Back2Different

There are perfect words whose meaning and sound transcend definition. Putz, for example, to capture perfectly that person who pulls into your parking space just ahead of you. L’appel du vide, that feeling some of us get like we’re being pulled to jump when we’re on a 30th-floor balcony. And einstellung just appeared in my reading. I’m very glad to welcome it aboard. Listen to a brief journey into the world of einstellung. Enjoy!

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

[email protected] is a great email address and pretty much captures Brian Morgan’s passion and mission. We both have worked as actors, both approach our work as an extension of our minds, heart, and spirit, and we are both fascinated by the dimensions of language. Writing, in particular, has brought us great sweat and great happiness. Brian offers a gripping insight - we need to work within others’ attention span and deliver credible statements if we aspire to write.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

I’ve been skipping along through articles and posts on the web, stopping here and there when a piece grabs me. There are three stipulations (which I didn’t develop, but simply realized). First, that the author is pitching insight rather than product. Second, the writing shows care and attention. Third, the author is increasing the reader’s understanding. So that’s how I found Michelle Jane van Rensburg—or she found me. She grew up in Botswana and lives outside Johannesburg. She’s finding her way by embracing where she is and by paying attention to inspired action.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

Ric Gonzalez-Rothi and I met walking down the street where we both live. Before COVID, we’d have said “Hi” or so, both of us being friendly. But instead we stopped and talked, and that became our habit. Ric is a retired physician and teacher with boundless credentials coupled with boundless dedication to his work and to people. Please join us as we talk about health, society, family, the outdoors, and a perspective about our time he calls collateral benefit.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

Spending more time on the web these days, I wade through lots of articles and postings that are hawking a product or trying to claim special expertise. The first sentence of Gillian Thomson’s post on a leadership site was about heart-centered leadership, and it was also from the heart. So we talked. About vulnerability, women in leadership, her son, her journey, our shared love of discovery and being fearless about mistakes, and mostly about courage and the heart. Courage, btw, comes from a root word that means ‘heart.’ Go figure.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

Seeing Alex and his son Luke provides an instant glimpse of love and responsibility. Alex is intentional in everything he does, and he also laughs easily and he’s wonderfully self-effacing. He works to help other folks through his position at Fannie Mae. He speaks about the analytical focus of his career, but his voice is the voice of a teacher, of a leader who values the warmth of relationships as central in his life. Join Alex Doty and me as we spend a little time exploring intentionality and connection.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

Baltimore Colts marching band, dancer and choreographer, doctorate in social psychology, Academic Chair of Human Services at Anne Arundel Community College—Dr. Nicole Williams holds nothing back. Community colleges are not just about subject matter and degrees. They also, in every sense, serve their population as support and connection. I’m currently enrolled in a course of study at AACC. It’s challenging, demands a high level of accountability, and connects me to a delightfully diverse bunch of people devoted to moving forward. Congratulations to Dr. Williams and all the folks at AACC for supporting a new community of learning.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

If you’ve lived in the Washington area for a while, you’ve heard Bob Timm’s voice. WHFS a few years back, introducing lots and lots of live bands, and now at WRNR in Annapolis. Like me, Rob has traveled the music road, we’ve both provided sound reinforcement behind a mixer for live music, and we both love what we do. Speaking with my friend reminded me how important community is right now, and that includes local radio, which helps hold together the fabric of our community.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

On his own since 13, John Bowling started work as a commercial fisherman, pulling in King Crab and salmon off the coast of Alaska. It’s one of the most grueling and dangerous jobs on the planet. Now John holds a PhD in psychology and provides leadership learning with his consulting operation, Sustainable Leadership. We hit it off from the git-go. We share a kaleidoscopic career path, enthusiasm for learning, and a childlike hunger for discovery. Like mine, John’s path has prepared him to accept sitting with uncertainty.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!

We’ve been blindsided by the pandemic. Yet we haven’t. This wave has revealed some deep flaws and cracks in our culture and our institutions. We’ve been stumbling along with these for some time, maybe just because they were familiar. That stumbling includes how we see learning and how we see leadership. The dislocation of education from big-box schools creates a space for us to re-build better. Let’s embrace the possibility that we can take technology, dislocation, learning research and our frustration with the clear inadequacies of the current system and build a better place to learn. I don’t think that will happen well if we don’t include, as equals, everyone, in the way forward, especially our learners of every age. If we can start by creating that connective tissue, we can do this right.

Never know what's going to show up when you click 'record'!