Many business leaders make the critical mistake of assuming that their employees/direct reports feel sincerely recognized and deeply appreciated for their contributions. When asked, the leaders often give self-reports indicating that they do, in fact, give plenty of authentic praise. When asked, the employees often report that that is not the case.

Everyone knows that the more confident we are, the more likely we will create excellence. Naturally, the more prepared and skilled we are, the easier it is to choose confidence (notice that language!), but even talent and mastery and preparedness do NOT guarantee confidence.

I read a weird article yesterday entitled, “What is Toxic Positivity? Why It’s OK to Not Be OK Right Now.” “Toxic Positivity” as I understand it, is that weak, fake positive spin approach to seeing reality. It means deluding yourself into thinking some bad set of circumstances isn’t really so bad, or that it’ll just pass. The term “toxic positivity” is stupid, though. It’s a complete oxymoron. If it was legitimately positive, it could never be toxic. It should really be called “Phony Positivity” because it refers to the attitude of someone who is faking positivity.

I have fond memories of riding in my high school teammate’s MG convertible to our summer league basketball games listening to Herbie Hancock. I didn’t realize then what a genius Herbie was. I knew he was a musical genius. But I didn’t know he could preach like this!

This is pure brilliance. 3 minutes and 14 seconds of WOW! Listen to Herbie describe a massive lesson he learned from the great Miles Davis. He describes a time when they were performing together and in the middle of Miles’ trumpet solo, Herbie played the wrong chord on the piano. He made a “mistake.” And he thought it was a big mistake.

One of the characteristics of real Mental Toughness is the willingness to have what is called “fierce conversations.”
These are the dialogs that can be petrifying and effortless to blow off. It’s real conflict. And what an interesting word, “conflict.” The word has been bastardized from its original meaning. It meant to struggle together with. Not against. With.

Possibility. It has always intrigued me. I’ve built a phenomenal career around the exploration of what is possible for humans.
Right now I am intrigued by what is possible for us with respect to eradicating racism.
Here are a couple amazing stories, a couple thoughts and one question for us all.

Beauty in this world is ever-present. It’s a constant. It’s always there for us to enjoy and participate in. What varies, however, is our inner view – our emotional state.