Digital Trailblazer

Chapter 9Selling Innovation to the C‐Suite—and Reducing the Stress

I take lots of walks when I work in New York City. My favorite is walking around the block from our offices on Franklin Street, down to Broadway, south to Leonard Street, west to Church, and then back to Franklin. There's an Italian deli on Franklin just before our office where I can pick up a sandwich on a homemade ciabatta roll.

Occasionally, I walk by a movie filming on location, a group of fashion models walking to their next photo shoot, or a musician playing with a case open for donations. I like the musicians, the trumpet players, guitarists, and the occasional cellist. It's often worth pausing, listening to them play, and losing my tensions in their melodies.

Those were the better walks during my career. The overly crowded walks in midtown on 47th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway do little to lift the mind. Tables of sunglasses for sale, rotating food trucks, tourists rushing to get to the TKTS half‐price ticket stands, and the smell of overdressed executives are not very inspiring. Things went downhill when I relocated to 2 Penn Plaza right in front of Madison Square Garden. There's nothing pleasant about the walks there unless you escape the thirties and make your way to the north end of Chelsea.

Walks help clear my mind, but I seek a bowl of Japanese noodle soup when things get really bad. I still have a soft spot for nabeyaki udon, which I first tasted after interviewing for my first role ...