Well, I made it two years without writing about it, but now it’s time. Imposter syndrome. The first time I experienced it was when I graduated with my doctorate. My first thought was that I wasn’t ready. The more I learned, the more I realized that I knew nothing (or so I thought). Eleven years…
How We Grow by Learning From Others
I recently took advantage of an opportunity to give a workshop in my home state. This workshop focused on something I cared deeply about, and I was able to present this topic to teachers! It had been awhile since I worked with K-8 teachers, so this workshop felt like a stretch. Taking concepts that I…
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Making a Plan for Your Dream: Guest on Dr. Essie McKoy’s Podcast
I had the pleasure of being interviewed for a podcast last week, and it streams today. Dr. Essie McKoy is an exceptional educational leader and great interviewer. If you are trying to figure out next steps in your life, this is the podcast to listen to. It streams today at 5:30pm. https://bit.ly/DrEssieSpeaksPodcast Directory: https://bit.ly/DrEssieSpeaksEducation Playlist: https://bit.ly/DrEssieSpeaksEdPlaylist Take…
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Knowing When to Leave the Job
Okay- unpopular opinion here. I was recently interviewed for a podcast and before that, a panel discussion on navigating obstacles the workplace. When asked about my opinion on what people should know about work life, I said the following: When the place where you work no longer values you, no longer aligns with your goals,…
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They’re Making a Move!
My generation is saying goodbye to work. Literally, they are saying goodbye by packing up their boxes and leaving the office. More than that- they’re doing this without having other jobs to go to. That is completely against what my generation was taught and it’s exactly what my generation was taught. In case you’re wondering,…
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How to Invest in Yourself
I love pictures of people meditating or praying. It reminds me to take some time to reconnect with myself, which is what I forgot to do a while ago. Luckily, that has changed. I did something I have not done in a few months- I stopped checking email and did something creative. Let me explain….
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Here’s to a New Challenge!
Happy New Year! We’re in day two of the new year and I’ve kept up with a tradition that I started about four years ago. At that time, I decided not to have New Year’s resolutions. This wasn’t a way to be negative, but more of a way to recognize that I’m horrible at keeping…
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How to Create More Time in Your Life
I am currently reading a book about spiritual development, and one section of the last chapter has stuck with me. I truly cannot get it out of my head and I think that I know why. It’s with me because it’s something that I have not mastered yet: creating margins. See, I have worked on…
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Lessons From My Summer Job
You thought this would be about food, right? Well, no . . . sort of. Just keep reading. I always wanted a “cool” job for the summer. When I was a teen and looking for my first summer job, I was hoping that I could get one at a great clothing store. I could see…
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Journaling & Ethical Leadership
Ethical leadership (morality, values, ethics) is not a new concept. Look at any philosophy book and it won’t be uncommon to find this topic discuss amongst well-known philosopher: Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and so forth. While the subject of ethics is not new, it has gained popularity in leadership circles, especially within the past few years….
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Day In The Life Of . . .
Today’s post is for sharing. If you’re anything like me, you may have spent hours on the internet searching for “a day in the life of XXX,” looking for some idea of how to better plan your day. Throughout my working years, I searched for many “days in the life.” Whether I was working full-time…
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Take a Vacation!
It’s my last full day of vacation and I am listening to the waves crash onto the shore as I write this post. For the past six days, I have played on beach with my family, gotten water up my nose in the pool, played mini golf, eaten way too much ice cream, and laughed…
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“Work” Has Changed
Earlier this month, I read an article about employees quitting their jobs. The past year of the pandemic and world being on locked gave a lot of people time to think. According to the article, all of that thinking had people make a tough decision: whether to continue at their jobs or leave. Many chose…
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A New Challenge
*Featured photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash. It’s the last day of school in my area, and I was thinking about all of the activities the kids have done this year (remotely and in person). It got me thinking about the activities I had to complete throughout the various leadership programs in which I’ve participated….
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Literature and Leadership
Find out how literature and leadership connects.
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Handling Conflict
Many of people saw the Gayle King interview with R. Kelly, as I did. Some people were shocked by the “explosive” part of the interview, and there were many analyses of what took place during that segment. As I watched it, I actually did not pay close attention to R. Kelly. I paid attention to…
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Starts With a Dream: Career Change
“Our companies have not fully evolved to the point where they are willing to work with what we have to do.” That’s one of the many points that I made in this conversation with financial expert, Devora Ascott Black. I had a great time talking with her about women changing careers. In this podcast, Devora Black…
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Working Women and Careers
I recently recorded a podcast on helping women transition careers, and it made me think of a few points. We (society) still talk about women transitioning careers or advancing in work in a way in which we do not talk about men. While I believe that it has become easier for women to change careers…
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Change, Improve, Thrive
As the world becomes more fixated on dimensions of leadership, I began noticing the headlines suggesting ways in which leaders were thinking outside of the box. With one news article after another about a leader of an organization implementing the latest eye-catching policy, one major theme struck me. These weren’t leaders just doing things to…
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Do You Daydream? Good!
