Engagement ~ What future will you stand for?
I’ve been thinking a lot about engagement these days. In the upcoming elections in the United States we are seeing a dramatic rise in new political candidates running for office and more voter participation than in the last 50 years. We see more protests and demonstrations of free speech, freedom to assemble, freedom to dissent. […]
Mindfulness–we see the word attached to many commercial and educational products. It’s all the rage these days! How long can this last? Is there a risk that “mindfulness” will end up in a heap of passing fancies alongside lava lamps? Mindfulness practices are anchored in 2,500 years of mostly Asian spiritual traditions. Practices in mindful […]
“How does your culture call out the best in you and your team so that you inspire excellence in each other?” As an organizational consultant and meeting facilitator I notice how groups begin meetings. What does the beginning look like? When do the meeting participants know that the meeting has begun? What signals or clues […]
It’s an honor to hold the space for leaders to speak their truth in times of disagreement or conflict. What seems to embolden and inspire courageous conversations is a shared higher purpose and vision for the work of the team. Successful teams know that without the courageous conversation their work will stall and stutter […]
Media of all types provides such a tempting diet of junk food for the brain. There are so many alternatives to keep your brain healthy and your spirit singing. Here are just a few to weave into your life: Music: a snack of your favorite tunes on your iPod, or pick up that dusty instrument […]
Picture this, you are making a presentation and the person you are speaking to says, “Well, that’s all very good, but we don’t have the money to pay for this.” Or, “You seem really excited about this but it won’t work in our organization.” Pow! Can you hear the balloon of your enthusiasm popping? How […]
What is leadership exactly? What does it mean to lead? To be a leader? Who leads? Do you have to have a title to lead? To have letters that begin with a C next to your name to lead? In the past few years I have had the opportunity to learn from Harvard Kennedy School […]
I had the opportunity to see Mary Oliver speak a few years ago. This poet is a petite woman in her seventies. She walked onto the stage of a large concert hall wearing black jeans and a sweater and stood at the podium behind the microphone and began to speak. Mary Oliver is an introvert. […]
Over the past few months I have noticed the practice of “mindfulness” showing up unexpectedly in professions that tend to the linear, analytical, and logical. The Washington State Bar Association, for example, recently published an article entitled, Paying Attention: Integrating Mindfulness into Your Practice. “Increased scientific research gives evidence of the positive effects of mindfulness […]
The importance of downtime cannot be overstated. We see more clearly, we hear more keenly, we’re more inspired, we discover what makes us feel alive. Recent studies in neuroscience (from Harvard Professors Daniel Gilbert and Randy Buckner) show us that when we appear to be doing nothing, a whole network of our brain lights […]