Blog Post

The Other Side of the Tightrope: Learning to Trust Myself

As he stared at me with glaring eyes, I knew the project manager Bart was about to make a bad decision. My problem? I couldn’t find the words to interrupt the freight train of his plans. We were in the middle of the biggest of the many change projects we had going at the bank […]

From Green Beans to Meetings: The Power of Setting Context

Sometimes it takes something as small and ordinary as a green bean to show us how quickly our assumptions take over. When Jen handed me that single bean and said she found it on the “boat dock,” my mind immediately jumped to conclusions—about people, places, and even intentions. Only later did I realize she had

Resilience Isn’t Born, It’s Built: Lessons from a Year of Recovery

This last week marked one year since Hurricane Helene roared through Western North Carolina, taking with her homes, trees, and the illusion of safety. The last year has been a lot of things for all of us. Many of our critical roads are still YEARS from being open to the public. Businesses are starting to

De-Pressure, Depression, and the Power of Changing the Story: Part 3

A few weeks ago, I began a blog on “depressure = depression. What started as a simple observation turned into a series. So many avenues offered insights worth exploring. Then I got stuck. Or maybe I just had to do some field research. After the second in the series, I found myself in a space

Alignment Before Pressure

*Originally Posted February 2016 As an avid water skier, I’ve learned over the years that my body position over the ski determines the ​acceleration of the ski from one buoy to the next.  Faster is better.  Watching a webcast of a ski tournament one day, the commentator (also a pro skier) summed up the “stacked

De-pressure = Depression? Part 2: Riding the Froth

This is Part 2 of a series on De-pressure = depression. Here’s where we left off in Part 1 (which I recommend you read first if you haven’t already.) Survival Mode puts us in a state I call the “Froth”, which feels like the electrical charge I experienced in the story about the aspirational project

The Power of Perception: Turning Invisible Beliefs into Visible Change

It’s been four weeks since I last posted – and if you remember I wrote that piece on Thursday, September 26, the day before Helene hammered Western North Carolina. In many ways, it’s too early for me to begin to process all that has happened here. I’ve lived through a couple of natural disasters before, but this one is unmatched.

The Leadership Tightrope: Learning to Dance Between Control and Flow

It’s been four weeks since I last posted – and if you remember I wrote that piece on Thursday, September 26, the day before Helene hammered Western North Carolina. In many ways, it’s too early for me to begin to process all that has happened here. I’ve lived through a couple of natural disasters before, but this one is unmatched.