How are you? Really – not the ‘How ya doin’ that isn’t really a question but more of a greeting – but a genuine curiosity about how you’re actually coping these days. Have you been able to live day-to-day according to your values? Are your interactions with your family, friends, and colleagues meaningful? Are you growing? Are you navigating change – both the expected and unexpected kinds – with resilience?

It doesn’t take much of a physics lesson to understand how people share energy. Often, you can feel the vibe of a room within seconds of entering. Sometimes it’s just the space but, most of the time, it’s the people in the space. Emotions are contagious, positive or negative. You can lift or sink someone with a glance. And whether your energy-sharing partner is a friend or a stranger, you can be knocked off balance by imperceptible shifts in their mood.

Ask me about any of these books. I have read each one cover-to-cover at least once. Each one has influenced the way I think about leadership, teamwork, communication, and relationships. Who are the mentors in your library?

As much as we’d like to hit the ‘pause’ button every once in a while, change is always in play. You can plan a transition or wait for a change to happen to you. You can steer the direction or react to shifts in the ecosystem. These days, long-term strategic planning becomes obsolete before the ink is dry. More and more, teams are opting for short-cycle methods of keeping pace with the evolution of their industry. Consider this three-step process for managing constant change.

Everyone knows that struggle builds strength. But take a moment to think about the people in your life who have navigated adversity in their past and how they respond to current challenges. Whatever the circumstances, the usual story is that they are the calmest and most poised in a crisis when the proverbial shit hits the fan. They buckle down and keep moving forward.

Your job hunt has narrowed to two finalists. What kind of boss will bring out the best in you? You are ascending the ranks in your organization and are defining your leadership style. What is the best way to exude strength? Growing up, many of your role models achieved success by exerting control. However, you’ve noticed that they’ve paid a price in their interpersonal relationships. Are you willing to sacrifice friends, family, or professional connections to win whatever race you are running?

Midnight and noon both occur at 12:00. One is dark and the other is light. The Team Clock model sees the 12:00 moment as a liminal transition. When a relationship, team, or organization successfully navigates a period of change, they get to move from a state of depletion to a burst of energy. So, why is it so hard to break through? Why are so many teams willing to endure the pain of feeling stuck when the freedom of new circumstances offers relief? Often, the answer is fear.

Everything cycles. Depending on where your team is in the cycle, you might be reestablishing your foundation, building trust, preparing to innovate, or navigating change. What matters is where you are in the cycle. Reestablishing foundation requires clarity of goals. Building trust requires psychological safety. Innovation requires risk taking. Navigating change requires resilience. Wherever you are in the cycle, you’re always in the process of renewal.

It turns out that ‘retirement’ is not a moment for some of us. My 47-year career will enter its 48th year as I anticipate my 70th birthday and my first Social Security check. As these milestones occur, I’m nowhere near finishing anything professionally. In fact, I’m just getting started on a few new creative projects.

As a guiding light, most organizations name their core values and weave them into new employee orientation and professional development training sessions. Many workplaces even make them criteria for performance evaluation to ensure that everyone stays true to workplace culture. Usually, they find their way onto a poster or get painted on a wall for all to see. The real question is whether they exist as nouns or verbs.

My teammates are unaware of, and probably unconcerned with, the amount of time I’ve devoted to preparation. They simply expect me to show up and make my contribution. We have a four-hour event and my section is three minutes and twenty-four seconds in duration – less than 2% of the product. Because it’s a concert showcasing student and faculty performances, each of us shares accountability for being at the top of our game in the moments on stage. Rehearsing and cleaning up mistakes is largely done alone, so the interdependence is invisible – yet very much real.

Harvard University research (The Mindful Body, Langer 2023) teaches us that there are three levels of thinking. Level 1 is characterized by ignorance. Viewpoints and decisions sit upon a platform of nothing. Level 2 is characterized by judgement. We rush to conclusions that best corroborate our bias. These folks are frequently wrong and rarely in doubt. Level 3 is characterized by curiosity. This requires the ability to consider other perspectives. It comes with the question, “What would need to be true to make this make sense?”