Things are getting real.

One thing I have loved about this time is the dropping away of artifice.   We’re seeing our colleagues’ homes and families and pets, our friends’ gray hair and their faces in the unflattering light of Zoom.   And most of all, I feel like I am really hearing what’s going on with people, even ... Continue Reading

Face to face, shoulder to shoulder

Face to face Shoulder to shoulder Toe to toe Elbow room Heart to heart   Our language is full of phrases that describe what it feels like to be physically near one another. They evoke our need to be together in person. When we work shoulder to shoulder, we know that the whole team is ... Continue Reading

It’s not enough to talk.

Sending your voice out over the nearest technology isn’t enough to make a connection. It isn’t enough to establish trust, or to share vulnerability.   We can do that more naturally in person, and when we can’t be in person, we have to work harder to connect. We have to rise to the occasion, to ... Continue Reading

Calling all voices

Why do we speak? What need are we fulfilling? It can be as simple as wanting the salt shaker to be moved closer to you, or as dire as needing to alert the people around you that your boat is sinking, but we always speak to fulfill a need. The need to connect, the desire ... Continue Reading

Calling all extroverts

Hi to all extroverts! I’m glad to know you! Some of my favorite people are extroverts.   This is a little note I’m slipping into your hand to tell you some truths about the people around you who aren’t like you—the introverts.   There are some myths going around about introverts—that they’re shy, they don’t ... Continue Reading

The most important thing about talking

The most important thing about talking is listening.  Put less glibly, the most important aspect of communication is listening.   How do we listen more fully, more actively?   And right now, how can we make sure we’re listening to people when we aren’t in the same place and we all have a lot on ... Continue Reading

When can you start again?

Sometimes we think that once we’ve started, we can’t start again. We can be quite linear, so we imagine that “Start” is in one place and we have to just keep going until we reach “End.”   That’s rarely true. As always, we have to keep our objective in mind. Is the objective “to keep ... Continue Reading