202006.09
0

Seeing Yourself on Zoom Calls

Once a colleague and I were on a video call. We were in a conference room and a client was on the screen. I started noticing strange behavior from my colleague: Unnatural tilting of the head, posing almost, chair swiveling and theatrical pen chewing. The words that came to mind were “coquette” and “modeling.” I…

202006.08
0

Constant Communication is Crucial

I once had a washing machine delivered. A huge and heavy appliance had to be brought up a tricky, narrow staircase by two workers. As the burly workers were huffing and puffing, they spoke to each other constantly throughout the precarious climb. Ready? Yep. Ok, lift! Be careful. Got it? No, wait…ok good now. Watch…

202006.04
0

Stereotypes

My daughter and I play the stereotype game. We call something out and then the other person describes in rapid fire the stereotype. Together we have covered New Yorker, doctor, lawyer (this one she describes as me), astronaut, politician, scientist, teacher (elementary/HS), American, author, person from Florida, pilot, Democrat, Republican, teenager, one who drinks soy…

202006.03
0

Can You Hear Me?

“I can’t hear you.” By now you have all experienced this. You are on a videoconference and the sound (yours? theirs?) keeps cutting in and out. It’s frustrating. Maybe you fake it once or twice and give an answer that does not quite make sense. You are trying to follow, but can’t. They can’t hear…

202006.02
0

It’s Okay To Miss Your Workplace

My 12 year old son said, “I would like to take 2020 and throw it in the garbage.” While we review daily what we learned these last few weeks, and list opportunities to connect with people with an ease we just now are beginning to appreciate, it’s ok to identify the things we don’t like…

202005.29
0

The Neighborhood Stop Sign

There is a Stop sign in the neighborhood I have lived in for 10 years. And for a decade, I felt like the sole person observing the Stop sign. My children from the back seat would ask me why I am stopping, and we would have the same conversation, over and over: “Because there is…

202005.27
0

Our Biggest Obstacle is Our Mindset

What is possible now that was not before? This is the theme in our coaching and training work now. One of my coaching clients has a running partner in another country. They met over social media and hold each other accountable to exercise “together” during this time of wide-spread social distancing. Theoretically, it was always…

202005.26
0

The State of the LGBTQ+ Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As a D&I professional and ally of many groups, I often attend events not geared toward my heterosexual cisgender female identity. Because how else am I going to learn about others, with other identities? Two weeks ago, I attended an event sponsored by the International Bar Association on “the state of the LGBTQ+ community during…

202005.25
0

Happy Memorial Day

Remember those who have gone this Memorial Day weekend by taking a moment to simply be. Digital Dementia is a phrase coined a few years ago to describe the “scatterbrainness” caused by overstimulation of the brain due to the use of digital devices. As the Covid Crisis has eliminated the natural breaks that we took…

202005.22
0

Telephonic Oral Arguments Break Justice Thomas’ “over-a-year long silence”

Due to telephonic oral arguments, Supreme Court Justices this last week took turns asking questions of advocates for the first time in history, as opposed to unstructured “free for all” as has been the long-standing tradition. The result? A more inclusive culture on the bench that resulted in Justice Thomas, a senior but yet reticent…