#IHaveADream2016 Martin Luther King Jr. once called himself a catalytic agent for change, dreaming of creating a society that is color-blind, and focused on being a national humanitarian (U.S. issues including poverty) rather than fighting a civil war in Vietnam that was costing over a million lives and billions of dollars. When this day comes around, I am repeatedly shocked […]
Homelessness – Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Today I was browsing my email and finally making time to read the plethora of newsletters to which I subscribe. With a few more clicks, I landed at this blog. I read it, tears streaming down my face, and felt it was worth the read for all who care to. http://www.marysplaceseattle.org/blog/i-dont-live-anywhere-we-live-outside/ Excerpt: The bus ride […]
Vulnerability and Leadership
I am a strong believer that, as a leader, part of rebuilding or newly bridging trust with workers, peers, or all employees is to share some sense of being human – your vulnerability. I am not talking about confessing to epic mistakes, or admitting failure daily, or even lacking confidence. In fact, it takes confidence to […]
Countering Negativity in Leadership (and Life)
What makes a great leader? I am a constant student of leadership, from being a company leader myself, to working directly with company leaders (at every level) as a consultant to help them find solutions and set culture. Of course there are hundreds of articles and blogs on the topic, and entire sections in book stores (online and […]
The Third Act
I was scanning my inbox of TED talks and saw this post on friendship – featuring two long-time actor/friends Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The intro had me hooked. And so I watched the whole thing, intrigued by the message of feminism permeating every part of the discussion. And then the next TED talk came […]
Movie Moment
My husband, children and I were with friends this evening for dinner. I was feeling fairly exhausted from a long week of travel for work and trying to stay focused on the dinner party conversation. For a moment, I felt like I was in one of those romantic comedies where the girl or guy are in a group […]
The Human Point, and Humane Trends At Work
Today is International Human Rights day. On this day, I’d like to share my philosophy on the importance of human behavior – or humane human behavior, when looking to innovate the next thing. Whether you want to develop that one genius idea to make it big individually, or you want to contribute to the gift economy and […]
I can tell you now…
The other day, someone gave me good advice to share with our client. “It’s simple. I can tell you now. Or, I can tell you I told you so later. Which will it be?” Brilliant. We were trying to tell them their design approach was not aligned with their design strategy. This advice could apply to so many areas in […]
The Critical Class
I want to rename the 99% from middle class to “critical class”. There is this perception out there that we need the 1%. That they are critical to us. Among the 1%, those that own corporations such as GM, Toyota or Tesla, generate jobs for the rest of us in the “lower middle”. Yet, there are plenty out […]
In honor of International Day of Peace
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. […]
