Author: Andrew Embry

If you mixed diet mountain dew, funk music, dragons, hip hop, superheroes, and lightning in a blender you’d end up with Andrew Embry. He is part wordsmith and part alchemist, able to use his Batman utility belt to turn anything and everything into a story worth telling that is equal parts insightful, memorable, inspiring, humorous, and entertaining. Andrew is comfortably creative in almost any setting, but especially when he is performing spoken word poetry. His enthusiasm for words comes from the way he loves people and the little nuances of life that make it worth living.

Ninja Turtles and Evolving with Changing Context (11-20-18)

Last week was about Avatar and finding your strength. This week is about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and evolving with changing context. In case you don’t know anything about ninja turtles, essentially it is a story of 4 anthropomorphic turtles, who are trained to be ninjas and fight bad guys. I grew up at the height of the TMNT craze in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During this time period, the cartoon was a fun loving, light hearted show, filled with goofy antics and a love for pizza. When many people think of ninja turtles they think of this cartoon, embodied by the image to the right.

The interesting thing is that the version of the turtles depicted in the image isn’t the only one. It’s not even the original version. The original version of the ninja turtles was a comic book that was quite a bit more serious and darker than anything in the show. Throughout the years, the turtles have evolved to fit their time period. There were goofy ninja turtle cartoons in the 90s along with movies that were serious and filled with slapstick. The early 2000s brought turtles that were more serious like the original version. The live action movies in the 2000s reimagined the turtles in more unique ways with cutting edge CGI animation. The most recent version of the cartoon throws the turtles into mystical elements.

You’re probably wondering what teenage mutant ninja turtles has to do with work. I think the show is an interesting example of adapting to changing context and times. Throughout all of its reincarnations, the core of the show remains the same. At its core, the show is about 4 brothers learning how to work as a team as they fight bad guys. However, the tone, characters, plotlines, and other items evolve based on new context and unique reimaginings. The ninja turtles of today wouldn’t have worked 30 years ago, and the turtles I grew up with 30 years ago wouldn’t have worked today.

I’d argue that we are all ninja turtles. The core part of us often stays the same, but we have the chance to adapt as our context changes. For example, I’m a dot connecting storyteller. That will always be true for me. At the same time, my stories change as my context changes. The stories I tell as poet Andrew in Lilly are different than the stories poet Andrew tells outside of Lilly, because the surroundings, audience, and expectations are different. The stories sales rep Andrew are different from the ones I told when I worked in communications and was trying to leverage organizational change tools to tell stories through others. As a market researcher, I tell stories all the time, synthesized through frameworks I never used before I took this role. Basically, as I gain new experiences my context changes, so I pick up new tools, frameworks, perspectives, etc. to help me tell new and engaging stories. Just like the ninja turtles, it’s the same core show (skillset), just merely applied in different ways to meet my surroundings. With that said, I think we all have a chance to grow as the context around us changes. We just have to be willing to choose to evolve, rather than stay stagnant.

The challenge: Who are you at your core? How are you adapting to changing context?

Have a jolly good day and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Andrew Embry

Avatar, Waterbending, and Tapping into Strength (11-14-18)

Last week was about Pink and the Brain and taking over the world. This week is about Avatar: The Last Airbender, waterbending, and accessing strength (so you can take over the world). Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite cartoons of all time. In case you aren’t familiar with the show it is a series about being alone, finding yourself, building friendships, good, evil, and growth. All of that packed into a kid’s cartoon. Pretty deep stuff. Anyway, the show introduces you to a world where “bending” exists. Bending is the ability manipulate elements such as earth, fire, air, and water.

The picture up top is Aang, the main character, practicing waterbending. Individuals blessed with the ability to bend, leverage martial art techniques to manipulate the elements. When it comes to waterbending, one of the most important things to understand is that the more water you have around you, the more powerful you can be. So, if you’re in a desert, your waterbending is going to be weak. However, if you were standing in the ocean, your power could almost be limitless.

We’re getting a little weird, so let’s get weirder. What if I told you that we are all waterbenders? Obviously, I don’t mean that I believe we can all manipulate water. What I do believe is that we all have strengths and sources of power that we can tap into. I also believe that if we surround ourselves with the right people and energy that we put ourselves in a better position to tap into this power.

