I remember a handful of times this spring when I connected with colleagues about feeling overwhelmed by the workload. I joked that I was "stifled by my own ambition" as a way to articulate that I brought this on myself. The ironic image evokes laughter because the words seem incongruous. Why would anyone stifle themselves?

Team issues can feel like wrestling a big hairy monster with a blindfold on. It can feel emotionally messy, tactically murky, and multi-faceted beyond that. There can be a lot of noise.

Righting this ship, to mix metaphors, will take time.

When we celebrate and acknowledge milestones with our teams, we motivate them, create a sense of accomplishment, and foster a positive and encouraging environment.

Vulnerability we demonstrate when we allow others to know us more deeply brings both exposure and understanding.

The goal is to always be able to answer the question, “what am I doing right now?”

Leaders, if you want to encourage your team to develop in a certain way, gain a certain skill, or create some other change, you can't just talk about it once.

A huge part of leadership is communicating well -- getting your message across effectively.

We weren't just attending "another meeting" out of obligation, but instead, we made a conscious choice to be invested with a clear, mutual, and relevant purpose.

However, if the goal is to build alignment, ultimately, the team will want to get itself to a point where it can execute the skill of dialogue well.

The idea of constant growth is not only overwhelming and unsustainable, it disregards the natural cycles of ebb and flow, of order and chaos, of action and rest.