“It is not the critic who counts; not the [person] who points out how the strong [person] stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the [person] who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spend [themselves] in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if [they] fail, at least fails while daring greatly, so that [their] place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

One of my Board members was giving me a pep talk once and told me: “No one ever built a statue to a critic.”  How true!

Many of you reading this – regardless of your level of responsibility in your organization – are “The Person in the Arena.”  Have courage!  Have faith in your mission and vision!  There are many of us cheering you on as you “dare greatly!”

Here are three steps you can take to focus your passion.

First, take some quiet time and ask yourself the question:

“What would the world look like if I could have it any way I wanted it?”

As you answer this question, you will note that there is a big gap between the kind of world you want and what the world looks like now.  Next ask yourself:

“Given my strengths, what impact do I want to make in the world?”

Then finally, ask yourself:

“What three goals can I set during the next year that will make that impact?

Then of course you will want to create action plans around these goals and get to work.  To learn more about The Power of Goals, check out this link.

As you ask yourself these questions, it could give you more focus in your current job.

Or, maybe it will give you ideas about passions you want to explore in your volunteer life.

It could even lead you to explore new work opportunities.

Following our passions gives life more meaning and allows us to connect with others who have similar passions.  Reflect on these questions today and give your passion more focus.

Hate crimes are on the rise, including Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and acts impacting people of color, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ Community, and essentially anyone who is not a WASPy straight, male (like me).

If we ever needed more Peace on Earth, it is now.

But what can just one person do about it?

Christians are preparing to celebrate Christmas, Jews have just finished celebrating Hanukkah, many will soon be celebrating Kwanzaa, and all of us will be ringing in the new year.  At this holiday season, I am going to reflect on that question . . .

What can one person do about it?

What can I do?

To begin with, I’m going to focus on treating everyone I encounter with a little more Loving Kindness.  We have no idea what other people are going through.  A little extra caring in our interactions is probably a good place to start – a little kinder, a little less judgmental, more forgiving, and giving people the benefit of the doubt.

When we do this, we are helping to build what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. liked to call, the Beloved Community where kindness, compassion, and love for all motivates our actions.

If we can all take steps in that direction, then maybe we can create a new trend.  And then keep it going even after the holidays.

May we have Peace on Earth . . . and Goodwill to All People.

Legitimacy is one of the things that separates a good leader from an exceptionally effective one.

As per a recent article in Harvard Business Review:

“A legitimate leader engenders good will and a feeling of personal connection with followers. . . (Leaders) who enjoy legitimacy can motivate loyalty and inspire confidence.  They can mobilize others to rise beyond minimum job requirements and give it their all.”

That’s a powerful statement!  What can you do to build your legitimacy?  Here are seven behaviors suggested by the article.

*Behave with Integrity.  Be honest in all of your dealings with everyone.  Respect all people.  Tell the truth with candor.  This single behavior will go a long way to building your legitimacy.

*Focus on Sense of Purpose.  Why are we here and what difference do we want to make?  Make this your singular focus.  Check out this blog on the great book, Leading with Noble Purpose to learn more about this.

*Put the Organization Above Yourself.  This job is not about you – how you look or how you are perceived.  Don’t let your ego get confused about that.

*Show Authenticity.  If you make mistakes – and you will – own them.  Seek feedback from others.  Don’t pretend to be perfect.  Show people that you want to improve.

*Communicate Clearly.  Communicate with purpose.  Connect your plans and activities to mission.  Don’t use jargon.  Talk straight.

*Demonstrate Fairness.  Don’t get wrapped up in politics.  Be just and caring in the decisions you need to make.  Be sure to get input from a broad set of stakeholders.

*Stay Grounded.  Stay humble and approachable.  Yes, you are busy – but so is everyone else.  Make time to meet with people from across the organization.  You are not so cool that you do not have time to do that.

It is especially powerful when you can exhibit these behaviors from Day #1 on your job.  You can build on them no matter how many years you have been in your current position – it just may take more time to change your reputation in certain areas.

If you are fortunate enough to experience some success in your role, especially remember to Stay Grounded.  Don’t let success give you a big head.  If you do, it will undermine all of the work you have done up to this point.

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Nohria, N. “How New CEOs Establish Legitimacy,” Harvard Business Review online, June 7, 2023.

If so, you might be telling yourself you just need even more “Success” and that satisfaction is at the top of the next mountain you will climb.

But maybe not.

Sometimes “Success” does not lead to life satisfaction and fulfillment.  The problem lies in how we define “Success.”

