...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)