Julia

"Every two weeks, each person at Zume has a one-hour, one-on-one conversation with whomever they report to. (Julia and I converse with each other.) It’s a sacred time. You cannot be late; you cannot cancel. There’s only one other rule: You don’t talk about work. The agenda is you, the individual, and what you are trying to accomplish personally over the next two to three years, and how you’re breaking that into a two-week plan. I like to start with three questions: What makes you very happy? What saps your energy? How would you describe your dream job?"

"The atmosphere around us children was gloomy. An episode that stuck in my memory was a New Year's Eve at Stjärnorp in the early 1950s when we four siblings had been promised to be awakened for the stroke of midnight but would have been forgotten if it hadn't been for our good fairy, the housekeeper Julia. She woke us up, and we went to the stairs down to the library. We stood there, as the closest relatives sat and talked about Carl's (dad's) kids. We listened, became increasingly depressed by the conversation, and eventually started crying and went back to bed. Afterwards, we reached a kind of silent agreement not to forget. Over the years, this event has become a shared reminder to support and encourage each other in difficult times. However, relations with my brother Philip became difficult, and we no longer have any connection."