It's one thing to ask "who's in charge?" when you think about a company or a department or an organization. It's quite another question when you think about your life. Who's in Charge? When you wake up in the morning, who decides what you are going to do that day? Who decides what attitude you will bring to your work? Who decides if what you are doing is work or play? Do you get to decide? If so, how can you make the decisions that will serve you best? You … [Read more...]
Is it Too Late to Stop the Rise of American Fascism?
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...It's not happening... ...It's not happening... ...It's not happening... Whoops ! It's too late to stop it. That's been the pattern with climate change. Now, I'm desperately afraid it's the pattern with Donald Trump and the rise of American Fascism. ...He's a fool... ...No one will buy what he says... ...The American people are smarter than that... Whoops ! Today President Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United … [Read more...]
Building a Bridge to End Racism with a Simple ‘Hello’
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Racism is top-of-mind for many people lately. The ‘mattering’ of lives, whether black or blue or brown or beige, heightens the awareness of external, outer distinctions between us and the undertow of history that makes them full of meaning. Living here in the South Bronx where I see and rub shoulders with more people who do not look like me than people do, I’m aware of a shift in how I think. A Shift in Thinking that Grew from a Simple 'Hello' Most mornings, for … [Read more...]
Depleted! Time to Refill
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I've been writing a lot these days. Every week a post for this blog. Every week a posts for Capital Campaign Masters. The rewrites of the 4th Edition of my big Capital Campaign book. Not to mention coaching call notes and emails. And now, I've just agreed to write a bi-monthly post for NonProfit PRO. You might think that's all good. And it is. Except that my In-Out Balance is out of alignment. Too much going out and not enough is coming in. I've been feeling … [Read more...]
Glance, Cringe and Look Away
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When was the last time you glanced at someone and quickly looked away? Perhaps you looked away because you were embarrassed for that person. Perhaps what you saw raised judgments in your mind that you didn’t know how to handle. There's Something About Mary My beautiful friend, Mary (pictured above), recently found out what it feels like to have: A face that makes children stare and adults look away. That's the way Mary's sister described her face. Two weeks ago, … [Read more...]
Be Kind to Those Close to You and Reap the Benefits
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In 1943, the French philosopher Simone Weil (pronounced Vey), starved herself to death. With her family and friends in close proximity and plentiful food at hand, she decided to stop eating. And at the age of 34, she died -- not in a Nazi camp and not because there was no food. But because she had decided to to stop eating in solidarity with the millions of people being persecuted by the Nazis. Last week at the Ojai Music Festival, I heard a haunting and beautiful piece … [Read more...]
Try a Bit of Deep Listening to Get More Out of Life
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Do you ever get the feeling that you are just skimming the surface? That life is passing you by and you're barely aware of what's going on? That's been my experience recently and I was wondering what was wrong and why it didn't feel quite right. Then, by chance, I was able to sit in on a rehearsal of a Pauline Oliveros Deep Listening performance. So What is Deep Listening? If you haven't heard of her, Pauline Oliveros, is a musician of sorts. Why "of … [Read more...]
You Caught Me: Solemn Words from a Former Felon
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Then you caught me. That's what my friend Clemetin told me yesterday. You might imagine that when Clemetin, who spent 27 years in maximum security prisons, talks about being caught, he is referring to the many episodes of being caught by the police for doing nothing more serious than sitting on a park bench. But no... He was talking about being caught by a net of support just when he was about to fall again. Clemetin was reflecting on the fact that he's been out … [Read more...]
Get Help, Organize, and Feel Unburdened
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Paralyzed by Disorganization? Have you ever felt stuck because you are so disorganized? Rather than filing papers, do you put them in a pile on the corner of your desk? Do you dread the mess you will encounter when you open your your file drawers? Do you look at your computer desktop and shudder? Do you spend just about as much time looking for files as you do actually getting work done? If you shuddered knowingly as you read those questions, then read … [Read more...]
How Perfect is Too Perfect?
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Over the last several weeks, I've been making "screencasts" for the new course I've developed for Capital Campaign Masters. That's the process by which you create slides and then record your voice over the slide show. The result is a little movie. You can write out a script and read it as you record. Or you can just watch the slides and ad-lib. To my ear, reading a script sounds a bit stilted. (I really don't know how Gwen Ifill sounds so very real, even though I'm … [Read more...]