Food For Thought:
With Love, For Justice
Put Out The Fire
3 steps to intentionally effective communication The community meeting was getting heated. Tempers were rising, accusations were cast, insults issued, and disruptions were spiraling the meeting into chaos. The leader, trying to take control of the situation,...
Do You Know The 3 Anxieties That Affect Leaders (and how to overcome them)?
Facilitation Is A Fine Art A handful of years ago, I was debriefing an event I facilitated, lamenting that–despite feeling like I had thoroughly prepared and practiced–I was shocked that my stomach was in knots and my voice felt shaky the entire time. Even...
Let’s Talk About Starbucks
Some thoughts on why we need to address the root cause of racial bias If you’ve watched the news, you have probably heard about the reprehensible event that occurred at Starbucks on April 12 (summary here). At first I had a lot of reactions and wanted to...
Supporting Challenging Students
Supporting Challenging Students Raising Awareness Of Blindspots + Invisible Tensions Challenging students are sometimes viewed as manipulative, attention-seeking, limit-testing, coercive, and even poorly motivated. Have you ever wondered why? The Collaborative...
Transform Pain Into Power
Why It Takes Courage To Lead From Our Scars We carry our past like baggage. The worst of of the pain is the heaviest. We try to keep it close to us, wearing it like a backpack. While we try to simultaneously hide and/or ignore it, there are times when it just...
March For Our Lives
Lessons-Learned From Counter-Protestors in Texas Tears filled my eyes as I heard kids asking their parents questions like “why don’t they understand guns are bad, mommy?” I laced up my shoes and grabbed my signs (equipped with my favorite Audre Lorde quote “I...
What’s Missing In the EI Conversation?
The Power Tool That Boosts Emotional Intelligence & Consciousness Did you know that emotional intelligence is responsible for 58 percent of our performance? When I first saw that article I thought, “that makes sense”…but then I paused. There was a...
Let’s Talk About Guns In Schools & What Happens When Wounds Are Left Unattended
Any time guns are fired at a school, the questions I have exceed any possible answers. On February 14th, my newsfeed blew up with explosive energy–pain, blame, sadness, and upset–about the tragedy in Parkland, Florida. And again today, pain and...
Leadership Boost: EI + Unconscious Bias
I’ll never forget the day I learned about the impact unconscious bias has on behavior. It was 2012, and I was beginning my second year in a leadership position. My eyes were wide. On that day I also reflected on how systems of oppression are in the air that we...
Language Matters
Why We Must Resist & Reject Discriminatory Statements When I heard John Kelly’s recent statements on the radio, my heart started racing with rage. Hearing someone–in a position of authority in the White House–call an entire community “lazy” made...