Articles by Eric Berkowitz

Another busy week as an Acumen Fund Fellow addressed issues of balance. The question of life balance is a particularly resonant one for me, given that I am juggling the needs of my family (a wife and 9-month-old son) with my responsibilities as a Fellow. It’s clear that such questions are common to every leader and would-be leader. But balance goes beyond just overcoming the divide between personal and professional lives.

We had the opportunity to meet with, among others, Peter Reiling of The Aspen Institute, Alan Hassenfeld, the chairman of Hasbro, Danny Grossman, CEO of Wild Planet Toys, and Jed Emerson, creator of the Blended Value Proposition.

Peter Reiling used the writings of Arthur Clough, Leo Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass and others to explore questions of leadership, such as: What is our moral compass? How do we know if we are doing enough? Is what we preach aligned with what we do? Are our lives balanced; do they need to be? These fundamental questions came up again and again throughout the week with other speakers.