Weekly Quote: Dan Harris, Author of 10% Happier, on Mindfulness as an Anecdote to Living Reactively
This week’s quote comes from Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier. I’ve previously quoted the former ABC News Anchor turned founder, author, and podcaster.
The story of Dan’s transformational journey is fascinating. I recommend this one on audio because he narrates the story himself, and unsurprisingly for a former professional broadcaster, he’s pretty good at telling a story, particularly his own!
Reactivity is Volatile
Reactivity is volatile and is rarely productive. You cannot plan for everything, but you do have the ability to understand and make choices about how you react.
This is a foundational element of Stoicism: Your reaction to how you feel when something happens is a behavior that you can learn to largely control. Your anger directed towards a situation at work does nothing but cause you discomfort. The situation does not care how you feel, and while the people involved may, your expression of those emotions typically does little more than inflame a situation.
Practice Makes Progress
You must exercise this ability of control, seek mindfulness, search for perspective, and avoid that volatility. You will not always be successful, but you should try anyway. The saying that practice makes perfect is a misnomer because there is no perfect. Instead, practice makes progress, and progress is meaningful.
In Stoicism, there is an understanding of memento mori, a reflection on one’s mortality. This is not meant to cause despair! Instead, take inspiration because your time is not infinite, and remembering that can help you gather the proper perspective and find a way to stay present.
The Big Idea
Mindfulness is a big idea. It’s a long road to follow. Many more metaphors could fill this space to describe how humans have sought a better understanding of the concept for millennia. Do your part for yourself right now. Read, journal, find some quiet time to think, connect with those who you love or who inspire you, and build your practice.
PKM Toolkit: Writing in Ulysses
PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) Toolkit is a series featuring the tools I use to create 24 Letters and manage my daily life. You can read the first entry here for more insight.
Since starting this blog, I’ve developed a habit of trying to write daily. My tool of choice is Ulysses, a writing app available on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. I really enjoy working with it, and here are a few reasons I use it to get writing done.
The Interface Gets Out of the Way
Ulysses is beautifully minimal, with navigational elements discreetly tucked away. Visual priority is always given to the most important thing, the text. The Editor Focus Mode pulls what little lives on the screen from view, like the small navigation elements, showing only the current text being written. Any goals for the document live in the upper right corner.
Organizing Documents is Easy
My document management system in Ulysses is straightforward. I have four groups that organize the writing content for 24 Letters and one new one for the 24 Newsletter. Ulysses uses the term groups in the same way that some applications use folders. They are:
Ideation:
This group was created reactively out of need more than planning. Despite my efforts to put ideas into Craft, they’ve found themselves in Ulysses too. This is where I put those wayward ideas that didn’t make it to the extensive list in Craft. I know this needs work. I don’t want the beginnings of ideas to get lost or to live in too many places.
Drafts:
Active writing lives here, and I spend the most time working in this group.
Ready for Review:
Ready for Review is material that is almost there. However, it may need some editing or hasn’t quite found its location in the posting schedule yet.
Sometimes, documents bounce from here back into Drafts because they need more work, or I’ve decided that a shift in tone or focus is needed.
Published:
Just as it sounds, documents in this group are live or scheduled to go live. In addition, there are sub-groups within Published that mirror the different sections of the live site, including regular features like Weekly Quotes, PKM Toolkit, and Finding Focus, as well as more general content items.
The 24 Newsletter:
This is the newest group for the monthly newsletter. I haven’t built the sub-groups out yet. However, I anticipate it mirroring the formatting of the main site. Speaking of the newsletter, have you subscribed yet?
Customizing Themes is Easy and Powerful
Ulysses offers a ton of customization visually, with several editor themes available in the app and many more on their website. My favorite, and the one I have been using for some time on all my devices, is Yosemite. Export styles are also highly customizable, although I have not changed those settings.
I write in Dark Mode all the time. For final edits, I export into PDF Expert and look at the document with the more traditional white background and black text. This perspective shift puts me in editor mode and helps me find errors more easily. Next, the text goes to Grammarly, and any changes are updated to the Ulysses document and then scheduled for publication.
Easy Formatting with Markdown XL
Markdown XL is a markup language based on Markdown. Markdown was created as a lightweight framework for formatting text. Before Ulysses, my experience with Markdown was limited. Now, I can’t imagine writing without it. It takes very little time to understand the syntax and once learned, it allows for more focus on the writing and requires less time switching back and forth from the mouse to the keyboard.
