90 Seconds to Be Inspired

I love surprises. A fabulous one came my way a few weeks ago with an invitation to join Arthur Woods on his latest project: Work in Progress. We gathered at Art Basel in Miami for a 60 person think-tank on what the future of work can and should look like. It was inspiring and provocative!

The opening keynote was led by Futurist Elatia Abate who shared an idea that humans are experiencing a “depth deficit”.

It makes sense. We move from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting, we have 5 minute surface conversations mom to mom in the pickup line before speeding off to gymnastics, we have so much to do that the doing gets in the way of connecting.

I started to feel the depth deficit profoundly earlier this year. Two years after leaving NYC for sunny Isle of Palms, I was missing the deep professional and personal connection I’d had in the pre-Covid days. So, I did two things. I began networking with people locally and I cofounded Wendy Road to bring people together and give me an excuse to be in NYC on the reg. 

I have been called many things, some not-so-flattering and yet one, very flattering: CATALYST.

When we are missing something, we seek to find it, and if we can’t find it, we build it, my friends.

In the words of Sir Richard Branson, “Screw it, let’s do it!” (I continually come back to this podcast episode) and Reid Hoffman’s addition: “What If? Why Not?”

It’s a time of tremendous change and opportunity. But it requires all of us to take bold leaps towards innovation.

And as we explore the impact AI is having and will have on our day to day, the call to action is that we seek and provide more depth with each other. Be a catalyst for connection!

90 Seconds to Learn a Little

At Work in Progress, I led the work stream on “the future of the manager”. 

Our mission? Answer this question in 90 minutes ; )

The answers led to a fascinating debate and here’s what we came up with:

“In ten years managers will…”

• Reimagine work as a product and treat people like humans not things (this fascinating article was written by an incredible attendee Dart Lindsley)

• Focus on clarity versus control. AI will make task management likely obsolete. We won’t have any use for micromanagers but a greater need for Leaders who can set direction, and guardrails will emerge.

• Serve as holders of space and guardians of time. This last one really struck me. Another brilliant attendee was Amon Woulfe who reminded us that technology’s promise is to “set humanity free” and that maybe our evolving role as managers, in a world that is accelerating so quickly, is to “maintain a human pace”. Imagine a world where we are holders of space and guardians of time…I would love to work in that world.

But how do we get there?

I think it starts with managers and leaders doing this for yourselves.

“Nothing is so contagious as an example; and we never do any great good or evil which does not produce its like.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld

How? Here are a few ideas:

• Go to therapy and/or get an executive coach. My life changed dramatically when I hired a coach because they often gave me what my manager couldn't - they held space for me and helped me guard my time. Self awareness may be the Achilles heel of leadership. Invest in yourself. It’s not a sign of weakness rather, one of strength.

• Identify your best time of day and guard it fiercely. I was born a morning person and for years I preserved that time for me. To read, to think, to exercise. Then babies came and working European time zones came and all of a sudden, I was less effective than ever because I wasn’t guarding my best time. I had to reclaim the mornings in a compromise, but I had to reclaim them nonetheless. So now, some mornings I spend with my kids, some I spend with Europe, but most I keep for myself. This isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength.

• Meet in person and turn your camera on. Another mind-blowing keynote delivered at Work in Progress was given by Sarah Baldeo, a neuroscientist and Ted talker. Two key things she shared:

  1. The human brain has a preference for face-to-face communication. 75% of what you say will not be remembered if your camera is off

  2. Our brains are constantly changing. And age of workers does not correlate to ability to change.

90 Seconds to Connect

In person connection is a vibe. And it’s one I’m prioritizing right now in two big ways.

Wendy Road. 15 of us gather for dinner and connection every month or so. Look at these people!!! Zero depth deficit here.

Charleston Founders Club - There are a lot of founders who are building incredible businesses in this town, but many like me have moved here and take the “commuter jet” to NYC Mondays at 6am. I realized as great as it is to live here, I wanted to work here too. And to do that, I needed a professional community locally. And amazingly, it only took about two months to build a small group of founders who all live in my town! I did it simply by asking parents what they do for work, googling local founders and DM’ing them to invite them to coffee, and asking everyone who else I should meet. Now look at us!

If you need further inspiration on how to connect, I spoke a bit about how to build an effective network on Adriaan Kolff’s podcast Leaders in Talent in case you want more tips!

Help expand my inner circle!

My company, ScaleJOY, has delivered quality experiences to hundreds of clients and has grown solely by word of mouth referrals. Spread the joy by sharing this newsletter, or connect them directly to me for leadership development, coaching, or offsite facilitation. Thank you for your continued support!