Find the Good People

Time to read: Less than one minute.

The stolen bike

Hello Corporate Rebels,

Sometimes bad things happen.

A project you love gets taken away. One of your work friends gets laid off. You lose all the data you spent the past 5 hours working on. It's discouraging when stuff like this happens.

Last week, my son's bike was stolen from our fenced yard. Thus ensued frustration, disappointment, and sadness that someone would do such a thing.

Then an amazing thing happened. I posted the above photo to a local Facebook page devoted to finding stolen bikes. Through this page, I discovered a whole team of folks who track stolen bikes, link them to bikes for sale online and uncover data to help the police catch the ring of thieves who ransacked our neighborhood (and many others) for bikes last weekend. Individuals have contacted me with tips. I have connected them to the investigating officer. These folks are doing incredible work simply because they have the skills, interest, and will.

It has been uplifting to meet the "Robin Hoods" as I have started calling them. They don't have to do this work and have no personal stake in my son's bike. Interacting with them reminds me to have faith in the goodness of human beings and our power to make a difference when we care and take action.

When you look around your workplace, where do you see the Robin Hoods? When things feel hard or discouraging, look for the folks who do what they do simply because they have the skills, they care, and they're willing to take action to change things. Then hang out with those folks a lot.

It makes the things that suck a whole lot better.

I hope this helps.

Christina

P.S. Do you have a friend or colleague who needs a little help to see the bright side today? Forward this newsletter to them. They can join us here.

P.P.S. My BFF, Anne Lippin and I are cooking up something fun to rev some momentum in the lazy month of August. Stay tuned!

Reaching across the divide

Estimated read time: 00:55.69 seconds

My friend, Ara Schmidt, created this lawn sign from one of her sidewalk drawings.

It's a weird day here in the USA. You may be celebrating. You may be crying. I'm shaken. Whether you are happy or sad about what happened in our election, the world has been turned upside down.

It's unsettling when the ground you thought you stood on shifts right under your feet.

It's like we all got on a train. We don't know where we're headed. Some of us chose to get on this train and some of us didn't. We all share one fact. The train is moving, and we can't get off.

However, as Corporate Rebels we know a thing or two about compassion, choices, leading in hard times, and what it means to do this life and work thing from a place of authenticity, connection, and knowing that things can be different.

My thinking is foggy, and I'm struggling for words. Here is what I've got:

You don't have to solve everything. You don't even need to be able to see the whole picture clearly - whether that is your work, your life, our nation, or the world.

You do, however, have to decide how you are going to behave and who you are going to be during this seismic shift.

Will you be curious about the people who disagree with you? Will you smile at the teenage girls in headscarves at the mall? Will you be kind to the barista, even if he gets your coffee order wrong? Will you operate in your life from love rather than fear? Will you get about the crucial work that needs to be done right here, right now in your community?

Something important has happened, and it's time for us to be alert. Maybe the solution isn't in our governments or our corporate leaders. Maybe the solution is in each of us.

Your world needs your creativity and love now more than ever.

You are the light. Go be that light in your world today.

Christina

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