We’re showing up, increasing productivity, and seeing things in a more grateful, positive light this week in PP. Thanks to all of you for your continued feedback and kudos around this newsletter and other offerings CSN delivers to you as a member. We appreciate it! Sarah sent us a tip on the breathing video listed below.
:: Image of the Week
Fear promotes inaction. Action erases fear. Thus, act; fear will subside.
:: Mental Health and Self-Care
Use Breathing to Control Emotions
How you breathe can have a powerful impact on your state of mind, sometimes almost instantly. If that sounds a bit too woo-woo or ‘one weird trick’ for comfort, it might be helpful to know that this idea is supported by an increasingly robust body of scientific evidence. In this informative instructional video, the US psychiatrist and educator Tracey Marks gives a brief overview of the complex interplay between breath and body, and how it can influence our emotions – especially our stress levels. She then introduces viewers to three simple, research-backed breathing techniques for regulating emotions, clarifying the situations in which each method is most effective. And, even as some experts argue that each person’s relationship with their breath is deeply personal and not always easily transferable, Marks’s presentation nonetheless makes for a worthy introduction to mindful breathing and the interconnected nature of breath and emotion.
Watch this guided meditation video on breathing.
https://psyche.co/videos/the-interplay-between-breath-and-emotion-and-how-to-access-it
How You See It Makes It Matter
Seeing the glass half full is associated with a longer and healthier life. Let’s explore how the mind has been conditioned and how it can change. Doing our own work can lead to a shift in perception that changes the type of neuropeptides the brain makes. Experiencing pro-social emotions like gratitude, not only narrows divides among people but influences the cells that determine health throughout the body. How you see it, makes it matter!
David Rakel, MD is a professor and chair of the University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Rakel founded the integrative health program (now known as the Osher Center for Integrative Health at University of Wisconsin-Madison). He is an author of both academic and popular writings and his 2018 book The Compassionate Connection focuses on how relationship-building can influence health outcomes.
Enjoy this Badger Talks episode, which is in a series on gratitude in November.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxGbXK7JcbU
LinkedIn Learning now integrated with Workday Learning
As a UW—Madison employee, you have access to thousands of courses and personalized learning recommendations on LinkedIn Learning available to you—on your schedule, from any device.
What’s changing
The LinkedIn Learning catalog is now integrated with Workday Learning. Most UW–Madison employees will lose access to the current instance of LinkedIn Learning on December 1, 2025. You’ll still have access to the service through Workday Learning, but your learning history won’t carry over to your Workday Learning transcript.
How to keep your LinkedIn Learning history
If you want to keep your learning history, follow the steps below to connect your LinkedIn Learning account to your personal LinkedIn profile BEFORE December 1, 2025.
- Step 1: Connect your LinkedIn profile in the previous version of LinkedIn Learning
- Step 2: Connect your LinkedIn profile to the Workday-integrated LinkedIn Learning. Follow the steps in this resource: LinkedIn Learning Course History
(Note: some of you might already be linked — you will still want to toggle on the “Sync my learning activity from other accounts” option.)
Reminder: Historical courses from previous instances of LinkedIn Learning will not automatically appear on your Workday Learning transcript.
More information: LinkedIn Learning page
:: CSN’s Book of the Week Recommendation
Showing Up: A Comprehensive Guide to Comfort & Connection
It has never been more challenging to know what to say and do when those around us are hurting. We can feel empathy and compassion, but yet allow fear, doubt, and burnout to take over and paralyze us from connecting with each other. Our intentions may be good, but we don’t have the skills to know how to break through what we call the Awkward Zone.
How do we “show up” for coworkers, friends, classmates, family, acquaintances, and even strangers when we are all struggling? Experts in the mental health field are recognizing that we do indeed need each other. We can’t self-care our way out of this. It takes intentional connection – the reciprocal relationships within our homes, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and communities — to ultimately bring about our emotional resilience.
Showing Up breaks it all down. It uncovers the behaviors that get us off track and outlines the science of how human care works. It equips individuals, leaders, and organizations to break through the Awkward Zone so that people in your life know that you care. Filled with evidence-based tools and strategies, as well as touching stories, Jen Marr’s great book is a guide to bringing strength and hope to others and ourselves.
Jen Marr is the Founder of Inspiring Comfort, LLC and is passionate about furthering the science of human care through the skill of comfort. To her, strangers are just friends she hasn’t met yet. This natural gift has led Jen to a vocation of crisis response, healing and comfort, which has impacted the lives of thousands of people across the United States.