What I’m about to say will sound dumb, but hang in there with me. One of the most important things I do at work is include memes and goofy pictures in emails I send to people. Yep, you read that correctly. One of the most important things I do at work is send memes to people. It’s also important for me to wear superhero socks, be in a general state of nerdiness, constantly be making jokes, use sarcasm, and tell stories in unique ways. It’s also incredibly important for me to be surrounded by people with positive energy and joy.

If you would look at those things, you couldn’t draw direct lines to my effectiveness or productivity, so you might be wondering why they are so important. Here is how I think about it. I “bend” creative energy. I connect things and people. That’s my power. Essentially, all of those things I listed off (socks, nerdiness, good energy, sending memes, making jokes, generally giving me the space to be weird, etc.) keep me surrounded by “water”. If I can have all of these things it means I’m in the right culture, surrounded by the right people to give me what I need. If I can have all of those things, I’m a water bender standing in the middle of the ocean, where my power is near limitless. In this state, I am as powerful as I can be, and most equipped to make a meaningful difference. Is this making any sense? Have you ever felt like this, where you were surrounded by all of the right people and things to help you tap into your strength? Have you ever been on teams where you weren’t surrounded by the right things, and it was difficult to tap into your strengths (like a water bender in the desert)?

The challenge: What are the things you need in order to surround yourself with “water”? What are you doing to give “water” to others? Give someone some water today.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Pinky and the Brain- Trying to Take over the World! (11-7-18)

This week we are going to start a series inspired by my favorite cartoons. This week I want us to reflect on Pinky and the Brain and driving to achieve high goals.

In case you’re unfamiliar, Pinky and the Brain were two characters on a cartoon called Animaniacs. Their show is about two lab mice, Pinky, a happy go lucky fellow, and Brain, an evil diabolical genius. Every episode of the show revolved around Brain’s attempts to take over the world. During each episode Brain would invent some amazing machine or use some mathematical formula to come within inches of world domination, and then at the last minute something would go wrong and his goal would slip from his grasp. Every episode would also include the scene captured in the image on the right where Brain reaffirmed his desire to keep trying to take over the world. That’s right. Even after falling short every single time, Brain stayed focused, got back up, dusted himself off, and went back to trying to take over the world.

You might see where this is going. Brain sets a ridiculously high goal, and then he pursues that goal with fierce focus and tenacity. He fails and he keeps going. Something goes wrong and he keeps going. His device blows up and he keeps going. While I don’t want us to be evil diabolical masterminds, I do think we could learn a lot from Brain’s fierce focus and tenacity.

What is your version of “trying to take over the world”? For myself, I’ve spent the year working on ways to step my game up. I wanted to help more people, have more impact, provide more value, increase my mastery at work, etc. As far as what success would look like, when it came to my job, my goal has been to be so damn good that I made everything look and feel effortless. I wanted to provide so much value that people would look at me and say, “He has to be a legit wizard. That’s the only rational explanation for how he does what he does.” I knew if I operated at this level, then I’d be making a substantial difference in the lives of people within the walls of my company and outside of those walls as well, which would be my version of “taking over the world.” (I know. It’s kind of silly and ridiculous, but if a cartoon mouse can dream of taking over the world, I can dream of being recognized as a wizard.)

With all that said, I never took over the world. I never achieved full-fledged wizard status. I continually fell short. I made mistakes. I mismanaged situations. I didn’t influence and change the lives of all the people I wanted to. I didn’t always know the answers. I took wrong turns and the wrong steps. I wasn’t always operating at that “wizard” level. I’m not angry/mad/upset/sad about any of those things. They are just facts of life. Much like Brain, when these setbacks occurred I was irritated, but then I gained sight of my goal and went back to “trying to take over the world”. While I never quite got to the level I wanted to get to, I know with 100% certainty that I grew and became a lot better this year. I am closer to being a wizard than I have ever been, and it’s all because every morning when I woke up I wanted to do the same thing I did every other morning, try to “take over the world!”

The challenge: What is your version of “taking over the world”? Are you chasing that goal with focus and tenacity?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Vampires and Willpower (10-24-18)

Last week was about being haunted by ghosts. This week is about vampires and will power. Let’s imagine for a moment that we lived in a world where vampires were real. Now, when I say vampires, I mean true vampires, not that sparkling when they step out into the sun Twilight garbage. I’m talking about nocturnal creatures who lure unsuspecting victims into situations and then suck the life (blood) out of their victims.

