Posts by Mary Ellen Clagett
Where Do You Go?
When stuck in my thinking, there is something about staring out at the ocean that opens my mind to possibilities. I’m not sure if it’s hearing the rhythmic fall of the waves, wondering what lies beyond the horizon, or the dolphins that arc above the water that have me look below the surface … it…
Read MoreFrom Seed to Seedling
Nature is a great teacher. When you pay attention, you will see plants growing in unexpected places and unexpected ways. We can grow too. Aristotle in The Nicomachean Ethics noted that “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” Our last few blogs have focused on…
Read MoreStart Where You Are
What is courage? Courage is doing something that you are afraid of. We will be exploring how to build it over the next three weeks. But before that happens, clarity around your fears must be achieved. You need to start with where you are. Most of us tend to be risk averse. It’s not necessarily…
Read MoreYour Present is Presence
English is not a precise language. Between multiple definitions for single words and the stories we make up about what a word means based on our experiences, it can be confusing. Take the word presence. At LAITHOS, we use the word to talk about 1) being present and 2) how one shows up to others. Both have…
Read MoreMind the Gap
A lot has been written about mindset and why it matters. Most often the discussions address the disparity between the fixed and the growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset view intelligence, abilities and talents as something you are born with while those with a growth mindset believe these traits can be improved with effort. …
Read MoreJudge, Jury, and Executioner
I’ve been reflecting on how often we are hijacked by the voices in our head. Neuroscience teaches us about the shortcuts the brain takes to process the enormous amounts of information it processes daily. Unless we pay attention, we fall into patterns and mindsets that do not necessarily serve us. Recently, a client has been…
Read MoreHold the Phone!
Strengths overused become weaknesses?!? What?!? It’s easy to get derailed by all the advice we are given about how to evolve our leadership. Work on my weaknesses. Work on my strengths. Don’t let my strengths become my weaknesses. As we think about it – knowing our brains are always looking for shortcuts – it can…
Read MoreReset?
Every New Year’s Eve, I write a letter to myself to be read the following New Year’s Eve. In it, I envision what the coming year will bring. As you can imagine, world events over the last few years have thrown some curve balls at my expectations. We didn’t win the HGTV Vermont house, but…
Read MoreOur Superpower
I’ve been on a mission these past weeks to save Monarch butterflies. While we have planted hundreds of milkweed plants, they have been eaten down to their stems. As a result, I’ve been searching for caterpillars and moving them around the yard to plants that still have some leaves. It’s been working. The metamorphosis from…
Read MoreWhat’s Your Brand?
We are constantly bombarded with advertisements and slogans establishing a company’s brand. To this day, if someone mentions the company Alka-Seltzer, their tagline (from the 1970s) “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh what a relief it is” automatically plays in my head. I’m sure there are plenty of examples of brands playing around in yours. These…
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