When we define “Success” purely in terms of our work accomplishments, this can set us up for a lifetime of running on a hamster wheel with no finish line and none of the hoped for fulfillment and satisfaction.

And, by the way, this is not just a corporate executive’s problem.  There are plenty of nonprofit executives running on that hamster wheel.

Here are some things we can do about it:

*Stop comparing yourself with others.  Get off the social media apps that inaccurately depict the supposedly wonderful lives of others.  Psychologists agree that comparing ourselves to others can lead to sadness and emptiness.  As the wisdom from the poem Desiderata tells us, “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be those greater and lesser than you.”

*Stop associating money, high achievement, and notoriety with satisfaction.  These are things that society supposedly values, but they are a mirage when it comes to providing true fulfillment and satisfaction.

*Define your Purpose – and “Success” more broadly.  What do you care about?  Do you have quality relationships with your family and friends?  Do you make enough time for fun?  Is your spiritual life important to you?  How’s your health? Use your time in pursuit of those things that inspire you.

Get off the hamster wheel and create your own journey of satisfaction and fulfillment that certainly includes your work accomplishments – but many of the other things that are truly important to you in life, as well.  And enjoy the journey – it’s really not about the final destination.

As Lily Tomlin once so wisely said: “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Carucci, R. “Why Success Does Not Lead To Satisfaction,” Harvard Business Review online, January 25, 2023.

What memories will give you joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment? 

What do you want those who are close to you to remember?

When we answer these questions, we are beginning to identify what we want the core purpose of our life to be.  There are few things more worthwhile than spending your time getting focus on your Purpose.

As my friend Dr. Gerald Suarez asks “What is your passion?”  Check out this blog for more great questions Gerald asks in his book Leader of One (highly recommended).

Take some time to write out your answers to these questions.  Share your answers with close friends and family members.  Ask for their feedback.  They probably have a good pulse on what inspires you.

Sharpen and focus your purpose.  Remind yourself of it daily.  Live your life accordingly.

You will be remembered.  How do you want to be remembered?

The trigger is stealthy and develops incrementally, with the potential of achieving chronic levels and the ultimate status of an occupational or psychological hazard.

Burnout, if left unattended, can debilitate our mental, physical and emotional health. But similar to other medical conditions, the earlier burnout is detected, the faster we can find an off-ramp and reroute our pathway to harmony.

The good news is that we know the warning signs.

*Emotionally, we may feel disappointment and disillusionment with work or sentiments of being undervalued.

*Physically, we may experience stubborn fatigue, restlessness and an inability to sleep through the night.

*Mentally, confusion, inattentive disposition and clouded thinking are leading indicators.

There is no quick fix for burnout — it takes time to get burned out and even more time to overcome it. If you’re missing deadlines at work, perceiving routine tasks as stressful, thinking about quitting while displaying increased tardiness, absenteeism, irritability or loss of motivation, it may be time for a change.

Here are a few tips that professionals and job seekers can consider when contemplating a career move to help avoid or mitigate burnout:

Listen to the click. Much like how a gas pump clicks as the tank reaches its limit, life provides a click for stress, tension and physical ailments. It’s a sign that we’re at capacity, and it’s time to stop pumping. Listen to your body and adjust accordingly.

Know your “why.” Reconnecting with the mission or purpose of your work provides the context to “zoom out” and put daily tasks into perspective. Understanding how your work contributes to an overall mission is the key to meaningful engagement. Feeling valued and consequential enables you to ignite your inner fire without fear of burnout.

Use your time-outs. In sports, coaches call a time-out to bring focus, assess the flow and momentum of the game and craft their next play. Professionally, micro-vacations serve that same function by helping you reassess your current situation.

Take a moment to take stock. Engage in authentic reflection, quiet your mind and make an inventory of your concerns. Uncertainty and ambiguity can intensify disengagement and burnout. Combat them by scouting the landscape for the scope and volume of your current responsibilities to better understand where to focus your attention in the future.

Schedule your life, not just your tasks. Rather than filling out your calendar based on things to do, organize it around your primary roles in life. Think in terms of your role as a spouse, parent, friend, colleague or employee. This allows you to see if you are neglecting any of these roles over a period of time. Doing this brings visibility to your choices in terms of how you spend time doing what matters most to you.

If you see the warning signs, act now to get yourself back on track.  Life is too short to let it burn you out.  Seek the full life of inspiration that is calling to you.

No longer did we dress up for work, stress in traffic or compete for parking. Rushing to meetings became a simple keyboard click. At first, we experienced a concoction of complexity, chaos, ambiguity and uncertainty. It seemed unmanageable to get work done.