:: LinkedIn Learning
Nano Tips to Increase Productivity and Focus with Lillian Daniels
Join training consultant, learning specialist, and employee well-being expert Lillian Daniels as she outlines tips to optimize wellness and live a more mindful, present life. Discover the essentials of enhancing your productivity: efficiency, task prioritization, time blocking, habit formation, mind and body hacks, and effective breaking. Along the way, Lillian shows you how to improve your focus, breathe smarter, overcome distractions, and manage your energy. By the end of this course, you’ll be prepared to maintain your productivity and focus, no matter what your personal or professional life throws your way.
:: Developing Better Habits
Success = Systems × Consistency × Time
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear, Atomic Habits
Atomic Habits is a classic and one of my all-time favorite books. It’s probably a bit overdone on this platform by now, But that doesn’t make it any less useful for founders.
Clear’s message is simple (but genuinely effective): Success isn’t about big leaps or moments of “inspiration.” It’s about small, consistent actions that compound over time. See a post and neat infographic from Chris Donnelly on Clear’s ideas.
:: Change Management
Why Our Instincts About Innovation and Change Are Working Against Us
The principal thesis of the new book, The Human Element, is that people think in “Fuel”. If you’re curious about what they mean by Fuel, this blog post describes the concept and talk about the limitations of having a Fuel-based mindset.
Most marketers, innovators, executives, activists, or anyone else in the business of creating change, operate on a deep assumption. It’s a view of the world so deeply ingrained in our thinking that we rarely see its influence or question its value. It is the belief that the best (and perhaps only) way to convince people to embrace a new idea is to heighten the appeal of the idea itself. We instinctively believe that if we add enough value, people will say “yes.” This reflex leads us down a path of adding features and benefits to the idea or increasing the sizzle of the messaging – all in the hope of propelling people to get on board.
We refer to strategies designed to give an idea thrust as “Fuel.” Fuel is what heightens the appeal of an idea and incites our desire to change. The job of Fuel is to enlighten the intended audience on all of the positive attributes and benefits associated with the “new way.” The need for Fuel is so well established that we have built entire industries around generating it (advertising, public relations and product design, to name a few). While Fuel may be necessary for an innovation to take hold, it has critical limitations. Understanding these limitations is the first step to breaking out of a Fuel-based mindset.
:: Self-Leadership Development
What Autumn Leaves Know About Your Next S Curve
Fall teaches us what transition and the beginning of change feel like. Gradual. Uneven. The slow shift from green to yellow to brown. The gradual decrease from warmer temperatures to cooler ones.
Sometimes energizing—but often disorienting.
And that is how most growth works.
In our organizations, our projects, and our lives, there’s often a moment when the momentum we once felt is softer. We’re still moving—but the energy is different. That in-between space confuses us, because we haven’t arrived at what’s next yet. But we can feel that where we’ve been is winding down.
This season—literally and metaphorically—is the moment between S Curves. We talk about this all the time with leaders: When a curve starts to flatten—when progress slows—the data may show it first, but we feel it soon after. In our restlessness. In our team’s energy. In the questions, we start asking ourselves.
Read Whitney Johnson’s discussion on how your seasons correlate with the changing seasons we experience outside.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-autumn-leaves-know-your-next-curve-whitney-johnson-ksaxe/
:: Communication
Tired of Meetings that Feel… Blah?
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker shows you how to fix that. See this post from Dan Pink on his feelings about Parker’s planning book. CSN used this book as a guide to arrange the 10th Anniversary event back in August, including topics such as keeping it exclusive (special guest speaker), interactive (exercises and raffle drawings for participants), and theme-based (celebrating You-W this past summer).
If you’re in charge of planning events on campus or have company over for meals or game nights, you want to check out Priya’s book. See Dan’s thoughts below for more convincing.
:: Work Culture & Team Development
How to Start a Big Leadership Role
Good peer relationships are one of the strongest predictors of success in a new role. Make time to build these critical connections. That’s the invitation Carol Kauffman made when we discussed How to Start a Big Leadership Role.
In this conversation, Carol and Dave Stachowiak explore the mindsets and tactics that are helpful when taking on a new, big leadership role. They discuss how vision, resolution, scope, and altitude play a key role in your success early on. Plus, they invite listeners to consider the importance of peer relationships and recognizing how others see you as your role begins.
Key Points
- Having the right altitude often means looking much more broadly at the organization and moving past a subconscious bias towards your old role or department.
- The “subject matter expert trap” is a common one. Your awareness will help you avoid it — or recognize it faster.
- Good peer relationships are one of the strongest predictors of success in a new role. Make time to build these critical connections.
- Learning to accept recognition is a key competency for an executive leader. Treat it as you would receiving any kind of gift.
