“What has been the most difficult part of your transition?” asked a friend in a shaky voice. Her tone underscored her status. She sounded on edge. My guess was that she was reeling from yet another setback. Ever been there? I was momentarily silent in response to her question. Which parts? In my mind several were vying for the preeminent spot…most difficult. Continue reading…
Transition: Necessary Anxiety?
“I’ll probably head to the Caribbean with some friends,” remarked a recent college grad during a quick conversation we had over chips and dip at the graduation party of a mutual friend. Imagine. No responsibilities for a few weeks or a month. Wow! What would you do? Continue reading…
Permission?
“Medicine is gray. It is rarely black or white,” conceded Dr. Maher Tabba, the fellowship director at a local teaching hospital. We were discussing a challenging medical case. A patient’s diagnosis eluded Tabba and his team. He sought certainty. But like so much…..informed instinct combined with knowledge and experience would have to lead the way. Continue reading…
Does transition ever end?
I remember hopping into taxi cabs terrified that my broken portuguese wouldn’t suffice in communicating my desired location. After a few lengthy and circuitous rides around Sao Paulo, Brazil I reverted to taking the local bus. Much to the horror of my work colleagues I might add. These taxi escapades introduced me to the colorful ribbons that dangled from the rear view mirrors of almost every cab in the city. On each read the phrase, BonFim, and it’s originator the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim. Bonfim simply translated means, good end. If ever there was a wish for transition…. Continue reading…
Summer Book Review #22: The Way of Transition
“Nancy, Nancy, wake up! NANCY!” I shouted to rouse my sister who was asleep on a chair-cum-bed in my father’s hospital room. It was just after 7:00 am on a Sunday morning. We had dozed off at about 3:00 am. Cancer. I’m not sure why I woke up when I did. His breathing was erratic. We held his hand.
These moments raced back at me this week 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…
Transition: How do you start?
“This is an evolution not an event,” I added sincerely as I sat with a colleague on the eve of his first major downsizing. He was the CIO of a major insurance company. It was the early 90’s. None of us were fatigued yet by downsizing. He was visibly worried as he sat thinking through the likely impact of a meeting scheduled for the next morning. I was on my soapbox of ‘enlightenment through defining a problem correctly.’ I urged him to think about a broader set of actions: the message to the employees who would stay, the required behaviors of his management team in the days and months that followed, his willingness to help those who would be on the receiving end of a sobering message. Continue reading…
Transition: Learnings and laughs one year in…
I was in tears and, at the same moment, utterly surprised at my reaction. Crying? I was watching Iron Lady, Meryl Streep‘s Academy Award victory lap in which she portrays Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1979-1990. The movie caught me off guard. The twist for me came in the movie’s lens into Mrs. Thatcher’s life; the view is of her nearing dementia with life ‘highlights‘ told in retrospect. A wave to young children who were pleading with her not to go as she sped off to the Conservative Party‘s leadership. An aging person alone washing out her tea cup in the sink of a lovely, closeted London home. Adult children operating on the periphery. Why did it hit me so? 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…