The New Crop: Issue #39
how to appear smart in meetings + loneliness + knowing your impact
What’s in this issue:
💭 Thought: On loneliness
📚 Read: On Knowing Your Impact
😆 Today’s Laugh
I laughed out loud so many times when reading Sarah Cooper’s 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings. 🤣 Here are some snippets, including a fave of mine below:
💭 Today’s Thought
As we enter the holiday season, I’m reminded that this time of year isn’t fully joyful for everyone. It’s entirely possible to be surrounded by people and cheer and to feel lonelier than if you were actually by yourself.
Perhaps that’s your own experience, right now.
This season, in the spirit of giving to others, consider a gift that you can’t hold or touch or even see in front of your eyes.
It’s the gift of helping someone feel seen and important. And it’s worth far more than anything money can buy.
As leaders at work and in our personal lives, we’re charged with creating conditions that help others feel like they matter. Each day, how might you:
Grant someone the benefit of the doubt?
Give someone space to share something important to them?
Help someone feel seen?
And if you yourself are experiencing pain or loneliness, I leave you with immense compassion and this thought: by shifting your focus to helping others in their time of need, you might just find your own healing.
“Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.”
- Carl Jung
🖊️ Today’s Reflection
If you’re new to journaling, I highly encourage you to read Nancy Adler’s article: Want to be an outstanding leader? Keep a journal.
This week, find a quiet place and gift yourself 10 minutes to reflect on any of these prompts (or invent your own!):
What are some times in your life when you’ve felt alone? And what does loneliness feel like for you?
Write about a time when you felt deep connection to someone else, or importance. What contributed to that feeling?
What can I do at work, at home, and in my community to help others feel like they matter? Make a list and pick something to do in the next week.
📚 Today’s Read
As leaders, we have an impact simply by entering into a space, either in our personal or professional world. In this podcast episode, Jardena London and Marsha Acker discuss the importance of getting a full picture of the impact you’re having and putting your authentic leadership model into practice. Check it out!
See you next week!
xo,
Anne