2020: The Year of Living (and Working) Creatively

“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” The quote by Dorothy Parker immediately brought to mind my younger daughter Raya. She is an enigma in the best possible way and I try to imagine all of the wild and wonderful thoughts that race through her head on any given day. At nine, she shared with me a bucket list … Read More

Want to Raise your Batting Average? You Gotta Take that Swing

Are you familiar with the term “the Mendoza line?” It’s an expression in baseball that divides an acceptable batting average from a poor one. Over the Mendoza line (.200, although Mario Mendoza’s batting average was actually .215) and you’re still in the game, but if you’re under … let’s just say you’d better be an ace pitcher. With the upheaval … Read More

Passing the Torch for RBG: The Ultimate Mentor

September 18th, 2020: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Died.” When I heard the news, it hit me like a sucker punch. I knew she was 87. I knew she had fought more than one battle with cancer. I should have seen it coming. But, I was not ready to let her go.The other day, I read an excellent article on RBG in The New … Read More

Up in the Air about Flying

I didn’t fly for almost a year after 9/11. Even with enhanced security measures (TSA was established in November 2001) and a vigilant government, I couldn’t bring myself to do it; I had worked with a man who, along with his young family, was killed on United Flight 175 when it slammed into the World Trade Center. It took everything … Read More

Beyond Diversity: Inclusion Matters

The global pandemic is raging on into its eighth month, and organizations worldwide have found themselves in the eye of a perfect storm of change. Along with tragic personal loss and widespread economic uncertainty, the Black Lives Matter protests have electrified the streets as people demand equal justice and an end to systemic racism. As an organization devoted to learning, … Read More

To Zoom or not to Zoom? That is the question.

I’ve always wondered if it was easy for stage actors to make the transition to the movies or television screen. After all, they are different mediums. The stage requires actors to present themselves as bigger than life — using bold gestures and vocal projection to communicate to an in-person audience of hundreds, from the front row to the top of … Read More

Take Your Time (You’ve Earned It)

We’ve all been dealing with the effects of the coronavirus for months now as it proves to be a far formidable foe than we originally thought. But what many people don’t realize — even, oddly enough, while they’re experiencing it — is that COVID fatigue is affecting most of us, whether we’ve tested positive or not. Don’t get me wrong. … Read More

What if…?

How is it possible that it’s already mid-August? Five months ago, we sent everyone home expecting that we would return to our offices in May. Then, June. Then, July. And now … who knows? We talk about the fact that the pandemic has irrevocably changed the way we work and live, but I’m not sure that we’ve truly acknowledged nor … Read More

My Daughter has a Fever and I’ve Never Been So Scared

There’s a reason Madison Avenue coined the phrase “Dr. Mom.” As soon as you become a mother, you get a crash course in pediatrics. Most of us have seen it all: ear infections, common colds, the occasional broken bone, conjunctivitis. As soon as you send your little one off to daycare, not only does he or she pick up bugs, … Read More

Smells Like Team Spirit

Nearly six months ago, business as usual became anything but. Office workers were sent home; meetings became Zooms; rush hour slowed down; and managers everywhere had to turn on a dime and figure out what was necessary, what wasn’t, and what had to be reinvented. Work still got done; if anything, the new normal proved just how productive a remote … Read More