Let’s Talk About the Bill Gates Thing

Let’s Talk About the Bill Gates Thing

Let's Talk About the Bill Gates Thing

And how relevance-- to you, and your professional and personal life--is everything.

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"I bet you're wishing you never wrote any articles about Bill Gates ," a friend said.

I tilted my head and stared at him quizzically. (Evidently I do that a lot. Derek Zoolander has "Blue Steel." My wife says my signature look is "Puzzled Golden Retriever.")

"Why?" I finally said.

"Well, he's getting a divorce," he answered. "There was his reported relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Wall Street Journal says he had to step down from the Microsoft board because of an investigation into a relationship with an employee.The New York Times says he pursued women who worked for him at Microsoft, and at his and his wife's foundation."

He nodded. "Yep," he said. "I bet you wish you had never written anything positive about him."

Actually, I don't wish I hadn't written anything positive about Gates, because I never really did. There's a huge difference between admiring a person, and adopting one or two of his or her strategies.

While I know people who know Gates, I don't. Nor do I know Melinda. So -- and while this sounds harsh, that's not my intent -- I don't