Staying Connected: Making The Beast Beautiful
Learn the alchemy True human beings know. The moment you accept what troubles you’ve been given, the door will open. -Rumi Some people break during difficult times, while others break open and lead us into a better world. As this pandemic wears on, it is time to examine how to allow the pain of it to break […]
HOW TO BUILD COMMUNITY IN A TIME OF ISOLATION
A research project from the 1980s, documented in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that male heart attack survivors who were socially isolated had more than four times the risk of death than men with strong social connections. And a study of more than four thousand men of Japanese ancestry living in Hawaii found that […]
How To Find Security In A World Filled With Uncertainty
“Circumstances do not determine a person; they reveal a person” Reality has always been filled with uncertainty, but I’ve never had more uncertainty in my life than now. Here are just a few of the questions that have been on my mind recently: • Will we ever get back to relating comfortably with each other […]
MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER What Prisoners of War Can Teach Us About Getting Through The Pandemic
“Freedom has a taste to it to those who fight and almost die that the protected will never know.” – Written on a prison wall by a captive in Vietnam I heard once that the purpose of a crisis is not to break us as much as it is to break us open. As Remembrance […]
HOW TO RECOVER THE HUMAN ELEMENT
The students of a Hasidic rabbi approached their spiritual leader with a complaint about the prevalence of evil in the world. Intent upon driving out the forces of darkness, they requested the rabbi to counsel them. The rabbi suggested they take brooms and attempt to sweep the darkness from a cellar. The bewildered disciples applied […]
Four Ways to Protect Your Well-Being In Colder Months
I love this time of year. It’s my favorite season. I call it “late summer.” The crisp air in my morning walks, the dropping temperatures, and the leaves beginning to turn remind me of going back to school, my days of harvest on the farm, starting a new year of teaching, and beginning a new […]
Leadership By Modeling The Way: Let’s Choose Courage – Together
As a parent, I have learned that children are great imitators. The key is to give them something great to imitate. Michelle Skene, principal of The Ridge at Kanata Montessori School, where my daughter teaches, sent an inspiring note to parents as they prepare to send their children back to school this week. Her message […]
Facing Racism: It Starts With Personal Accountability
I was lamenting with a colleague about how we all have areas in our lives and our leadership that drive other people crazy, cause damage to the world around us, and hurt the people we care about. And we are blind to them. That’s why we call them blind spots in our leadership development program. […]
RESPONDING TO OUR TIMES: Lessons From Nelson Mandela
For many years the life and leadership of Nelson Mandela has inspired and guided my work. Mandela had many teachers in his life, but the greatest of them all was prison. In the words of his biographer, Richard Stengel, “Prison taught him self-control, discipline, and focus, and it taught him how to be a full […]
CREATING PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE WORKPLACES – It Will Depend on All of Us
There are people in our world who do not feel safe because of the color of their skin. There are people who don’t feel safe because of their gender. There are people who don’t feel safe because of their religious beliefs or sexual orientation. This has to stop. It’s time to decide, once and for […]
