The Sanskrit word usually translated as wisdom is prajna, which could also be translated as consciousness. The word usually translated as compassion is karuna, which could also mean active sympathy. Wisdom and compassion are sometimes compared to two wings that work together to enable flying, or two eyes that work together to see deeply. In practice, wisdom gives rise to compassion, and compassion gives rise to wisdom. Truly, you cant have one without the other. — Barbara OBrien

I was unemployed and unemployable… or so I thought until Jeff Weiner challenged me to join LinkedIn.

My first, and I was sure last, employment had been as a professor at MIT. After six years I ran away and joined the consulting circus. I have been an entrepreneur ever since.

An Offer I Couldnt Refuse

On April 2013, years after I met him at Yahoo!, Jeff invited me to speak at Linkedin. At days end, instead of sending me off, he said, Dont go.

I thought he was inviting me for dinner. Sorry, cant stay. Im flying out tonight.

I am not asking you to stay this evening, he said, Im asking you to stay, period. Work with us. Together, we can bring wisdom and compassion to the business world.

Youre joking, right? You cant offer me a job just like that!

He wasnt; he could; he did.

It was an offer I couldnt refuse — not without betraying my vision: To remind people of their True Nature, and to help them express it consciously in business and beyond.

Four years before, under the enlightening influence of Belgian beer, Jeff and I had committed to bring wisdom and compassion to the business world. I did it through my teaching and writing, he through LinkedIn.

You can hear Jeff describe our original conversation here:

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