Don’t Let Rejection Define You
Can you remember the enduring pain of being ostracized from a social group as a teenager? I certainly can. I remember as vividly as if it were yesterday the day that Charles, who I thought was my best friend when I was a senior in high school in Washington, DC, told me that the group […]
Exploring Otherness Can Create a Stronger Team
I was invited to meet a senior vice president of a tech company, who already ran a highly diverse, multicultural team and had just inherited another. She wanted to find the best way to integrate these disparate team members comprised of the old and new guard, men and women, several religions, various nationalities, and even […]
The Number One Ingredient to Living a Meaningful, Healthy Life
Is there a panacea for living a long, meaningful, healthy life? As it turns out, based on the convergence of numerous studies, there is one factor for long-term wellbeing that consistently stands out above the others. Research based on data from three longitudinal studies in the 1920s and 1930s (life events included the Great Depression and […]
Delaware Proclaims New Remembrance Day: International Overdose Awareness Day
International Overdose Awareness Day symbolizes a global event that acknowledges those lost from the disease known as Substance Use Disorder. It honors the memories of those whose lives have been cut short and recognizes the enormous grief shared by those families left behind. Delaware has the second-highest rate of overdose deaths in the United States. […]
Make it Happen: Start Replacing Screen Time With People Time and Stop Social Media Exploiting Your Loneliness
Imagine you are sitting home alone (not so difficult to imagine these days, considering over 3 in 5 Americans were lonely even before the pandemic) and have some time on your hands. What will you do with your free time? Call a friend? Read a book? If you’re like most people these days, you may be […]
It’s Been a Tough Year: How to Deal With Traumatized Employees
If your employees are behaving in new and disturbing ways, it might not be stress; it may be trauma. And if so, we can’t expect employees to learn to cope or get over it. Here’s why leaders need to know the difference. There are many reasons your employees might be suffering the effects of trauma. […]
How to Overcome Rejection
Whether it’s a friend not returning our call, being broken up with, or being pulled off an important project, each of us has experienced rejection and we are very aware that it hurts. The following personal story can be applied to any leadership role, too. A series of experiments led by social psychologists Jean Twenge of San Diego […]
How Will We Emerge from the Pandemic? It Depends on How We Process It
While it’s certainly true that no two pandemics are alike, it’s also true that no two emotional responses to a pandemic are alike. Whenever we feel a distressing emotion, there are two primary ways in which we can process it: suppression and reappraisal. Suppression is perhaps not the best named response, as it is impossible […]
The Pandemic Made Me Value the Two Most Important Things In Life: Love and Life Itself
A few weeks ago, I had dinner with John, a friend of mine in California in his mid-60s who is grieving the loss of his wife from cancer. John was struggling to manage his grief, not an easy task at any time, and especially not during the social isolation of the pandemic. He told me […]
It’s Not Perfectionism that’s Hurting Us. It’s Our Approach to It
Finding a perfectionist that isn’t in some way proud to be one is like finding out you’ve won $100 Million on the lottery. It’s not unheard of, but it’s rare! Why? Because perfectionists believe their strong work ethic, superior attention to detail, and ability to achieve more than everyone else puts them in a class […]