What do you think would happen if we lived in a world with actual vampires? I think two things would happen. First, we would begin setting up things to prevent run ins with vampires. For example, we might cover houses with crosses and holy water, refuse to invite people into the house, only go out during the daytime, etc. Second, we’d train so would be prepared if we did run into a vampire. We would become proficient in weapons ranging from swords made from silver, mace made from garlic, UV lamps, and the classic stakes through the heart. Essentially, we would become like Buffy or Blade. In case you’re curious, Blade is essentially a half-human half-vampire superhero who hunts vampires, and it happened to be one of the movies my wife and I watched on our first date. (Explains a lot about our relationship). The only reason why we don’t prepare for vampire battles is because vampires aren’t real.

You might be wondering where this is heading. What if I told you vampires are real? In this instance, I’m not talking about blood sucking lords of the dead. I’m talking about things that deplete your will power and motivation. These vampires are all around us. They take the form of people, crowded schedules, lost time, lack of priorities, and a fast moving world. If we knew that blood sucking vampires were real, we would take actions to prevent and defend against their attacks. It’s safe to say that vampires that deplete your will power and motivation are real, so are you taking the time to figure out how to prevent and defend against their attacks?

Embry example. I don’t necessarily have the healthiest of eating habits. Vampires easily drain my willpower to make healthy choices. Over time, I’ve learned that I need to fight those vampires. I’ve found that one of the best things I can do is sign up to run races. I don’t particularly love running. I’m not good at running. I don’t have a runner’s physique. However, scheduling a race is a commitment and the training plan is a commitment, and for some reason I’m better honoring an external commitment than honoring an internal promise to eat better. On the days that I train I eat better, not because I’m trying to make healthy choices, but because if I eat like crap I can’t train and if I don’t train I will feel like a failure. I’d rather avoid feeling like a loser than gain the feeling of being healthy. Basically, signing up for races for me is like wearing a necklace made of garlic while telling vampires to come get some.

You can apply these same things at work as well. Once you identify what sucks your willpower you can find ways to deal with these things ahead of time and in the moment. You can control your schedule, when you do the work, who you spend time with, the systems and frameworks you will use to attack the work to make things simpler. You can figure out the system that works best for you that keeps willpower sucking vampires at bay. You just have to spend a little time to do this.

The challenge: How do you prevent and defend against willpower sucking vampires?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Haunted by Ghosts (10-17-18)

With Halloween just around the corner, I’d like to start a new series about lessons we can learn from spooky things. We’ll begin by reflecting on what we can learn from ghost stories.

At some point in your life you’ve probably watched a scary movie involving ghosts or you’ve heard a scary story involving ghosts and haunted houses. No matter the story, the plots share some similarities. It usually begins when people move into a “normal” looking house, often out in the country. From there, people begin to notice a few odd things. Doors open on their own. Lights flicker. Things seem to move without anyone touching them. Soon, things escalate and become scary. At this point one of the people in the house notices the ghost for the first time and realizes that the place is haunted. From there, people try to uncover why the place is haunted and it’s usually because something terrible has happened there. The ghost is in so much pain that they are then tethered to that house. It is then up to the people to figure out how to get the ghost out of the house. Usually it involves righting the wrong or helping the ghost get through emotional trauma.

What do ghosts and haunted houses have to do with work? Have you ever been haunted by something? I’m guessing you probably haven’t been haunted by a ghost. (If you have been, I’d love to hear the story) You might have been haunted by something else though. If you’re anything like me, you are haunted by different things from time to time. I’ve found myself haunted by self-doubt. I’ve found myself haunted by regret and mistakes. I’ve found myself haunted by the idea I’m not making a unique difference, because other people could do my job and create the same deliverables. Have you ever been haunted by any of those things?

All of those things are scarier to me than any monster from a horror movie. When I’m hit with these things, they take control over me. These things then tether me to a place filled with anger, sadness, irritation, and other negative emotions. Similar to ghost stories, I’ve found that when I’m hit with these things I need to find a way to rid my mind of them. Often it requires me to try to make up for my mistake, gaining a broader perspective on life, or simply realizing that the issue isn’t worth hanging onto.

