Love Learn Lead January 4, 2018

Ok, I admit it. I did it. When writing the date for today’s post, I typed 2017. It is going to take a few times of writing dates down to solidify in my mind that it is indeed 2018. But here we are, having entered another year.

This past Monday, Tony and I left the frozen tundra that is Wisconsin, where we were visiting family, and are now back at home in Pennsylvania. Though where we live has yet to fully feel like home, we are eternally grateful the winters here are a little milder than where we grew up.

But in light of all the wintery-ness we have been experiencing, today’s Love Learn Lead post, is all about being cozy. I share a homemade latte recipe I love, a great book to curl up and read this weekend, and something they don’t always tell you about leadership. So get your Hygge on this weekend, we have a few months of winter ahead!

Love

I don’t know about you, but I could eat pumpkin all year round. In fact, I do. Not daily or even weekly, but I just can’t seem to wait until fall for pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, or even pumpkin pancakes. That is why in the fall, we buy big pumpkins from a local farm, roast them in the oven, puree all their orange goodness, and then freeze it in 15oz. portions.

It is also why, I am telling you about a fall latte in January. Last month, I discovered, Against All Grain’s Dairy-free Pumpkin Spice latte recipe, and it is delicious. The only thing I have changed when making it, is that I use all almond milk and at least half the maple syrup as I don’t need it to be super sweet. If you too can’t wait until September for Starbucks to role out their fall lattes, I highly recommend making this at home!

What is your favorite hot/warm drink for winter?

Learn

Reading is one of my favorite things to do. And being too cold to go outside, gives me an excellent excuse to curl up on the couch with a good book. But, that doesn’t mean that the book can’t be educational. As it is the time of year when we think most about our goals and what we want to change about our life, a great read is Deep Work, by Cal Newport.

In a world where technology has provided us with an increasing amount of distractions, it can be difficult for us to focus on what we most want to accomplish. In this book, Newport discusses how deep, uninterrupted periods of focused work are crucial to creating meaningful work. Then, he shares the necessary steps to help us carve out more time in our life for deep work. If you have a project—at work or in your heart—that you want to see become reality, I highly recommend this book.

What are you reading this winter?

Lead

Leadership Tip # 14: Get Comfortable

This past fall, on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, they showed the Chief of Surgery, Miranda Bailey struggling with wearing high heels to work. It may seem silly, but what to wear for a job is a big thing for women. As historically many high ranking jobs have belonged to men, there is little precedence for how a woman presents herself in those positions.

In the show, Miranda painfully wears high heels throughout her day at the hospital. She stares longingly at her old surgery clogs, and regularly stops to rub her aching feet. But then, at the end of the episode, she makes a decision. She is not going to wear heels anymore. They aren’t practical for her job, and they aren’t comfortable. She makes a decision many of us don’t realize we can make.

When we are in positions of leadership, we do have the responsibility to present ourselves well. To be people that those we lead, both trust and want to follow. But we also have the choice to make our situation more doable. Within reason, we can wear more comfortable shoes, set our hours to match our greatest productivity with the company’s greatest needs, and even to set up our office for better use (standing desk, anyone?).

Only, these changes are up to us. No one is going to give us permission or make them for us. It is up to us to look at our current situations, and creatively come up with ways to make our workload and productivity sustainable.