What Poker Can Teach us About Leadership
Going all in requires skill and luck; but it also requires massive self-awareness.
“But for its costliness and dangers, no better education for life among men could be devised than the gambling table-especially the poker table.” — Clemens France, 1902
I can’t remember when I first became aware of Maria Konnikova.
Most likely, it’s from her then-regular “ Literally Psyched” column in Scientific American in the early 2010’s, where she wrote a number of entries on lessons from Sherlock Holmes. Her undergraduate degree in psychology and creative writing, followed by her Ph.D. in psychology provided the ideal preparation for this work.
More vividly, I remember meeting Maria at the annual dinner of the Baker Street Irregulars, the Sherlock Holmes literary society, of which I am a member. She was an invited guest and seemed a little unsure of herself in the crowd of lawyers, doctors, authors, business people, teachers, exterminators, Hollywood directors, booksellers, and various other individuals who represented a microcosm of society.
But her curiosity and affability quickly dispelled any notion of insecurity, as…
