Making Women’s Leadership Work Visible, Starting New Conversations
I’ve decided to join the team at Take The Lead because to me this is a project within the larger, often blurry field of “women’s leadership” that seeks to make visible all of the ways women are already moving forward. The idea being that we are at a unique turning point in history, and that although we can’t always see the movement happening, we know it is happening and we must work with all of those places where we feel new strength and energy.
Mary Catherine Bateson on the sustainability of ideas
“It might be useful to ask about the sustainability of ideas, just as we have begun to ask about human activities, for sustainability carries with it the notions of resilience and variation over time… [We need] to know more about what it takes to get a new idea integrated into an existing system of ideas […]
Roundabout Ways to Support Women Leaders
Question your assumptions about power. As business thinkers have encouraged more “flat”, networked organizations, we’ve begun to change leadership structures. But we must do more than adjust structures; we must question our beliefs about leadership and more specifically, power… how it works and what it looks like. Letting go of strict, top-down hierarchical structures doesn’t do much if we approach our work with the same old attitudes about power.
Jobs come through relationships now, so let’s improve the quality of our relationships
It isn’t that career ladders don’t exist anymore or aren’t useful. We’re just beginning to pay attention to how well those ladders are made, who’s making them and why, and whether or not we even need a ladder to get where we’re going.
Things we learn from action films about mindfulness and work
It is important to stay fit for your job. A few months ago I went to see the film Safe House featuring two remarkably fit men, Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. I didn’t love the film, but I left feeling grateful for having received this clear, albeit unexpected, message. It is important to stay fit […]
For Collaborators, Proper Alignment Keeps the Work Moving
While it’s uncomfortable and disheartening to lose sight of purpose, to notice how our individual purpose or a shared purpose might be changing, or to observe individuals or entire groups fall entirely out of alignment, we have much to learn there about what helps collaboration along and what keeps us (and the work) stuck.
Ursula K. Le Guin on working with what you have
The air is full of tunes. A piece of rock is full of statues. The earth is full of visions. The world is full of stories. As an artist, you trust that. You trust that that is so. You know that whatever your experience, it will give you the material, the ‘ideas’ for your work… But […]
Clarissa Pinkola Estes on making things happen / getting unstuck
Whether the injuries be to your art, words, lifestyles, thoughts, or ideas, and if you have knitted yourself up into a many-sleeved sweater, cut through the tangle now and get on with it. Beyond desire and wishing, beyond the carefully reasoned methods we love to talk and scheme over, there is a simple door waiting […]
Leading Our Own Lives First: Ageless Lessons from Mary Catherine Bateson’s Composing A Life
Real leadership means making good choices for ourselves, big or small, on a daily basis and over time about how we live in the world. Choices that we can believe in, that feel authentic and true for us as women and creative people; choices that often go against the grain and feel difficult; and choices that as much as possible, sustain us individually as we seek to do good work in the world.
Ride the Wave Into the New Creative Economy
There are two ways to look toward the future of work: What might the world need from us in terms of the companies we build or work we do? And to what degree are we prepared to navigate industries and work environments that are changing fast whether we like it or not?