The Dashboard Shares Useful Information
The Dashboard provides basic information about the document currently being edited. It lives on the right side of the app and, like the library on the left side, is collapsible.
Word Count and Writing Goals:
I’ve started experimenting with this feature, primarily out of curiosity. I’m not writing for a newspaper or under contract, so I don’t think this matters much.
Reading Time:
The Reading Time feature is insightful in a similar way. Through experience, I’m getting faster at writing posts. I have spent many hours on something that might take someone 3 minutes to read. Yet, I still put appropriate thought, time, and effort into everything I do. I am learning to listen less to the voice of resistance (and insecurity) than I did when I first started.
Outline:
For longer documents, the Outline is beneficial. It creates a hierarchy of sections based on the heading formatting used and can be used to navigate from section to section. I like to look at this for posts with many sections and use it as a gauge to see if the writing flow makes sense.
The Words tell their Story
Having a writing app that works on all of my devices is the only way for me to succeed at writing. I get some time in my studio most mornings before the day begins, but the rest of the day is primarily spent doing any writing in short bursts on my iPad or iPhone.
Ulysses has the form and function to let me write successfully. It automatically backs up the library locally, syncs well via iCloud, is lightweight and customizable, functionally meets my needs, and makes the process more enjoyable. Ulysses started in 2003, and the polish is built in but never flashy. The developers understand the essential aspect of their app, getting out of the way of the words and stories people are trying to tell.
Weekly Quote: Ryan Holiday on Consistency and Willpower
This week's quote comes from Discipline is Destiny, the new book by Ryan Holiday. I wrote about this book and Ryan's impact on my creative journey earlier in the week.
Another complementary theme to this quote I've encountered in Ryan's work is waking up early to get stuff done, to build the habit of consistency. It isn't always easy to wake up at 5 am to write, but it's what I've been doing regularly for the last few weeks. I'm finding real gains, personally and around the content I can create by building this time into my daily schedule. I'm also happier because I want to do this, I enjoy it, and it's meaningful to me.
I get roughly an hour before the rest of the house begins to wake up, aside from the cats who usually join me. Sometimes, one of my children wakes up early, and I only have twenty minutes, but it's still time spent moving the needle, writing a few sentences, organizing some thoughts, and maybe planning for what's coming next.
It is incremental. It is day-to-day. This is becoming a theme for me because it works. Small gains every day result in something more significant, and that is precisely what I'm trying to accomplish.
Introducing the New Monthly Newsletter from 24 Letters
I’m excited to announce the launch of a free monthly newsletter that will bring additional content to readers who choose to subscribe.
I’m choosing this schedule because I think a once-monthly check-in with new ideas, behind-the-scenes stuff, links, recommendations, and reviews is the right fit for the pace of this site.
You can sign up here. If you do, you’ll receive the first issue in October.
Thank you for your support
I am excited about what I want to share with you via this site, the newsletter, and other projects that are currently brewing. I appreciate all of you and look forward to bringing you more content that you find useful and interesting!
Discipline is Destiny
Ryan Holiday's new book, Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self Control is available today. Discipline is the second in the Stoic Virtues Series, following last year's release of Courage is Calling.
I pre-ordered a signed copy directly from Ryan, which arrived on Saturday. I'm already a few chapters in, highlighter in hand. Ryan is one of those authors whose work I typically purchase in multiple formats, usually Kindle and in print. I have several of his books on audio too. As I said, I'm a fan!
I recommend either The Obstacle is the Way or Courage is Calling for someone new to his work. Although you won’t go wrong with any of his books, particularly the ones focused on Stoicism.
Here's Where I Started
I walked into a book store on a snowy December afternoon in 2017, and The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living caught my eye. It was on a table themed around the coming new year. Although I did not know who Ryan was then, I immediately knew this was a book I wanted to read.
More importantly, it was a book that I needed to read.
I had just finished four years as a business owner and was starting a new mid-level operations management job at a distressed account. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety, and The Daily Stoic was part of how I ended my day and managed the stress. I'd read the day's passage, maybe do a little journaling or some other reading, and go to bed. The book helped me stay grounded after many long and draining days of putting out fires, rebuilding the team, and developing relationships with everyone from the C-Suite to the frontline.
