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School buses are running again …

Maybe this doesn’t impact you directly, but I am here today to suggest that, in fact, all of us are impacted by the return of the school bus. First, there is the obvious: traffic is interrupted as the red stop sign arm is extended. Hopefully, everyone is a bit more cautious knowing that there are young people waiting on the side of the road who aren’t necessarily paying attention to cars speeding by. Second, if you do have school age children in your home, everything shifts from wake up time to bed time, to helping with homework and attending extracurricular activities.

Let’s walk beyond all of that and into our future. Continue reading “School buses are running again …”

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Get Over Yourself!

Grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Keep it handy, you’ll need it shortly.

What should “I” do?
What will happen to “me”?
Where is “my” career headed?
What if “I” fail?

Just for a moment, call to mind your greatest achievement – something you feel very proud of. This could be something you were openly acknowledged for – or not. Got it?

On your page, in the first column, list all the ways you made this achievement happen. What skills did you employ? What qualities such as courage or tenacity or leadership did you display? Who were you to be able to do this?

Pretty remarkable you are!

Now, step back a bit. Continue reading “Get Over Yourself!”

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Are you a control freak?

Before you answer that, call to mind someone who fits your definition of “control freak” to a tee. Got it? Are you imagining someone who:

  • always has to get their way?
  • bosses everyone around because they know the “right way to do it”?
  • is uber-organized with everything always in its place?

If so, it is possible you don’t spend lots of time with this person if you can help it.

In my personal experience, however, as both controller and controlled, I’ve found much subtler methods of control. Imagine: Continue reading “Are you a control freak?”

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It’s All Invented!

A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back a telegram saying:

SITUATION HOPELESS STOP NO ONE WEARS SHOES

The other writes back triumphantly:

GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY STOP
THEY HAVE NO SHOES

This simple story used by Benjamin and Rosamund Stone Zander in The Art of Possibility is their invitation to possibility. They suggest that in the world we inhabit – “it’s all invented”. How often have you shared an experience with someone (a meeting, a movie, a meal, …) and, in discussing it afterwards, you find little that the two of you can agree on? Continue reading “It’s All Invented!”

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Leadership is a Gift

In The Art of Possibility by Benjamin and Rosamund Stone Zander we find:

Today was exceptional in that I learned leadership is not a responsibility-nobody has to lead. It’s a gift, shining silver, that reminds people huddled nearby why each shimmering moment matters. It’s in the eyes, the voice, this swelling song that warms up from the toes and tingles with endless possibilities. Things change when you care enough to grab whatever you love, and give it everything.

–Amanda Burr, student at the Walnut Hill School

I have been known to think – and write:

Everyone is a leader.

and to think of it as a responsibility to develop in ourselves the traits, talents and strengths of our leadership and to share ourselves with the world: to be the change, to lead.

Yet, this young woman, a high school student at a school for the arts, suggests that: Continue reading “Leadership is a Gift”