My newsletter is late, and my inspiration is absent. So here I sit in the student union on a college campus in between meetings, fingers poised over my laptop keyboard, waiting for the muse to arrive. Supposedly, the muses don’t show up unless you do the work of showing up first.  I pause, fingers hovering […]

 “Where there is no thought, there is no problem.” – Byron Katie, Loving What Is

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield shines a light on what he calls “resistance.” It’s the thing that keeps us from doing what we dream of doing.

Do we give too much credit to the power of story? Did that story you told really sell that thing you’re trying to sell? Did it really help you raise those hundreds of thousands of dollars? Did it help you engage your team so well that they got that project done ahead of time and […]

Listen to the blog here. Many of my conversations with leaders right now look something like this:  So I’m writing about them. Today: How to talk to our clients, donors, and people when they feel anxious and uncertain.  “How are you?” No, really. How are you? It’s a heavy question right now. I have a […]

A case of mismatched purpose Hi everyone, and happy April Fools ‘ Day. No jokes in today’s email. Like Halloween, I’ve never been much of a fan of April Fools. I also don’t have an audio version of the blog this week because I’m on an airplane. – I’m glad you like the feature, and […]

Today: What to do about the elephant in the room. In 1814, Ivan Krylov wrote The Inquisitive Man, which tells the story of a man who visited a museum and noticed many things but not the elephant.

Listen to the blog here. Many of my conversations with leaders right now look something like this:  I’ve been thinking about how our work is needed now more than ever. We must be OK, do what we can, and do good work. To that end, I will write about these conversations, particularly how stories help […]

Listen to the blog here. Whenever I travel for work, I look up who else I know or want to know in that city and invite them for a coffee. It’s a great way to build relationships and make the most of a trip. A CEO I had briefly met a year before accepted my […]

Listen to the blog here. Last week I was a guest on the Student Affairs Now podcast talking about the importance of storytelling in higher education. You can listen here. Also, welcome if you are new subscribers who heard the episode!  How are the plans and resolutions you made at the New Year going? Not as […]