what are you pretending not to know, my friend?


Alhamdullilah He Has Risen

First Muslim Christian Orthodox Easter

My friend Andreea sent me a picture of Kris Jenner on Good Friday saying that Kris has blessed me with good fortune. I said I accept for I am Krisstian.

Last night I went to get my candle lit (if you know you know) at the only Orthodox church I can find in Dubai. It was Russian. The vibes were off. No singing, no smiling and we had to go inside and light our own candles instead of people lighting each other's candles. Next door however there was an Ethiopian church and the vibes were vibing. Everyone dressed in white, street was full, people were singing.

I was today years old when I found out Ethiopia has been Christian Orthodox since the 4th century. We went full circle because last year Easter fell on April 20th, aka 420 and here I was, making jokes about The King of Kings, The Lion of Judah and Jah Bless. There is an underlying layer of leadership transformation in the Easter story. The transformation of Jesus from lamb to lion. From follower to leader. That's why we eat lamb. And that's why there's a bunch of lions in Venice.

This time last year I was moving to Venice to work at the Romanian Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale. Awesome times. In Venice, Jesus is depicted more as lion than as Caucasian hanging from the cross, half dead. Venetians leaned heavily into the leadership aspect of the Resurrection. Look:

Anyway, last Easter's newsletter had 1 or 2 books on leadership. This year I'm offering you my entire Great Wall of Books. It grows every day.

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John C. Maxwell

A recommendation from my friend JP. Found out that Maxwell is born on the same day as my dad. Big Pisces energy.

Haile Selassie

A defining figure in modern Ethiopian history, he is accorded divine importance in Rastafari, an Abrahamic religion that emerged in the 1930s.

Global Leadership

A proper textbook from Routledge that goes beyond the leadership books that you can find at the airport. This edition has a chapter on talent retention.

I read that one of the reasons Judas betrayed Jesus was because he was disappointed that Jesus didn't shape up to be that political leader he was hoping for. I know most of you in here are entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur and a business owner are not the same thing. Business owners have to step into their leadership role, while entrepreneurs can afford to stall.

Are you stalling to step into your leadership position?

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Sorina Dumitru

The topics will be mostly about leadership, economics, and operational/strategic growth. Exits or Funding Rounds. Free books included. Yeah I was in Forbes but that was a long time ago.

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