Leadership

At the beginning of the holiday season, transitions seem particularly difficult. What we are exposed to and learn at MEA is how the “messy middle" is a challenge that we are often not prepared for.

“There lies the longing to know and be known by another fully and humanly, and that beneath that there lies a longing, closer to the heart of the matter still, which is the longing to be at long last where you fully belong.” — Frederick Buechner, “The Longing for Home”

Chip recently asked in a blog, "How do you ask for help when you're embarrassed to do so?" It's been a week of reflection for me. For I too used to resist asking for help. That was my identity. I built a remarkable career with that trait. I was the "essential one" – key to winning the biggest-of-big pitches, a magnet for press interviews, the one who C-suite clients were drawn to.

A good friend (and MEA alum) recently sent me this observation:

Neuroscience teaches us that a young adult's brain is fast and focused, with a similar value to having a flashlight on a night hiking trip. It can move quickly and offers precision control so that you can quickly see the path ahead of you. There's a certain intensity to a flashlight and a young brain.

Deepak and me, we go way back! Okay, maybe NOT. Other than seeing him across the room while he gave a conference speech long ago, I’ve never met the man.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported an encouraging trend: the top-earning 10% of men in the U.S. labor market logged 77 fewer work hours in 2022, on average a 3% reduction than those in the same earnings group in 2019. This diminishing workload comes after years of seeing these often-workaholic men grow their hours.

In a recent MEA leadership workshop, we talked about how many practices, habits, and hacks that we offer in Baja are applicable back in the real world of teams. And then, this excellent article came out from the Wharton School, which outlined what neuroscience has to do with this.

We’re born with a soul, and early in life, we grow an ego that serves as our means of individuating in a messy world. If we get it right, aging becomes a process of moving from our ego to our soul. So, the ego is flanked by a soul early and late in life.

Imagine being the most powerful person on earth and then publicly embarrassed with one of the largest electoral defeats of a sitting U.S. President. Jimmy Carter left office at 56, ripe for a serious midlife crisis. What comes next when you rose and fell so precipitously?