Amazing Peace by Maya Angelou In our joy, we think we hear a whisper. At first it is too soft. Then only half heard. We listen carefully as it gathers strength. We hear a sweetness. The word is Peace. It is loud now. Louder than the explosion of bombs. We tremble at the sound. […]
Author Archive | Agent N1
Follow Your Path
By Agent N1 on April 13, 2015 in Fireside Chats, Tip of the Day, Unplugged Letters, Work Life Balance
Six years ago, I directly managed ten senior staff and oversaw a team of over 700 who were implementing projects worth ~$20 million per year. For the last five and a half years, I have had a hiatus from all of that, from managing staff, and ensuring quality programming, and juggling money, and signing off […]
Embracing Discomfort
Fear, uncertainty, and discomfort are your compasses toward growth. Joseph Cambell
Corporate Ethics
A company urgently needed to train a whole set of its staff in a particular skill and approached a friend of mine about the assignment. My friend, by my definition (not her own), was an expert: she has a post-graduate degree in the field; she has been working in that particular field for over twenty […]
New Beginnings
It’s spring. The almonds, the first of the fruit trees of the season, are in full glorious bloom. Buds and shoots are forming on other trees. The first phase of a work assignment just ended and the next phase is slowly beginning. Several new projects start this week. The girls’ term at school ends on […]
International Women’s Day
Today I am reflecting on my life and the lives of my daughters – what our lives are like today and what they will be like tomorrow. Today, March 8 is the 106th International Women’s Day, a day celebrating women’s achievements around the world. There are some reasons to celebrate. And yet, women and […]
The Straight and Narrow
By Agent N1 on March 3, 2015 in Fireside Chats, Riffs & Ideas, Tip of the Day, Weekly Survival, Work Life Balance
Sometimes, the way forward is clear. Sometimes it is not. The only advice I can give is to follow your compass. This means following your own values, even if it means you have to rewrite the script or define new rules for your tribe or wait for a different path to show its way. Have […]
The Negation of Why
By Agent N1 on February 10, 2015 in Fireside Chats, Riffs & Ideas, Tip of the Day, Unplugged Letters, Weekly Survival, Work Life Balance
There’s a lot of hype these days about the need for a purpose, that to achieve we have to have a why. And it’s true. Having a mission does give us motivation. Knowing the why helps us inspire our teams. Developing a purpose provides the roadmap. I recently read a passage, however, in a novel: […]
More on Life Balance
I love being on a plane. I’m not talking about going someplace. I mean actually sitting inside in the airplane. I especially love those long haul flights leaving in the mid-morning, when I’m wide-awake and well rested. Being on a plane gives me guilt-free time to do nothing that is “obligatory” (particularly if I’m traveling […]
Questions Open the Way for Doubt
Have you ever had a colleague who wouldn’t answer questions? Or met someone who would go to incredible lengths to avoid “giving anything away”? Someone who avidly avoided responding to queries about their views or ways of doing things? I have come across this in quite a few professional settings, particularly in the more dysfunctional […]
