Leadership is Dangerous
Leadership is Dangerous
Imagine you’re in charge of marketing for your organization. And you come up with a brilliant idea: let’s get people to buy LESS of our product!
What a minute – what!?! Seriously? You’d be fired. …Wouldn’t you?
Not necessarily.
A week ago a friend of mine forwarded an inspiring message that began like this:
Today is Cyber Monday. It will likely be the biggest online shopping day ever. Cyber Monday was created by the National Retail Federation in 2005 to focus media and public attention on online shopping. But Cyber Monday, and the culture of consumption it reflects, puts the economy of natural systems that support all life firmly in the red. We’re now using the resources of one-and-a-half planets on our one and only planet.
Because Patagonia wants to be in business for a good long time – and leave a world inhabitable for our kids – we want to do the opposite of every other business today. We ask you to buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime on this jacket or anything else.
Environmental bankruptcy, as with corporate bankruptcy, can happen very slowly, then all of a sudden. This is what we face unless we slow down, then reverse the damage. We’re running short on fresh water, topsoil, fisheries, wetlands – all our planet’s natural systems and resources that support business, and life, including our own.
The email goes on to detail the environmental costs of one of Patagonia’s popular jackets: enough water for the daily needs of 45 people. 24 times the weight of the jacket in carbon emissions. And that’s for a jacket made of 60% recycled material.
Read More
Relax, The Pressure’s On
There’s So Much To Do, I Can Hardly Breathe!
A few weeks ago a client came to me with tears in her eyes. “I need your help,” she said. “I’m just so overwhelmed. I know I need to say no to some things, but honestly I just feel like I can’t. Help!”
I could feel the desperation behind her words. This particular client has a job that keeps her constantly on the run. Her role requires her to be super-responsive… as do her young kids, her aging parents, and her volunteer commitments. She’s so busy she barely has space to breathe.
I mean that quite literally. Her normal, everyday way of breathing is a short pant. Her shoulders shrug up around her ears as if she’s shouldering a great burden. This makes it hard for her to get a full breath. (Try it yourself – lift up your shoulders and see how it affects your breathing.) At times she has a look of panic in her eyes. Inhabiting her body this way affected the way she was responding to the overwhelm.
Read More
Notes on Conversational Turbulence
From Chicago to Portland, by Way of a Wicked Summer Storm
Last week I was on a very turbulent flight that nearly knocked us out of the sky. It was the kind of flight where the pilots offered frequent updates that walked the fine line between honest and reassuring, the flight attendants cracked weak jokes meant to put us at ease, and nearly everybody felt queasy, nervous, and afraid. As for me, I gripped the armrests til my hands hurt, moaned under my breath at each free-fall, and thought of the ones I love.
That is, until I remembered my feet.
Read More
Authenticity Is The Currency Of Trust
Trust isn’t a soft skill, it’s a hard skill. With it, great things can be accomplished. Without it, nothing gets done.
If you’re trying to create change of any kind – whether it’s changing the world or changing your accounting system – you’re going to need people to align with your vision. How do you build the kind of trust that allows that to happen?
Read More
Leadership Alchemy: Turn Bad Moods Into Positive Outcomes
It Was One Of Those Moments
You know how someone else’s bad mood can sometimes ruin your whole day? The other day I boarded a crowded shuttle from a hotel to the airport. There was chaos in and outside the van as the driver rushed to get everyone taken care of. As I got on board, it was hard to miss how agitated and annoyed the woman sitting next to me was.
“Uh oh,” I thought. “I’m gonna be sitting next to her for the next 45 minutes. This ain’t gonna be fun.” I anticipated an unpleasant ride. I was annoyed that she was annoyed (how do you like that!) and I wanted to move away from her.
Read More
Why This Blog?
Because I am sitting on a gold mine of valuable information.
Because if I only work only 1 on 1 and in small groups, a lot fewer people will benefit.
Because I want to connect more with YOU – the good folks who can take what I have to share and put it to good use in the world.
My aim with this blog is to expose the world-changing leaders inside progressive companies to Embodied Leadership – a powerful, holistic approach to personal and social transformation.
I want to help more people than I could ever help in person.
I want to make somatics more available and more accessible to people who are doing good things in the world, so that they (you!) can accelerate your impact. So that the transformations we so badly need – to greater ecological health, to more equity and greater social justice, and to a true prosperity that values a rich quality of life over an empty standard of living – happen faster.
So really, revolution is what I’m after, and nothing less. But I can’t do it alone. None of us can. I need all of you. We need each other.
So welcome. I’m glad you came. Poke around a bit and see what’s useful to you. I’m looking forward to sharing what I can to help you increase your influence and effectiveness. And your sense of satisfaction. And your joy.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Whaddaya think… is that too ambitious for a simple little blog? I guess we’ll find out. 
Read More
