How often are you involved in conversations about racism, marginalization, colonialism, and/or other issues related to race? Perhaps these are conversations about systemic issues, or perhaps they reflect personal lived experiences. Often these topics are not an explicit part of the conversation, they are under the surface – not necessarily unacknowledged, but unnamed nonetheless. ExplicitContinue reading “Choosing to Stay Confronted in Conversations About Race”
Category Archives: Community
How Are You Benefiting from Masks and Passing Privilege?
“Spider-Verse‘s Gwen Stacy might not be trans, but her story sure is,” one article began. “[T]here is plenty of evidence in Across The Spider-Verse to suggest that the version of Gwen seen in these films is a canonically trans woman,” stated another. Over the course of Pride Month this year, dozens of pieces across media made theContinue reading “How Are You Benefiting from Masks and Passing Privilege?”
Finding the Door Through Which an Idea Will Pass
Last month, Harry Belafonte died at the age of 96. An EGOT-winning actor and singer of blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards (and singer on the first ever million-selling album), he was also a humanitarian and political activist throughout his life. He was also a close confidant of Martin Luther King, Jr. duringContinue reading “Finding the Door Through Which an Idea Will Pass”
What are Unique Diversity and Diverse Unity?
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?”
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?”
Anchor Songs: How Music Builds Team Memories
Each of us has certain songs that, when you hear them, instantly bring back a particular memory in profound ways, as if transporting you back in time. Even if you heard that same song dozens of times before that key memory, that’s the moment it will forever be associated with for you. When I hearContinue reading “Anchor Songs: How Music Builds Team Memories”
All You Need is Love (Notes!)
Every year or two when I go through boxes in my attic, I stumble across some notes that bring a smile to my face. A quarter of a century ago(!) I worked for a summer camp organization, as a team leader and facilitator for camps on college campuses across the US and in Southeast Asia.Continue reading “All You Need is Love (Notes!)”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
During tragedies such as the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the famous advice for children from Mister Rogers to “look for the helpers” usually makes a resurgence on social media. It’s powerful advice for children overwhelmed by the images of disasters beyond their control; adults, too, can find it helpful and reassuring, although someContinue reading ““Won’t You Be My Neighbor?””
Can Hybrid Meetings Really be Inclusive?
Meetings are a staple of office life. They play a key role in decision making, and their place in workplace culture is secure. Even in the height of the Covid pandemic when so much of what we thought was fundamental to work got flipped upside-down, meetings still happened – they just took a different form,Continue reading “Can Hybrid Meetings Really be Inclusive?”
Banquet, Potluck, and Thanksgiving Models of 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. This week seems an appropriate time to revisit the ideas of Banquet Leadership, Potluck Leadership, and the hybrid model we call Thanksgiving Leadership. If you’veContinue reading “Banquet, Potluck, and Thanksgiving Models of Leadership”
Building Bridges Leadership 