Newsletters
During a networking breakfast, Maggie shared a story that had me transfixed: I vividly imagined her epiphany moment when she sat at her corporate desk in a large technology company at 8:30 one night and realized that she needed to leave her career in Information Technology. While searching internal job postings, she decided to roll…
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About a year after I joined General Mills in 1999, I was talking to a friend about how I still felt like an outsider. She said, “Jean, that’s because no one gave you the ‘secret decoder ring’ to help you understand the company’s culture.” At the time, I felt like she read my mind and…
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As a 50s housewife with three pre-school kids in La Crosse, Wisconsin, my mom, Lois, spotted an ad in the paper for 50¢ watermelons. When my dad got home for lunch, she rushed out with their only car to take advantage of this bargain. To her dismay, when she got to the store she found…
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Truth, naked and cold, had been turned away from every home in the village. Her nakedness frightened people. When Parable found her she was huddled in a corner, shivering and hungry. Taking pity on her, Parable took her home, dressed Truth in story, warmed her and sent her out again. Clothed in story, Truth knocked…
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Emerging from the airport to stand in the cab line, Harvey was shaking the travel cobwebs from his brain and looked up to see a bright, shiny taxi. The cab driver jumped out and said, “Hi, I’m Wally. While I load your luggage, I invite you to read my mission statement.” Wally handed him a…
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A man came upon a construction site where three people were working. He asked the first, “What are you doing?” and the man replied: “I am laying bricks.” He asked the second, “What are you doing?” and the man replied: “I am building a wall.” As he approached the third, he heard him humming a…
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A teacher walks into a classroom and sets a glass jar on the table. He silently places 2-inch rocks in the jar until no more can fit. He asks the class if the jar is full and they agree it is. He says, “Really,” and pulls out a pile of small pebbles, adding them to…
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My colleague, Annette Simmons, shared an insightful story: A new supervisor, who had been promoted for her track record in delivering outstanding results, was getting resistance from her team for being over-controlling and harsh in her feedback. Her manager was receiving feedback from disgruntled team members — mutiny was brewing. In their next 1:1 update,…
Read MoreIn the process of changing to a new budgeting process, my client called a meeting to bring alignment between different factions in preparation for a presentation to the executive team. One team had created a budget proposal, while another team had been challenged to assess the proposed budget against strategic priorities and identify gaps. As…
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In the midst of a chaotic episode of office politics, my boss said to me, “Jean, you need to understand, it’s not the pencil, it’s the window.” As I stood puzzled, she explained the story. Eva and Ron were peers in a company, but Eva had a cubicle with a window. If this wasn’t enough,…
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