How many aspects of your identity are visible to those around you? How many are invisible, or at least not intuitive? If you’re like a lot of people, your identity is – as we’ve mentioned before – like an iceberg, with the vast majority (90% in the case of icebergs) being under the surface, andContinue reading “What are Unique Diversity and Diverse Unity?”
Category Archives: Blind Spots
“Slavery Isn’t Part of My Country’s History…” – Uh, Really??
Recently I have been part of a few groups with a daunting yet powerful assignment: tracing and sharing your “racial autobiography.” The prompts include personal reflections on your earliest awareness of race, your country/culture of origin, experiences of othering, your family lineage and how it has connected with systemically racist policies, and a lot more.Continue reading ““Slavery Isn’t Part of My Country’s History…” – Uh, Really??”
Which X-Men Leader do You Need as Your Work Partner: Storm or Cyclops?
“Who Will Lead Them?” read the caption on the front cover of Uncanny X-Men # 201 – one of the first comic books I bought as a then-9-year-old in 1986. The cover showed two characters battling for leadership of the team: Cyclops, the team’s original leader and a master strategist who had back-up plans forContinue reading “Which X-Men Leader do You Need as Your Work Partner: Storm or Cyclops?”
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?”
Is Your Self-Talk Helping You?
Recently I stumbled across an article and chuckled at the title: “How Do I Know If I Have an Inner Monologue?” After all, if you find yourself wondering if you have an inner monologue, congratulations – you’ve just discovered your inner monologue! But it turns out that not everyone experiences that internal voice. As muchContinue reading “Is Your Self-Talk Helping You?”
“There is No Such Thing as a Safe Space”
This week, two horrific videos were released to the public: the first, bodycam footage showing the violent hammer attack on Paul Pelosi – husband of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi – in his home; the second, the violent beating by police of 29 year-old Tyre Nichols during a routine traffic stop, resulting in his deathContinue reading ““There is No Such Thing as a Safe Space””
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?”
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”
Using the “Whoa Test” in Everyday Conversations
Are you familiar with deepfakes? These are manipulated videos using AI technology to make a person appear to do or say something they did not, and they are more than just convincingly believable – it takes active disbelief in what your eyes are seeing to know that some deepfakes are in fact, fake. And deepfakeContinue reading “Using the “Whoa Test” in Everyday Conversations”
Keeping Faith in Authenticity
Formal, structured conversations have a particular feeling unlike any other. Think of job interviews. How many have you been a part of – either as the interviewee or one of the interviewers? Remember the tension in the air? The desire to impress? The fear of screwing up? In the executive coaching work I do, role-playsContinue reading “Keeping Faith in Authenticity”
Building Bridges Leadership 