Six years after finding The Daily Stoic, I reach for it nearly every day and still feel like I'm learning new things. I hope you have a book or something similar that does the same for you. If you don’t yet, you know what I recommend.
Weekly Quote: Jan-Benedict Steenkamp on Leading People
This week’s quote comes from Jan-Benedict Steenkamp’s 2020 book Time To Lead: Lessons for Today’s Leaders from Bold Decisions that Changed History. Steenkamp is a marketing professor, keynote speaker, and author. He is also the co-founder and executive director of AiMark, a global non-profit foundation focusing on sustainable brand growth.
Perspective can come from understanding that everyone has days, weeks, or even months where things aren’t going well. So the mess that Steenkamp writes about in this week’s quote isn’t necessarily the product of a malcontent’s wish to cause trouble; it can come from bad luck or a challenging situation.
People go through stuff, and it isn’t always their fault. It could be that a family member is sick and the medical bills are piling up, their child is struggling with depression, or they get injured working around the house. A leader should consider the situation as they try and help the person get through it. That person won’t always make it; some problems are too much or too overwhelming, and the job can’t and probably shouldn’t compete. If you can’t help them find the path through, allow them dignity and offer some grace as they find their way out.
Trying to help is noble. It’s not always easy and sometimes requires more from you than you might like. Remember that giving of yourself in a measured way to someone who is hurting and still wants to show up might be what keeps them going.
Regardless of what happens, you have a choice. You can be someone who helps, even if, in the end, things crash and burn, or you’re just another part of the mess. The choice seems like an easy choice to me.
Tony Fadell on The Secret of Great Design
I recently finished reading Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell. The book looks at Tony's career in tech, starting at General Magic and Philips, moving to his time at Apple designing the iPod and iPhone, and then onto his work creating the Nest Learning Thermostat. In addition to being an author, Tony is an investor and advisor at Future Shape, mentoring startups with his experience and knowledge from many years as a designer, creator, team leader, and CEO.
Build is full of insights and interesting details into the products he helped create, a few of which I’ve shared as weekly quotes. Tony writes about the challenges of managing growing org charts, managing crises, developing the user experience, marketing, building a culture, and how successful companies work with their legal teams to best avoid one of the hazards of a successful and disruptive startup - litigation.
Overcoming Habituation
In this TED talk from 2015, Fadell talks about the need to overcome habituation as a critical driver for successful design and improved user experience. He offers three tips to get better at this::
Look Broader
Look Closer
Think Younger
Number three is something I see as my kids grow up. Kids haven't been habituated to the way things are, and they aren't afraid to probe why something is the way it is. You'veYou've probably seen this too if you are a parent or close to kids. It'sIt's worth taking note of how powerful that perspective can be.
Staying Beginners
Tony talks about how Steve Jobs wanted the teams at Apple to stay beginners. This is why Apple puts so much thought into not just interface and hardware but also the little things like shipping the original iPod with a charged battery or even the packaging design. Apple realizes that reducing friction is essential, especially for new customers, so their products aren't just easy to get out of their boxes; the process is elegant, and the device is ready to use.
Developing an Idea
If you've read Build, you'll recognize some of the stories and narrative devices that Tony used at TED in 2015 are weaved into the narrative of his book, published about seven years later. It's inspiring to see how ideas can simmer and continue to develop and improve over time.
It seems that Tony has followed his own advice throughout his career, from his time creating portable electronic devices at General Magic to his work on making the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Thermostat. He iterated, made mistakes, surrounded himself with other driven people, and found incredible success in developing some of our favorite products. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that's what makes this book so great. It's part autobiography, part strategy session, and entirely his lived experience that we can all benefit from reading.
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Weekly Quote: James Clear on Being Proud
This week’s quote comes from a thought James Clear shared on his Instagram. James is the author of Atomic Habits (3) and the 3-2-1 weekly newsletter.
This quote created some deeper thinking about pride and how it fits into daily life, particularly in the professional realm. I’m traveling this weekend for a wedding, and look forward to sharing more in a future entry when I have some time to develop the idea further.
Communication Expert Julian Treasure on How to Speak so that People Want to Listen
There’s a good chance you’ve already seen the 2013 TED talk from Julian Treasure about speaking so that people will listen. Julian discusses several aspects of communication, including the “seven deadly sins of speaking” and the four cornerstones to speak more clearly and connect with the listener. Finally, he covers some tools you can use to make your voice more receptive.
