#10 – “Development” is a Verb

This is #10 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Development is an action. Like any effective action it requires insight and planning (reflection) to precede it but, at its core, development is about forward movement and progress. This is not to convey an image of “leaps and bounds” but of an active progression

#7 – Get Moving

This is #7 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” I feel an energized anticipation when I am getting ready to move. I feel engaged – challenged, curious, motivated – when I am in motion. I feel rejuvenated, refreshed, stimulated, creative, purposeful, accomplished, and unstoppable when I return and come to rest again. Some

A Development Exercise for Your Weekend Enjoyment

Respond to this statement five times: “I am the kind of leader who…” Then, respond to this statement three times: “Right now, my team is…” Finally, respond to this statement just once: “The most important thing I can learn next is…” Once you’ve completed your responses, decide which item about your team is most important

A Verb, Not a Noun

You are a verb, not a noun. A noun is static. Person. Tree. Music. Change. A verb is in motion. A person learns, a tree extends, the music swells, the change inspires. You are in motion, a litany of becoming. Because you are a verb, not a noun. {HT to Marlene Laping}

Striding into Fall

“Fall is the older season, a more seasoned season. The weather surrounds you instead of beating down on you…The weather is lighter, marbled, and it makes you feel like striding again, makes you glad that so much works at all.” – Anne Lamott I am not a slow walker. Slow walking makes me crazy. I

An External Force

“A body at rest will remain at rest and a body in motion will remain in motion (in a straight line) unless acted upon by an external force.” – Newton’s First Law You’ve pushed away from the shore; you are flowing down the river. You have officially launched. The fresh air of decisiveness surrounds you;

Remain in Motion

A couple of summers ago my family did a multi-day whitewater rafting trip on the Rogue River in southern Oregon. The rapids on the Rogue are mostly Class 2 and 3 with a few Class 4s to get your attention. These latter few are the ones where the guides earn their money. When we approached

A Body In Motion

“I realized that – in spite of all the risks involved – a thing in motion will always be better than a thing at rest; that that which is static will degenerate and decay, turn to ash, while that which is in motion is able to last for all eternity.” – Olga Tokarczuk, Flights You don’t

Movement is Life

Every time I see the movie, World War Z, I am struck by the scene in which Brad Pitt’s character implores a small family to join his own in escaping the zombies. “Movement is life,” he says, pleading with them to go. He leads his own family away and they survive. The other family stays and dies. 

A Week of Thanks: Day 3

I am thankful for my body. I am thankful for the way it carried me up and down the streets of San Francisco this morning in my search for an open corner store; For how it frees me from the creative prison of my head when I am stuck, stuck, stuck on what to write