Monitoring Your Mental Health
As you know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. How are you taking care of your mental health? Remember, self-care isn’t selfish! Here are some recommendations that could be helpful for you or employees in your organization for mental health and well-being. Consider taking a social media break. Many of us feel the pressure of being “on” all the time. Social media is...
Active Allyship
February is Black History Month, and I can’t think of a better way to support Black and Brown people than to introduce you to an organization that will allow you to put your allyship into action. I’m on the advisory board of birdSEED, which is a housing justice program that offers down payment grants to qualifying Black and Brown* first-time home buying...
Living Your Purpose
I recently learned about the Japanese concept of ikigai (ee-key-guy) at a live LinkedIn event featuring Chip Conley and Seth Godin. Your ikigai is your life purpose or meaning. The term is a combination of the Japanese definitions for “alive” or “life” and “worth” or “benefit”. Chip and Seth only briefly spoke of this concept, but I was...
Year End Reflections
As 2021 wraps up, I am reflecting on year two of the global pandemic and the highs and lows of the year. There are so many things that made me proud, and of course there are some things I wish had gone differently. I am feeling particularly grateful for the time I had in California, reconnecting with family and friends after two years. Definitely a high...
Two in the Room
In a recent WINSDay newsletter, I mentioned learning about a new organizational approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), called “Two in the Room”. This concept deeply resonated with me. The idea is that we are on a spectrum, and if there are five people in a room, they range from active ally (Person E) to racist who will not...
Purposeful Productivity
Most of my clients are starting to return to work in a hybrid fashion or planning for a return to work this fall. Interestingly enough, many of the same concerns raised last year at the beginning of the pandemic are coming around again as potential issues in the new hybrid work environment, with productivity at the top of the list.Several clients have shared they anticipate a drop in...
Black History in the Making
February is Black History Month, and I’ve seen more opportunities for learning than I have in years past. I attribute the uptick in program offerings to the events of 2020. It’s been nine months since awareness of the racial injustice Black Americans face every day was raised after the killing of George Floyd and the phone call to NYPD by Amy Cooper in Central Park,...
Give The Gift of Presence
It seems everywhere I turn, the word “presence” is coming up. To me, presence means being mindful, aware and focused on who I’m with or what I’m doing. I’ll be honest, it’s not always easy to do. I find myself multi-tasking when my husband is talking to me, texting my cousins while cooking, or noticing my mind wandering when talking with friends....
It’s Fall, Y’all
Despite living in North Carolina for almost 20 years before moving to Washington, D.C. five years ago, I never fully took to saying “y’all”. Growing up in California, “y’all” was not really in my lexicon. Not only was “y’all” not part of our regional dialect, even more significantly, my mom was an English teacher. ”Y’all” and “ain’t” were up there together in her book of words we...