A few minutes into watching this, I realized I had seen this talk before. I flashed back several years to my then office and remembered coming across Julian and this talk on LinkedIn, of all places. Total Deja vu.
All this is to say that it’s worth watching again if you’ve seen it, probably annually. It’s helpful to get a tune-up on how we speak and communicate, given how important it is to most aspects of life.
NY Times: Planning for the End of Elizabeth's Reign Began at the Beginning
The New York Times has a fascinating look at the succession plan for Queen Elizabeth II, referred to as Operation London Bridge.
From the article:
The death of Queen Elizabeth II sets in motion a meticulously choreographed and coordinated procedure for which the palace, the government, the news media, the local authorities and the queen herself had long planned.
As Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II fulfilled her duties through a period of change worldwide. I’m sure she had some incredible stories to share, although she didn’t seem, at least to this American with a soft spot for the UK and its customs and people, to be the kind who told tales.
Tony Fadell on Leaders Taking Ownership During a Crisis
This week’s quote comes from Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell. Tony is a longtime entrepreneur, the founder and one-time CEO of Nest Labs, and the co-creator of the iPod and the iPhone.
It’s important to remember that if you are the leader, you are the one who is responsible, especially when things go wrong. In chapter 4.6 of Build, appropriately entitled Crisis, Tony lists some helpful tips for getting to the other side. The above quote is number 5, and here is the complete list with a brief description for each:
Keep focused on the problem. Blame comes later.
Instruct the team on the what and how, and then let them do it. Do not micromanage.
You are not alone. Ask for advice from people you trust who may have experienced something similar.
Constantly communicate with all stakeholders.
Accept responsibility and apologize.
Making excuses or even denying that a problem exists does nothing but make the situation worse and will quickly lose the confidence of everyone around you. Crisis management has become a profession, yet anyone can benefit from having Fadell’s experience-based list. The best way to learn is through experience, so the next time you are in a crisis at work or home, grab this list. You can bookmark this page, or better yet, get the book and highlight the chapter. If you do as Tony suggests, you have a fighting chance of surviving the crisis and learning something from it.
I have two decades of operations management experience, and I can’t think of a time when saying “I’m sorry” to someone for a mistake my team or myself had made caused the situation to get worse. Apologizing humbles you, and that’s a great way to start the process of fixing the mistake and finding your way through the crisis.
Weekly Quote: John Kenneth Galbraith on Changing Minds
This week’s quote comes to us from John Kenneth Galbraith. Galbraith was a professor of economics at Harvard University, United States Ambassador to India under John F. Kennedy from 1961 to 1963, and an advisor to President Johnson. He was also a prolific author of dozens of books, including several memoirs and highly regarded books about history, the economy, and society.
It’s easier and more comfortable to reinforce your current beliefs than question them. So you probably seek out information that helps support and reinforce the things you believe. Most people do this occasionally, and it takes effort to overcome.
Despite the challenges associated with rethinking, the next time you have an opportunity to do it after collecting new information, you should. It may feel difficult in the short term, but it’s worth it because you stand to gain a new and potentially more valuable perspective that can help you grow as a person.
I recommend reading Think Again by Adam Grant if you want to learn more about this idea. Adam does a lot of research on how useful it is to think like a scientist and not a prosecutor or a preacher when searching for the truth. As is usual with his books, the narrative is compelling and the argument is sound. The audiobook, narrated wonderfully by the author, also an experienced podcaster with a talent for telling stories, is worth listening to as well.
Steven Pressfield on The Daily Stoic Podcast
If you are a fan of Ryan Holiday and Steven Pressfield, you can probably see how much these two authors inspire and help me on the journey to shape my voice and my resolve to write, create, share, and educate.
Steven has a new book out called Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be that I am looking forward to reading. I read The War on Art just before starting 24 Letters and occasionally revisit chapters and quotes from it to keep me motivated.
Pressfield was a guest recently on Ryan’s Daily Stoic Podcast, and the conversation was brilliant. These two guys like and respect each other and lean on one another for support and honest feedback.
The podcast has some great guests. Other favorites include The Psychology of Money Author Morgan Housel and author, professor, and podcaster Scott Galloway.
In fact, when I learn about someone new I usually go search the podcast feed because Ryan has frequently had them on for an in-depth and informative conversation that’s worth listening too.
