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 we’ll partake in our annual tradition of revisiting the ideas of Banquet Leadership, Potluck Leadership, and the hybrid model we call ThanksgivingContinue reading “Banquet, Potluck, and Thanksgiving Models of Leadership”
Category Archives: Gratitude
How is Your Team Like a Fireworks Display?
In honor of this week’s Independence Day celebrations in the United States and in Canada, we are revisiting this article, originally posted in 2021: If you live in the United States or Canada, you’ll have had the chance to see fireworks at some point recently – in person or on a broadcast. If you’re anythingContinue reading “How is Your Team Like a Fireworks Display?”
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!)”
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”
Wakanda Forever: Acknowledging Grief and Loss at Work
Writer/director Ryan Coogler faced a nearly impossible task in creating Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The sequel to the 2018 Black Panther movie needed to acknowledge and honor the shocking death of the franchise’s lead actor Chadwick Boseman while also finding ways to move on, for the story’s characters, for the hundreds of actors and behind-the-cameraContinue reading “Wakanda Forever: Acknowledging Grief and Loss at Work”
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?”
Showing Support for Your Team through Acts of Service
When’s the last time you felt overwhelmed or lost while working on a project – perhaps even paralyzed because you were unsure of your next step? Have others offered “let me know if you need help,” but you haven’t even known what to ask for, or perhaps been too embarrassed to ask? Now think backContinue reading “Showing Support for Your Team through Acts of Service”
Notes of Gratitude
Do you remember the last time you received a handwritten note from a colleague or client thanking you for the work you did on a particular project? Or, if not a handwritten note, an email or a small gift as a token of gratitude? How did that acknowledgement feel? In my role at Harvard UniversityContinue reading “Notes of Gratitude”
Making a Mosaic Instead of a Melting Pot
Like many people in the first decade of the 21st century, I was hooked on the TV show LOST. I watched it religiously, talked through theories with friends, and followed the character names to learn more about the real-life figures they were named after (Locke, Rousseau, and Faraday, to name just a few). One of theContinue reading “Making a Mosaic Instead of a Melting Pot”
Lessons from the Life of John Lewis
Two years ago, I was fortunate to be working at Harvard’s 367th Commencement ceremony, at which John Lewis received an honorary doctorate. In his speech, he encouraged everyone in attendance to make “necessary trouble” and stand up for justice, “even when injustice wears a uniform.” Mr. Lewis’s death last Friday has caused me – along with manyContinue reading “Lessons from the Life of John Lewis”
Building Bridges Leadership 