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"If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two week's vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days." ~Dorothy Canfield Fisher

"Stop the World! I want to get off!" I screamed in the empty space in my car on the way home from a client. I pounded the steering wheel with my fisted hand. The highway (Pre-Covid) was stop and go, mostly sto…

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
~John F. Kennedy

The above quote and title of this post is from a speech that John F. Kennedy, our 35th President never delivered.

"He was scheduled to deliver a speech in Dallas on November 22, 1963. He never spoke these words. He was assassinated on his way to the event and died before he spoke these words."

When I saw this speech, I grabbed a fresh cup of coffee and sat down to read it. It was the message I wanted to deliver to…

“Mindfulness isn't difficult. We just need to remember to do it.” - Sharon Salzberg

These times are stressful for a lot of us. As I was writing this I began to list the many ways stress shows up, but  that in itself felt stressful, so I decided not to head in that direction.

Instead I thought I’d give you one simple technique I learned from WW I’ve been using with success. It relates to mindfulness, which in my mind keeps bringing me to the importance of staying present, being in the momen…

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” – Richard Branson

The worldwide ‘pause’ that Covid-19 has forced upon us has allowed me to have a lot of reflective time. I kept saying, “I am so amazed at how little I’ve accomplished with so much more time.” And then, I realized I have been very busy reflecting and taking a look at ‘What’s Next' as a lot of you might have been, too.

I picked up my book, Gutsy Women Win and read the following excerpt. I…

A few years ago, I was invited to do a charity trip to Nepal with five other women and trek to basecamp on Annapurna.  Eight days trekking up to an elevation of 13,550 feet and five days back down.

Those of you who know me know I was born and raised in the city of Chicago where it is pretty flat there and in the surrounding area for mile after mile. Also, if you know me, I have never been a big hiker. Yes, I enjoy getting out in nature and walking leisurely on trails and stopping along the way …

Listening is being able to be changed by the other person. --Alan Alda

I always took great pride in my ability to accomplish a lot. I was one of the fastest “Check it off, it’s done” people I knew. Can you identify? 

Several years ago, during a leadership program I attended, I pulled aside the leader and told her, “I am getting impatient with all these people. They seem to take forever to come to a decision and want to just talk on and on and on.”

She looked at me and smiled. “Pat, I know tha…

“Want something you’ve never had? Do something you’ve never done.” - Unknown

Comfort Zones are the habits we have—neither good nor bad—that we need to be aware of, because they may be preventing us from playing at our best. Comfort Zones may be keeping us in the same old place, as they are just that—they are comfortable. And who wants to leave a place that is comfortable for what is unknown and more than likely uncomfortable?

A Comfort Zone can be a behavior or an action of some sort. For …

"The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." ~Charles DuBos

Transition is the process of letting go of the way things used to be and then taking hold of the way they subsequently become. Sounds easy, but in reality, it is really hard letting go of the comfort of sameness.

We resist transition not because we can't accept the change, but because we can't accept letting go of that piece of ourselves that we have to give up when and…

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.