To have hope requires bravery and vulnerability. To hope is to risk disappointment. Giving up hope protects you from disappointment, from being let down, and from looking like a fool who believes in such poppycock. But when you are doing something new, something exciting and potentially spectacular, there will be plenty of voices telling you…
Casey and Caitlin from the magical BWB invited me to guest on their Questions to Hold podcast. We explored the relationship between leadership and business growth, from understanding ourselves to championing our true identities and finding the gift in our blind spots. If you want the details, listen to the whole episode. But the moment…
Last week, I asked the question, “How do you gather your strength when you’ve been knocked down? What tools or strategies do you use to continue to do hard things when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel? “ Many of you responded (I’m so grateful!). Here are some excerpts from…
A few years ago, I read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. It’s an excellent book about end-of-life issues and I highly recommend it, but the idea that most stuck with me is summarized in this quote: “We want autonomy for ourselves and safety for those we love. That remains the main problem and paradox for…
The university’s President took the podium at my college graduation and said one sentence that has stuck in my brain ever since. But first, let me give you some context. I had a great time at college. Sure, I worked hard, but I also had fun! I was involved with a fraternity, a campus christian…
My chosen form of regular exercise is swimming, and most weeks you’ll find me in the pool 2 – 3 mornings. This last week I was doing my regular swim when I noticed the water in the pool was very cloudy. How cloudy? The line on the bottom of the pool that tells me that…
Our local AYSO soccer league designates one game each season as Silent Saturday, where they ask the parents and the coaches not to shout at the players during the game. No instructions about what play to run. No encouragement when they excel or coaching when we perceive that they fail. For that one Saturday, the…
I was at a holiday party last month, and it was full of agency owners. As I walked through the crowd, I must have heard this snippet of conversation a dozen times. “How are you?” “Oh, I’m so busy, just slammed. It’s really overwhelming…” Each time I heard it, I got more disturbed. Why do…
Would you be willing to take 30 seconds to do a little experiment with me? Think back to a time in the last few weeks when you were in top form. Everything was clicking, you were at your best, and you could feel it. Do you have an example in mind? What did that moment…
A few weeks ago, I talked about how “being with what is” is a leadership superpower, so when I heard this Byron Katie quote this week, it hit me hard! “When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.” ~ Byron Katie Right away, some examples came to mind: That was such…