Stop the press! Did you know that people spend approximately 30% or more daydreaming? Let’s take it a step further: Did you know that daydreaming can be helpful to leaders? You read that right. Daydreaming. Letting your mind wander and create a new world of its own. Getting lost in your own thoughts. All of…
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When Do You Sleep?
Sleep. Rest. Often used interchangeably, most people understand what is meant when a person asks if you’ve had any sleep/rest? When someone uses one of these words, it is mainly to ask if the body, mind, and spirit has had a chance to relax (uninterrupted) in order to rejuvenate. We all know what rest/sleep looks…
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St. Patrick’s Day Ideas
*Featured image by Pinterest Good morning leaders! I wanted to share one of my other writings with you. I regularly write for Triad Moms on Main and today’s post is about getting activities ready for St. Patrick’s Day for the kids. If you’ve got kids in the house, take a look at ways to get…
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Dream Big
If your dreams don’t scare you, then they’re not big enough. Have you ever heard this quote? I know I’ve heard this saying too many times to count, but to be honest with you, I never really knew how to dream big. Well last week I attempted an exercise that showed me just how big…
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Working From Home
It’s month 10 of working from home (WFH) for me, and I believe that I have tried just about everything in order to make it fruitful. Unfortunately, life happens and when I think of a system that works, I have to change it again. Feel familiar? Paperwork gets mixed with laundry laying around. In the…
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Give Them What They Need
Recently, I was thinking about the hardest assignment I ever had and what it taught me. Have you ever had one of those? I compare those moments to my high school biology class. It was the hardest class for me, and I received the worst grade, but I ended up learning the most from that…
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Hooray for Productivity Tools!
*I am not being paid to review these products. These are all products that I have tried on my own and recommend. I recently wrote a piece on the ideas for Christmas gifts, so I decided to look at productivity tools this time. I’m usually a paper and pen person, but every now and then,…
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Virtual Problem-Solving
When it comes to solving a problem, there are various methods that a person can take. I would usually take a walk around my building and talk to myself about the issue. If anyone viewed the security cameras, they’d think I was talking to a ghost or an imaginary friend. I’d usually walk until I…
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Economic Equity & Fairness
I work in the field of adult education, overseeing a program that offers Adult Basic Education, Adult High School, and an ESL program. The majority of my students are Hispanic/Latina and African American women between the ages of 34 and 45. They work, take care of their children, and many of them care for elderly…
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You Have Permission
“I don’t want to do this anymore! I’m ready to plaaayyyyyy!” My son was no longer on the edge of a tantrum; he had fallen into the abyss. He was there. He had 20 minutes left until his schooling was finished and I just watched him fall out. Then I laughed. I know that sounds…
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How Do You Problem-Solve?
How do you solve problems? I never really thought about it before, until I encountered a problem that I couldn’t solve on my own. That’s when it all changed for and it involved some trial and error. Before this happened, my problem-solving methods were pretty simple, but problematic. I encountered a problem, solved it without really…
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The Transparent Leader
Seven years ago, I interviewed for a job and was asked about my leadership beliefs. I began listing my beliefs, one by one, and the interviewer beamed from ear to ear, until I hit my last belief. I stated was that a leader should be transparent, and then I saw that smile get smaller and…
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Leadership for Life
*I am not paid by any organizations or businesses mentioned in this post. I enjoy discussing leadership from the perspective of it being a way of life. I remember being taught that leaders were “born, not made.” That seemed to be the motto of everyone I listened to throughout my childhood and teenage years. Then…
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Time for Rest
I did something on Friday (coffee and cake were included). I rested – on purpose. It was the most amazing feeling. For the past year, I’ve been working nonstop. When I’ve taken a day off of work, it was do something other than rest: take care of sick child, be with ill parent, or simply…
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Ethical Leadership Workbook
I recently gave a webinar on being an ethical leader during crisis. This was available for people in various positions, but the best part was that this webinar focused on practical steps to prepare oneself for leading during chaos. To be honest, leading ethically during a crisis isn’t too different from leading every day. One…
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How I Started My Business After Having Kids
*a repost by Dr. Sydney Richardson from Triad Moms on Main I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My grandmother decided that she no longer wanted to be a maid, so she got her cosmetology license and opened her own salon. She retired when she was around 80 years old. My mother loved decorating and…
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Reintroduction
Practical Of or concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory or ideas. (of an idea, plan, or method) likely to succeed or be effective in real circumstances; feasible. Whenever I presented seminars or workshops in the past, I was always complimented on how “practical” my methods were. As a…
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Ethical Leadership: AHHH!
