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Dinner at Ron's

Written by: Keith Ferrazzi

Article Overview: I recently had the pleasure of participating in a dinner at Ron and Miri Gutman's home in San Francisco. Ron is the Founder & CEO of Wellsphere, and he and Miri were the perfect hosts. I had a BLAST cutting wood before the dinner. I went for a great run and came back to find a stack of wood, which Ron caught me chopping. It felt like when I was a kid and dad and I used to do it back home.

Dinner at Ron's

I recently had the pleasure of participating in a dinner at Ron and Miri Gutman's home in San Francisco. Ron is the Founder & CEO of Wellsphere, and he and Miri were the perfect hosts. I had a BLAST cutting wood before the dinner. I went for a great run and came back to find a stack of wood, which Ron caught me chopping. It felt like when I was a kid and dad and I used to do it back home.

Two members of my company, Kellee Johnson and Lisa Gatti, were also in attendance and wanted to share their recollections of the fantastic evening....


Twenty-two people from entrepreneurial and well-established companies, including Joe Boxer, Jawbone, Wikia, Sun, Intel, Polycom and Saleforce.com, gathered at one long table at the beautiful home of Ron and Miri Gutman and indulged in a five-course Mediterranean meal. From the start, the environment was relaxed, filled with laughter and positive exchange. Unlike most dinner parties, where folks degenerate into one-on-one conversation, Keith (the master of asking the right questions at the right time) facilitated the lively discussion by doing just that – asking questions that turned into a dynamic round-table discussion about leadership, passion, storytelling, authenticity and personal vulnerability.

Numerous stories and topics were discussed, such as why, at a certain point, money (and severance packages) no longer matter as much to CEOs looking for their next challenge. It seems that the personal challenges and passions are what they learn to follow. In one of the most honest moments of the evening, one person described his decision to join a new company as CEO after years of time off. He said, “Success the first time around could be contributed to luck. The second time I know it is skill.” It is this type of self-actualization that makes good leaders great but, most importantly, human.

The group agreed that if Al Gore could tell stories during his days as Vice President and into his Presidential candidacy the way he’s doing today with global warming, the election would have looked very different. Leaders must be able to communicate a vision, a story with genuine passion for the purpose. It is a leader’s role to transfer vision, build trust and maintain character – all of which can be more influential and inspiring if a leader can develop an emotional current in which to communicate from.

Gil Penchina (CEO of Wikia and formerly with eBay) mentioned that he actually likes having a Chairman or CEO to whom he reports so that he’s kept on his toes, always learning and accountable.

John Gage (Chief Researcher at Sun) described his tendency to actively seek perspectives outside of the business world to find out what makes other types of people tick – even audiences that may not use computers or even know of Sun Microsystems. When you ask a question of the same kind of people, you narrow the possibilities. As he put it, “Ultimately, we create technology for a human purpose.”

In one of the most poignant stories of the evening, one of the invitees recalled a time during his youth when his family was homeless and lived out of a car for a period of time in order to survive. An ability to channel personal struggles into fearlessness, a strong will to succeed, and compassion for others – as demonstrated by this brave guest – are common traits of authentic leaders, many of who were breaking bread, sharing stories and a bit of themselves around the dinner table that evening.

The night ended well after the morning started (2 a.m.) – with shots of Limoncello.

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Article Tags: gutman, miri, pleasure, san francisco



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