On Perspective

"You must look within for value, but must look beyond for perspective." -?Denis Waitley

Ok 2023 time to leave you in the rear-view mirror. It has been a year of global challenges and horrors beyond imagination. And yet it has also been a year of individual personal and professional joy, transition, and yes, even grief.?

I’ve learned that no matter what happens each year, when we take stock of the past year that seems to be so out of our control – I realize that the one thing we can control and that can help you through it all, is: perspective.?

When I met my husband a gazillion years ago (no not really, it just feels both like yesterday and also 40 years ago) his mom was going through a battle with cancer at the time for almost 20 years. He said to me early on, “I have to date a girl with perspective.” ?I’m pretty sure he said it with a capital P: Perspective.?

It was important to him because his mom who was my hero, when asked how she was feeling, she’d always say: “Great.”?

Boy did she have perspective.?

Still at the time, I didn’t think I was the girl for him. Because I often get upset when I break a nail, when there’s too much traffic, and when I forget that one thing at the grocery store. That is definitely not a girl with perspective. At least not with a capital P.?

But I came to realize I did have perspective at least as he meant it. I may be silly about what happens to me, but I’m your girl when you are in need. I am there on the spot and take pride in helping you through a crisis with humor and generosity. And I learned about perspective in a surprising place – by playing other people. By being an actor.?

As 2023 ends and I start the journey of writing my book Play You: The Role of a Lifetime in 2024 I can’t help but think about the importance that perspective plays for actors and for leaders.?

Actors have to step into the shoes of our characters. We have to gain perspective to understand the world we are building in the play and its connection to the real world. Most important, we gain perspective from understanding our characters in relation to the other characters and their roles.?

Today, when I work with leaders I help them gain perspective about themselves and their organizations with a capital P. I do this by helping them see what actors do to create believable characters and take their audience on a journey to their own new perspective.?

Leaders gain perspective by taking the time to zoom out from the day-to-day tasks of their business or organization in order to craft a vision of success. Then they have to zoom in and have perspective for other points of view in order to lead with empathy. And leaders can control the perspective (aka, narrative) of how people feel about their team, their organization, and ultimately, their impact on the world.?

It's been almost 40 years since we lost my mother-in-law. She taught me so much in the short time I got to know her. Mostly she taught me the most important perspective of all through the chaos of everyday life: the perspective to love deeply; the perspective to bring joy to others; the perspective to know your legacy lives on when you focus on making an impact.?

As we look back on the stories we made in 2023 and the stories we wish to craft in 2024 consider this: you get to control your perspective for yourself and for others. You get to make character choices driven by your values. You get to make a difference by choosing to understand the perspective of others. And you can change the world by having a wider lens of perspective (with a capital P) –? even when you are stuck in traffic.?

My wish for you this holiday season and for the coming new year is that you will have joy with those you love, and you will enter 2024 with the perspective to be who you are wherever you are in order to ignite your audiences – to play you the role of a lifetime.?

The Outlaw One this month is an amazing organization called Greyston Bakery, a certified B corporation that focuses on open hiring. I first heard about Greyston when the CEO at the time spoke at a conference in Rochester, NY about work force development and the impact of open source hiring.? Here’s a trailer about the new movie Zen Brownie chronicling the story of Greyston.

Here’s the link to get their incredible brownies that make an impact. I made sure to gift these to many of my clients this year and in doing so knew I was making a difference while sharing something filled with joy for the season.?Altruism that tastes so good counts too.?

I look forward to the opportunity to work with you or your organization to grow your EDGE: Explore, Dream, Grow & Excite? in 2024.?

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