I don’t remember when I first heard this story, I just remember thinking, “there are so many ways that this concept applies to the work I’m doing.”
It goes like this: in the late 1970s a passenger plane was flying from Denver, Colorado, to Portland, Oregon. As the plane began its descent and its landing gear was lowered, a loud noise was heard.
Read MoreRecently I started watching a new television show called Away. It’s about five people from five different countries who travel to Mars for a three-year space exploration mission. It is not necessarily the type of show that I am normally drawn to, but I admit it, I am fascinated by the blending of cultures and personalities.
Read MoreFour years ago, I quit. I was done. I walked into my boss’s office and said, “I don’t need two weeks, I can be out of here in five days.” Actually, I didn’t just quit my job; I walked away from a career of nearly 20 years in coaching. At that stage in my life I sensed that there was something else for me, something deeper that I needed to discover, and staying near the known was restricting me from exploring the pull I felt from within.
Read MoreOver the last seven weeks of social distancing, I have had a lot of time to think. As someone who often gets stuck in her own head, it is fair to say that it has been a dangerous amount of time to sit with and process my thoughts. I have found myself wrestling with the fact that I have said no to several recent public opportunities.
Read MoreI was 30,000 feet in the air, somewhere over Nebraska or Colorado, when I first heard this story on a podcast. I do not remember the context or the reason the speaker was sharing this story. What I do know is that I heard it through the lens of leadership, and it had a profound impact on me.
Read MoreIt was an early Monday morning in late January and I was waiting outside my Los Angeles hotel for my Lyft driver. When Carlos arrived in his cream-colored Hyundai Sonata, I made two quick observations:
1. His vehicle had barely met the minimum standards for a shared ride driver.
Read MoreIt is no secret: I love to read. Regardless of the topic, I am often thinking about how what I am reading applies to leadership. Recently I was reading Standing at the Edge by Joan Halifax. She shared a story about some work that she had done in the Bahamas, and that story resonated with me.
Read MoreIn my adult life I have lived in six different States. I have owned four different homes and lived in seven rental properties. I know firsthand how stressful moving can be! For me, one of the greatest stressors in moving is finding new doctors. While I appreciate references and insights from friends, I know that the best way for me to select new doctors is to experience
Read More“He is the problem.” I hear this a lot in conversations with leaders. While assessing what is limiting the progress, success, or growth of a group it seems the quick answer is to single out one person as the Captain of Team Dysfunction. This presents an interesting dilemma because once we have decided
Read MoreI spent most of the month of August on campuses with faculty and staff, student leaders, coaches, and student-athletes who were returning for yet another school year. Several of the groups I worked with requested sessions on leadership development. During these sessions, we all experienced a few lightbulb moments that are simply too good to keep to myself.
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Due to my work, I fly a lot. I have my packing and travel day routines down to a science and I know what I need to do to be at my best when I’m traveling.
In my work with teams I am amazed at how often a participant will make a comment in a group setting that strikes me to the core. Recently, there were two particular experiences with two very different groups that stayed with me long after the sessions ended.
Read MoreI could tell as soon as they walked in the room that this was going to be a fun group to work with. My task for the afternoon was to take a corporate leadership team of about 40 people through some team building activities. As I stood before the group I explained that our session would
Read MoreI arrived early that morning and ordered some sweet tea, I know, not really the breakfast of champions but I love their sweet tea. I grabbed a table in the back of the restaurant and got my laptop out knowing I had hours of work ahead of me.
Read MoreI’ve spent twenty years of my life as a soccer coach and I can say with absolute certainty that having a good goalkeeper is crucial. Every successful team I’ve coached had a good goalkeeper. But the reality is a good goalkeeper isn’t enough, we need goalkeepers who are also willing to
Read MoreAs I look back on my coaching journey I am grateful that I had the opportunity to coach players at a variety of levels. While I finished my coaching career with elite level NCAA athletes some of my most enjoyable years were as a youth and
Read MoreThe truth is, I’m getting older. For last few decades, a few of my best friends from college and I have spent four days of March Madness together. We lay in recliners, live off of appetizers and finger foods, drink gallons of southern sweet tea, and watch every single basketball game
Read MoreOver the last year, I have been pretty committed to working out, but a few weeks ago I noticed my knees and hips were hurting. I’ve had knee and hip surgery so it isn’t uncommon for me to have some pain but it was odd that both knees and both hips were hurting. I began to think about
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