A Brand New Day for Your Leadership using “The Marvel Method”?

With Spider-Man: Brand New Day making more than a billion dollars worldwide in just seven days, and breaking all kinds of records along the way, now seems like a good time to look back at Spider-Man’s origins, and what we can learn from them. No, not the radioactive spider, Uncle Ben’s death and the resultingContinue reading “A Brand New Day for Your Leadership using “The Marvel Method”?”

Text, Voice, and Recalibrating Tone

Have you ever received a message from someone at work and interpreted the tone as angry, terse, or upset, leaving you stewing for days over what you did that caused that response, or how your reputation or relationships might be damaged as a result? On the flip side, have you ever sent a quick textContinue reading “Text, Voice, and Recalibrating Tone”

What IKEA Furniture Does to Your Brain

If you’ve built a few pieces of IKEA furniture in your time, you might be amused by this quote from company founder Ingvar Kamprad, posted on their website: “IKEA[*] is not the work of one person alone. It is the result of many minds and many souls working together through many years of joy andContinue reading “What IKEA Furniture Does to Your Brain”

Extracting Value When Things Go Wrong

Working with groups is never dull. Think of a time or twelve when a group you’re working with has surprised you in some way – for better or worse. Perhaps a person you wouldn’t have expected took charge, or the group came up with surprising ideas, or people had a strong reaction to something thatContinue reading “Extracting Value When Things Go Wrong”

Being a Mental Health Ally for Others (and for Yourself!)

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, each year millions of Americans (as many as 1 in 5) experience mental illness. In the past, many of us might have believed that mental health was a concern only for those with mental illness, but living through a lengthy pandemic, and all the stresses and repercussionsContinue reading “Being a Mental Health Ally for Others (and for Yourself!)”

Unique Diversity and Diverse Unity – the Cornerstones of Building Bridges

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 “Unique Diversity and Diverse Unity – the Cornerstones of Building Bridges”

Threading the Smallest Needle

Please bear with me while I brag about my kids – I promise it will connect with work and your teams. If you’ve been reading Building Bridges Leadership’s posts for a while, you might remember that my oldest child co-founded a high school robotics team a few years ago. Or perhaps you remember the termContinue reading “Threading the Smallest Needle”

How Has Mentoring Others Changed You?

We’ve all had mentors. And whether or not you’ve ever held an official title of “mentor,” all of us have at one point or another served as a mentor for others. If you’re a parent, mentoring is intrinsically woven into your daily life – even as your child becomes an adult in their own right.Continue reading “How Has Mentoring Others Changed You?”

“Slavery Isn’t Part of My Country’s History…”

Living in the US, I find that people have a wide variety of reactions when they discover I was born and raised in the UK, whether they lived here their whole life or are immigrants themselves. Some are fascinated and some are curious. Quite often I find that the UK’s history of colonization has impactedContinue reading ““Slavery Isn’t Part of My Country’s History…””

“Pre-flection” & “That’s a RAP”

How many trainings have you taken in your professional life? How many have you run? As you progress through your career you will hopefully find that you still have a lot to learn, and that lifelong learning in itself helps you to grow in your chosen profession. You may also find that you are trainingContinue reading ““Pre-flection” & “That’s a RAP””