The challenge: Are you allowing yourself to be haunted? How are you getting rid of those “ghosts”?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Potatoes and Transformation (10-10-18)

This will be the final entry in the series about food and cooking. We started by thinking about playing our role in any given situation. From there, we reflected on leadership style vs. competency. Then, we shifted to think about flavor combinations, belonging, and inclusion. Additionally, we thought about following recipes to drive better engagement, and last week was about being daring enough to expand our flavor palettes. This week is about potatoes and transformation.

Before we talk about potatoes, let’s think about apples. Apples are delicious. I love a good honey crisp apple. With an apple, you pick it up, brush it off (or wash it if you’re into being clean), and you eat it. It’s instantly amazing. It doesn’t require any extra effort.

Potatoes don’t work like apples. You don’t pick a potato out of the dirt and start eating it right away. Potatoes take work. Potatoes are most delicious when they are transformed, and I would say that potatoes have a large range of things they can become. Clean a potato and throw it in the oven and it becomes a baked potato (add in some butter, cheese, and bacon, and you have magic). Slice a potato and fry it and you could have fried potatoes, one of my favorite breakfast foods. You could deep fry potatoes and turn them into French fries, waffle fries, or tater tots. Potatoes could be turned into all kind of different potato chips. You could turn a potato into smashed potatoes. You could dice potatoes and throw them in a casserole. You could turn potatoes into mashed potatoes, and then if you are awesome you could turn leftover mashed potatoes into potato cakes. Some potatoes even grow up to become vodkas. The variability is amazing! Bonus, potatoes can even power flashlights. Tell me that isn’t cool.

You might be wondering what this has to do with work. I’d argue that we aren’t apples. We aren’t ripe for picking already at a high level of instantaneous delicious awesomeness. We won’t become bruised and disgusting if we fall off a tree or are dropped. Instead, we are all potatoes. We are all pulled from the ground, covered in dirt, and filled with potential. All that is left for us is to figure out what kind of potato we are going to be. This won’t be easy. Potatoes require work, and so do humans. To reach our potential we have to go through a transformation. Often, these transformations are caused by some kind of challenges, and they are never easy. A potato gets beat up, smashed, cooked, and sliced, but it comes out better on the other side. In the same way, we get beat up, confused, lost, and hurt, but we have the chance to come out better on the other side. It’s up to us to make sure we transform into something better.

The challenge: Who and what are you transforming into?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Picky Eaters and Mindsets (10-3-18)

Last week was about cooking on instinct vs. following recipes. This week is about being a picky eater and mindsets.

My two girls are picky eaters. Alice (6) is growing out of it a bit, but Violet (4) is stuck in her stubborn picky ways (#punk). Here is how this plays out. We put something new in front of them. They come to the table knowing they aren’t going to like any food we put in front of them. They take a look at it and decide instantly that they don’t like it. We tell them that they haven’t even tried it, so they can’t judge it yet. They begin to poke the food with their forks and come up with reasons why they won’t like it before even tasting, so we make them try the food. Sometimes, they end up liking the meal. Sometimes, they don’t like it. It’s annoying that we go through this every time, when they could just try it without the hassle. Has anyone else out there experienced this with their kids?

You might be wondering what this has to do with anything. I’d say that are three connections to be made. First, the way you experience life is often dictated by your mindset going into it. My girls enter new food situations with the mindset of, “I don’t like this,” so they often don’t like new foods. On the other hand, if they approached a new meal with, “This is going to be interesting,” then they’d be more open to trying new things and would probably enjoy them more. What mindset do you have as you approach new situations? How open is your mindset?

Another connection is that I’d argue that people are often picky “eaters”. It may not be with food, but we get stuck in our routines, our habits, our thought process, our beliefs, etc. and we convince ourselves that is the only thing we should support. This happens all the time at work, with politics, and with disagreements of any sort. How often have you shared an idea with someone and it got shut down right away, just because it wasn’t what they were used to? Now be honest with yourself. How often do you shut down other ideas without really giving them a try, because they aren’t what you are used to?

