Have you had that experience where a word or phrase lands like the answer to a riddle you didn’t know you were searching for? I was researching trauma + sexual harassment when I stumbled upon Dr. Jennifer' Freyd’s work on institutional betrayal and betrayal trauma. These concepts deeply resonated in my body, creating that know-in-your-bones feeling of being found and understood. Turns out my pain has a name - and a remedy.
Read MoreOur world is calling for help. Do you hear? She is summoning all healers, artists, and truth tellers. Our communities—fatigued and burdened with struggling to create long overdue change socially and environmentally—desperately need social justice advocates and community organizers, risk takers and peace makers. Will the equity experts, mediators, and transformers of conflict, please stand up? Those of you with a history of making good trouble, please welcome the newcomers. Make room for the optimists and the cynics. All are welcome. All are needed.
Read MoreLeadership requires honed skills and mastery of tools. The samurai teaches, “Efficiency and smooth progress, prudence in all matters, recognizing true courage, recognizing different levels of morale, instilling confidence, and realizing what can and cannot be reasonably expected.” As the samurai relies on two swords—one long and one short—to achieve mastery, so too can today’s leaders benefit from cultivating the two swords of Discovery and Direction.
Read MoreThe only way I know how to show up authentically is to be vulnerable. So, I started this video series talking about how I am racist. I’m presenting it as a tool for other white people who think of themselves as liberal, progressive, and well-intentioned in order to highlight that racism isn’t something we can just say we’re aware of and leave it at that. We have to recognize how intoxicating it is to experience white privilege and that intoxication— much like a drug or alcohol—is addictive and we don’t want to admit we have a problem.
Read MoreI have had an emotional hangover all month. What I (and many black women) need are trusted, sensitive, woke allies, advocates, and activists in which we can share our emotional burdens. I am trying to do that for the folks at the front lines of racial inequity, but I have limited capacity.
Read MoreCultivating psychological safety means that you get really good at authentic deep listening and expressing empathy. It means that you invite vulnerability into the conversations through sharing your own. It means prioritizing diversity and inclusion to ensure a strong sense of team belongingness.
Read MoreGreat ideas are often birthed by a group of creative individuals—artists, curators, thinkers, theorists, and other tastemakers—who make up an ‘ecology of talent.’ ” That collective intelligence is known as ‘scenius’. It’s the wisdom of a group of folks who trigger our a-ha moments and connect us to our individual mastery in a new way, juxtaposed by their own. Simply put, scenius is the collective intelligence of community.
Read MoreDuring times of crisis, businesses should continue to sell their goods and services is they can. We’ve all got to keep the lights on and food in our bellies. But messaging and marketing needs to be adjusted to reflect our shared reality. Communication needs to be thoughtful, authentic and lead with empathy—without expectation of gain. We don’t need more businesses selling us crap we don’t need and can’t afford. We need an infusion of humanity into our business dealings on a massive scale.
Read MoreWe’re hard wired to fight, flee or freeze; this is our nature and these reflexes serve us well. But for the collective to thrive and emerge from crisis intact, strong leadership is needed. That leadership emerges when we recognize our habitual reactions, pause for reflection and counsel, and respond with clear purpose.
Read MoreFuckery is any behavior that puts integrity and trustworthiness on the line. This emotional sludge robs us of sleep and throws off our focus. It’s an enormous distraction and kills productivity. Left unchecked, it breeds, leaving us divided or isolated, unable to see a way through. Damaged trust destroys relationships, interferes with business objectives, and voids motivation.
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