Each week in our newsletter we include one question you can use as an ice-breaker for conversations with colleagues at the beginning of meetings, or to post on your internal workplace messaging platform. Some serious, some silly, but all with the intention of leading to further conversations and building community. Last year at this time,Continue reading “100 More Ice-Breaker Questions for Any Group Gathering”
Category Archives: Amplifying Voices
What is Thanksgiving Leadership?
While the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US has a controversial history and our cultural retelling of it is inaccurate, the traditional Thanksgiving meal can help us reflect on how we lead others. So this week, as we approach the holiday, we’ll partake in our own annual tradition of revisiting the ideas of Banquet Leadership, Potluck Leadership, andContinue reading “What is Thanksgiving Leadership?”
Are Your Meetings Lectures, Show-and-Tells, or Labs?
How many meetings have you attended in the last few weeks? How many have you led? If you lead meetings, how did you learn to lead them? By emulating the meetings you’ve attended? Employees who are high performing often get promoted to management without any training in how to manage others – and, as aContinue reading “Are Your Meetings Lectures, Show-and-Tells, or Labs?”
Mosaics, Not Melting Pots
I’m writing this from the window seat of a red eye flight, following a work retreat in Hawai’i, on the island of O’ahu. This was my first time in the state, and I was struck by the vibrancy and beauty of Polynesian culture that stands proud long after American and European businessmen overthrew the monarchyContinue reading “Mosaics, Not Melting Pots”
What are Matching & Mirroring?
How often have you been with a close friend or family member and noticed after a while that you are sitting with the same posture, and matching each other’s tone as you talk? Do you notice this in others when you see best friends getting coffee together? Such behavior is often simply thought of asContinue reading “What are Matching & Mirroring?”
Translation, Reliance, and Gratitude
Image adapted from Jackson Simmer / Unsplash. Recently I had the privilege of co-leading a day-long program for immigrant families from Central and South America. The program was designed as a day of respite and fun during turbulent times, with team building and collaborative problem solving as key focus points, and a 40-foot rock climbingContinue reading “Translation, Reliance, and Gratitude”
Stop, Collaborate and Listen
In recognition of the July 4th holiday here in the US, Building Bridges Leadership is taking a few days off, but you may want to read our now-traditional early-July article, How Is Your Team Like a Fireworks Display?, or alternatively revisit the post below, originally posted in early July, 2020, with slight updates below. Re-readingContinue reading “Stop, Collaborate and Listen”
Mentoring Summer Interns, and Finding a New Mentor or Mentee for Yourself
As Summer quickly approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, your organization may be planning to bring on some interns for the season. Internships can provide incredible hands-on learning opportunities for young people looking to enter a field of work. Interns also bring value to the organization through their labor, their unique perspectives and lived experiences, andContinue reading “Mentoring Summer Interns, and Finding a New Mentor or Mentee for Yourself”
The Sound of Silence: The Value of a Simple Pause
“And in the naked light I saw / Ten thousand people, maybe more / People talking without speaking / People hearing without listening / People writing songs that voices never share / No one dared disturb the sound of silence” – The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon In turbulentContinue reading “The Sound of Silence: The Value of a Simple Pause”
When You’re Stuck with Curmudgeons and Critics
Bring to mind a time when you were on a team or in a meeting with one or two people who – either literally or metaphorically – sat there with arms crossed, only speaking up to criticize the work of others. Perhaps you can recall many experiences like this. If so, I wonder how youContinue reading “When You’re Stuck with Curmudgeons and Critics”
Building Bridges Leadership 