Rooted & Unwavering

“We need to give ourselves permission to be exactly where we are,” shares April Hernandez-Castillo, award-winning actress, keynote speaker and workshop leader on how to deal with the epidemic of intimate partner violence. “Give voice to what you feel, don’t hold it in,” she says. By voicing it, you advocate for yourself and for your abuser. Speaking it helps to release the traumatic patterns that...

Soul Blazing: Dare to Be Your Higher Self, Also with the Bullies “Choose who you aspire to be,” says Lisa Haisha, mother, life coach, author, transformational speaker and more. On a train to Prague, she fell into an elderly lady’s lap. As opposed to apologizing, she gave the lady a hug and said: “you are my grandmother.” The lady ended up giving Lisa her necklace to appreciate their authentic inte...

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction “We have a choice to live a life from purpose or from transactionalism,” says Scott Richert, Chief Information Officer at Mercy.  “We tend to oversteer when we hit a challenge and are not purposeful.” Can we stay true to our purpose when the challenge hits? We meet our purpose by being intentional about inquiring into it. Who am I? How am I called to serve? T...

Become Their Best Listener: Crossing the Blue Line “At some point I realized it wasn’t about me, it is all about all of us, the team,” shared Sieds Rienks, a top-level executive, now coach and mediator from the Netherlands. Sieds sees connectedness as the foundation of all leadership. “We create connectedness first and foremost through deep listening,” says Sieds. How do you be the best listener t...

How Can I Serve Today? What are you really about? What is your vision for your life and leadership? How can I best be of service here? Filsun Moussa, a seasoned leader in regulatory affairs, and currently a Senior Manager at Medtronic, spends intentional time with these questions every day. In her tradition, she prays 5 times every day. “It helps me to get clear on my intention…a peace washes over...

The Generative Power of Love Mary Jo West has been called "The First Lady of TV News in Phoenix. In 1976, she became the city's first prime time anchorwoman for CBS'S local affiliate, KOOL News, Channel 10. She has received many awards, including the Emmys, also for a show on rape, the Peabody and "the Gracie" from American Women in Radio and TV. She now is semi-retired and...

Are You Looking Forward to Your Work Today? "Every morning I make a choice to enjoy the day,” says Jim Lang, CEO of Eversana, a company dedicated to accelerating the industry’s shift to patient-centered, values based care, creating a healthier world for all. One of the big gifts Jim received early on in his life was the realization that between stimulus and response lies the freedom to choose...

Serve Always, Also Incarcerated We are being forged like a diamond through our life’s experiences, says Jon Antonucci, leadership expert and founder of SML Consultative, to become who we are called to be. Jon has realized that his core is about service, faith and deeply accepting what is now.  “We always have impact on others, whether we realize it or not,” says Jon. “It is up to us whether it is...

Big Feelings? Pull Up Your Perspective How do we work with Big Feelings as we lead others? We need to consciously metabolize our experiences, in part by being intentional about the perspective we bring to them, says Ashley Reid, CEO of Wellist. Is stress bad? Not necessarily. It may tell us we are working  on something we really care about. Important we find ways to come back to serenity, pull our...

Connectedness Quotient - Connecting to What is Truly Important Walt Whitman described what we are in essence as an ‘unfailing sufficiency.’ How do we lead from this place of already good enough? Hylke Faber, coach, author and CEO of Growth Leaders Network, explores how our number one task as leaders is to get to know ourselves. Who are we beyond the surface level of our thoughts and feelings? How...

Live Your Vision & Trust the Process & Possibilities “You have to go inside of yourself and find out what you are about,” says, Vince Menzione, CEO, Ultimate Partner, and Host of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering  podcast, “that is the first step.” Then you have to trust the process. Vince practices meditation daily to connect to himself and open up to the possibilities in every now moment....

The Downshift Doula What is truly important to you? You may have considered this question many times. Sunita Theiss, a home school mom and marketing and communications consultant has been living her life from this question, now together with her husband and two children, actively, mindfully and ongoing. She sees “dating as interviewing for life.” Do I want to spend the rest of my life with this pe...

