4 Ways YOU Can Decrease Bullying and Division

And Create More Understanding and Unity...

I grew up in a little town in North Dakota, where we had four very distinct seasons. My favorite as a child was summer – because I absolutely love being in the water!

It was refreshing, peaceful, freeing, great exercise and fun!

Unless we were camping by the lake…  We would pedal our bicycles to the pool multiple times every single day.  In the morning for an hour of lessons, then for three hours of open swimming in the afternoon and occasionally in the evening for another two – three hours of playing in the water!

If gills or a mermaid tail had been an option I would have them!

A few years ago I met a young woman that loved being in the water even more than I do. As a child she was on swim teams and lived in the pool. But at a very young age she was diagnosed with a disease that has impacted her body a lot like ALS.

The Impact of Vision without Ownership

Two real cities. One has it and one... Not so much!

A little over a week ago my husband and I rode motorcycle to a city that is about an hour away from where we are living.

It’s a city we visited for the first time nearly one year ago.  A city that provided such a powerful visual of how leadership or the lack of it, impacts our world that I wrote about it right after our first visit, and have continued to talk about it throughout the year…

  • A lack of a vision compared to a shared vision.
  • Chaos compared to order.
  • Anxiety compared to peace.
  • Darkness compared to light.
Read More About That Visit Here

This time we were in awe again:

Leading Up: When to accept, speak for change or move on…

Sooner or later we will all find ourselves in a situation where we could be leading up…

  • And will will need to choose to either accept what is happening, speak for change, or move on.

Each time I find myself in that situation the words below grow more powerful…

God grant me…

 The serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

The courage to change those I can.

And the wisdom to know the difference..

 Last week I read a very powerful article by Alli Polin that emphasized how leadership thrives when two people work closely together and titles don’t matter.

Have you personally witnessed leadership in a crisis?

Current events and a class I’m taking have me thinking about how people lead in a crisis.

So I reached out to my network and asked:

  • Have you personally witnessed great leadership in a crisis?
  • If so what did you see, feel and experience?

The answers I got back were fascinating.

  • One person told a story of a life and death experience.
  • Everyone else shared a work-related experience that impacted them emotionally and sometimes physically.

Think about that for a minute…

In the face of horrific current events in our worldwork related crises impact so many more lives!

And just in case you are tempted to dismiss work-related experiences as something that could be called a crisis, check out how Webster defines the word:    noun cri·sis \ˈkrī-səs\: plural cri·ses  \ˈkrī-ˌsēz\:

  • An emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person’s life
  • The decisive moment
  • An unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially : one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome

Before I share their stories, I’d love to hear your stories as well.  Please share!  

 

  • [Tweet “Have you personally witnessed positive or negative leadership during a crisis?”]
  • If so what did you see, feel and experience?

Leadership meand understanding others

Smelling smoke? Is it coming from another leader?

Have you ever caught a whiff of a smoky haze coming from down the hall? …The kind that indicates something is not quite right?

Occasionally a fire alarm even goes off, but it is quickly silenced.

…But if you follow your nose the smoke gets thicker around another titled leader’s door.

Yes – I’m asking about a titled leader that may be a level or two below you, may be your direct report, your peer or even your boss.