Dear Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Dreamers, and Creators of Great Things: I write these Love Letters each month with the hope of bringing you a little encouragement, some marketing help, and a few minutes of joy. Whether we are already friends or have yet to meet, I hope you’ll enjoy my stories from the road and some awesomely random takeaways, tools, tips, and updates.
Here’s to you!
Like many of you, I haven’t worked in an actual office with actual coworkers in many years. It’s funny how you look back on things and miss the aspects you never expected you would.
Just this week I was thinking about the Birthday Folder. Whenever there was a birthday in the office, someone would get a card and slide it into a red folder. The folder would then be passed around so everyone could sign it. If it was your birthday coming up, it was expected that if you glimpsed the folder, you would pretend you didn’t see it and act appropriately surprised when the card ended up on your desk.
Back then, I had mixed feelings about this tradition. What do you say if you don’t know the colleague well? What do you write in a single sentence that sounds creative and professional? How many times can someone write “here’s to you!” or “cheers to another year!” without it sounding forced or insincere?
But this week, sitting alone at my desk in my home office – not surrounded by colleagues – I found myself missing that small office tradition. For a moment, when that folder showed up, it forced me to stop and really think about the people I shared a space with. It made me consider who they were, what they contributed, and the way we interacted. It was a leadership moment for every one of us.
More than ever, those micro-moments matter these days. Fewer people have coworkers they see daily and online interactions are taking the place of in-person moments. We are all quick to bang out a “HBD!” message on the socials and go on our way. We send mass messages to our clients. We digitally sign things. And now it’s as easy as pie to create a video with our likenesses and voices – without ever actually looking into the camera or saying a word.
The real, sincere moments matter. They stand out like red folders in a sea of impersonal and mass produced. This month… our homework is to stop and consider. Take the time to send personal messages or make phone calls just because. These intentional moments will produce more for your heart and your business than anything else on your business plan checklist. I promise.
Three Small Stories
“Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” – Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
Eight years ago today I taught my last class as an employee. The day after, I put my personal items in a box and walked out into the parking lot unemployed for the first time in over 20 years. I was terrified that day in the parking lot. But I knew that fear was an indicator. It was pointing me to my calling.
I often hear people say “I’d be afraid to do that.” Afraid to try something new. Have a point of view. Travel solo. Write a book. Get on stage. Make that call.
Fear is an indicator, my friends. It’s often pointing directly to the thing you have to do. You’ll never start if you wait for the fear to subside. What is the thing that scares you the most? What is the first step towards doing that thing? Get started.
*****
I recently reached out to a friend for help with a tech tool. It completely befuddled me, and I knew that my friend was amazing at it. Her brain somehow saw it as easy where my brain couldn’t seem to grasp it. I remember her saying, “it’s really pretty simple.”
Reminder, friends: What seems simple to you might seem extraordinary to someone else. We sometimes hesitate to share the most simple things, because we assume everyone knows them. Or because they don’t feel complex or fancy or groundbreaking enough.
But most of the time, our audience needs and wants to hear the simplest of things. Stop discounting the power of simple.
*****
Let’s talk about toxic humility. It’s a thing. And I was taught it from a young age. I was told to be humble so often that eventually I just swallowed all my wants and needs and goodness and kept my mouth shut. Or worse, I led with self-deprecation.
Being humble is great. But being silent is not. It doesn’t work in relationships, it doesn’t work in business, and it especially doesn’t work in leadership. And it can be an expensive habit.
We have to talk about the problems we solve, how we help, the impact we have, and the lives we change. We have to ask for what we need. Ask people to subscribe, share, participate, and engage. Ask people to show up. Ask for help and guidance and advice. Speaking up and asking for what we need are not weaknesses. They are strengths.
As Jade Simmons says:
“Your purpose is not the thing that you do. It’s the thing that happens in others when you do what you do.”
And you should never be silent about that.
This is where I share the good stuff.
… the latest websites, books, & tools that are inspiring me, the people who are making me smile, and the stuff I have been writing on sticky notes.
- One of the best things I have read in a long time. The Give No Sh!ts Role Model is a leadership must read.
- If you are waiting to Be Ready, you must read this.
- A fascinating realization from Jonathan Kauffman that will change the way you look at roadblocks. (Bonus points if you are a White Lotus fan.)
- And just because I love you, a simple recipe for pie that will change your life.
Thanks for reading, friends! If you want to get these in your inbox every month, be sure to get on the mailing list. And if you are looking for a speaker who will motivate your organization to get up, get moving, and face change head-on, I would love to chat.