The third connection comes back to what you are comfortable “eating”. My girls love mac and cheese. That is their comfort zone. It’s not bad having mac and cheese every now and then, but if it were up to them it’s all they would eat. Eating the same stuff, especially that stuff, doesn’t give their body the variety it needs. It’s not healthy. Likewise, people become engrained in their thoughts and world views, not realizing that only consuming their worldview doesn’t give them the variety it needs. In fact, it’s unhealthy. Be honest with yourself. When was the last time you had a disagreement and tried to move beyond your comfort zone to understand the other side of the issue? How much time do you spend merely reinforcing your worldview vs. exploring worldviews held by other people?

The challenge: Are you being a “picky eater” or are you giving other “dishes” a fair taste test?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Scarecrows and Challenges (10-31-18)

This is going to be the last in our series inspired by spooking things. We began by reflecting on being haunted by self-doubt and ghosts. From there, we thought about vampires who drain our willpower. This week is about scarecrows and scary situations.

In case you aren’t from the corn belt of the United States, a scarecrow is a fake person/creature that farmers make and put in their fields. Its entire purpose is to be spooky and ominous in order to scare the crows away. Supposedly, what happens is that a crow goes flying around ready to land on the field to eat the corn, and then they see the scarecrow and say, “That looks pretty scary. I’m going to leave that field alone.” The interesting thing about all of this is that scarecrows are stationary objects, who are just there to LOOK scary. They can’t actually do anything. They just stand there. If the crows pay attention they could quickly see that the scarecrow isn’t actually worth being afraid of, because it doesn’t really pose a danger to them.

You’re probably wondering what scarecrows have to do with anything. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find myself afraid of scarecrows in my life. Sometimes, I find myself looking down a path filled with looming obstacles. From a far these challenges look scary and cause me to feel anxious/nervous. Do you ever feel yourself feeling this way? Do you ever feel yourself looking at challenges you’ll face and saying, “I wonder how I’ll ever find a way through that.”? When I’m in this state of mind, I find myself paralyzed. I find myself tempted to avoid the situation, in the same way that crows are tempted to avoid a field guarded by a scarecrow.

While I might be afraid, the truth is that so many of the problems we face in our lives are actually scarecrows. What I mean is that so many of the problems we have are things that loom off in the distance and appear to be intimidating/daunting/scary/impossible. However, if we would take a moment to observe, we could quickly realize that thing we are afraid of isn’t all that intimidating and it’s rarely as bad as we think it will be. Often, as we get closer to these daunting problems, we realize that we’ve always had the strength to conquer them, even though we lost sight of this while we were scared.

In short, many times the problems in our life are only as strong as we allow them to be. Just as crows can see that a scarecrow is nothing more than something a farmer made, we have the power to look at our problems and realize that often they aren’t anything too large for us to handle.

The challenge: Do you see the challenges you face for the scarecrows they are?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Cooking on Instinct vs. Following a Reciple (9-26-18)

Last week was about flavor combinations and belonging. This week is about cooking from instinct vs. following a recipe.

Imagine for a moment that you are at Sam’s house. They have made you dinner. You think it tastes delicious. On a different day you go to Pat’s house for dinner. You think that meal is equally delicious. Here is the big reveal. Sam cooks on instinct. Everything Sam does is impromptu. Sam is one of those people who doesn’t need to measure anything, never looks at a recipe, etc. They just know exactly what they need to do in order to create great food. Cooking is natural and organic for Sam. Pat on the other hand isn’t as naturally gifted, so they intentionally follow recipes and guidance they’ve learned from other chefs. Does any of this matter? Does it matter that Sam cooked you a fabulous meal without following a recipe and that Pat had to follow a recipe to create great food? For me, it doesn’t matter one bit as long as the food is spectacular.

You might be wondering what this has to do with work. When it comes to the people side of leadership, I’d argue that there are a few people like Sam. There are some leaders who make magic purely based on instinct. They do things organically and naturally, and they are amazing at doing this. I’d argue that there are also people like Pat. In fact, I’d say that most people are like Pat. The people side of leadership doesn’t come as naturally and instinctually to them as it does to Sam. This doesn’t make Pat bad. It just means Pat needs to be a little more intentional about engaging with people and building a culture.

