Empowerment

This is my 200th blog. Most of my blogs have covered the topic of authentic leadership from the inside out. This blog is different. The times are different. I have been searching how I can examine my own biases and educate myself on racism. I found this excerpt from Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out by Ruth King.  She has granted me permission to reprint here.

“My child, I’d like to tell you, from my lips, the truth about our racial history — about whiteness and about bei…

This blog was originally published in March of 2019. I thought it would be a good reminder for all of us about the importance of really seeing each other.

How many times have we asked someone “How are you?” hoping that we don’t get more than a one-word response such as “Fine” or “Good”? How often do we just continue to walk on and not stop to acknowledge the person answering—or perhaps asking—the question, just so we’ll be able to continue with whatever we were doing with minimal disruption.  

"A man who says he has never been scared is either lying or else he's never been any place or done anything." - Louis L'Amour 

Think of a time in your life when you were just about to take a big leap forward by doing something you had never done before. What did that feel like? Perhaps you felt anxious. Perhaps your heart was racing, palms sweating. Perhaps your breathing was shallow and you were nervous and shaking. Perhaps you wished you were any other place than where you were at that moment…

"The way you tell your story to yourself matters." -- Amy Cuddy

Anxiety. Certain situations always bring up a feeling of anxiety. For me, these include stepping in front of a room for a presentation, beginning work with a new client, and driving in an unfamiliar place, although GPS has helped to alleviate this anxiety a great deal.

It is a stressful time. We are anxious as we continue to face this unprecedented and unknown situation. We are also attempting to plan for an unknown future. In…

And The People Stayed Home
by Kitty O’Meara

And the people stayed home.
And read books, and listened, and rested,
and exercised, and made art, and played games,
and learned new ways of being, and were still.
And listened more deeply.
Some meditated, some prayed, some danced.
Some met their shadows.
And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed.
And, in the absence of people living in ignorant,
dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways,
the earth began to heal.

And when the d…

“What we call the beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” - T.S. Eliot

The Chinese character for ‘crisis’ consists of two parts: one signifies danger and the other opportunity. This is the nature of change; we respond to both aspects, danger and opportunity. There is opportunity in danger and danger in opportunity. 

The path through transitions, whether it is our choice or it occurs due to outside forces such as our current Pan…

My life is about work. Always has been and always will be until I can’t any longer. Work to me has brought me challenges, accomplishments and creativity. Several years ago because of a major IT project I was working on, I had to let go of the idea I could do it all and hired a housekeeper.

Abiding by the stay safe at home directive in California, I did not want to compromise the health of someone else if I was asymptomatic and vice versa. I asked the housekeeper not to come back until this life…

One of my coaches always reminds me, “What you mutter matters.” As an author who aspired to be a journalist, I know the power and impact of words. I understand how words can have a great impact on us. They can either make us feel helpless or make us feel in control.

Here are a few words right now, during this Coronavirus pandemic, that are having a big impact on me:

Lockdown vs. Stay at Home or even Shelter in Place
Stay at Home and Shelter in Place are phrases that are being used interchangea…

“Don't lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Expect the best of yourself, and then do what is necessary to make it a reality."  ~Ralph Marston

With our world swirling causing us to do the same, I thought we could use a reminder of some tips on how to lift ourselves out of a downward spiral and publish this blog again.

Several years ago, I did some post-graduate work on the neuroscience of leadership. While on this journ…

When I left my full time corporate job in IT many years ago, I had no idea what I was going to do next. I just knew it wasn’t what I always did before. When I reflected on what I loved doing in my Corporate work, I enjoyed developing my people and in doing so, developing myself. Therefore, I stepped into my work as a leadership coach. And here I am in the same fulfilling profession of developing people into better leaders. 

As part of my own development, I study with experts. I am currently stu…