Last week, I wrote about being recognized by Thinkers360 as one of its Top 50 Thought Leaders in Behavioral Science.
Since then, I’ve been reflecting on where my fascination with human behavior began. I keep coming back to one moment.
When I was twelve years old, I learned that the only grandfather I’d ever known wasn’t my biological grandfather. That conversation revealed something I hadn’t fully understood before. The Holocaust wasn’t just part of history. It had shaped my own family. My biological grandfather, great-grandfather, and other relatives were murdered by the Nazis in Romania.
Growing up in Israel, the Holocaust was never distant. Survivors were part of everyday life, and it wasn’t unusual to see numbers tattooed on people’s arms. But until that day, I hadn’t realized how deeply those events had touched my own family.
That discovery sparked an intense curiosity. I began reading everything I could about the Holocaust, not just to understand the history, but to understand people.
Why did some people take extraordinary risks to save others while many stood by? Why did some freeze while others acted? How did people survive unimaginable loss and still find the strength to rebuild their lives?
Those questions never left me.
As I searched for answers, my curiosity expanded beyond the Holocaust. I became fascinated by human behavior itself. What influences the choices people make? Why do some people remain stuck while others move forward? What helps someone move from feeling powerless to taking action?
Looking back, I think that history and those stories shaped something fundamental in me. I became determined not to be a passive observer in my own life. My instinct was to look for what I could do, rather than focus on what I couldn’t.
Those questions led me to study psychology and organizational behavior. Behavioral science gave me the language and research to understand many of the patterns I’d been curious about since I was twelve.
Today, those same questions are still at the heart of my work.
As an executive coach, speaker, and author, I help leaders understand themselves and others, not simply to gain insight, but to make more intentional choices, strengthen their sense of agency, and create meaningful change.
I can now see a clear thread connecting that twelve-year-old girl to the work I do today.
Understanding where this fascination began has been a gift. It has helped me reconnect with the deeper purpose behind my work and reminded me why it matters so much.
I now realize that one conversation when I was twelve didn’t just change what I knew about my family. It shaped the questions that have guided my life ever since.
What about you? Where did your deepest interests begin? And how have they shaped the work and the life you’ve chosen today?
This is one of the few photos I have with my grandparents.
