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Authenticity
What is the role of a leader? Depending on your setting and your individual mindset, the answer could be to set direction, to motivate, to make change, to get things done. Regardless of what your definition of a leader, of your own leadership role, one thing is always true—you carry the responsibility. At the end…
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Feeling Whole
As leaders, and as individuals, we spend a fair amount of time on the “if only” or “when this happens.” You know what I’m talking about. It’s that goal, that target we put out there. It’s the moment when we will have achieved what we believe we need to achieve to get to whatever it…
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Siblings
Today, at least according to social media, is National Siblings Day. I guess we have gone beyond “Hallmark holidays” to something that exist only in the world of virtual connections. Whatever the source, I think a day to honor siblings is worth having. I’ve talked to a lot of people about their siblings and I’ve…
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Finding Your Voice
I remember being told, even in high school English classes, that you should “find your voice” when you write. At the time, it seemed straightforward to me. Just write from what you know, express the uniqueness of who you are. It took me a bit of time to fully recognize the complexity of that effort.…
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On Many Shoulders
A basic tenet of leadership is that leadership does not, cannot exist in a vacuum. Without people to lead, to support, to implement and more, there is no leadership. Everything we do as leaders, everything we are able to achieve is because we work with those who enable us to create the reality we collectively…
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What Matters
Recently, I was talking with someone who was applying for a leadership role in the field of aging services. While the individual was trying to grow their understanding of the work we do, they were trying to apply a commodity mindset, a commercial mindset to this kind of work and no matter how many ways…
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No Me Without You
I read a brief article a few weeks ago that has stuck with me. In it, a teacher was praising a student for how well they had mastered a new skill. The student was an adult learner and the course one that was more cerebral in nature than physical. The student reacted to the words…
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Anything for You
Yesterday one of our managers saw me in the hallway and reported some details on a project that he was working on. It’s a project that he knows is important to me and he gave me all the details as well as his own commitment to meeting the deadlines and seeing it through. It was…
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Mindful Moments
There is no shortage of advice on leadership, and life, that urges us to be more mindful, to be focused and intentional, to find those places of quiet contemplation within ourselves. I don’t know about you but for me, quiet internal places have always been in short supply. If I had a visual for the…
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Breathing Life into Intention
As we think about anything we desire to do, to be, to achieve, we begin with intention. What is it that we want to do? Who is it that we want to be? It is often said that if we don’t know where we are going, we will not know when we get there. I…
With a Full Heart
Reflections on Leadership and Life
With a Full Heart 