Blog Post

So far, this Christmas is not going as planned. This is our second year not going home to Texas to spend Christmas with family. For over 20 years, we’ve had a well-oiled machine for the season. Land at DFW Airport. Head straight to my brother’s house to bake cookies. Take a long walk with my sister-in-law to work off the calories from the cookies. Eat more cookies. Find and wrap all the presents shipped to their house. Eat more cookies. Run last minute errands. Eat more cookies. Ride horses at Marshall Creek. Eat more cookies. Go play at the local climbing gym. Eat more cookies. Make sure we have all the food for Christmas dinner. And on and on.

When I was learning to ride my bike as a child, the huge moment came the day my Dad took off the training wheels. I would finally get to be like the other big kids! In my kid brain, I thought it would be a simple matter of getting on and doing what I had done so many times before, only like a grown up. Not even close.

It took many falls and skinned knees until the moment of cheating occurred. I would get on, try to pedal and before the other foot could make the circle, the bike would fall over. I became acutely aware of just how much those training wheels had held me up.

When I was learning to ride my bike as a child, the huge moment came the day my Dad took off the training wheels. I would finally get to be like the other big kids! In my kid brain, I thought it would be a simple matter of getting on and doing what I had done so many times before, only like a grown up. Not even close.

It took many falls and skinned knees until the moment of cheating occurred. I would get on, try to pedal and before the other foot could make the circle, the bike would fall over. I became acutely aware of just how much those training wheels had held me up.

Sometimes, people really are trying to make things personal. In my book The Elegant Pivot, An Inspired Move for Navigating Corporate Politics, the most challenging character I describe is Fighting Francis. As much as we wish it weren’t so, the FF’s in the world really are out to get us. There may be no better

Originally posted Nov. 18 2018 In the last 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of sitting in deep conversation with hundreds of people working in Corporate America.  When the shields are down and the corporate façade comes off, almost everyone shares one secret in common: they fear failure, especially when operating in the pressure gap.

What is the difference between expressing emotion and feeling emotion? This question has come up in various ways over the last couple of weeks, and in trying to explain the difference to a client, I found myself seeing more shades of gray than black and white. Feeling is good – but feeling too much can

One of the best inventions ever is the deadline. The Elegant Pivot workbook went out to those who asked to be on the “early tester” list because of two deadlines. The first was self-imposed. I promised it by November 4. If I had not given myself a deadline, I would have kept dragging it out. The second

This week, I’ve been deep in the writing and completion of The Elegant Pivot Workbook. What seemed like a simple project at the beginning has become much more comprehensive (and difficult) than I expected. It hit me today that I was seeing it all wrong. Or upside down. That might be a less judgmental term

When people ask me what my latest book The Elegant Pivot is all about, I almost always say “It’s a treatise on how to assume positive intent.” But there is something that matters even more. As I’ve been writing the companion workbook, more than ever, I recognize that The Elegant Pivot is all about keeping me curious, so that I

This was a full circle week full of circles. Did that sentence alone cause some dizziness? Let me explain! I spent several days in Oklahoma with a friend and her reining horses. She let me take lessons on a stud named “Magic Mike.” This horse is anything but a beginner. He knows his stuff! Me