MIT Professor and AI Pioneer Patrick Winston on How To Speak
I recently found out about this video featuring the late MIT professor Patrick Winston’s talk How To Speak. From the description:
Patrick Winston’s How to Speak talk has been an MIT tradition for over 40 years. Offered every January, the talk is intended to improve your speaking ability in critical situations by teaching you a few heuristic rules.
Professor Winston has this presentation nailed down, hitting the beats and keeping people engaged. He even gets some laughs, which, even after 40 years of presenting this talk, must still have felt good.
If you haven’t seen this, take an hour and enjoy. I’ve watched this once, and pretty quickly, I knew a second viewing to take some notes about the big ideas would be required.
MIT Press also published Make It Clear: Speak and Write to Persuade by Professor Winston. I’ve added it to my reading list.
This course is part of the MIT OpenCourseWare program, which offers thousands of courses available for free to anyone without payment or registration. It’s a knowledge rabbit hole that I want to some time exploring, and I hope you do too!
Weekly Quote: Seneca on Finding Courage Through Hardship
This week's quote from Seneca is included as part of the chapter on adversity in The Practicing Stoic by Ward Farnsworth.
Ward has written an excellent book on Stoicism that I have quoted multiple times. I read this book slowly for the first time, taking lots of notes and highlights for future reference, and I am already rereading chapters and passages that can help me make sense of something happening.
It's been a challenging year, although none of what's happened is particularly remarkable or unique to my family, and it's all been manageable despite being exhausting and occasionally overwhelming. I know everyone goes through tough times, and I've been trying to learn from these experiences. Here are a few things that I'm figuring out that might help you too:
I Cannot Control Every Situation
I'm getting better at understanding more quickly when a situation is beyond my control. One of our children, who is now fully recovered, got sick and ended up in the hospital for a few days. I couldn't fix that. I could only be a participant in a bigger plan for recovery and stability for the entire family.
I Can be More Patient
I think I am a pretty patient person, and I am working on getting more tuned in to what it means to be a patient son, father, and husband. Different roles in my life need other things from me. Patience is universal, but there are nuances that I'm picking up on.
Creating Through Adversity Shuts the Resistance Down
I believe that adversity can spark creativity. Unfortunately, I've had very little time to create or write over the last several weeks, but the ideas are still coming and are meaningful to me. I've been feeling The Resistance a lot recently. Its presence encourages me that I am on the right path. I'm not giving up. I'm doubling down.
Building Courage is Worth Doing
I'm building my courage through practice. Living a rich life means that adversity will happen, and while it can be difficult, I feel more prepared to face what is next because of what I have already gone through.
How I Face Hardship Matters
Whether it's at work or home, someone is watching. I may struggle with a situation, but I can strive to have a measured and thoughtful response when it all goes wrong, or something scary happens. Essentially, the definition of being courageous.
Recognizing my Good Fortune Builds Endurance
I am deeply fortunate to have a healthy and happy family. We are coming closer because of these experiences, which is another gift of endurance I will gladly take as part of this journey.
Weekly Quote: Marcus Aurelius on Having no Opinion
This week’s quote comes from Marcus Aurelius, author of Meditations, Stoic philosopher, and Roman Emperor from 161 to 180.
Choosing not to have an opinion on a subject over which you have no control is a valuable lesson. It’s vital to learn the difference between what should receive your attention and the low signal, high noise stuff that doesn’t deserve your time but does its best to get in front of you regardless.
When you cast your opinion towards things that don’t matter, when you comment and like or share, when you offer an idea that you may not even believe in, it’s easy to get sucked into a vortex that makes you unhappy and robs you of your attention and inspiration. It’s not an easy place to escape, so avoid it.
In fact, entire industries thrive when you don’t follow this advice, with some sharing impressive quarterly earnings on calls to their investors, touting the financial success of their engagement strategy.
Time is the most valuable commodity you have. Do everything you can to avoid getting caught up in things that don’t matter. Guard your attention, and honor yourself by making the most of it.
Weekly Quote: Tony Fadell, Author of “Build,” on Screwing Up
This week’s quote comes from the book Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell, founder and one-time CEO of Nest Labs and the co-creator of the iPod and the iPhone.
Mistakes are the language of growth, and the idea of productive struggle is one of untapped potential. It’s a powerful experience to learn something, especially after getting it wrong.
