#14 – Tell the truth as fast as you can

This is #14 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Sounds good, right? It’s almost obvious, a little bit patronizing even. And, yet. It can be very hard to do. How long do you sit on your feelings, questioning them, rationalizing them, negating them? How often do you rehearse difficult conversations in your mind,

The Reviews That Matter

I was scrolling through the customer reviews of a movie a friend recommended and I got a terrible case of whiplash. “5 Stars,” “2 Stars,” “5 Stars,” “1 Star,” and on it went. Just at the edge of falling down the list much further than I had ever intended, I remembered something crucial: my friend

You Have to Let Go

There is no version of going forward, of growing toward the next best version of your work, your relationships or your self that does not require letting go. Getting “there” requires letting go of your hard-earned beliefs about “here.” Those beliefs once served you well, now they only stand in your way. Let them go.

Necessary Waiting

If you want to ice skate on a frozen pond it’s best not to attempt it after the first frost. A reliable surface, one you can trust to sustain your weight and the carving of your skates, needs time and consistently low temperatures to get to a solid state. The same is true for new

Simplify the Story

“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” ― Albert Einstein I’m always tempted to make it more complicated than it is. There is only one reason that I am teaching storytelling to young professionals. I want them to understand – to physically experience and then embody – the

Shaped, and Shaped Again

“We shape our self to fit this world and by the world are shaped again.” {David Whyte} There is a dance we all must do. It is the dance of forming ourselves well enough to meet the requirements of our lives while also allowing ourselves to be formed by those same forces. Those requirements, those

How to Change an Organization

In The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King the character Pippin, who is one of a ‘band of brothers’ on a quest to save Middle Earth, lights a beacon (a large and strategically placed bonfire) that begins a ripple effect of many more such lightings. From mountain peak to mountain peak, the fires are lit,

What they want

“They” are your team. You are their leader. This is what they want: Meaning. Also known as “purpose” and “vision.” When they say, “I want to be part of something larger than myself!” this is what they’re talking about. Trust. I once heard a leader say, “They have to earn my trust.” The only acceptable response to

Courage Begets Courage

Yesterday, I wrote about trying something new as the result of the shared support and accountability that can emerge between trusted friends. Having put myself “on the hook” I felt a strong obligation to them and to myself to follow through. What I didn’t share is that I am not the only of us to

Worth the Wait

If you want to ice skate on a frozen pond it’s best not to attempt it after the first frost. A reliable surface, one you can trust to sustain your weight and the carving of your skates, needs time and consistently low temperatures to get to a solid state. The same is true for new