Here’s where things get interesting. Over the years I’ve had a lot of conversations about leadership, building a culture, and being intentional. Often, there is a fear from people that if they are more intentional about engagement (i.e. acting like a Pat) that it will seem fake or inauthentic. Essentially, they are saying that if they are intentional vs. doing everything naturally/organically/impromptu the food will be bad, because they don’t make it on instinct alone. I think these people are wrong. At the end of the day, I don’t think it matters if leaders have to make a concentrated effort to build a better culture vs. if leaders are the ones who create amazing cultures purely on instinct. Authenticity is NOT linked to whether or not you are impromptu or intentional about engaging with people. Authenticity is linked to whether or not you actually care. In fact, I think we would all benefit if we ALL acted a little more like Pat and were more deliberate and intentional about what we are doing. If we all acted like Pat, I’m willing to bet the food would be even better.

Being intentional and deliberate could take many forms. For example, let’s say you naturally and organically don’t do great with recognition. Since you aren’t great at doing this organically, you probably don’t provide your team with the recognition they deserve. In order to do better you’d need to become more intentional. There are a lot of different things you could do to address this issue. For instance, you could put a reminder on your calendar telling you to reach out to people to let them know you value them. Nobody would care about or notice the fact that it took you putting a reminder on your calendar to send them recognition. All they would notice is that you were recognizing them more for their work. They would taste great food, and not care about the fact you had to follow a recipe and make an effort to be more intentional. #Confession->I do this. When I see someone who needs to be recognized, I save time on my calendar with a note reminding me to reach out to them. Recognizing people officially goes on my to do list.

The challenge- I think we’d all be a little better off if we assumed that we were more like Pat and needed to be more intentional about engaging with others. How can you be more intentional about building an engaging culture/vibe with the people you work with?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Food Combinations and Belonging (9-19-18)

Last week was about leadership style vs. leadership competencies. This week is about food combinations and belonging. What are some of your favorite food pairings/combinations? There are classic combinations like peanut butter and jelly or steak and potatoes. There are dipping combinations like chips and salsa or pitas and hummus. There are dessert combinations like oreos and cold milk or a scoop of ice cream with apple pie. There are more experimental combinations you could try like a fried egg on a hamburger, bbq brisket on a pizza (my brother makes this and it’s amazing!), or cheese puffs on vanilla ice cream (my mom eats this sometimes. Yes, uniqueness runs in my family…)

You might be wondering what this has to do with anything. What I’ve often found about food combinations is that the foods do not have to necessarily be similar for the combination to be delicious. Peanut butter and jelly are two entirely different substances with very different tastes and textures. Oreos are a solid and milk is a liquid. Ice cream is cold while apple pie is usually served warm. Having a delicious food combination is not just about similarities. Instead, it’s about finding flavors that BELONG together, flavors that fit together and work with each other to create something amazing. Much like tasty food combinations, I believe inclusion is about belonging. It’s about helping different people feel they belong as part of the team, so they can create something amazing.

With all this said, I feel that when we talk about building positive cultures and inclusion we focus on finding similarities instead of creating belonging. For example, we might look at two different people and say, “At their core, they are both similar in many ways. They are both people. Both of them are dads. Both of them are marketers. Both of them like sports. Both of them like some of the same foods. Both of them have similar concerns and self-doubts, because they are both human. Etc.” While these things are true and it’s important to find common ground, I feel we often overemphasize finding similarities as a way to solve any inclusion problems. In reality, finding similarities is a small part of inclusion. Just because you have similarities doesn’t mean you have belonging or inclusion. I’d take it a step further to say, if you can’t find a way to create a sense of belonging, then the similarities don’t matter.

What exactly is belonging? I think belonging is about understanding the big picture and how you MEANINGFULLY fit into that picture. If people can demonstrate those things to you on a consistent basis, I believe that you will feel like you belong somewhere. Think about yourself for a moment. Do you feel like you belong on your current team? Do you feel like you belong in your broader organization? Have you had teams where you felt like you belonged and teams where you felt like an outsider? What was the difference? I’ve been in all of those situations. I’ve been in places where I felt I belonged, where it was evident I was part of something and that people cared about me, valued me, and wanted me to be there. I’ve also been on groups, where I felt like an outsider, where I was just another person. I know I always do my most magical work when I belong somewhere.

Challenge: What are you doing to help create a sense of belonging on your team and beyond? What are you doing to help people see what they are part of? What are you doing to show people how they meaningfully fit into the broader picture?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry