• Hi, I’m Brad Abare

  I'm a make-it-happen guy working with big idea people. I design teams and orchestrate strategy so that great ideas I believe in get done.
  
  I am Jamaica's husband, Foursquare's comm director, Personality's founder, and a catalyst for CFCC.
  
  
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For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated with the mainstream business world. I’ve been a longtime subscriber to Fortune, Fast Company and BusinessWeek. I thought by now I would have completed my MBA, having applied to a program two years ago. To be perfectly honest, I struggle with understanding exactly where I fit in this world as it relates to a career. Up to now, my life has been primarily invested in nonprofit religious sectors. While business principles apply across industries, there is something very intriguing about working in the mainstream business world (banking, tech, media, etc.). Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—I have this little strength called “belief,” which is always beckoning me to make sure I’m working on things I believe in. Bottom line profit is not something I get really passionate about. Profit, in my opinion, is just one of the ways to keep score.

I digress.

I just finished reading Duff McDonald’s book, Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase. Not only did this book provide a riveting front row seat–albeit with a rear view mirror–to the U.S. financial collapse (and micro successes) over the past several years, it provided what appears to be rare access into the life and mind of Jamie Dimon. Today, Jamie is the top dog at JPMorgan Chase and worked his way there after taking an unlikely path out of Harvard Business School. It’s an incredible story of “clarity, consistency, integrity, and courage.” Says McDonald, “Dimon was quite literally the only chief of a major bank to have properly prepared for the hundred-year storm that had hit Wall Street with such vengeance.” By sticking to his values, “Dimon has unquestionably become the dominant banking executive of his era.”

My plan is to unpack some of the lessons I learned over the next few days on this blog. More to come.

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