The other day my car light started blinking, letting me know that I was running out of gas or, to be more precise, that I was at 25% tank capacity.  So, of course, my attention started to focus on finding a gas station soon so that I could fuel up.  I didn’t rush to a gas station right away though. It usually takes a few days of me seeing the blinking light before I do anything about it…but it kept reminding me that I needed to fill up before the car stopped.

Switch to a different view: 2022 for me was a difficult year – filled with lots of overwork, family events/complications to be sorted out, and new business responsibilities all competing for my attention.  By May, I was already running ragged and in need of re-charging. I knew I was tired, my friends and family told me to slow down, my body started giving signs. 

Nevertheless, I kept going. 

As a result, in the last 4 months of last year I was unwell and kept getting sick all the time – I had 3 rounds of antibiotics afters years of not having to take any. I had to take cortico-steroids. I had prolonged periods of sheer exhaustion and brain fog.

And still, I didn’t stop.

Until I just could not function anymore.  I physically could not go on and get things done, not even daily “living” tasks. 

At that point, I was forced to literally cancel everything, and take myself to a two-week retreat – sun, yoga, meditation and NO WIFI, calls, or internet . I started to sleep 7 hours straight at night, I started walking, “day dreaming” and reconnecting with myself… 

And the world didn’t end: My family was fine. My clients were fine.  

As I go back to work, at a slower pace, I am surrounded by friends, colleagues, clients who are tired, overworked and under-nourished (energy wise).  And I ask myself: what can we do to get a better warning system – one that we will pay attention to, since we are not so great at listening to the ones we already have?  What will cause the “blinking” light to make our own well-being and health the priority of our radars and help us move from simple intent, 
to actual action? For me, it’s pre-programming breaks into my schedule, where I take time to spend in nature and travel.  I am also scheduling in reading time and time for idle coffees with friends.  I am putting limits on my email time and screen time.

I am not sure what will work best for me yet, it’ll take some trial and error.  But the point is we need to find ways notice and then pay attention to the ways our bodies and minds tell us we need a break.  

What are your early warning signals? As always, I would love to hear from you.

All the best,

It’s been a while!

I hope the summer has been great for everyone.  It was hectic, emotional, and productive for me….and for those of you who don’t know – I did a TedX talk in Italian!   It was crazy – 38 degrees, they changed the venue, we had a big audience crowded in an attic meeting room of the commune – with no air-conditioning! 

My talk, Leader conosci te stesso I shared the top three insights that working with leaders all these years has taught me.  I believe all of us who are leaders in our communities, families and workplaces can benefit from their experiences.  Please take a minute (12 to be exact 😊) to listen if you haven’t already. 

For those of you who don’t speak Italian – here is a quick translation of the introduction —

“At 47, I was at the peak of my career.  I had just sold the company I had co-founded, and where I had worked as COO.  Life was fantastic – I did everything I dreamt I would do if I ever had free time: I taught dance, took art classes, went on long walks…I enjoyed life to the fullest for many months…….and then.  What next?  What would I do when I grew up?
I felt the need to figure out at a deeper level what would turn me on and what would give greater meaning to my life at that point. It took me more than a year and a half to reflect. I had to resist all distractions, including job offers, which would have been so easy to pursue.  But it was worth it. In that space I reconnected with myself and what I loved and what my greater purpose in life was.
But today we live in a world where communication is reduced to 280 characters, spaces included. Sound bites.  Bullet points.  15-second videos on Tik Tok.  An email longer than a paragraph, risks having as a reply a 4-letter acronym: “TLDR”, “Too Long Didn’t Read”.  We have short attention spans.  
Why? In a frantically changing world, our mental, emotional and physical state is also altered, and we take shortcuts and immediately go into “automatic” mode, into “auto-pilot.”
But, auto-pilot is only good for airplanes. We, humans today, need anything but auto-pilot.  In turbulent times, we need to “buckle up”- pay attention to how to evolve and grow consciously, how to discard preconceptions and old patterns that no longer apply.
Smart phones do an update several times a year, what about us?”

I hope the message in the video resonated for you, I’m trying to spread the word and I would love your help in sharing it with people you think may be interested. 
As always, I would also love to hear your thoughts.

All the best,

I love watching sports – the players are always so in-the-moment, they are future focused (i.e. where the ball is going not where it was, where the game is going, not where it was). In many ways, athletes and leaders have quite a bit in common in terms of discipline and focus. 


Two days ago, Ana Botin of Banco Santander, offered Rafael Nadal a job with the company when he retires on a video call in front of her employees.  What she wrote about Rafa about what he can teach us resonated with me, and I thought I would share it with you. The bullets are her words, not mine.
 

• If you overthink the last point, you won’t be prepared for the next one.
• Learn to forgive yourself, accept and control frustration, and keep working to improve.
• Step-by-step, try to find a solution in every moment.
• Don’t rush to success. Achieving your goals requires hard work, patience, and a long-term commitment.
• Even with a winning strategy, you will not win every match. Accept it.
• To be the best, you don’t have to have all the answers. Lean on your team, and let them speak up.
• And a piece of sage advice from his father: observe everything and everyone around you carefully, take the good things and discard the bad ones.

Words to keep with us!  What do you think?

If you would like to see her post (source of this article) and watch the video, click here. 

All the best,

Happy New Year! I hope you are settling into 2022 despite the upheaval and chaos that, by now, is part of our world.  These days, one of the biggest questions that I have been pondering – both at work as well as when I look at the world around me – is how we can create more fairness and opportunity for all.

And lo and behold, Harvard Business Review just published a great article 11-trends-that-will-shape-work-in-2022-and-beyond!

And the first trend they cite that will “be the defining issue for organizations” is a focus on Fairness and Equity.  They say it better, so let me quote directly from them:

“Debates that have fairness at the core, whether it’s around race, climate change, or Covid vaccine distribution, have become flashpoints in society.

According to our analysis of S&P 500 earnings calls, the frequency with which CEOs talk about issues of equity, fairness and inclusion on these calls has increased by 658% since 2018.

And questions of fairness and equity are emerging in new ways:

• Who has access to flexible work? We’ve seen organizations where some managers allow their employees flexibility while other managers don’t.
• What happens when employees move to locations with a lower cost of living? Should employers lower their compensation even though the impact of their work hasn’t changed?
• In today’s labor market, companies are paying 20% compensation premiums to hire new employees. Is it fair to pay new employees so much more than established employees?
• Companies are offering new, targeted investments for specific segments of their workforce (e.g., additional financial resources to support employees with children). While these investments are critical to help those employees do their job, employees without children have asked “Why are employees who are parents getting something and I’m not?”

In 2022, executives will need to address how they are managing fairness and equity across the increasingly varied employee experience. In fact, this will be the number one priority for HR executives next year”

Read the full article here, and I always enjoy hearing from you and your perspectives – I would also be thrilled to hear about what you and/or your organizations are doing to move concretely on some of these issues. 

All the best,