Memory Spots : 2025

...starts moving around

In the cellars of the night, when the mind starts moving around old trunks of bad times, the pain of this and the shame of that, the memory of a small boldness is a hand to hold.
-John Leonard, critic (1939-2008)

...to lie

Men hate those to whom they have to lie.
-Victor Hugo, poet, novelist, and dramatist (1802-1885)

polish your mind

It is good to rub and polish your mind against that of others.
-Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

Collected & Connected

count the ways...

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (1806-1861)

Public moral & peace

A full belly to the labourer is, in my opinion, the foundation of public morals and the only source of real public peace.

-William Cobbett, journalist, pamphleteer, and farmer (1763-1835)

overcome inhuman...

All that separates, whether of race, class, creed, or sex, is inhuman, and must be overcome.

-Kate Sheppard, suffragist (1847-1934)

jungle of weeds...

If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weeds.

-Luther Burbank, horticulturist (1849-1926)

...happiness of the common man

The object of government in peace and in war is not the glory of rulers or of races, but the happiness of the common man.

-William Beveridge, economist and reformer (1879-1963)

...plant the seeds of love

When I listen to love, I am listening to my true nature. When I express love, I am expressing my true nature. All of us love. All of us do it more and more perfectly. The past has brought us both ashes and diamonds. In the present we find the flowers of what we've planted and the seeds of what we are becoming. I plant the seeds of love in my heart. I plant the seeds of love in the hearts of others.
-Julia Cameron, artist, author, teacher, filmmaker, composer, and journalist (b. 4 Mar 1948)

Essential Leadership Skills

Finally, at these points of reflection (anniversaries, quarters, etc) I love to ask myself:

What do I need to keep doing?
What do I need to quit doing?
Where do I need courage to try something new?

Take time today to reflect on YOUR growth over the last six years. Share your lessons with someone! Ask a colleague or friend to share their lessons with you. What can you learn and try for yourself?

ELS: Lesson#6

You have permission to evolve.

2025 will be an evolving year for me. Just like 2020 was. Just because you've been passionate about a topic or work product or career initiative doesn't mean you have to continue this forever. Even if people "know you" for your area of passion or expertise, YOU can decide to keep growing and evolving to something new. Allow yourself to grow and change.

What is key here is this: Do these changes align with my values? Are they moving me closer to the leader I want to become?

ELS: Lesson#5

Treat Everything Like An Experiment.
It either works (yay!) or it doesn't and you get the benefit of learning & iterating new versions. Getting attached to doing things a certain way or expecting that your first effort will result in instant success is a set up for disappointment. Always be learning.

ELS: Lesson#4

Consistency Isn't Sexy But It Works.
This is a lesson I will stand by every year in my business. I've learned in my life I will never be the fastest person to complete the work, the "showiest" person on social media or the hustler that will grind herself down. I am not competitive with other people–I believe it distracts you from your True North. All of these qualities made me terrible at anything athletic in my life. LOL. However, I will win with boring old consistency and moderation every single day. If your actions aren't maintainable, they aren't sustainable.
Find a pace and rhythm you can sustain over the long term.

ELS: Lesson#3

Your network is an essential career accelerator.
As you continue to accelerate in your career, it can be lonely. Especially for women because there are fewer of them at the top. In my own business, entrepreneurship can be lonely. I don't have built-in co-workers to ping ideas off of, so I have to curate this network myself. It's important to curate a diverse network, too. This means I don't just find other people who do what I do, I learn the most from people who have very different businesses than me. This is also why I encourage my clients to find a network beyond their organization to keep their ideas, insights and perspectives fresh.

ELS: Lesson#2

Know What You Stand For As A Leader.
This goes along with number one. You are not for everyone and that is okay. Know your strengths, what you believe in, then find your people and serve them well. People will always be ready to give you well-meaning advice about what you should do in your career, and knowing what you stand for will help you discern what's meant for you and what isn't.

I've started to ask myself the question, what do I believe in so strongly that I am willing to endure the criticism?

ELS: Lesson#1

Saying No Is An Essential Leadership Skill.
Also, it builds confidence. As you rise up the ladder (or gain followers) you will continually be presented with opportunities to say yes. It's tempting to do so for money, title, status, etc. However, it's critical that you say yes in alignment with your values or you can unintentionally create a business (or career) that you resent.

This is a key cause of burnout.

..gift in 4 words

"I bring you the gift of these four words: I believe in you."

~ Blaise Pascal

..best of yourself

"You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself."

~ Harvey S. Firestone

vote by staying home

There is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some diehard's vote.

-David Foster Wallace, novelist, essayist, and short story writer (1962-2008)

Short term fixes

...systematic organization of

Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.

-Henry Adams, historian and teacher (1838-1918)

above principles

Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.

-George Jean Nathan, author and editor (1882-1958)

cannot be turned off

The crucial disadvantage of aggression, competitiveness, and skepticism as national characteristics is that these qualities cannot be turned off at five o'clock.

-Margaret Halsey, novelist (1910-1997)

Can stand adversity

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

-Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (1809-1865)

False standards

If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks' vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days.

-Dorothy Canfield Fisher, author, reformer, and activist (1879-1958)

..consciences of citizens

The government ought not to be invested with power to control the affections, any more than the consciences of citizens.

-Lydia Maria Child, activist, novelist, and journalist (1802-1880)

Own reasons

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men.,

-Alice Walker, poet and novelist (b. 9 Feb 1944)

...unarmed truth

What for centuries raised man above the beast is not the cudgel but the irresistible power of unarmed truth.

-Boris Pasternak, poet, novelist, Nobel laureate (1890-1960)

..to create their own bridge

True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own.

