Lately, with all of the strong feelings and opinions being expressed in our society, I sometimes feel like perhaps we are losing sight of some very important aspects of life, being part of a community, and mainly expressing gratitude and reverence. This weekend we set aside a day to remember and honor those who have [...]
Lately, I’ve been looking for truth in a lot of places, and coming up short. These days it is difficult to tell if a news story is factual and void of conspiracy theories. If there isn’t a conspiracy theory unveiled, then my mind quickly develops one. It seems that everything previously determined as bonafide is [...]
This week I was on a Skype call with a colleague who lives oversees and we were discussing the challenges of building an effective international work team. Knee-deep into our chat, I stated “it’s almost like we have to build a crosswalk, and develop a safe space for communication, to preserve and keep sacred all [...]
I am pretty certain that my lineage does not include links to royalty or political power. I do not believe any of my ancestors have run for, been born into or held any type of political office. We are the opposite of the Kennedys, the Bushes, the Carters, and the Harrisons. We are not a [...]
Old Glory will not be flying in front of my home this weekend, but not for the reasons you might think. Typically, my family likes to show our patriotism and when we moved to our new home a few years ago, high on the to-do list was installing a new flag pole mount on our [...]
A few years ago I had the good fortune to work with some amazing folks in Japan. We took a train from the hustle & bustle of Tokyo to a very quaint little city nestled in the mountains. When we arrived two hours later in Nara, Japan, the sun was just beginning to set behind [...]
At a meeting with a colleague the other day, I was asked an insightful question, “How did you manage the strong personalities that surely emerged during board meetings at your agency, especially when you were planning to resign?” My colleague was referring to the time in my career when I transitioned to a full-time consultant [...]
I like healthy competitions as much as the next person. Of course these days, competition takes on the form of an RFP (Request for Proposal) or a vote driven-crowd funding campaign to support programming for one of my non-profit clients. But back in the day, I was a fierce tennis competitor who had dreams of [...]
This past Sunday, my daughter and I donned our thermal underwear, our pussy hats, (thanks Christy Hallas) and our warmest sweaters and headed downtown to the 2nd Annual Women’s March. We weren’t trekking to a big city like Manhattan or Washington D.C., we like to attend smaller marches, ones that are eight miles from our [...]
Are you burning bridges without even knowing it? Are you confused sometimes when you get a less than enthusiastic reply from a donor, grant funder, supervisor, colleague, direct report or a vendor? Have projects that you thought were on course, suddenly explode, leaving you flabbergasted and defeated? If so, it may be time to examine [...]