I was on a walk with a friend recently when she said something that has stayed with me. She said: “If I could tattoo one phrase onto my body, it would be: Compassion, then wisdom.” This is a pretty emphatic statement coming from someone who is a strong communicator. So, I noticed it […]
What Great Communicators Do First Read More »
I hear this a lot in my work: “That person is just resistant to change.” It’s usually followed by how that person is: stubborn, difficult, stuck. But what if resistance isn’t a character flaw? What if resistance is logical and protective and a self-regulatory function? What if resistance does not reside within one person but
Are You Dealing With Someone Resistance to Change? Read More »
Many of the leaders I work with would not describe themselves or the teams they lead as anxious. The leaders I love to support are thoughtful, competent, compassionate, and centered. And yet, we are leading in anxious times. In such times, leadership performance is challenged to rise to the next level. In our anxious systems,
Leading Through a Time of Anxiety Read More »
As someone who believes deeply in peace, collaboration, and servant leadership, the past year has been a hard go. Whether you lead a music band, a team in government, a volunteer group, or you simply want to set a positive example, you’ve likely felt it too: polarization is growing, and power-over, competitive approaches dominate. Common
Believe You Can Change the World Read More »
“Whatever the problem, the answer is in the circle. When we gather in circles, people’s energy is released in ways that create order, coherence, and new possibilities.” … Margaret Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science Have you ever sat around in a circle? Perhaps it was at a campfire sing-along, or at a circular
Why Circles and Roundtables Work: A Simple, Powerful Tool for Teams Read More »
For a long time, I’ve been enamoured of a book by Bill Ury called The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop. So much so, I wrote a whole summary of the book(available here). The book details Ury’s experiences visiting and studying peace cultures. One of the Big Ideas has to
What is the Role of Community in Conflict Read More »
“The quality of our lives depends not on whether or not we have conflicts, but on how we respond to them.” … Thomas Crum, The Magic of Conflict One theme I come across time and again in my work as a leadership coach and conflict consultant is: people avoid conflict. This phenomenon isn’t
The Hidden Cost of Staying Silent & How to Finally Speak Up! Read More »
“There are no facts, only interpretations.” … Friedrich Nietzsche Fake news has been plaguing us as long as we’ve had language. We used to call it propaganda. No matter what you call it, these days we each exist in a vortex of information that confirms our own perspective. We live in echo-chambers of validation. Some
Fake News and The End of Truth – Be a Perspectivist Read More »
A new friend of mine told me a story recently about her neighbour who’d gone through a divorce. After the divorce, the woman seemed changed as all she could do was talk about how terrible her ex-husband was. Perhaps you recognize those moments when someone is complaining about someone else to you. The person telling
Be the Third Side: Building a Culture of Peace Read More »
I was recently watching a video snippet of someone talking about being let go from a contract. They said they hadn’t seen it coming, were deeply impacted, and had a shaky voice in the telling. From time to time, life presents these kinds of moments – unexpected events with real-world consequences: A job is lost.
Speak Clearly, Gain Power Read More »