-Nikos Kazantzakis, poet and novelist (1883-1957)

...inhabited

Architecture is inhabited sculpture.

-Constantin Brancusi, sculptor (1876-1957)

..to save the environment

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.

-Ansel Adams, photographer (1902-1984)

Never Failed?

...most wonderful

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.

-Emo Phillips, comedian, actor (b. 7 Feb 1956)

not a free...

A hungry man is not a free man.
- Adlai Stevenson II, lawyer, politician, and diplomat (1900-1965)

Meaning of life...

" The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

~ Nelson Henderson

...refuse to answer

There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience.

-Hartley Shawcross, barrister, politician, and prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal (1902-2003)

some thing to change

Most people never break through because they keep waiting for something to change… instead of changing themselves.

Bitter but the fruit?

...hard battle

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

~ Philo

...genius??

It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing.

-Gertrude Stein, novelist, poet, and playwright (1874-1946)

....speaks

"Where words fail, music speaks."

~ Hans Christian Andersen

lack of patriotism

The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.

-Hermann Göring, Nαzi military leader (1893-1946)

Test of progress

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President (1882-1945)

Poor Vs Rich

To blame the poor for subsisting on welfare has no justice unless we are also willing to judge every rich member of society by how productive he or she is. Taken individual by individual, it is likely that there's more idleness and abuse of government favors among the economically privileged than among the ranks of the disadvantaged.

-Norman Mailer, author (1923-2007)

Empathy is...

for the sake of...

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.

-Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)

acceptable response

To a poet, silence is an acceptable response, even a flattering one.

-Colette, author (1873-1954)

..through the eyes of

Sometimes you can't see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others.

-Ellen DeGeneres, comedian, TV host, actor, and writer (b. 26 Jan 1958)

cunning men

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.

-Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626)

ways of spreading light

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
-Edith Wharton, novelist (1861-1937)

...same interest?

The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.

-Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), novelist (1783-1842)

miracles have...

In those parts of the world where learning and science have prevailed, miracles have ceased; but in those parts of it as are barbarous and ignorant, miracles are still in vogue.

-Ethan Allen, revolutionary (1738-1789)

10000 : 1

The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one.

-Joan Baez, musician (b. 9 Jan 1941)

live in an infantile

Maybe every other American movie shouldn't be based on a comic book. Other countries will think Americans live in an infantile fantasy land where reality is whatever we say it is and every problem can be solved with violence.

-Bill Maher, comedian, actor, and writer (b. 20 Jan 1956)

accepts a smaller

When one has been threatened with a great injustice, one accepts a smaller as a favour.

-Jane Welsh Carlyle, letter writer (1801-1866)

We do & do not do

It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.

-Moliere, actor and playwright (1622-1673)

Leadership is...

Dream by Day?

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
-Edgar Allan Poe, poet andshort-story writer (1809-1849)

so fondly

Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young, /

Who loved thee so fondly as he? /

He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue, /

And joined in thy innocent glee.

-Margaret Courtney, poet (1822-1862)

Curious...

"Be curious, not judgmental."

~ Walt Whitman

Understand to be understood

"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood."

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Deep rooted

To move freely you must be deeply rooted.

-Bella Lewitzky, dancer (1916-2004)

mind=blown

"Pune hospital gets 1st made-in-India surgical robot with 5 arms, 4K headset, and world-class precision."

Five arms. Precision surgeries. No slip-ups.

Work Life Balance

Different Ratios

gives Dignity & Worth

Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.

-Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton), historian (1834-1902)

let go of...

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar."

~ Raymond Lindquist

Happiness is like a...

Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it evades you. But if you notice the other things around you, it will gently come and sit on your shoulder.

- Henry David Thoreau

Preserve the habitat

You cannot begin to preserve any species of animal unless you preserve the habitat in which it dwells. Disturb or destroy that habitat and you will exterminate the species as surely as if you had shot it. So conservation means that you have to preserve forest and grassland, river and lake, even the sea itself. This is not only vital for the preservation of animal life generally, but for the future existence of man himself -- a point that seems to escape many people.

-Gerald Durrell, naturalist and author (1925-1995)

...Moral dandyism

A certain kind of rich man afflicted with the symptoms of moral dandyism sooner or later comes to the conclusion that it isn't enough merely to make money. He feels obliged to hold views, to espouse causes and elect Presidents, to explain to a trembling world how and why the world went wrong.

-Lewis H. Lapham, editor and writer (1935-2024)

Different horizon

We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon.
-Konrad Adenauer, statesman (1876-1967)

most dangerous....

"The last word" is the most dangerous of infernal machines; and husband and wife should no more fight to get it than they would struggle for the possession of a lighted bomb-shell.

-Douglas William Jerrold, playwright and humorist (1803-1857)

accomplish great things

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe."

-Anatole France

...who have kept on trying

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all."

-Dale Carnegie

...by the obstacles

"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals."
- Booker T. Washington

...can overcome

"Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable."

-Theodore N. Vail

fail in originality

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

- Herman Melville

Use to inspire

Phrases Leaders use to inspire team

...not afraid

"What would you do if you weren't afraid."

- Spencer Johnson

Little Minds Vs Great Minds

"Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it."

- Washington Irving

..condiment & flavour

"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."

-Truman Capote

...what you cannot and can

"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

-John R. Wooden

...more than once

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
- Margaret Thatcher

melting snow

Be melting snow
Wash yourself of yourself.
-Rumi, poet and mystic (1207-1273)

Sacrifice the little things

"A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."

-Vince Lombardi

For this Day: