clear and efficient to us can feel confusing, or even discouraging, to them.

The thing to remember is that clarity isn’t about being right. 

It’s about being understood. 

And that begins when we stop assuming we already are.

A few weeks ago, I sat down with Matthew McConaughey. 

It wasn’t just a conversation—it felt like a wrestling match with cynicism itself.

Here are 5 of the best quotes from the episode:

1. On the difference between hope and belief

“Belief comes with an engine that is a map of how to get there or how to realize something, manifest it, make it happen. It comes with sweat equity...That is, I believe, essentially what true optimism is.”

2. On cynicism as a kind of death

“We go from innocence when we’re born, to naïve, then skeptical, then discerning. But the next step into cynicism is, I believe, an early death—even though you may still be walking around.”

3. On feeding the good wolf

“I’m going to fight it too. I’m going to feed my good wolf over my bad wolf, because I’ve got them both in me. And we all do.”

4. On the rebellion of belief

“The real rebellion isn’t being down. It’s not disbelieving. The real rebellion is the belief, the attempt to build something. Cynics don’t build anything.”

5. On small steps forward

“How do we get home? Start with one first step in the right direction and then celebrate—you got one in a row. Then try to follow it up with another one in a row.”

McConaughey’s reminder:

Don’t just live—keep living.

Watch my full conversation with Matthew here: https://lnkd.in/gjzqCUjd

Have you ever noticed how the harder you try to explain something, the less clear it sometimes becomes?

Clarity isn’t the result of more words. It’s the reward for less noise.

This week’s 1-Minute Wednesday explores the hidden power of subtraction and why great communicators always start by removing what gets in the way.

#essentialism #effortless #1minutewednesday #leadership #clarity #communication #understanding

The All Signal, No Noise Newsletter read on GREGMCKEOWN.COM | October 8, 2025 What: If you want to increase clarity, don't amplify the signal; reduce 

1-Minute Wednesday No. 274: The Clarity Ratio

Shannon Macey

A boundary isn’t just a defense mechanism—it’s a design choice.

Boundaries are like a sandcastle—without reinforcement, they crumble under the tide of other people’s expectations.

Every yes shapes the structure of your life. 

The real question is: Are you building with intention, or letting outside forces chip away at what matters most?

Strong boundaries don’t isolate you; they pull the right things in.

They create the space where your best work, strongest relationships, and most meaningful contributions can thrive. 

And here’s the key: the most powerful boundaries aren’t just about what you say no to—they’re about what you’re making space for.

Look at your week ahead. 

Where is one boundary that needs reinforcement? 

Define it clearly—and honor it.

Reminder: If you dont prioritise your life, someone else will.

There’s a dangerous illusion in modern life: the belief that if you’re moving fast, you must be making progress. 

But acceleration without direction is just wasted effort. 

You can spend years climbing a ladder only to realize it is leaning against the wrong wall.

David B.

Do this today: Take a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is important this very second.

Setting regular time to recover is essential for reaching your highest potential. 

Here are 3 ways to prioritize rest and make it part of your routine:

1. Schedule blank time for yourself

Every time you add a meeting to your schedule, block out a similar amount of time for yourself. Use it to think, relax, and recharge.

2. Set an upper bound

Use the formula “Never less than X, never more than Y” to ensure consistency without burning out. Stick to it, even if you have the energy to keep going.

3. Use your vacation days for vacation

No sneaky work, like emails or quick calls. 

Make this your mantra: Don’t do more today than you can recover from tomorrow.

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