I’m a few days late with this because of illness in the family, and I’m unable to write many thoughts, although I do not doubt that I’ll be sharing more from this book in the future. Tony is an accomplished and driven guy from whom we can all learn a great deal.
PKM Toolkit: Using Kindle for Learning and Research
Books are a significant source of joy in my life and a big part of what inspires this site. I read daily, even if only for a short time on busy days, and I do most of my reading using the Kindle app on my iPad.
I like using Kindle because it makes reading more manageable and more accessible. I can easily organize highlights and streamline knowledge transfer into other places for future access. Here are some other reasons why Kindle is an essential aspect of my personal knowledge management system.
Readwise Integration
I wrote about how much I use and like Readwise in the first entry of the PKM Toolkit series. I have used an old-fashioned highlighter in print books and then typed those quotes or passages into Readwise, but it’s time-consuming. Live Text on iOS makes this a little easier by taking a photo and then copying the text,, but highlighting in the Kindle app is simple. Readwise is integrated with Kindle and can automatically sync highlights for me.
Using the Kindle highlight feature, which imports into Readwise easily, is a low-friction way for me to take notes because I need to highlight the text. As a result, the interruption in reading is limited.
Split Screen for Intensive Note Taking
While Readwise is my go-to app for short highlights and the quotes that I feature, Craft is the app I use for data collection, in-depth note-taking, and as a tool for reviewing and tracking my projects.
On my iPad, I can have Craft and Kindle open in split-screen, so I can paste text and take notes. I don’t do this often, but it’s convenient to have the option.
Searching
The keyword search feature in Kindle works well. I like how It breaks down the results into different sections, starting with notes and highlights and then sections of the book by chapter.
I use this feature a lot when building a quote post, so I can find the original context from which the quote was pulled.
Access on Other Devices
Sometimes I read on my iPhone or my hardware Kindle, and because the sync feature is pretty reliable, I can switch back and forth as needed.
Where it Fits in
I get a lot of information from the books I read, which end up in different places based on the intended use. Highlights go into Readwise but can end up in Craft for a different kind of review, and some go to Day One in my personal reflection journal, where I can write at length to get more clarity on a concept.
Despite enjoying ebooks, I still like the printed page, and my personal preference for Kindle is what works best for me right now. With Kindle, I like the portability, ease of note-taking, and access to my books on different devices.
If you’re trying to improve your reading experience on the iPad, you can read about how I hid the reading progress and clock in Kindle and also check out my Reading Focus Mode that helps deal with distractions.
PKM Toolkit is a series featuring software and ideas that help collect, organize, review, and share knowledge. You can learn more about personal knowledge management by reading the first entry of the series.Weekly Quote: Annie Murphy Paul, Author of “The Extended Mind,” on Teaching to Learn
This week’s quote comes from a favorite and often quoted book here on 24 Letters, The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain by Annie Murphy Paul.
The context of this quote is that children who are encouraged to take home what they are learning and teach it to their family members can learn more and better understand the material through this act.
This seems to work, in a few different ways, in our adult lives too.
When you were asked to teach your colleague that new system at work, it probably helped you learn it more thoroughly. It may have sharpened your social skills, potentially giving you more confidence, greater empathy, and a better understanding of communicating clearly.
When you go to your doctor, you may experience the teach-back method. Health care professionals are increasingly being trained to ask in a nuanced way for the patient to repeat back what they heard after a conversation so they can offer clarification and address any misunderstandings. The added benefit is that by doing this, the recipient has an opportunity to better understand the information by teaching it to the provider.
You probably remember someone who taught you something important. It may have been in school, a job, or maybe a friend who impacted your life. Perhaps it was a new skill that made you better at your job or a new idea that helped you improve your relationships. Whatever it was, you know the value of teaching even if it isn’t your job because you not only remember that person, you remember how they changed you. Everyone can and should teach what they know; it’s a gift you can give someone that can help improve their lives and the lives of those they touch.
Weekly Quote: Stephen Covey on Leadership and Management
This week’s quote comes from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.
This quote resonates with the leadership and management styles that I most admire. Skilled leaders recognize that they are a beacon of strength, experience, and guidance to those around them, and they see their team as vital to their own success and treat them as such.
I’ve found the best outcome for a leader, and a team is to develop a symbiotic relationship where all involved rely on each other for individual and collective success. No one does it alone, and embracing that can be the key to the kind of forward momentum that results in triumph.