We’re going to stretch into a zone where we actually grow this week in PP. We’ll tap into kindness, inspire change, and stop worrying. Lastly, we’ll remove something to move forward. Dig in!
:: Image of the Week
What zone are you functioning in most? How can you get to the stretch zone more often? Shout-out to Dana Saveker for this image!
:: Courage
The Single Most Important Human Trait
Sahil Bloom writes on LinkedIn:
“Courage is who you are when it’s inconvenient. When no one is watching. When the rewards are uncertain. When the outcomes are unpredictable. It’s easy to declare our values, principles, and virtues in times of peace—it’s hard to live by them in times of war.”
Check out the rest of his post and image on the topic of courage; something you can share with a team.
Courage is like—it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: You get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging. – Brené Brown
:: Kindness in Leadership
The Best Leaders are Kind Leaders
We used to think good leadership meant being tough. Stoic. Detached. Always in control. But here’s the truth: Some of the strongest leaders lead with kindness. Not because it’s soft—but because it works. See an infographic and more information on this topic at https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clarethompsonprofile_leadership101-activity-7321009952704090112-4lQE.
“We need more kindness, more compassion, and more wisdom, now more than ever.” -Stephanie Wagner
What happens if you do one act of kindness every day?
When Bernadette Russell decided to perform one good deed every day for a year, it made a difference to the world around her but also had a big impact on her own life. The kind acts she carried out during the year ranged from quirky (giving a stranger at a bus stop a packet of Love Hearts, placing a bookmark with a kind message inside a book in a charity shop) to commonplace (showing tourists the way to a train platform or helping an old man who was struggling with his bags). Not all of them went down well.
It was a surprise to discover that the more kindness she tried to show others, the more she noticed other people being kind to each other. “I was choosing to see the world differently and it shifted my perspective, as though I was seeing everything through a kindness filter.” In a way she hadn’t previously, she would notice people helping carry buggies up the stairs or putting suitcases on luggage racks. “I noticed kindness was happening all around me.”
Read this Guardian article on random acts of kindness and how you might apply this approach to your leadership role or in your personal life.
:: CSN’s Book of the Week Recommendation
Life in the Leadership Lane: Moving Leaders to Inspire and Change the Workplace
From the award-winning book Find Your Lane now comes Life in the Leadership Lane where Bruce Waller shares strategies, tips, and advice from leaders on his podcast that will move you to inspire and change the workplace! Life in the Leadership Lane is about leaders making a difference in the workplace and in the community. What did they do to get started and what are they doing to accelerate. It’s less about theories and more about real stories from real people leading every day. Ed Curtis says “Life in the Leadership Lane is by far one of the most comprehensive books on leadership ever written. Full of cold hard facts supported by real world case studies. A great read for students to CEOs.”
Life in the Leadership Lane starts with choosing to be “on the air” and making growth day your everyday. Learn how to develop influence in the workplace and developing people too. Learn about the importance of growing your community networks, leaning into gratitude, and mic up with belief! Check out the “brick wall of leadership” where you will see bricks of advice to use in your organization. It’s a solid foundation and something that can help you build your own brick wall!
This book will inspire you and your team members to grow, connect, move, and energize each other in the workplace and in the community. It’s time to “Turn up the value volume” and get in the Leadership Lane to begin a new adventure!
:: Mindset
Do You Worry Too Much About Unlikely Events?
UCLA Professor Craig Fox explains to Katy Milkman how we think about low-probability events and how to make better choices in an uncertain world. See the transcript from their conversation for some insights on how your brain works against you in most cases.
In this Q&A from Choiceology, UCLA Professor and behavioral scientist Craig Fox discusses his research exploring the way we think about low-probability events and how to make better choices in an uncertain world. (Go to the middle of this link below the recommended reads list to find the conversation).
https://katymilkman.substack.com/p/do-you-worry-too-much-about-unlikely?r=3c3hz
Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve. – Mary Kay Ash
:: Trust, Psychological Safety & Belonging
Dr. Melissa Hughes on Psychological Safety and Vulnerability
Dr. Melissa Hughes returns to the Own Your Awkward show with host Andy Vargo to dive deep into psychological safety, the power of vulnerability, and how to manage personal biases. Melissa blends neuroscience with practical strategies to help people and organizations create environments where authentic conversations thrive. You’ll immediately hear your own personal situations come out in her conversations with Andy, and this is a must-listen.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/44VOaQ5GeC02ksSC351KC1
“Your words and deeds must match if you expect employees to trust in your leadership.” – Kevin Kruse
Harnessing the Power of Psychological Safety
At last year’s BLUEPRINT Leadership Summit, Amy Edmondson, the scholar who coined the term “psychological safety,” joined Doug Conant in conversation and you can read a summary of their tips and advice for creating psychologically safe workplaces in this blog post.
:: Self-Leadership Development
Flexible Leadership: Navigate Uncertainty and Lead with Confidence
Transitioning from an individual contributor to a leadership role comes with unique challenges and opportunities. Authors and thought leaders Heather Younger and Kevin Eikenberry sit down to share practical insights from Kevin’s book From Bud to Boss, guiding new and aspiring leaders on how to successfully navigate this shift.
https://www.linkedin.com/events/flexibleleadership-navigateunce7323024854989873152/theater/
Three Styles of Curiosity
Do you consider yourself a curious person? Curiosity is a strong desire to learn or know something. But according to researcher Perry Zurn, curiosity is not a singular thing. In fact, there may be at least three styles of curiosity that could have different benefits for our well-being and for the societies we live in.
