“I can’t say anything,” said a long-time friend as she shared with me her opinion of a decision facing a mutual friend of ours. She was catching me up on the news of this friend whom she sees regularly. Her silence was triggered by an issue related to a child. The child’s parents disagreed on an educational decision. You couldn’t possibly say anything? I was stunned. Shouldn’t she offer a perspective or talk our friend through some options? I realize that I’m more confrontational than most…but silence? Really? Continue reading…
Transition and jobs: three routes
In early May I happened to catch a few minutes of wbur’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook. His topic, Death At A Young Age, featured the 1987 death of five sorority sisters who were killed in an automobile accident when returning from a charity walk-a-thon. While it might sound morbid, the conversation was anything but. Continue reading…
Transition through a techie lens
What’s your take on social media? Earlier today I experienced social media deja vu for the first time. Who knew? A friend tagged a Forbes.com post on LinkedIn entitled,“The Six Enemies of Greatness (and Happiness)” by blogger Jessica Hagy. The caption included a few little drawings.
The Six Enemies of Greatness ( and Happiness) by Jessica Hagy, Forbes.com 2/28/12
The drawings looked and felt like the illustrations that I’d been seeing all week in “The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization by Peter Senge.” What can I say, the drawings spoke to me…. Continue reading…
Risk and Failure
“I finally got around to reading your interest card,” said Andrall Pearson former President and COO of Pepsi Co. and my professor during a second year course at the Harvard Business School. His quip came as he leaned on my desk with hushed tones moments before class started. The card, an arcane pre-Internet system – think index card – held a few sentences authored by students to convey our interests to professors. On my card I’d divulged my dream of running an emerging business. That day the class was scheduled to discuss a 1980’s-style emerging business, Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). OAT was founded in 1978 by a high school anthropology teacher in her three-story house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My little visit from Andrall was my heads up, referred to as a soft-call, that I would be leading the class’ discussion that day. I had about a minute and one-half to prepare. Continue reading…
Goldman Sachs and Transition: anchors and aspirations
“I want to go with crazy good,” said Sal, an animated presenter at a meeting at my children’s school a few nights ago. By crazy good I interpreted him to mean a ‘good’ outcome juiced up with steroids to make it an ‘exceptionally’ good outcome. “I am always trying to think about the ‘stretch’….use my imagination to think bigger,” said the authentic youth leader as he was trying to engage a desperately tired audience of parents. “Why not?” he posed. Continue reading…
Curiosity & Transition: Are these related?
“Our girls are all smiling,” I beamed as I turned to another chaperone last Friday evening well after 9:00pm. The girls were 2nd and 3rd graders who were taking part in a Girl Scouts‘ Overnight at the Museum of Science, Boston. My animated observation came during an interactive session at the Mathematica Exhibit; a project that involved blocks, a piece of paper and the challenge of making a bridge to support a large object. Really? Even late on a Friday evening after a week of school, countless after school activities, and hours-of-fun since our check-in for this incredible Overnight the girls had a curiosity and energy that I rarely witness…let alone live. Continue reading…
Does Action Trump Everything?
“I have a piece of paper that I’ve kept for more than twenty years. On it are two questions. ‘What do you want?‘ and ‘What are you willing to do to get it?’” said Sylvia Ferrell-Jones, President and CEO of the YWCA of Boston. Ms. Ferrell-Jones is a community leader who is advancing Greater Boston’s understanding of social justice and change. She and I happened to be guests at a dinner party of a mutual friend. Her comments emerged during a discussion among attendees about her organization’s goals: to serve Boston’s neighborhoods where health, education and safety inequities are most significant. It is against these formidable challenges that she measures progress. Continue reading…
Transition Approach: certain versus confident
I remember a great NPR piece from the summer of 2009. I was driving in traffic, my typical commute. Eight miles in 55 minutes. The discussion’s topic was leadership. The reason it caught me was that it described leadership in two simple yet separate buckets; certain or confident. It hit me because I think that every leader I have ever worked under would think of herself or himself as confident when in fact they were more often certain. I wonder if this simple dichotomy works in transition as well? Continue reading…
The Best Holiday Tradition…..
“Moms get to define holiday traditions,” said my friend Pam as we sat at Starbuck’s having a coffee almost two years ago. I was on the cusp of transition; going from a full-time ‘extreme‘ job into a consulting status for the same company. Truth be told I was somewhat catatonic. Continue reading…
Transition Triumphs?
“I’ve been reading your blog and thinking ‘ugh’ all this transition stuff,” said Victoria Taylor, CEO and founder of Victoria Gourmet, lamenting that transition would be ahead of her again sometime. Victoria’s remarks made me wonder, ‘Can we ever triumph over transition?’ Continue reading…