Leading Teams in a Time of Distraction

With so many eyes – and cameras – focused on one particular indictment and arrest in Lower Manhattan, this week seemed like a good time to revisit this article, originally posted in January 2021. How often are you in (or leading) a meeting but finding it hard to concentrate because of something happening in theContinue reading “Leading Teams in a Time of Distraction”

What are Your Unspoken Agreements?

Screenwriter John August recently asked a thought-provoking question on his podcast Scriptnotes (co-hosted by The Last of Us writer/showrunner Craig Mazin): When someone mentions the 1960s, what comes to mind for you? If you’re in the Western world, your answers probably include JFK, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, The Beatles, flower power,Continue reading “What are Your Unspoken Agreements?”

Hearing vs. Fixing: Are You Supporting How They Want to be Supported?

Have you ever shared a frustration, a sadness, or some other strong emotion with someone, only for that person to jump right into “fixing” mode? Or maybe even tell you why you shouldn’t feel that way? Maybe they even agree with you, but somehow their agreement feels diminishing of your own experience in some way.Continue reading “Hearing vs. Fixing: Are You Supporting How They Want to be Supported?”

Making Your Phone Black & White and Boring

Do your devices send you a weekly notification to show the amount of time you’ve spent using the device each day? Mine comes every Sunday morning at exactly 9:08am (I assume there’s a reason why it’s that time in particular, but I haven’t been able to find anything about it in my research); every timeContinue reading “Making Your Phone Black & White and Boring”

Stop Looking at Your Results!

Are you someone who starts each year with New Year’s resolutions? If so, how do they usually go for you? Are you able to stick with them throughout the year? Maybe a month or two? Or do they usually fade away after a couple of weeks, or even days? Assuming the latter (sorry, but let’sContinue reading “Stop Looking at Your Results!”

How Going “Goblin Mode” Can Be a Good Thing!

Goblins might seem better suited for Halloween than Hannukah or Christmas, but Oxford Dictionaries announced this week that “goblin mode” has been selected by an online vote as its word (or phrase) of the year, receiving over 300,000 votes – more than 93% of the total. “Goblin mode,” in case you’re not familiar with theContinue reading “How Going “Goblin Mode” Can Be a Good Thing!”

Where Could You Find Your “New Rope” Excitement?

As part of my repertoire of facilitation, I work regularly with other facilitators at an outdoor challenge course, which offers high ropes activities and team building experiences for organizations and school groups. The facilitator team is much more diverse than one might expect – with the common challenge course stereotype of middle-aged white men inContinue reading “Where Could You Find Your “New Rope” Excitement?”

The “Endless Present” and the War for Our Attention

Who would have thought that so much would happen on July 12, 2022? Between the astounding deep space images NASA is releasing from the James Webb Space Telescope, the seventh public hearing from the January 6th Committee into last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, the funeral of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, protestsContinue reading “The “Endless Present” and the War for Our Attention”

Forest Bathing And Unconscious Bias

In May this year, Building Bridges Leadership offered webinars on “Zoom Fatigue,” with the idea that during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had all been spending more time in front of screens and on video conference calls than was healthy for us. Almost four months on from that time, it’s safe to say that most ofContinue reading “Forest Bathing And Unconscious Bias”

Build “Breathing Breaks” Into Your Day

In Building Bridges Leadership’s webinar “Othering” – The Harm of Exclusion & How to Avoid It, we look at a number of reasons we all make biased decisions. One major factor that’s true for us all is that our brains take in around 11 millions bits of information per second – a number that has increasedContinue reading “Build “Breathing Breaks” Into Your Day”