Fearless Leader

FEARLESS LEADER, Do right by your clients. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” —ALBERT EINSTEIN   In the 90s, whenever the phone would ring at our architecture firm, someone would sing out with excitement: “Customers!” Remember, this was in the days before we carried our phones around with us…

FEARLESS LEADER, This is the hardest thing you’ll have to do.   “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” — HARUKI MURAKAMI   In 2008, right at the tail end of the recession, after it seemed that all the layoffs…

FEARLESS LEADER, What is your instinct when you face anger or other high emotions within yourselfor from a colleague or client? “Certainly I’m angry…But I don’t think it’s a helpless emotion.”— SHERMAN ALEXIE, author   About anger (and other high emotions) I’ll never forget the first real mediation session I observed during my training. As…

FEARLESS LEADER, Time for a quick Gut Check. “Pay attention… and make what you think you know be strange to you.” — KIRK VARNEDOE, curator COVID Crisis Working Remotely Initiating Re-Entry Facing Economic Uncertainty Confronting Systemic Injustice   Fearless Leaders know that each of these will continue to challenge your business, your processes, your relationships, and…

FEARLESS LEADER, How can you tell when someone is really listening? How do you show that you are listening?   “It’s enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment.”  — GABRIEL GARCÍA MARQUEZ   One step we often skip over in the midst of a difficult conversation, is acknowledgment. This serves…

FEARLESS LEADER, What if your responsibility as a leader is first to listen? To learn?   “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — JAMES BALDWIN   Rather than moving on to another key this week, let’s stick with this one: Listening. Last week, Fearless Leaders…

Listening is a radical act.
It is key to unlocking relationship and resolving conflict.

FEARLESS LEADER, Take a few minutes for yourself right now.     “Don’t forget to breathe.” — EVERY YOGA/DANCE/FITNESS INSTRUCTOR EVER       Keys unlock doors and doors help you get through walls. Keys let you in and let you out. Among the tools you need for Re-Entry is a set of keys that you’ll…

FEARLESS LEADER, He knew what he knew, he knew what he didn’t, he took in what others knew.   “As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.” — TONI MORRISON     3 questions for you: What kind of leader were you before all this? What kind of leader…

FEARLESS LEADER, Re-entry starts with you and getting your leadership realigned.     “A spacecraft must remain intact and cool during this encounter so that it can return to the ground in one piece. Engineers must balance powerful forces…to achieve this objective and avert disaster.” — CHRIS DEZIEL, SCIENCE  WRITER   Wow. You thought launching your…