Great leaders are curious about their team, situations that arise, and how growth and innovation can happen for their unit. Read this short article on the three styles of curiosity, and how you might employ one or more of them in your work or personal life.
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_three_styles_of_curiosity
:: Productivity and Innovation
Take Something Away
As any parent knows, getting a young child to ride a bike is a significant challenge. Ryan McFarland’s experience was no different. So, like many of us, he purchased an endless number of things to help his son get riding — toddler tricycles, trainer bikes, and even a training wheel equipped motorcycle.
Nothing worked. More importantly, each failed to teach his son the most important part of riding a bike — learning how to balance.
So what did Ryan do? No, he didn’t add training wheels. He took something AWAY to allow his child to focus on the task at hand: balancing on a bike.
Read about this and other stories of removing something to innovate here: https://collabfund.com/blog/take-something-away/?mc_cid=ebee59197e
“If you leave any learning opportunity and you do nothing different, nothing will change.” Kelly Mundth
:: Take Five*
*Note: CSN occasionally adds “Take Five” articles to take you off the beaten path. Articles are about local or regional areas of interest, but not necessarily focused on leadership development. The intent is for you to take a break from being a leader and relax for a moment!
‘Explore Madison’ Virtual Tours
Check out this cool new website through the University of Wisconsin-Madison for prospective students called ‘Explore Madison’! There’s likely some things you don’t know about your flagship campus — maybe you want to check it out too.
The site does an outstanding job of showcasing downtown Madison, State Street, Social Scene, Food Carts, Restaurants, Dane Co. Farmer’s Market and Madison’s seasons. A great tool for anyone in hospitality and recruiting including a virtual tour!
https://virtualtour.wisc.edu/wisc/home/featured-tours
:: Upcoming Events
Connections Over Chaos: Strategies for Networking Without the Burnout
This enlightening session will offer valuable strategies and tips to help you network effectively without sacrificing your well-being.
In today’s fast-paced professional environment, building and maintaining meaningful connections is crucial to business success, but it can often lead to exhaustion and stress. Led by Dawn Mullarney, a seasoned expert in sustainable networking practices, this enlightening session will offer valuable strategies and tips to help you network effectively without sacrificing your well-being.
Informed by her years of forging fruitful partnerships, Dawn’s burnout-proof approach is designed to equip you with tools to enhance your networking skills, create lasting relationships, and maintain a healthy work-life balance while pursuing your dreams.
Date: May 15, 2025
Time: 12:00-12:30 pm
Location: online
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/connections-over-chaos-strategies-for-networking-without-the-burnout-tickets-1310663934109
CSN Bite-Size Book Club: Beyond Anxiety by Martha Beck
Join Shelly Vils Havel and Rich Gassen from CSN as we explore some topics from the book Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose by Martha Beck. We will not provide a book, but will share all materials needed for this conversation ahead of time.
All over the world, anxiety is skyrocketing, topping every other form of discontent as the most frequently diagnosed psychological affliction. In Beyond Anxiety, Dr. Martha Beck explains why this is happening around you, and why it is likely to be happening within you. She tells you how to not only reduce your anxiety, but use it to propel you into a life filled with peace, meaning, and joy.
We will touch on Beck’s topics like the “anxiety spiral,” a feedback system that can increase anxiety indefinitely. To keep from sliding back into anxiety, we must engage different parts of our nervous system—the parts involved in creativity. Beck describes a “creativity spiral” that, like the potential for anxiety, is built into our brains. Martha says creativity can applied in everything we do: dancing, painting, and writing, yes, but also parenting, leading, dressing, cooking, conversing, solving problems, moving through the world, and everything in between.
We’ll also look for “Squirrel Passions” – topics that fascinate us so much, the more we learn about it, the more we want to keep learning—like a dog relentlessly chasing a squirrel. These are the things in our lives that, when engaging in them, put us in a state of flow where we forget time and our worries, only focusing on the squirrel.
This 75-minute session will be interactive; there will be some short pre-session reading, and we’ll work on some exercises during our time together. Please register if you can set aside other commitments and truly engage with us for the meeting.
Date: May 29, 2025
Time: 11:30 am-12:45 pm
Location: Online via Zoom (link and pre-readings will be shared after registration)
Register: https://go.wisc.edu/5xms21
Register for Women and Leadership Symposium by May 20
Registration is open for the Women and Leadership Symposium on Wednesday, June 4, 8:30 a.m.–3:25 p.m. at the Memorial Union. This event brings together engaged professionals for networking, professional development, learning from women leaders, and sharing of best practices. The event will feature a keynote address from Dr. April Scott on “Finding Your Anchor in Uncertain Times.” Breakout sessions will address topics such as relationship building, well-being, building influence, career management, and workplace skills. The event is open to UW–Madison employees and community members who are interested in women’s advancement. The registration fee of $100 for UW–Madison faculty and staff and UW affiliates includes the keynote, breakout sessions, continental breakfast, and lunch.
Date: Wednesday, June 4
Time: 8:30 a.m.–3:25 p.m.
Location: Memorial Union
Register by May 20 to secure your place at the symposium.