TBP PHOTO: iStock Photo Now, who pops into your head when we utter the word 'entrepreneur'? Does your mind race through names like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg? These are the experts who didn't just pique the world's interest, they reinvented the whole playbook of business. Indeed, they've reshaped entire industries and won us over with their ingenuity, giving us a fresh perspective on how we live, work, and connect. Let's ponder on this: How would you define an entrepreneur? Venturing into the thrilling world of business, entrepreneurs are often a sight to behold. Some believe this intriguing breed is born, crafted with an inherent drive that continues to burn brightly. Yet, there’s a different school of…
Rooted Leadership: What Business Can Learn from the Natural World The modern business landscape pushes for relentless acceleration, propelled by an undercurrent of continuous innovation, rapid scaling, and an 'always-on' operational mindset. Leaders are under pressure to deliver continuous growth and chase new milestones which often inadvertently cultivate a "hustle" culture. However, this pursuit of acceleration exacts a heavy toll: employee burnout, resource depletion, and a struggle for sustained relevance. We have collectively fallen for the myth of endless productivity, believing that the more efficient our processes, the more work we can (and should) undertake. This mindset traps us in a loop of constant doing, neglecting the essential value of pause, renewal, and strategic timing. In contrast, the natural world…
Cultivating Cross-Cultural Talent: Learning from Lori and Caleb’s Global Internship Journey in Singapore For most students, a summer internship is a stepping stone to gain hands-on experience and build a resume. For Lori Olga Agbabian, a business student and Caleb Benjamin Kawano, a mathematics major student from the University of California, Berkeley, their six-week internship with Advenz in Singapore became something much more a rare chance to live and work in a region they had never set foot in before, to challenge their worldviews, and to grow professionally in ways that surprised even themselves. This was their first time in Asia. And what started as a professional internship quickly transformed into an experience of personal discovery, cross-cultural appreciation, and insights…
Chasing The Entrepreneurial Dream As you scroll through your LinkedIn feed, you see another person breaking from the corporate script to build something of their own. Meanwhile, you're stuck in endless meetings and a job that has become achingly dull, dealing with the profound frustration of working for a boss who fails to acknowledge your impact. The instinct is to escape and the answer may seem obvious: time to strike out on your own. The entrepreneurial dream feels like such an enticing option when you picture the freedom, the autonomy, the thrill of calling the shots. By the time you hit mid‑career, the urge to carve out a legacy and claim ownership often intensifies. Yet, we need to unpack this…
A New Era of Longevity: Living Longer and Working Longer As global life expectancy rises, so will the average retirement age. In many advanced countries, longer lifespans and economic pressures are extending working lives well into the late 60s and beyond. This shift has created a new reality: a growing segment of the workforce is older and highly experienced. Yet these workers are often overlooked, underestimated or made redundant. In a previous article, we explored how stereotypes about Millennials and Gen Z being "entitled" can prevent leaders from fully engaging the potential of younger talent. In calling out such generational stereotypes, we must also acknowledge how older employees are equally subject to bias. Older employees, especially those over 60, face…