Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Published weekly, with an original illustration. Two series: Becoming and Advisory Notes.
I believed fairness and love were the goals. Inclusion. Equality. An equal playing field for all. There was peace in the world. Fairness and love were the agenda. Sometimes I can still pull up those wonderful feelings – feelings long past. The warmth and kindness that was kindergarten. Where everything was right in the world.…
“It felt like a knife through my heart.” This from a client of mine who’d just had four people unsubscribe from his email list. Or this one from another client: “Every time she posts another success on Facebook, it feels like success is impossible for me. It’s as though her success is a direct result…
A hoodie, a mask and a cardboard sign. A tired look that goes with spending the day begging. “Will work for food” is the way it is in Seattle these days. My parents came of age in the ’30s. The Great Depression was their world. They came to Seattle in the late ’30s and rented…
“Don’t walk with him to school.” Richard Taylor and I were in the fourth grade together. I liked walking with him. Two of us together were less likely to draw the attention, and the meanness, of the bigger boys. I’d learned to be afraid of Dad’s wrath. So I didn’t ask why. But I knew…
Another black man dead under a white cop’s weight. Riots in the streets. Militarized police. Pandemic. 110,000 dead, and more to come. Votes not counted. The middle class shrinks. Incomes shrink. Wall Street rallies. The rich prosper. My thoughts trail off as I escape into sleep… Startled, he turns his head when I enter the…
Incomes for professional creatives have not increased in 30 years. As a result, it has become harder than ever to find economically sustainable creative work. Now with the virus, clients are putting projects on hold. Some creative employers are laying off whole groups who are not considered core to their enterprise. All this has left…
The concern for the economy over people is deeply disturbing. The profiteering from the virus is horrible. The misleading advice for political gain is disgusting. Depriving healthcare and other workers from the gear they need to stay alive. To stay healthy is appalling. I don’t know how to contribute other than helping my community adjust…