How To Fail With Elizabeth Day Melinda French Gates - ‘Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re wise’
24 snips
Jul 2, 2025 
Melinda French Gates, a leading philanthropist and advocate for women's power, shares her inspiring journey from Microsoft executive to heading Pivotal. She discusses the emotional challenges of divorce, parenting with responsibility, and the pain of friendship breakups. Delving into tech evolution, she emphasizes a cautious approach to AI and culture-centric health solutions. Through personal anecdotes, Melinda highlights the significance of empathy, vulnerability, and learning from failures in both personal and professional realms.
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Universal Human Emotions Persist
- Wealth does not shield us from universal human emotions like grief and anger.
- Failure and hardship are shared human experiences that lead to growth if embraced.
Parenting Conflict Repair Lesson
- Melinda lost her temper with her youngest daughter over a party rule and tried to repair immediately.
- Daughter needed more time to forgive, teaching Melinda about respecting timing in conflict repair.
Preventing Spoiled Children
- Set firm boundaries and openly communicate values to prevent children from entitlement.
- Teach kids financial responsibility by saying "Just because I can, doesn't mean I should" when buying things.
