Completing 2024 and Moving On to 2025

As we move towards the end of another year full of challenges and growth, successes and failures – on the personal, professional, and global levels – many of us are looking for ways to bring closure to the year and recharge for the new year. Depending on your role, a clean break from work mayContinue reading “Completing 2024 and Moving On to 2025”

Cultivating Your Own Personal Advisory Board

Do you have your own personal advisory board? If this isn’t a term that’s familiar to you – or you instinctively understand the concept but find it odd – you’re certainly not alone. We all have a wide variety of people who provide input into our lives, including colleagues, family, friends, and acquaintances, but ourContinue reading “Cultivating Your Own Personal Advisory Board”

Applying the 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. 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 “Applying the Banquet, Potluck, and Thanksgiving Models of Leadership”

Building Bridges through Serious Play

Last Wednesday morning – about 90 minutes after the Presidential election results were announced – two colleagues and I opened an in-person two-day corporate retreat for 48 senior leaders from around the country and elsewhere in the world. If you read the last few Building Bridges Leadership articles, you won’t be surprised to know thatContinue reading “Building Bridges through Serious Play”

While We Wait…

At the time of writing, polls for the 2024 Presidential Election have not yet closed. And when you read this, it may still be days before a definitive result. We are, in the words of Dr. Seuss, in “The Waiting Place”: “Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,or a plane toContinue reading “While We Wait…”

Embracing the “Liminal Space” of Election Day

Next Tuesday – Election Day here in the US – you might find yourself experiencing similar feelings to those seemingly-endless moments following the slow climb of a roller coaster: a mixture of terror, anxiety and guarded excitement as you wonder what’s going to happen next. And if this election follows the pattern set by the 2020 election,Continue reading “Embracing the “Liminal Space” of Election Day”

Busyness – The Toxic Badge of Honor

When someone asks how you are, does your mind instantly bring to mind the word “busy”? If so, you’re not alone. Busyness is a constant feeling in so many of our lives. Indeed, it’s a vortex that we seem to get sucked down into more with every passing season. For a small number of us,Continue reading “Busyness – The Toxic Badge of Honor”

“It’s All in the Debrief”

What comes to mind when you hear the word “debrief”? If you watch spy movies, it might be James Bond passing by Miss Moneypenny on the way to let M know what transpired on his latest mission. In your work environment, it may look more like a closed-door meeting following the end of a projectContinue reading ““It’s All in the Debrief””

Planning for the Day After Election Day

At the time of writing, it’s just over a month until Election Day here in the US. Wherever you are in the world, I wonder how you feel when you think about that. Apprehensive? Hopeful? Determined? A lot of work goes into Election Day – from poll workers to candidates, from the town level toContinue reading “Planning for the Day After Election Day”

Algebra and Articulating Decision-Making

How well do you remember middle school or high school math? Was it something you enjoyed? Something you found challenging? Maybe both? A surprising joy for me in recent weeks has been sitting with my eighth grade son as he works on algebra. His work is all done online, so sitting alongside him helps himContinue reading “Algebra and Articulating Decision-Making”