We are entering prime time, the big show, the period just before the Christmas holiday that extends into the new year – a time known for hustle and bustle and joy and, mixed in with it, our stressors, emotional triggers, anxiety, drama, and conflict. And as we’ve all experienced, sometimes it’s a little tough to tell which moment is going to contain which bevy of emotion.

So I have a question for you: Would you rather go for a leisurely walk on a flat paved path or would you rather bushwhack your way through new and uncharted territory?

For me, the answer depends on the day. It depends on how much energy I have, how much time I have, and what I anticipate the reward might be.

Today I want to tell you about one of my absolute favorite sayings. I actually think it’s a Beth Wonson Original because when I Googled it with quotation marks around it, only my own articles and writing came up in the results. So I’m going to go ahead and own it!

When I was a waitress (way back before they were called servers, and when every cup of coffee came with saucer under it), I struggled to get a full cup of coffee from one side of the dining room to the other without spilling any into the saucer – and customers strongly disliked getting a saucer full of coffee with a cup that was half empty.

Remember the Hall of Mirrors you found at circuses or carnivals? When you stood in front of a mirror, there was another one directly behind you, and the combination caused a kind of from-here-to-infinity-and-beyond reflection effect.

I have been a horse lover and a horseback rider for years, and I use horses in my leadership work. I also partner with them to provide coaching to people. I just love the energy of horses, and I think what I love the most about them are their integrity, honesty, and commitment to their own self-care.

People comparing whose car was there and whose parking spot was vacant had become the norm. How many supervisors (and staff) across the United States are equating more hours in the work seat with more value?

The fourth quarter push can be tough on everyone, so now is the perfect time to infuse the office climate and culture with positivity by giving your team some attention.

But when you think about the time, energy, and lost opportunity that occurs whenever someone resigns, you may realize that these simple, proactive measures are not nearly as expensive or time-consuming as you might imagine they are.

What precious "rocks" do I hold onto that no longer serve me, hold me captive or keep me from moving forward? I thought of my coaching clients...one in particular...who is struggling to move forward because she is still clutching old behaviors.

Here’s the truth: We can all go there, and we’ve all been there – stuck, with a stick up our birdy butt, blaming everyone, and waiting for justice.

But hopefully it is a temporary state, and when we recognize our condition, we take action to move ourselves out of it. Unfortunately, because of the work I do, I see many people who are unable to move, and these old birds are the ones who cause drama, tension, loss of time, and resistance toward organizational success.

So today, instead of focusing on others, we are going to find the stuck old bird within you – and if you know me at all, you are not surprised by this!

September always seems to be the time when I experience a big desire to get organized. Or as my dear departed Dad would say, to pull yourself together. I don’t know if it is the store shelves lined with back-to-school organizers, the deciduous trees shedding leaves they no longer need, or just the passing of the lazy, hazy days of summer, but I always feel a tug.

The onset of fall is also the time when I get eager to check in on where my anchor is set. A dear friend and mentor, Amy Burford, first told me about “checking my anchor” when I was struggling with some resistance in my business.

Why am I doing a happy dance? Because I’ve decided to no longer minimize my joy. Do you ever minimize your joy about things that are in process but haven’t fully happened yet? Why do you hold back? Is it fear? Humility? Superstition? Habit? Something else?

Do you intentionally force opportunities for joy to smolder instead of allowing a rip-roaring flame of pure glee? Why not reward yourself with a happy dance for each and every action that gets you closer to what you want – whether a full-on hips-and-arms-moving dance (like my friend Tamara) or an internal feeling of sheer delight and pride (like me)?

Over the past six months, I’ve been working with a delightful nonprofit board of directors. The board came to me because they knew they had several challenges after years of smooth sailing, and they could not quite identify a pathway through those challenges. Read on for the story behind each, from their missing strategic plan to their concerns about succession.

A few years ago, I had a big aha about anger. It didn’t happen all at once. Just like the Ernest Hemingway character Mike says about going bankrupt in The Sun Also Rises, my learning about anger came on “gradually and then suddenly.” The gradual awareness came through repeated feelings of shame, regret, and wishing I’d shown up differently. This awareness was fed through feedback from relationships, coworkers, family members, and my harshest critic – myself.

In an informal observation, a group – comprised of one person identified as the leader and several of their staff – was served a plate of cookies. There were precisely enough cookies for everyone to have one, and then there was one extra cookie.

Those not identified as the leader politely took one cookie each and left the spare. After a bit of time, the identified leader walked up and took the extra cookie. To my surprise, this occurred in group after group. Wondering why? Read on to learn how an increase in power can lead to a decrease in empathy.

I don’t remember if I’ve written about this incident before, and if I have, I apologize. Well, actually, I don’t, as today I was reminded again of its importance. A few years ago, I was driving back to my home – in Los Osos, California at that time – from Monterey. It is pretty much a 3-hour straight shot down the 101. For those of you who aren’t familiar with that stretch of highway, there isn’t much along it except agricultural fields and an occasional rest stop…