apparently I neglected to post this before I went on vacation….
Highlights
- There is so much going on, I am winging things more than I like to, but it’s fine. Twice this week, I shared big work in progress with others and invited “critical friend” feedback. Which is OF COURSE the right thing to do – everyone I work with is smart, creative, experienced, insightful, etc, AND it’s a great way to break down silos and share information in an organization…but it hasn’t been my usual M.O. But it will be more now.
- My team is THE BEST. I can’t even…they are such incredible humans, doing incredible and important work, and doing an amazing job of it. Obviously, this is a challenging time for all, and for EACH of us in different ways, and everyone keeps rising to the challenges, going FULL ON for months now. I am so grateful to work for an organization that is values-driven and flexible – it’s how we’re each making it, and will all make it.
- Indigenous Speaker Series with Lisa Walker! What an honour and a thrill to a meet someone I admire SO MUCH and get to learn more about her life, story and work.
- Virtual Leadership in Uncertain Times – a few key notes, reminders and learnings
- Leadership is so personal, i.e, who you are as a person. It’s not a title, it’s not management skills, not a series of templates or frameworks – those are tools and trappings, even if some are useful. This might seem obvious, but I was reminded/felt it again this week in the context of this course and hearing other leaders talk about their experiences of leading in this time (most of whom were in the states): mindfulness practices make us better people, therefore better leaders.
- caterpillars literally turn to mush – they “digest themselves” (!!!) – in the process of transformation to a butterfly. Pretty sure we’ve all encountered the butterfly transformation metaphor before, but god dammit, why have I not heard THAT detail until now??? WAAAAAAAY better metaphor now. Expect more butterfly drawings.
- related: metaphors can serve us as powerful, generative ways to share ideas – a lot can be said without a bunch of bla bla words. We can easily invite others to generate metaphors to express their perspective and experience of the times we are in …just ask them to complete this sentence….”this time we are in is like….?” or “the challenge in front of us is like…”
- question to ask self and others: what might you have to let go of to move forward?
- if we lean back into our old ways (which we are tempted to do because it’s uncomfortable as hell right now), we will miss this huge opportunity and moment – resist that temptation
- Crafty Zoom Night! We jump online together and just do whatever we do – knit, paint, needlepoint, pastels, crotch-stitching (someone had to mend a pair of sweat pants…good one). I am always surprised how late we stay on, and it’s always the best zoom call of my week.
Media, etc
- Tools, tools, tools – Mural, Canva…everyone is making graphics!
- Finally finished Breaking Bad (and El Camino). In the end, glad I finally watched it and also glad it’s over.
- http://www.openculture.com/2015/12/the-first-adult-coloring-book.html