The change room rule

Every change room has a rule. Say what needs to be said, and what’s said here stays here. Most people hear that as a rule about silence. It isn’t. It’s a rule about location. The team that keeps its laundry inside is usually the team that washes it inside....

One day is today

“One day.” Two words I say more than I realize. Sometimes looking back: one day, years ago, when everything felt possible. Sometimes I look ahead: one day, when the work slows down, and there’s more room to breathe. What struck me recently is how rarely I say it about...

Facts don’t open doors

I come back to an old parable more often than any business book. Truth walks into a village naked. Nobody will let her in. Doors close, curtains draw, and she ends up sitting alone at the edge of town. Then Parable comes along, wraps her in a coat, and walks her back...

Monday morning restraint

Sunday night, the thought was fully formed. Monday morning, my thumb hovered over send. It felt urgent. Mostly, it felt heavy, and I wanted it off my chest. That’s my timing. Not theirs. The idea will keep. Will their attention, if I spend it today?...

Say it once

The first time you say it, they listen. The second time, they listen for the tone. By the third time, they no longer hear the message. They are hearing you. Frustrated, precise, a little louder. The conversation is now about your feelings, and the work that needed to...

Painting the church

Tuscany, a lazy afternoon, and a brush in my hand for the first time in decades. Not for a wall. Not for a ceiling. For a landscape. I’d forgotten how good it feels to dabble. No outcome, no deadline, just color, a little water and a view. For a week I had looked at...