- Have an enterprise mindset and remember that people perceive you as representing the organization vs. just yourself. Thinking like the entity can help you show up in the way you intend.
https://coachingforleaders.com/podcast/start-big-leadership-role-carol-kauffman/
Spotlight Examples of Great Leadership
When you witness great leadership traits in your team or in the wild, point it out. This is Karan Catlin’s advice, who is the author of Better Allies. See her post on this topic in a recent Better Allies newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/c63296d96136/5-ally-actions-oct-3-2025?e=6ad6c46384
:: 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!
A Vibrant Transition
Ever heard the saying, “the only constant is change”? That’s especially true of campus in autumn. The semester settles in, midterms loom and winter edges closer. We hurry through it all, trying not to fall behind.
But there’s beauty in the in-between.
So take a breath. Join us for a journey across campus as UW–Madison transforms for autumn, where color, light and life shift before our eyes in this photo and video feature from UW News.
https://news.wisc.edu/a-vibrant-transition/
:: Upcoming Events
The Real Work of Leadership: Listening, Healing, and Leading Through Conflict
At this month’s Servant Leadership meeting at UW-Madison, we’ll use the principles of Servant-Leadership to practice resolving several real-world leadership challenges. An example case:
“I am on the board of a volunteer organization that is dominated in an authoritarian manner by one person, who does have much experience and expertise, which they use to “power over”. There has been a lack of collaboration and a relationship container. Board members do not feel psychologically safe to speak up. When they do, they are quickly shot down.”
For each scenario we explore, how do we practically apply Servant-Leadership to resolve each leadership conflict?
We’ll also examine Dave Bray’s “Five Questions” as a framework for discussion:
- Where are we? (What is the effect of this conflict? Who is affected?)
- Where do we want to be? (Ideally, what does success look like?)
- How do we get to that ideal state?
- How will we know when we get there? (What behaviors and conditions will exist in this ideal state?)
- How do we sustain this ideal state? (How do we avoid backsliding and unexpected negative consequences?)
Pre-reading before our session:
- Scenarios
- Warren Buffett Says the Biggest Measure for Your Success in Life Comes Down to 1 Word
- Ten Characteristics of a Servant-Leader
If this topic interests you, make sure to join us on the 21st!
November 21, 2025
8:30-10:00 am CST
Meeting ID: 987 0673 4791
Passcode: 156691
The Power of Small Groups: Sophia Partners Servant Leadership Meeting
You become the leader you’re meant to be not just by consuming knowledge but by interacting with it, questioning it, and applying it. Small group learning gives you that platform – it’s the future of leadership development.
During the session, join two breakouts of your choice based on these topics:
- Generations in the Workplace
- Balancing Accountability and Servant Leadership
- Change: AI and Technology Disruption
- Relevance of “Soft Skills” in Leadership
Each breakout will be led by one of our volunteer moderators. After the breakouts, we’ll come together in large group format to discuss key takeaways, learning lessons, and new ideas and solutions.
Community of Practice conversations are a fully virtual offering for learning about your individual servant leadership strengths and learning new practices through small group discussion, facilitated conversations, and personal reflection. Through these quarterly sessions, attendees build, share, and learn from others as a community of transformative leaders. It’s highly interactive and each session a different servant leadership topic is explored.
Date: November 25, 2025
Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm CST
Location: Online through registration link
Register here: https://www.sophiapartners.org/event/community-of-practice-4/?mc_cid=188b02a71e&mc_eid=0090d7a227
Welcome to the Coaching Community of Practice!
We’re excited to welcome you into this community of practice (CoP) and to connect with all of you as leaders and learners. To kick us off, we’d like to begin with our first CoP focused on self-awareness and perspective-taking and how that might inform the way we, as coaches and leaders, engage in [coaching/leadership] conversations with our colleagues. We’re offering two (2) resources to get us started, which are included below. We encourage you to review and reflect ahead of our gathering; however, it is not required. Our vision is that this will be a facilitated discussion to build the foundation of this CoP and to set the stage for further conversations. We are also eager to hear what you want and need this space to be. We invite you to our first gathering!
Resources:
-
Berger, J. G. (2019, October 25). Trapped by rightness: When our instinct to believe we are right closes us off to the ways we are wrong. Cultivating Leadership.https://www.cultivatingleadership.com/uncategorized/2019/10/trapped-by-rightness-when-our-instinct-to-believe-we-are-right-closes-us-off-to-the-ways-we-are-wrong
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2025
Time: 12:00 to 1:00 pm
Zoom Link to Join: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/my/sandratm