Week 22.37 The Past

Sunday, I walked past and then stood at the Fireman's memorial on Riverside Drive for the annual remembrance of September 11. For each of us who witnessed the destruction of the World Trade Center's twin towers, watched the events unfold via news outlets, or simply imagined its horror, there is an indelible mark on our soul and psyche. And while as a New Yorker, this is a very present trauma for me, I know that there are so many other traumas that people worldwide and throughout history have suffered. In a podcast interview between Annie Gelb and Allison Russell, I heard the song "Quasheba, Quasheba" in which Russell sings of holding trauma together with joy and celebration.

I find myself struggling because this is difficult and moving. I hear the truth in Russell's music how we live in a relationship with ourselves, our neighbors, our world, and our ancestors. I hear a deep connection and appreciation for those who lived before us, giving us a perspective and appreciation for our own time. I hear the gratitude to our past for being our teacher. I hear her implore us to assume humility for our achievements and carry our obstacles with perspective.?

The lyrics of Russell's song intertwine with the melody to create a somber and hauntingly beautiful piece of strength, hope, and acceptance of trauma. It places her ancestor's journey in relationship to her own history and life experience. Each of us had ancestors who struggled, suffered, sacrificed and overcame obstacles to enable us to be here now. She reminds us that our lives do not spring from a vacuum but are part of a beautiful continuum of struggle. And from that revelation, we can draw from ancestral strength and survival and find joy in our freedoms, to choose to live every day with an open and loving heart.?

One of Russell's key insights is that a person can hold trauma and strength simultaneously. While it does not make the trauma disappear, it is a powerful reframing. It is a perspective that this moment is only a single moment in long history. This reframing is potent when applied to significant trauma, and it can also help navigate daily ups and downs. In Russell's example, we find the perspective applied through in the gratitude for those who came before her, the foundation under her allowing to help her to reach her current place. Looking at our own personal and generational traumas, I believe we can cultivate this same appreciation for those who came before us (including our younger selves who are, in their own way, our ancestors) and the lessons we have learned from them.?

It is often said that we cannot change the past. We do, however, have great control over our relationship with it. We choose to be defined by it, to allow it to hold us back, or to inspire and propel us forward. We each have ancestors that have suffered trauma, whether it was economic, political, or social. We can find ourselves aspiring for and creating a better future by accepting and transcending the past. We can mine the recent and the long-ago past for inspiration. We can have an appreciation for those around us and for our ancestors.?

We can allow the past to define us or leverage the past to make the present we choose. "Quasheba, Quasheba" demonstrates how to change the relationship with past trauma with dignity and presents a story of hope in the glorious melody, exquisite vocals, and graceful harmonies. We own the ability to define our relationship with our past, to hold the trauma with integrity, still celebrate, and become the great ancestors our future needs. In life and leadership, we are responsible for leading others into the future, and one of the most powerful tools we have is how we place ourselves and those we love and lead in a relationship with the past.

Check out OUR NATIVE DAUGHTERS

Leadership comes in all forms and some of the most outstanding leadership I have ever seen has come from Rhiannon Giddens and now #OurNativeDaughters. Our Native Daughters is a group made up of four black female banjo players, Amythyst Kiah, Allison Russell, Leyla McCalla and Rhiannon Giddens. Their 2019 album, Songs of Our Native Daughters, was named one of the best albums of that year by NPR, and the group was nominated for duo / group of the year at the 2020 Americana Awards. Individually and collectively through their music and their presence, they exemplify living a life in relationship to all things - with themselves, with each other, with the world, and with the past (the 5D life) I hope you find the music as moving as I do and are transformed.

Congratulations to Sally Helgesen for her induction into the #thinkers50 Hall of Fame

One of the world’s premier experts on women’s leadership, she is author of?How Women Rise?(with Marshall Goldsmith, 2018) which examines the behaviors most likely to get in the way of successful women. Previous books include?The Female Advantage: Women’s Ways of Leadership?(1990) and?The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work?(2010), which explores how women’s strategic insights can strengthen their careers.?The Web of Inclusion: A New Architecture for Building Great Organizations?(1995) is credited with bringing the language of inclusion into business. On a more personal note, Sally lives her values of kindness, compassion and strength every day.

The first Strategy Implementation Playbook is out! by Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez

You have crafted a strategy and identified how your organization will differentiate itself from the competition. You have committed to competing in a digital and sustainable world, and you are focused on adding value to your customers, shareholders, employees, and society at large. Now you must implement your strategy. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez and Robin Speculand, co-founders of the Strategy Implementation Institute and Harvard Business Review and number one Amazon bestseller, respectively, present the Institute’s body of knowledge to support leaders to succeed in implementing their strategy. Implementation rarely goes according to plan. At the Strategy Implementation Institute, their purpose is to develop implementation professionals worldwide. Recognizing that implementations fail more often than they succeed, they wrote this Strategy Implementation Playbook to provide you the step-by-step guidance to succeed.

With love and gratitude, Scott