You and I are walking together. We may be headed in different directions, toward different destinations. Your way may seem gentle, with plenty of opportunities to stop and rest, while I am struggling through obstacles. I may feel the sun on my face and a warm breeze while you are headed into darkness. One of us […]
Walking Together, Each in Our Own Direction Read More »
We are driven to work by insecurity and desire. We are told to be nervous about becoming irrelevant. We are urged to keep our skills and experience up to date. We are advised that we could lose our livelihood, and our retirement, at any moment. We are anxious that technology, or foreign competition, or other
Working to Find Rest Read More »
I know people who treat leadership as an intellectual exercise. We read about leaders and leadership. We talk about examples of leadership, analyzing and assessing. Many people study leadership, trying to distill key concepts and essential elements that strengthen leaders. We live in a time when our concept of what leadership is and how people lead
Leadership Practices Read More »
I am not always as grateful as I would like to be. Sometimes I see things, situations, even people, as obstacles. I do not look for what I can learn from them. I do not try to find how they can help me recognize my true self, know who I really am. I experience them as
The Power of Gratitude Read More »
I grew up with people who knew how to work the land. They knew the back-breaking work of preparing the soil, adding fertilizer, planting seeds, and clearing weeds. They knew the heart-breaking work of being patient, waiting for rain to fall and for the earth to produce a harvest. Life was not exciting, but slower and more
My life seldom goes according to plan. Once I saw the unplanned as an obstacle, a challenge that I needed to overcome. If only we had planned better, we would have foreseen that. If only we had been clearer, things would have gone more smoothly. The day I realized that exceeding other peoples’ expectations did not make me
Leadership is Unpredictable Read More »
When I was growing up, Easter was about eggs and bunnies, candy and clothes. And church. Easter was an event. We bought new clothes. We dyed hard-boiled eggs which were hiding all over the house on Easter morning. We also had Easter baskets full of candy on a bed of green plastic “grass.” We got up
I do not see myself as an artist. The idea of working away for years in a studio, alone, to create a masterpiece is not attractive to me. I can appreciate the focus, the attention, that drives some artists. I am sometimes envious that some artists create works that live on after them. I think,
The leaders who inspire me reach to hold firmly onto their core values while stretching to find new ways to put them into practice. Leaders need to remember who we are. They help ensure that we do not forget the values that light our hearts on fire. More than finding the right words or hitting
Leadership Looks for What is Next Read More »
We trust the power of tomorrow. We believe that tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow holds the promise to get us out of bed, even after a day that was one struggle after another. We are willing to work hard and sacrifice today for tomorrow. We live in a world that puts
The Power of Tomorrow Read More »
