When we are angry, we want justice. This is the child inside of us. Grown-ups should be able to let things go. Grown-ups pick their battles and move on to things that are more important than being right about some trivial matter or correcting some minute imbalance in the scales of the universe. Small justice is a
There is an unfortunate trend in our culture that is beginning to shape the way we respond to others. It’s the idea that if we don’t like the behavior of someone, we can “cancel” them as if they are a television show that is deemed “no longer acceptable.” This is the antithesis of what it means to
Emotions are real and shouldn’t be dismissed. They also should not be over-emphasized to justify rash actions. It’s every teammate’s responsibility to maintain a healthy balance between rational thought and emotional motivation. This is done by acknowledging how we feel but choosing to act on what we know. Emotions should move us and facts should decide for
Leaders who hold the baseline between panic and dismissive indifference find themselves in the most precarious place. Some people will find their steadiness a comforting guide. Those are usually the ones who don’t swing too far from the baseline. They’re the reasonable folks who are looking for reason. Unfortunately, there are unreasonable folks who are, by definition,
We can either treat pain like a good teacher or an evil one to be avoided at all costs. How we respond shows us what we are able to handle. If we run from pain, we know we cannot handle much adversity. That may feel like a harsh judgement and it’s probably true of the majority of
Any teammate can treat the rest of the team well when they are treated well. The test of a great teammate is how they respond when another teammate disappoints them. Sometimes it’s best to try to understand what caused the disappointment. Is it simply a bad day? Did they not sleep well? Are the struggling with other
Passive-aggressive bitterness is a dysfunctional form of deception that distracts from the team’s purposes and goals. I use the word deception because everyone else is deceived into thinking the shift in attitude or tone has nothing to do with the small offense that has grown in the mind of the offender. Passive-aggressive behavior that hides conflict and
When we see the world as it should be, we set ourselves up to live a life of disappointment. I choose to see the world as it is so I can influence closer to the ideal. If I choose to only see the world through a sentimental lens, I would be tempted to expect the ideal and
Circumstances tend to tell a story about the quality of a team. How a team responds to good times and bad times reflects the actual state of a team. This does not always match the professed or believed state of a team. Good teams can struggle with pride. Bad teams can allow insecurity to dominate their decision
There is reality and then there is what we want and choose to see. We all have ideal circumstances that we aim for. I have learned that ideal is rare. Very rare. It’s best to see the world as it is and not how we imagine it should be. This is a key to a much more