Last summer Charlie and I led a webinar to help leaders identify and scale back burnout on their teams. The experience, and gathering so much fresh input, was enlightening to those involved — and led me to think in new ways about what precisely burnout is, and where it begins. That thought … [Read more...] about A Simple Exercise for Burnout Recovery
What Traumatic Brain Injury Has Taught Me about Self-Compassion
We know statistically people forget more than they think they do. Our bias is to believe that we’re mostly on target, correct, or in the right, when it comes to our memory. We tend to value rightness and effectiveness above many other things, including compassion towards ourselves. That’s … [Read more...] about What Traumatic Brain Injury Has Taught Me about Self-Compassion
Become a Stronger Leader by Embracing Your Contradictions
A few years ago, I commissioned a painting from a member of our community, Cristina Kramp. In the painting, a woman is basking in the light of the sun, her face tipped back and hand stretched heavenward. The way her clothes and hair are flowing, it almost seems like she’s dancing — but at the same … [Read more...] about Become a Stronger Leader by Embracing Your Contradictions
Are You Honoring Your Seasonal Energy?
Nature’s seasons hold many lessons, which stand out most clearly in the darkest time of year. While at a conscious level we know that winter turns to spring, and eventually summer, in the midst of it we can begin to doubt the process. Seasonal shifts present us with a great metaphor for the … [Read more...] about Are You Honoring Your Seasonal Energy?
Belonging Not Burnout
Belonging and meaning are at the core of heart-based leadership. But I never saw clearly how belonging could directly help fight burnout, until we offered a workshop on scaling back from burnout last summer. A multitude of questions came up, including: How exactly do we know when we need to … [Read more...] about Belonging Not Burnout
Heart Knowing
At some point in most of our lives, we experience the difference between “knowing” at a mind or brain level and knowing a truth in our hearts. That difference, and the ability to recognize it, can take years of practice and soul-searching. This is one of the most important reflections that arose … [Read more...] about Heart Knowing
Empower Your Team (and Yourself) by Asking for Help
Ever since I was a child, I’ve put the needs of others before my own. I’m a Type Two on the Enneagram — the Helper — and I’ve always been highly sensitive to being a burden on others. Asking for help was simply something I didn't do. For the first part of my life, I chased success with my good … [Read more...] about Empower Your Team (and Yourself) by Asking for Help
Thinking Abundantly: Who and What Are Already Available?
“What if everything you need is already available?" This is a message we kept posted on a shared whiteboard in our kitchen downstairs for the last few months. It was meant to serve as a clear reminder of the abundance which surrounds us. Even if we know a certain truth on one level, chances are … [Read more...] about Thinking Abundantly: Who and What Are Already Available?
Taking Off the Earmuffs of Comparisonitis
I consider myself an excellent listener, but there’s one area in my life where I have a hard time hearing what others say — and a few months ago, a friend put my willingness to hear to the test. She sat me down and insisted that I not brush off or ignore what she had to say because she had … [Read more...] about Taking Off the Earmuffs of Comparisonitis
We Are All Leaders
Our culture tends to define leadership narrowly. The word itself conjures a certain series of traits: bold, decisive, action-oriented, charismatic. It brings to mind a specific type of person. A person that doesn’t look like most of us. Many of us try to fit the mold. We take leadership … [Read more...] about We Are All Leaders
Safe at Home
Breathing in: I am safe. Breathing out: I am held. As I sat in the hot tub yesterday morning enjoying the sounds of the waterfall in our backyard, the morning birds chirping, and the fresh, cool Pacific Northwest summer morning air on my face I realized that so often what I need most is a … [Read more...] about Safe at Home
This Fractured Self
More expectations than can be managed. Never enough. Never hitting the mark. This fractured self. Will it ever be whole? Lying awake counting Not sheep. But the ways I didn’t measure up today. This cannot be all there is. And, yet it is too much. Far too much. Putting on a … [Read more...] about This Fractured Self
Willing
Spirit called: Are you willing? To come home. To be you. Mind clouded. Heart weary. Soul in need. Are you ready? Lay down the armor. Take off the mask. Pause the striving. Reach no more. Rest your head On the pillow of love Universe has always provided. You will be held. Lie … [Read more...] about Willing
Scale Back or Burn Out
I was hit with a hard truth last week. I’d had hints of this hard truth surfacing over the last month or more; however, every time the whisper came I quickly buried it, moving to the next thing. That hard truth is that I am burnt out. Or, if not fully burnt out, so close that I don’t know how … [Read more...] about Scale Back or Burn Out
3 Ways to Overcome Business-Owner Burnout
Does your business look different than it did a year ago? How about two years ago? And, does it look different than it did six months ago? What about just a quarter ago? What is it going to look like next quarter? Next year? Two years out? If you’re like many business owners, the answers to those … [Read more...] about 3 Ways to Overcome Business-Owner Burnout
The Reckoning: A Poem
You knew a reckoning was coming. It wasn’t an if, it was a when. The tears stream when you finally allow yourself to slow. Oh, how you have lost the full picture of who you are. You’ve known for some time now that you were losing yourself. But you couldn’t find the time to find … [Read more...] about The Reckoning: A Poem
#ThanksCOVID Part 4: Building on Foundations in the Academy
This is Part 4 of our #ThanksCOVID/BigNews for 2020 series. In the last part, Charlie discussed his journey as it relates to the content he produces and shares here at PF. Just as the journey of all Creative Giants involves honoring and bringing forward all parts of ourselves, you heard from Charlie … [Read more...] about #ThanksCOVID Part 4: Building on Foundations in the Academy
#ThanksCOVID Part 2: The Future of the Anchor
This is Part 2 of our #ThanksCOVID/BigNews for 2020 series. In the last part, Charlie discussed how the events of 2020 led to us hiring Steve, Osheyana, and Anthony. I’ll add my own #ThanksCOVID to his and say that I now cannot imagine a team without these three amazing people. Blessings in the … [Read more...] about #ThanksCOVID Part 2: The Future of the Anchor