Change

After writing my blog about leadership lessons I learned from the 2019 U.S.A. Women’s Soccer Team, I kept reflecting on the impact of women sports teams and their coaches which led me down the path of my first athletic team coach. 

I attended a co-ed Catholic grammar school in Chicago where sports were generously offered to the boys from early on: football, basketball, softball, floor hockey. Girls, of course, were offered cheerleading for the boys' teams. 

As one of the male alum said,  “The …

When people would ask me “Did you see that soccer game?” I would always say, “I have never watched a soccer game in my entire life.”

I can say that no longer. I watched the entire final game of USA vs. The Netherlands. USA won 2:0. I watched because I was told about the strength, teamwork and the talent this team displays. Although I have no idea what the rules of the game are or how the heck soccer players can run constantly for 45 minutes at a time and do it twice, I knew I was witnessing a g…

Many years ago I owned a fulfillment company with another woman and we applied for a “Best Customer Service” award from a top-tier international company. We were one of more than a hundred companies that entered the competition, and we won third place. At the award ceremony, the late John Wooden handed out the awards. For those like me who don’t closely follow basketball, John Wooden was simply an American basketball player and coach. But for those who eat basketball statistics for breakfast, Wo…

I’ve been working with a physical trainer on and off for several months. Charity helps me focus on the proper form and provides me with a structured exercise plan that I can challenge myself with by increasing weight or repetitions. She was the one that really shook up my routine by introducing me to Tabata training or High-Intensity Interval Training, HIIT.

HIIT training was discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and S…

Last week I was putting a lot of stress on myself as I was preparing the day before for a webinar I was leading where the technology was new, the content needed updating and I had to practice a 45-minute delivery. When I prepare to present to others, my usually quiet and sometimes easily controlled perfectionist comes screaming out in my head at 194 decibels (the point at which sound waves become shock waves) and I simply can’t shut her up.

I couldn’t take it any longer so I clicked open Facebo…

“I choose bold. I choose action. I choose what's right for the people. I choose to make a difference.”     - Bill Richardson

Most of you are aware by now that I work with a change and innovation model called The Bigger Game.  I even wrote a book about it. 

The word “Game” just means what we are up to in life.

The model is simple, but a very powerful one. It changed my life and I’ve witnessed it changing other lives. I’ve even presented this model to a group of scientists and technologists who…

It has been a challenge in today’s world to remain open to others opinions and to try to understand their perspective. When I hit a wall in being able to “seek first to understand, THEN to be understood,” I read this poem by Rumi and it gives me a different perspective on others views and the way they perceive things.  

Elephant in the Dark by Rumi

Some Hindus have an elephant to show.
No one here has ever seen an elephant.  
They bring it at night to a dark room.

One by one, we go …

Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness.

- Marshall McLuhan

There is the old saying “Don’t assume, it makes an ass out of u and me.”  I don’t know the origin of it, but I can tell you I have experienced that feeling of being an ass so many times I stopped counting. Just recently, I was reminded again of the problem with my making assumptions. Here is just one of my experiences in this area.   

I had a dental appointment and drove into a spot in the parking lot and park…

"A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn't see the clouds at all--he's walking on them." ~ Sam Levinson

A few years ago I had the wonderful experience of participating in a nature photography workshop instructed by Eddie Soloway. This workshop took place in Big Sur, right here in Northern California.

For those who have been there you will agree this is one of the most beautiful places on our California coast. Th…

I want to introduce you to Ruby Tuesday (aka RT, the Rube, Ruby T.), my almost six month old Bearded Collie puppy.

I have been Ruby Tuesday’s human companion for almost three months now. I am so lucky to have this beautiful and loving puppy in my care for this brief time and hopefully for a very long time to come. In growing up with this being I am being reminded on a daily basis about some of the skills important to being a leader.

She is reminding me and teaching me about some key leadership…