Posts Tagged ‘author’

Kathy Kolbe

Kathy Kolbe, an entrepreneur, educator and best-selling author, pioneered the identification of a distinct cluster of human behaviors that led to breakthroughs in the understanding and use of innate abilities. As the leading authority on human instincts, Kolbe has amassed over 500,000 case studies to validate her discoveries in the field of instinct and human behavior. Her research – spanning four decades and six continents – represents the foremost body of work within the realm of the conative dimension of the mind.

Kolbe has worked with Fortune 500 companies, business executives, government leaders, universities, and professional sports teams to maximize performance potential by using instinctive talents.

Her first book, “The Conative Connection“, shook the foundations of conventional wisdom regarding the mind by identifying its third and most elusive dimension: the conative. The book recounts Kolbe’s steps in putting together the puzzle of striving instincts and the development of her methodology for building upon individuals’ innate strengths. The Conative Connection became a best seller and its success fueled Kolbe’s commitment to a lifetime of casework to support her breakthrough theories. Pure Instinct, Kolbe’s business book published by Random House, details her experience with high performers in the corporate arena and her techniques for helping them to maximize their potential.

Her most recent book,”Powered by Instinct: 5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts“, serves as an individual’s guide to increase personal productivity and well-being by learning to unlock the power of their own authentic, creative self.

Michael Masterson

Michael Masterson is not your typical businessman. An ex Peace Corps volunteer, he never took a class in business, doesn’t read the business press, and doesn’t like to talk business. He spends his spare time writing poetry, collecting fine art, and practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. His neighbors call him a bohemian. But he’s also an entrepreneur. He started his first business when he was 11 years old, and in the 45 years that have elapsed since then, he has started or co-started dozens of successful businesses – public and private … local and international … retail, wholesale, and direct mail.

His entrepreneurial experience is immense, even compared to other successful entrepreneurs. At one time or another, he has run or consulted for countless multimillion-dollar businesses as diverse as information publishing, fine art sales, baby products, perfumes and cosmetics to name just a few.

Richard Schefren, founder of the business coaching company Strategic Profits, says, “I consult with all of the best-known entrepreneurs in the world, and I’ve never known anyone who has been in more different sorts of successful businesses than has Michael Masterson.”

The primary focus of his business life these days, however, is split between real estate  and consulting for his primary client,  Agora Inc., a $300 million, Baltimore-based publisher of information products with offices in England, France, Spain, Germany, South Africa, and Australia. “It’s an honor to be associated with Bill Bonner (Agora’s founder and CEO) and this company,” Michael says. “And a pleasure to have been part of its growth.”

Notwithstanding clandestine luncheons that erupt into new multimillion-dollar ventures, Michael insists that he has been spending most of his time teaching and writing since he retired, for the second time, when he turned 50.“I have wanted to be a writer since my father complimented me on the first poem I wrote.

His non-fiction books include Seven Years to Seven Figures: The Fast-Track Plan to Becoming a Millionaire, Automatic Wealth for Grads…and Anyone Else Just Starting Out, Automatic Wealth: The Six Steps to Financial Independence, Power and Persuasion: How to Command Success in Business and Your Personal Life, and Confessions of a Self-Made Millionaire.

Josh Waitzkin

Josh Waitzkin first caught a glimpse of a chess set while 6 years old and walking with his mother in New York City’s Washington Square Park. He was going to play on the monkey bars, and instead he fell in love with the art that would dominate much of his young life. Josh’s first teachers were down and out hustlers–street virtuosos who took Josh under their wings and cleaned up their acts when their protégé came to play. The park guys taught Josh their aggressive, intuitive style of competition, which would remain his trademark for years to come. At age 7, Josh began his classical study of the game with his first formal teacher, Bruce Pandolfini.

From age 9 on Josh dominated the US scholastic chess scene. He won the National Primary Championship in 1986, the National Junior High Championship in 1988 while in the fifth grade, and the National Elementary Championship in 1989. At the age of eleven, he drew a game with World Champion Garry Kasparov in a simultaneous exhibition.

At age 13, Josh earned the title of National Master. He won the National Junior High Championship for the second time in 1990, and the Senior High Championship in 1991, as well as the U.S. Cadet Championship (under-sixteen). Between the 3rd and 9th grades, Josh also led New York City’s Dalton School to win 6 National team championships.

In 1993 Paramount Pictures released the film, “Searching for Bobby Fischer“, based on the highly acclaimed book of the same title written by Fred Waitzkin, documenting Josh’s journey to winning his first National Championship. That same year, at 16, Josh became an International Master and the U.S. Junior (Under-21) Co-Champion. In 1994 he won the U.S. Junior Championship and placed fourth in the Under-18 World Championship.

In addition to his intense chess life, Josh is also a gifted athlete deeply involved in the study of the martial arts Tai Chi Chuan and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Josh began studying Tai Chi Chuan with Grandmaster William CC Chen in the fall of 1998. He was drawn into the art by his love for eastern philosophy and by the desire to begin a learning process anew, as a total beginner, away from the spotlight that constantly followed his chess career. In William CC Chen, Josh found the teacher that he had always searched for, “A great master with the humility and generosity that true ‘Quality’ is all about.”

In addition to Josh’s intense competitive life, he is a renowned writer and teacher in the fields of learning and performance psychology. In 1993 When Josh was 18, Simon and Schuster published Josh’s first book, “Attacking Chess.” Now a staple in any chess player or fan’s library, Josh’s youthful book combines autobiographical anecdotes with the strategies that propelled him to the top of the scholastic chess world.

Josh’s recently published, “The Art of Learning“, which is part autobiography, part chess memoir, part martial arts philosophy. Essentially, Waitzkin offers his own approach to becoming a student and applying certain disciplines and habits toward learning and eventually mastering any skill.