But we adapted and realized we had gained an incredibly valuable asset: time. We became able to contemplate bigger questions, and to reassess.

Am I heading in the right direction? Why am I working so hard? What do I really want? What brings fulfillment to my life? What is my purpose, my passion? What energizes me?

For many, these questions led to a common answer: a need to switch careers.

It’s not easy to shift careers. It’s an emotionally disruptive experience that also carries a latent risk of failure. To those taking the plunge, I offer these tips:

Find your burning yes. Be driven by exploring and pursuing a meaningful and creative opportunity, versus simply avoiding something that is no longer stimulating. What is your picture of success? What is your picture of fulfillment?

Imagine your successful shift realized. Write down your aim and imagine what it would be like to fulfill it. Think in terms of legacy. What impact would you like to have? This will become your private contract with yourself and a reminder that your shift is in pursuit of a worthy purpose.

Be willing to iterate. Shifting careers is not an event but a process. Building your new level of comfort and expertise will be slow and gradual. There are no shortcuts to discovery. Being adaptive will help build resiliency.

Don’t try to be perfect. Keep in mind that most career-shifters are looking for opportunities that will stretch their thinking and help them develop new skills. Change your relationship with failure. Embrace failure as validation that you are audaciously trying new things. It’s only when you fail, acknowledge failure and reflect on it that you give learning a chance.

Align the shift with your gifts. What is your uniqueness? What talents can you apply to a new context? You are leaving behind your career but not your essence. You are changing what you do but not who you are.

Make your switch with authenticity and assertiveness.

Be proud and share your story. You will find that your narrative and your actions will inspire many others to rethink their own situation.

NOTE: A version of this blog appeared in the Arizona Republic.

I include myself in that category.

Through reflection and dialogue with non-white people, I feel that I am understanding my privilege more and more.  But I know that I don’t fully get it.

The difficulty for many of us white people is that we don’t see it playing out through our lives.  It’s just the life we have.  It’s like water to the fish.  You really don’t realize that you have it unless you don’t.  It’s almost like a secret to us.

Made worse, we know white people who are REALLY privileged.  My family did not belong to the country club.  We worked there.  I was a lifeguard there.  My brother parked cars for tips there.  We saw privileged people and they were not us.  Little did we know.

I think that most of us white people are in a trance and we need to help each other snap out of it!  People talk about being “woke.”  We really do need to wake each other up and take a good look around.  Sit down with some friends – white and non-white – and talk about your life experiences.  The better we see and understand the hate and discrimination that our non-white brothers and sisters have experienced, the better we can work for change.

Nobody would mistake me for a bellman just because I was dressed in a suit and standing in the lobby of a nice hotel.

Nobody would call the police on me because I told them to leash their dog in a park.

Nobody would handcuff me in a Starbucks because I did not buy a coffee.

Nobody would deny me a job because of the color of my skin.

Nobody would murder me for supposedly passing a counterfeit bill.

No, my family did not belong to the country club.  But these are just a few of my privileges.  It turns out that being white is a pretty good club on its own.

We need to wake each other up and lead change, white people.

Black Lives Matter

When some people hear that they say “Hey, ALL lives matter.”

Well, of course they do, but that is not the point.

The point is that – when you look at the data regarding the murder of so many African Americans by police and others – and the fact that the country is not completely OUTRAGED at this fact, it seems like Black Lives Do NOT Matter to a lot of people.

In these days following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor – and others before them – I am challenging myself to Be Part of the Solution.  And I am encouraging you to do the same.

Here are a few things I have done and will be doing (in addition to writing this blog):

*Read White Fragility – which helps us white people understand our white privilege and how to better engage with our African American brothers and sisters around issues of institutionalized racism in America.  See my blog about it here.

*Read America’s Original Sin – which, among other things, provides very troubling facts around discrimination of people of color in America by the “justice” system, and ideas of what we can do about it.

*Read How to be an Anti-Racist – I just ordered it and the promo states that it “promises to become an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.”

*Write your local, state and federal officials to demand to know what they are going to do to assure that what happened in Minneapolis to George Floyd does not happen anymore anywhere.  Then follow-up and hold them accountable.  This is not an easy problem as it we are dealing with many decades of systemic racism which guides people’s actions.  VOTE!!!

*Peacefully Protest to demonstrate that there are many of us – of all racial backgrounds – who are, in fact, OUTRAGED, at what is going on.

*Send me your ideas at DrRobSheehan@gmail.com

During these past many days I have gone through anger, sadness, and now hope – because I know we can make a difference and that America can be better, much better, than this.  Be Part of the Solution today.