“We need your voice,” I said in closing a workshop with about a dozen women on a Saturday in early September. I was making a connection between an exercise we’d done on developing our own voices and the needs of our national economy. I view the development & expression of women’s voices as fundamental to our country’s long-term economic well-being. For me it’s an easy and obvious linkage – although I won’t bore you with the details here. What surprised me in that Saturday moment was the reaction I got. The attendees were honestly touched. My comment seemed to elevate our work. It connected every one of us to something greater. Our voice work was instantly relevant. Meaningful. Continue reading…
Fear and Moving Forward
“Have you ever been afraid?” asked an incredibly articulate 7th grader from the Timilty Middle School in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. The question came via a letter about a month ago as part of a pen pal program that I participate in between the school and Simmons College, my undergrad alma mater. He went on to share that his fears were rooted in the violence that plagues his neighborhood. How could he walk home alone? Not long ago a classmate at the Timilty, an honor student, was gunned down on the basketball court. Fear? Continue reading…
Transitions derailed….
“Oh, you’re dreaming,” shared Margot, a forty something Focus Group participant. She was relating a conversation with a family member who wasn’t necessarily embracing her transitional aspirations. Margot had exited a job that was a poor fit, pivoted to a new industry and added a husband and three children along the way. “What I’m investigating might not lead to a direct result,” she said. “Or it might happen down the line. You have to be comfortable with that….” Clearly her relatives were not. That evening we threw the relatives and several other issues into a bucket called derailers, those events that can cause us to stall or head for the hills while in transition. Have you ever encountered any? 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…
Knowing when to act…
“What if you did nothing for twenty-four hours?” said my friend Marla as I related to her an incident that had me close to coming undone. Her calm advice couldn’t have been more foreign to me at that moment. I was in a leadership role that I believed compelled me to act. To address. To solve. To direct. What was this ‘stand down’ approach? Could it possibly work? 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…
Barriers: Real or Imagined? (Take 2…)
“There was no money,” said my mother in response to a question I’d asked her last week about my grandfather. “He was pre-med at St. Bonaventure‘s,” she said. My grandfather was a 1st generation American whose Italian immigrant family had settled in upstate New York close to the turn of the 20th century. His father died when he was very young leaving a family of 6 children. His mother remarried. Tony – as my grandfather was lovingly known – never went on to med school. Continue reading…
Voices of Transition #3: A transition journey….
“From now on you’ll be traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be,” said a letter addressed to Anne Hathaway in her role as Mia in the Princess Diaries, a 2001 movie that my 8-year-old daughter and I enjoyed over the holidays. Hathaway went on to read more of the letter by saying, “the key is to allow yourself to make the journey. Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important that fear.”
I frantically jotted down this exchange. It seemed more profound than the typical Disney “G” rated movie. Maybe I’d had enough of turkey and relatives? 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…
Analogy: a powerful transition tool
Last weekend I attended a training session for volunteers for a local youth group. A wide cross-section of folks attended. One gentleman, a youth minister from a local church named Sal, spoke at length. Sal shared — as only you can share on folding chairs in the basement of a school on a Sunday morning — a story that I found surprisingly powerful. Continue reading…