As long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a teacher, but a turning point for me was attending HBS as an MBA student. What I experienced was the power of the case method - that is, how much students can learn, not by listening to lectures, but by engaging in an intense discussion. This can be an exciting way to learn and a powerful one, because it really gets all the synapses to connect.

Sometimes, there are no simple or easy solutions to gray area problems. Or, put differently, the "solution" is working intelligently, with many other people, for months or even years - guided by a basic direction and a few central values that really matter to you and others.

Sometimes creativity just means the daily work of helping others to see a problem in a different way.

Humanism has many meanings, but what attracts me about it is that it encourages men and women to take a broad view of situations and to think about them from on-the-ground perspectives rather than through theoretical and conceptual lenses.

Workplace culture within which personal growth and professional development are most likely to thrive is basically, an environment that gives people the chance or even pushes them to try new activities and take on new challenges that build on the skills and experiences they have.

Don't throw up your hands or abandon your values when you run into political difficulties. Stop, get a sense of the political terrain, and experiment with some ways to move cautiously forward.

Pay real attention to your basic human instincts when you face gray area decisions, but also try to have a clear sense of when you have done all you can reasonably do.