Strength from the Compassionate Overview Effect Compassion is also about providing people with the bigger context. What box does this widget fit into and how is this box part of the product we are building and how does this product serve the world? Jill Meyers, a licensed private pilot since age 17 and senior leader at an engineering services company that supports the aerospace, transportation and...

What if you chose to practice being grateful every moment? This doesn’t mean you accept unacceptable behavior or don’t take a stand for something. Choosing gratitude unconditionally can mean allowing yourself to accept what is and taking yourself on a journey to discover more about who you truly are in every moment. What lesson does this challenge teach me that I am grateful for? How can I thank t...

Follow the breadcrumbs, says Yvonne Higgins Leach, former Boeing communications leader, now poet, animal shelter and children education leader. We connect to a power greater than ourselves when we allow ourselves to be guided by something bigger than us. She says that it’s not about little me but about how we can be of service in this moment. “Service moments come in all ways.” Staying dedicated t...

It became clear to Rick Gage, master facilitator and coach at a Human Workplace and Growth Leaders Network and grandfather of six, that what had been most important to him early on in life, getting validation, being perfect and moving up in the world was not about Rick, but about unlearning some of what little Ricky had learned as a child growing up. This shift in perspective gave rise to a deep,...

Leadership is Asking What Do You Need Remember what it feels like to be in your body, your mind, your spirit, in this moment. This is where to start, and especially when we are at a crossroads, says Jennifer Byrne, currently the Chief Product and Technology Officer for LiveHire and formerly a senior leader at Arrived, Microsoft, Intel, McAfee and Symantec. Leadership is asking people what they tru...

Erwin Visser stood on the summit of Mount Everest in 2023. What did he learn about himself climbing the world’s tallest mountain? Erwin shares we have to be clear about what our true goals are and not let any self-doubt get in the way of that. We need to overcome our fears, most of which are not about life and death. And even if they are about life and death, we need to stay focused on what we can...

Matt Oppenheimer, CEO and Co-founder of Remitly, the largest independent money transmitter in the US, has felt free to follow his passion from an early age. He started alcohol-free and drug-free parties in high school. He derives deep joy from connecting with others human-to-human. His interest and aptitude in connecting with others has helped him through many challenging moments, like when he and...

- Power With Leadership - “True leaders are those that are the most present and caring,” says Kelly Wendorf, CEO of Equus, and renowned master coach, author, spiritual mentor and social entrepreneur.  Living from a place of truth and presence requires us to see through the conditioning of our mind that is colonized by thousands of years of power-over, separate self-based thinking. We get to rememb...

How do we work through challenging moments and stay grounded? “We need to reach out to a close connection,” shares Debi Hanes, Principal Group Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft. We discover that the power of the collective mind is so much stronger than our individual one, especially under stress when we tend to keep spinning in our minds, especially when we believe we failed. In connecting...

Life is a Beautiful Struggle "Is this a reflection of who you are and who you want to be?" asked Vida Oliphant-Sneed’s mom, Laverna, when she observed her daughter not being at her best. From her earliest days Vida learned self-accountability as a core life orientation: stand on your own two feet. Taught by her dad, Clarence: "You got to know how to do your own thinking or someone e...

What is it like to be truly rooted & unwavering? Says Hylke Faber, CEO of Growth Leaders Network and writer of the award-winning Taming Your Crocodiles books: “You connect to a place deep in yourself that is unchanging, always there. It’s something you can rely on no matter what, like a home that is not dependent on people, places or things.” Leading from this connected place helps you to be m...

“The shadow disappears if you truly accept who you are,” says Cees Buisman, Professor at Wageningen University and Executive Board Member at the water technology institute Wetsus in the Netherlands. “The more you accept yourself, the more authentic you can be.” How do we work with the challenges of our time as authentic leader? Cees sees three groups of people: suns, moons and black holes. He quot...

Adam Freed, Managing Partner of GSV Ventures and former C-level leader at Teachers Pay Teachers, Etsy and Google shares how life continues to challenge him to get closer to who Adam really is and serve from that integrated place, as husband, father and leader. How do you get to your purpose? He sees it as an ongoing process of trial and error and one in which life presents us with challenges that...