I’m a Canadian who’s been teaching leadership in the U.S. for almost 15 years. Yet this is the first election cycle in which I’ve been labeled a “foreigner” and told to stop “meddling.” It happened more than once, each time by a Trump supporter. The insecurity that President Trump has unleashed makes me question what…
In most of the world today, organized religion is being rejected. More and more young people are flipping the bird to theological authority, even in Muslim countries! At the same time, those who abuse political power appear to be filling the void. From the far Left to the far Right, we’re witnessing blind faith in…
In America’s transactional culture, workplace diversity often amounts to slapping labels on individuals. Professionals wind up being packaged like products. They’re crammed into prefabricated molds (“Black woman,” for example) and get showcased to make the company look cutting-edge. Emphasize look. Funny how the diversity hires tend to be excluded from meetings of decision-makers but are…
Let’s face it: For all our gushing about diversity, many advocates of it hold a hefty slice of America in contempt. We assume that Republicans despise difference, that Trump voters are lodged in a backward past, and that they plan to impose it on our future. But we scorn “them” at our peril. Because upon…
Imagine that millions of people of one faith, one heritage, and one community are being targeted by their government. Imagine that these people are being rounded up by the hundreds of thousands and forced into so-called “re-education camps,” where they face brainwashing, torture, neglect, and in some cases death. Imagine that they are slowly being…
What you’re about to read is a journey — and I launch it with the most famous line in the U.S. Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and…
In work and in life, one of the scariest things to do is negotiate with someone who disagrees with you. It takes moral courage to start, and sustain, that conversation. When I teach this skill, a crucial part of my method is improvisational theater (“improv”). Each participant has to accept what every other participant is…