I recently conducted a webinar on what it means to be an ethical leader during a crisis. The participants were engaged, questions were asked, and we focused on practical steps to take, ensuring that the tenets of ethical leadership and crisis management become one. It was great to think about how these characteristics get implemented…
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Establishing a Mentoring Program
Mentoring is a topic near and dear to my heart. I wish I could say that it’s important to me because I had a great mentor, then learned how to mentor, and have been a successful one ever since. However, that’s not the case. In the words of Sophia from The Golden Girls, “Picture it,…
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Do it scared
I had a conversation with a good friend of mine about the wonderful world of adulting. It’s so interesting how that word turned from a noun to a verb. Adulting is something that we actually perform. It’s a task or a set of tasks that we choose to do, or choose not to do every…
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Work/Life Balance
Is there such a thing? There might be. I met with a good friend years ago who told me to end my work days at 5 pm and make sure to have a life after that. He had a good point and talked about doing things for myself after work and on the weekends. Early…
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What I Learned Through Knitting
A while ago, my daughter decided that she wanted to try knitting. I should have known that this would mean that she really wanted me to do it with her. I never had an interest in knitting, but many people in my family have a gift of crafting with their hands. Things like sewing, doing…
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Practice Gratitude
For a while now, I have joined two organic groups. We meet virtually every week and sometimes every two weeks. One group is with two other professional women (Dr. Krishauna Hines-Gaither and Dr. Shana LeGrant). We all work in some part of education and we all have side businesses (aka “side hustles”). From our virtual…
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Home Life
So, we’re going to go in a different direction today and focus on taking some semblance of control in the house. When it comes to leadership in the house, I always think of ways to make things easier and give myself some peace. During this year with COVID, jobs adjustments, children doing school from home,…
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Leading and Discomfort
I kept trying to think of appropriate titles for this post: Leading through Discomfort; Dealing with Disruption; and Leadership and Disruption. Nothing fit. I finally settled on Leading and Discomfort because, regardless of the fact that we are living through a pandemic, that in itself is not the discomfort (it is but it isn’t). The…
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Challenging the Norm
I knew it was going to be a problem soon after I announced my pregnancy. A colleague made it clear that I could not have it all: motherhood and career. This has to change.
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Invest in a Mentor
Mentoring and mentorship have long been a part of career growth. From entry level jobs through executive roles, mentorship was something that either happened naturally or was built into a job. In many of my roles, a mentorship either happened through connecting with someone or happened through a mentoring program (which was a little more…
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A Tribute to Fathers
Dear fathers, Today is the day to celebrate you. Thank you to . . . The ones who make life fun. The role model, working to improve himself every day because he knows the little ones are watching. The ones who coach sports just to spend time with their children. The ones who give great…
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Purpose Over Time
Dear leaders, As work through the rest of the year, it’s important to think about our priorities for the rest of the year. Whether you’re a leader in your home, in the community, at work, or elsewhere, it’s important now more than ever to stop doing things that are unnecessary. Now, this has nothing to…
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The World Is Waiting on You!
Over the course of my life, I have received some great advice from a variety of people. However, there is one piece of advice that I have received over and over, at different points in my life. It was often worded differently depending on who said it, but it was essentially this: Stop waiting for…
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Let’s Talk Women Owned Businesses
Don’t you just love surprise posts? This topic is too good to miss. With women businesses on the rise, especially minority women businesses, it’s important to know the who’s, why’s, and what’s. Let’s talk about women owned full-time and part-time (aka “side hustle”) businesses.
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Piano Playing and Leadership
For those of you who know me, you know that I’ve always wanted to play the piano. If ever there was an instrument that I loved, it was the piano. I loved the way a person, with just two hands, could create an orchestra. What intrigued me even more was the way a musician’s eyes…
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Be a Supportive Leader
In light of recent (and collective) events, it’s important to know how to be a supportive leader. Oftentimes, support is seen as something a leader does to help an employee. However, the situations are pretty common: letting an employee leave early to attend a parent/teacher conference, allowing an employee to flex their time during a…
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Quality Time is Everything
For this week’s post, I’ve decided to focus on leadership within parenting. My post below was originally published on Triad Moms on Main. It was 2 am when my eyes popped open. I could hear a faint moan coming from the other room and I knew that I had to get in there quickly. If…
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A Leader in Her City and Community
In our next feature of everyday leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mrs. Wanda Allen-Abraha, JD. Mrs. Allen-Abraha serves as Director of Human Relations for the City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has served in this role for 19 years and works in legal areas such as Fair Housing Law, Landlord/Tenant Mediation, and Title…
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Happy Mother’s Day!
Dear Mom, This isn’t a letter about your wonderful attributes during a pandemic. As a matter of fact, this is the last sentence you will read from me that references COVID-19. This is simply an appreciation letter to you and all that you do. A dear friend of mine once told me, “You are exactly…
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Be Prepared
“Another way to be prepared is to think negatively. Yes, I’m a great optimist. but, when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst-case scenario. I call it ‘the eaten by wolves factor.’ If I do something, what’s the most terrible thing that could happen? Would I be eaten by wolves? One…
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Doctoral Studies Checklist
I shared this same post on my RokAdviser blog and found it to be beneficial for career transitioners and leaders as well. Many times, as professionals move forward in life, they decide that it is time for an advanced degree. Regardless of the profession, there seems to be a rise in talk about getting doctorate…
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How to Handle Obstacles
Let’s talk about obstacles. Don’t they tend to present themselves when we really don’t need them? Think about it. You get sick during the busiest and jam-packed week of your year. Your car breaks down on the one day that you have an early morning meeting. Or how about the traffic jam that occurs on…
