Leadership
Twisting Ourselves Into Knots
When we think of yoga, at least before we take a class, we often think of someone twisted into a human pretzel. Like this: – or some of those really crazy ones where you can’t quite figure out what leg is connected where. That’s the physical version of tying oneself in a knot, but we…
Read MoreTwists and Turns
As we reach the middle of May, the academic year begins to wind down. Many campuses have already celebrated their graduates with one version or another of a commencement ceremony. Some are still to come – final papers in my class are due today. But I think all of us would agree that this semester…
Read MoreSlow Down Faster
There’s a lot to be said for developing a practice of writing five days a week. Publishing said writing five days a week brings another set of challenges. If one is writing as a practice, quality doesn’t matter. That’s not true if one is putting the finished product out into the world. So today, instead of failing…
Read MoreCreating Space
You might be wondering what creating space has to do with this week’s topic of energy. The Quote of the Day is the stimulus for today’s topic. Eckhart Tolle suggests we find thirty seconds of space in our day and I think he’s exactly right. Creating even that tiny amount of space in our day, giving…
Read MoreBurned out? Breathe!
Last week I did a remote workshop on the topic of True Colors. (For those who haven’t done True Colors, here’s a quick shorthand: Orange – Energetic, Spontaneous, Charming “Seize the Day”; Gold – Punctual, Precise, Organized “Be Prepared”; Green – Analytical, Intuitive, Visionary “Knowledge is Key”; Blue – Empathetic, Compassionate, Cooperative “I Care”.) During…
Read MoreBending Over Backwards
I looked up this phrase, ‘to bend over backward’ on several websites today. The general meaning is consistent – expending effort to make sure something happens or more particularly to expend effort to help someone else accomplish something. In every case, there was a sense of effort, sometimes, great effort. And I get that –…
Read MoreEnergy
When you read that the topic for this week is energy, what comes to your mind? Sometimes when a question like that is asked, the questioner has something in mind, but not today. There are so many possible answers. For some people, it’s a mechanical question – it’s the capacity for doing work. Physicists might consider…
Read MoreStretching to the Future
One of my all-time favorite courses was a graduate course that I took as part of my doctoral work. “Leadership, Literature, and the Individual” was taught by Dr. Floyd Brandt in the business school. We studied leadership by reading novels. I loved it! The premise of the course was this: “This course begins with the postulate that…
Read MoreStretching and Contracting
For some of us right now, the world has contracted around us. As we learn to limit our movements and our in-person contacts with others, our physical world gets more confined. For some of us that world is crowded with people, which can make the space seem even smaller. And of course, each of is…
Read MoreWhat it takes to stretch ourselves
I suspect when most people think about yoga they think about yogis standing on their heads or seated in Lotus while meditating. People who say they can’t do yoga are thinking that they aren’t flexible enough, that they are unable to move their bodies in the ways needed to achieve the various postures. The reality…
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