“I have been driven by curiosity rather than certainty, by the wish to understand rather than the desire to pass judgment.” – Ramachandra Guha Being a leader is difficult, and it’s especially difficult when things happen that don’t fit your expectations of how people, or the world, should work. Sometimes, the very core things we … Read more
“Never be so focused on what you’re looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find.” – Ann Patchett Last week in this space, the topic was vision. Creating a clear, compelling vision isn’t easy, and most organizations never really get it done. Even organizations that succeed in terms of vision are faced with … Read more
“Imperfect action stops incessant overthinking.” – Jake Thompson It seems like an oversimplification to say that many leaders suffer from paralysis of analysis, but just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s not true. Leaders everywhere routinely fail to make decisions or take action because they can’t stop thinking. Obviously, you shouldn’t make decisions or take … Read more
“Make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you. Know your worth even if they don’t.” – Dr. Thema Bryant It’s easy for leaders to become reactionary on a lot of different levels. Sometimes we’re living in periods of massive change (hello 2025!) and we find ourselves jumping … Read more
“He who sees a need and waits to be asked for help is as unkind as if he had refused it.” – Dante Alighieri Leaders are bombarded every day with things they’re “supposed” to do. Conversations they’re supposed to have, visions they’re supposed to communicated, plans they’re supposed to develop – the list goes on … Read more
“Right is right, even if no one else does it.” – Juliette Gordon Low How do you handle difficult situations? The topic came up in this space a couple of weeks ago, but, probably because of some things I’ve seen and heard during that time, it’s front of mind again. As leaders, we’re involved in … Read more
“Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid.” – William Faulkner It’s in our nature as humans to comfort. We want to be comfortable at work and at home. We want to be comfortable financially. We want our relationships to be comfortable. The root of that comfort-seeking comes from our ancestors. If you … Read more
“Although you may not always be able to avoid difficult situations, you can modify the extent to which you can suffer by how you choose to respond to the situation.” – Dalai Lama The world we live in is challenging. Regardless of where we start our journey, regardless of the opportunities or difficulties that come … Read more
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs There are a lot of people in a lot … Read more
“Saying YES to happiness means learning to say NO to things and people that stress you out.” – Dr. Thema Bryant I had a conversation with a leader recently that seemed very normal. We were discussing the coming year and talking through opportunities, challenges, etc. This leader had a number of extremely valuable things on … Read more
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