The true work of gratitude begins the day after…

Holidays are unwieldy, grinding days for the grieving. And this year is riddled with pain: tens-of-thousands dead, lost jobs and crumpled dreams, ruined relationships, murdered Black bodies. So much loss. We were not made to bear this alone. Take a moment to consider who you know that has encountered loss. Write down their names. Then, reach out with a text or a call. Drop off a plate of food.

On the dangers of ignoring your indicator lights... Last week, I was in the middle lane of the highway, cruising at 75 mph, when my wheel began to shudder. I quickly changed lanes and was able to (barely) make it to a Speedway gas station.

Fix-It Frank kills connection at home, at work...everywhere.

Let me give you an example from earlier this week.

November 2020 is hard…and there are harder days to come with winter and COVID and deep societal divides. But let us also embrace hope as we talk, as we plan, and as we dream.

What are you doing, as a company, to purposefully reflect and recalibrate as you close out 2020? It is important to acknowledge both the losses of 2020 as well as the hope and vision that will carry your organization into 2021.

Leaders, today is a good day to check in with your people. Because some of them are still riding a wave of joy and relief, of exultation at the first woman (a Black and South Asian woman!) elected on an executive ticket. After four years of tension in the body and spirit, they are (probably) feeling relief and hope.

Day of the Dead and All Saints Day feel particularly resonant this year. They are a day to hold sadness, remembering all who died: John Lewis and Sean Connery and my neighbor’s dad. And it isn’t just people who died this year. Dreams have died. Relationships have died. One of my favorite local, farm-to-table eateries died.

Now is the time to remind your people of how they can access the EAP program. The next few months will be tough. Flu (and COVID) season is ramping up, election results will probably be a protracted mess, and the holidays will remind us of how much has changed/been lost in 2020. All of this takes a mental toll; your people need all the support they can get!

SNL's stinging "5-Hour Empathy" skit nailed a pervasive dynamic...

Empathy training seems nice and sounds good...for somebody else.

Whether it is a divorce or a COIVD diagnosis or a miscarriage, we often find ourselves at a loss for words when we're confronted with someone else's pain.

Empathy is the essential leadership skill of 2020. Empathy is the ability to honor and respond to the pain of another person, the capacity to let that person know that they are seen and heard and that they are not alone.

When this sort of intentional care occurs, it has a profoundly positive effect on businesses, communities, and families. And yet, empathy is a skill that is often under-appreciated and even unpracticed, especially from top leadership.