Amanda Gorman’s poem at the Inauguration of Joe Biden is a master work
The National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, at only 22 years of age, gave a masterclass in poetry, performance, art, and understanding of the human condition at the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.
The depth of her poem “The Hill We Climb” is so great — in part because we know she completed significant parts of it in the hours following the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol — but also because it captures something about every hopeful American.
It is one that admits our imperfection and vulnerability, celebrates our hope, optimism, and common good, and champions our resolve and strength in each other. …
With any crisis, we owe an acknowledgment of the truth. While that can be harsh, it’s necessary.
“Whatever the apparent cause of any riots may be, the real one is always want of happiness.” — Thomas Paine, 1792
As much as history can inform our understanding of the present, we’re never quite prepared for a crisis.
We can point to events and behaviors that presaged certain crises, and perhaps we can even pick them out today, but when a situation becomes acute, it seems to happen all at once and takes people by surprise.
Well-trained corporate communications teams participate in crisis planning and usually have a crisis plan or handbook at the ready when they need to snap into action. …
Reach is less important than resonance.
I lost some newsletter subscribers this week.
Not in any kind of tragic accident or anything-that would be terrible.
No, I mean they unsubscribed when I sent my weekly newsletter.
It’s not like this is an abnormal event; they didn’t subscribe in any huge numbers to make me wonder what happened. It’s something that occurs every week after I hit that “publish” button.
And you know what? It really doesn’t bother me-for a couple of reasons.
The first reason can be explained with a simple formula:
Attraction > Attrition
That is, I can count on a net positive every week, as I attract more subscribers than I shed. …
Leaders know themselves. And that requires reflection.
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” — Søren Kierkegaard
With the new year upon us, it seems like everyone is trying to put 2020 in the rear-view mirror, never to be mentioned again. But healthy reflection doesn’t avoid the unpleasant reality; it acknowledges it and uses it to grow.
Reflection isn’t something that needs our attention once a year. It’s a habit and should be developed like any other habit.
If done well, it can result in clarity of mind, a less volatile knee-jerk reaction to things, and deeper relationships.
Why is it that we find reflection so difficult? …
Your words are only as good as your actions.
“A great deal in life depends on who smacked your hand at breakfast when you were a child.” — Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993
“Don’t make me turn this car around!”
Who, having been confined to the backseat of the family wagon, hasn’t heard those words uttered in frustration from the front seat? They’re part of the lore of the family trip.
But who in reality has experienced dad or mom actually turning the car around and canceling the vacation?
As children, we’re trained to believe that the worst threats would be fulfilled, with devastating results. Intimidation by corporal punishment (“the belt”) has given way to the terror of revoked screen time — generations separated by virtue of disparate physical objects — evocative of a horrible, dreadful outcome. …
By Sir Walter Raleigh
Farewell, false love, the oracle of lies,
A mortal foe and enemy to rest,
An envious boy, from whom all cares arise,
A bastard vile, a beast with rage possessed,
A way of error, a temple full of treason,
In all effects contrary unto reason.
A poisoned serpent covered all with flowers,
Mother of sighs, and murderer of repose,
A sea of sorrows whence are drawn such showers
As moisture lend to every grief that grows;
A school of guile, a net of deep deceit,
A gilded hook that holds a poisoned bait.
A fortress foiled, which reason did defend,
A siren song, a fever of the mind,
A maze wherein affection finds no end,
A raging cloud that runs before the wind,
A substance like the shadow of the sun,
A goal of grief for which the wisest run. …
Our memories can play tricks on us. Good leadership needs to balance emotion and clarity.
In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Miranda is the daughter of Prospero. She was banished to an island at the age of three, along with her father, where they lived for over a decade with only their only company their slave, Caliban. Miranda is blissfully unaware of the evils of the larger world and is openly compassionate.
“We are all sensitive to the splendors of beginnings, to the rare quality of those moments when the present is freed from the past without as yet letting anything shine through of the future that sets it into motion.” — Marc Augé, 2004
Nostalgia is something of a false prophet. It feeds us powerful visions: memories of a glorious experience of the past-something that makes us long to relive it, like a first visit to a favorite location or a first viewing of a classic film. …
Talking about our past is key to determining our future.
“The biological (if not the aesthetic) value of remembering is not that it allows one to reminisce about the past but that it permits one to calculate coldly about the unknown future.” — Colin Blakemore, 1976
Everyone loves an origin story.
From the first book of Genesis to Bruce Wayne witnessing his parents’ murder, we find satisfaction in knowing how people got where they did. Origin stories give us a raison d’être — a purpose for being.
Your own origin story and the origin of your company are important aspects of building a cohesive culture. …
Leadership as told through a scene in a classic western
“And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.” — William Shakespeare, 1599
We can find inspiration anywhere we look, if we keep the proper mindset.
Gratitude combined with curiosity — being a lifelong learner — is a formula that can set us up for success.
I usually pull stories from history or literature as guides for leadership and communication. In this case, I’m going to switch it up a bit.
Last week I came across a scene in the 1958 Academy Award-winning film The Big Country that gave me pause. …
We can find positives even in the most dire situations.
“What we learn in the time of pestilence: that there are more things to admire in men than to despise.” — Albert Camus, 1947
The story I’ll share with you in this edition of the newsletter is more personal than most. But the lessons are universal.
A couple of weeks ago, I tested positive for Covid-19.
It was a complete surprise, since I haven’t traveled since March when I returned from a client meeting in New York. …
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