LATE BLOOMERS – Patience for Alternative Paths

Rich Karlgaard encourages parents to relax and allow time for their children’s unique talents, passions, and gifts to develop.

According to Rich Karlgaard, there is nothing wrong with applauding or encouraging early success. Yet the reality is that most of us do not explode out of the gate early in life. Excessively promoting early measurable achievement – grades, test scores, glamour job, money, celebrity – conceals a dark flipside. We start to believe that if our kids don’t ace their SATs, gain admittance to a top-ten university, reinvent an industry or land a top job early in life, they have somehow failed and are destined to be also-rans for the rest of their lives. Late bloomers are undervalued – in popular culture, by educators and employers, and even unwittingly by parents. Karlgaard encourages parents to relax and allow time for their children’s unique talents, passions, and gifts to develop. Join us for a groundbreaking exploration of what it means to be a late bloomer and how finding one’s way later in life can be an advantage to long-term achievement and happiness.

Late bloomer Rich Karlgaard worked as a dishwasher and night-watchman before finally finding the inner motivation and drive that ultimately led him to start a high-tech magazine in Silicon Valley, and eventually to become the publisher of Forbes magazine. Karlgaard writes a biweekly column, “Innovation Rules” for Forbes,, known for its witty and honest assessment of technology trends and current business issues. He is a regular panelist on cable news’ most popular business show, Forbes on FOX, and is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal’s Op-Ed page. He is also a popular lecturer, a pilot and the author of four acclaimed books, most recently Late Bloomers – The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement.