This newsletter is embarrassing.

Estimated read/view time: 2.5 minutes. (There are videos in this newsletter. You need to watch, like, 4 seconds of each video to get the point.)

This is what TRYING to do the right thing looks like. Horrible!

As most of you know, I hosted an interview series this summer. In fact, those of you who have followed me for a while know that the interview series dominated my life for months.

I learned a number of valuable lessons, and today I want to peel back the curtain to share the most valuable lesson with you.

Which brings us to show and tell. Some embarrassing show and tell.

The hardest, most vulnerable, most painful part of producing this series was the #$!#!& opt-in video. That’s the little video that appears on the sign-up page.

This was the first time I had created a video, let alone one that was going to be public! I had all kinds of advice from my coach. I had prepped like crazy – wrote a script, set up a “studio,” practiced, planned my outfit, did my hair, and did around 50 takes.

You know the drill. You probably do some version of this ritual every day for meetings, presentations, and clients.

Within minutes of the video going live, I got feedback from my friend Anne that my video sucked. (Love ya, Anne!)

After a momentary freak out, Anne came over to help me reshoot the video. I threw on my favorite dress, ran my fingers through my hair (that I hadn't washed), and stood against a wall in our bedroom with no script. Anne and I danced around like crazy people for a moment, then we shot the video which is the one most of you saw. We did 3 takes.

The point is this. You are compelling as you. Being you doesn't take effort or stress or trying. Of course you need to prep and maybe do a little planning. Then you simply need to show up with your wonderful self, quirks and all.

Here's a challenge: Stop TRYING to DO the corporate thing right this week. Stop listening to the stories that say you have to be a certain way in order to be successful at work. Instead, BE yourself.

I hope this helps.

Christina

P.S. If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, they can sign-up for The Corporate Rebel Video Podcast and Newsletter HERE.

Who you are being matters!

Estimated read time: 4 seconds less than one minute.

Pets and kids get this concept without trying.

Like you, I have a lot to do this week - a long list of tasks, mundane and challenging. A few minutes ago, I was walking out the door laden with my laptop, anxious to start knocking items off my to-do list at the local coffee shop.

Right as I was about to leave, I stopped and remembered the words of my mentor. She said, "Trust that who you are is enough. Do your prep work and trust who you are being in the world." I put down my laptop and spent the next 20 minutes meditating.

The point here is simple. What you do is only part of the story. Who you are is just as important.

Here's an example:

One of my clients leads a large team. She is responsible for day-to-day management activities and projects that affect thousands of end-users. At her core, she is deeply empathetic. When she gets anxious about the things that need to be done, she has a harder time moving forward. When she taps into her deep well of compassion for herself and her team, the work gets done smoothly.

See how that works?

In the midst of all of your doing, remember who you are being is important, too. Have you heard the phrase, "you are a human being, not a human doing?"

Spend some time this week paying attention to who you are being. And my calm and centered self just easily completed one thing on my to-do list - this newsletter!

In love,

Christina

P.S. If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, they can sign-up for The Corporate Rebel Video Podcast and Newsletter HERE.

What's your excuse?

It's a scorcher! Spend one minute or less reading this in your air conditioning!

From my 12-year-old to you.

My 12-year-old daughter is the keeper of my screen savers. She surprises me regularly with inspirational quotes interspersed with photos of Taylor Swift. (Equally inspirational, I assure you.)

The quote above is what I found on my screen last week, and it got me thinking about you.

The world has been intense lately. If you live in Minnesota, you have a front row seat on the protests and the conversation about racial justice. If you watch the news, you've heard about what's happening in Turkey, Baton Rogue, Dallas, and the conventions. At our house, we have no shower, no kitchen, and all our belongings are in boxes. We are covered in dust and living in 100-degree weather.

This is what my office looks like today. The state of my office (no files, no desk, no chair) present me with the perfect excuse to not take calls, not write newsletters, not show up.

All of these things make great excuses to stop. And yet, you still have to go to work, move forward on the things you care about, feed your family, and show up every day.

What's the excuse that is currently holding you back? Here are some popular options:

• my voice doesn't matter
• my house is a wreck
• too busy
• too tired
• out of town
• it's all too complicated; I don't know what to do

Per my daughter's quote, you only have to be a bit stronger than your strongest excuse. Take a good look at the excuses you're telling yourself and find the way to be stronger.

I've said this before. No matter what the context, whether you are the leader of a corporate team, your family or a social movement, YOU are needed.

No excuses.

In love,

Christina

P.S. If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, they can sign-up for The Corporate Rebel Video Podcast and Newsletter HERE.

You are not fooling anyone!

Estimated read time: 1:16.27 minutes

No cubes, real or imagined, were harmed for the creation of this newsletter.

Meet Carole.*

*Carole's story is told with permission. In Carole's words, "Sure! I’m flattered."

When Carole walked into the conference room for the women's leadership program I was facilitating, she wore a tight bun, a polo shirt and what can only be described in 1950s terms as "slacks."

She was buttoned up.

As we spent time talking about the program topics like navigating politics and developing a business persona, I started to notice subtle things about Carole, like a pair of Saturn earrings or the cape she quickly removed when she walked in from the cold.

In our third session, we did a feedback exercise where the group shared what they wanted to see more of in each other. The other women wrote things on Carole's board like, "I wonder what it would be like if you wore your hair down and let your creativity fly?" After reading the feedback, Carole told the group in a stricken voice, "It's clear that I'm not fooling anyone."

In our next session, Carole said she realized how much she had sacrificed to fit some made-up image of a successful corporate professional. She decided to embrace her creative, rebelicious self, and let her masses of curly hair down, literally and figuratively. She started wearing the loose, creative clothes she loves and donned her giant jewelry, too. And she was right, her gorgeous hair looks just like Hermione from Harry Potter.

Carole liberated herself from the sense that she had to be a certain way to be successful in corporate environment.

Here's what she wrote in an email a few weeks later:

"I also decorated my cube with some colored fabric and art to express my personality, and have gotten a lot of positive feedback on being more authentic in both my décor and my appearance. I’m definitely getting a more positive vibe from people, and I’m more relaxed and open myself, too."

You are not fooling anyone, either.

Here's a challenge for you: Where will you let your hair down, literally or metaphorically, to be who you truly are - at the office and at home?

I hope Carole's story inspires you as much as it did me.

Love to all of you!

Christina

P.S. If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, they can sign-up for The Corporate Rebel Video Podcast and Newsletter HERE.

Sadness is part of your soul, test

Estimated read time: 1 minute, 57 seconds.

From the vigil in Orlando

The Corporate Rebel Series launched with an amazing recorded interview with Ann Betz about brain integration and success at work.

People asked me all day if I was excited for the launch. The answer was no.

Don't get me wrong. I love the series. Ann's interview is spunky and smart. I could muster some excitement, turn to friends for pep talks, present an excited face to the world, and I choose not to do any of those things.

I am profoundly sad about everything that has happened and continues to happen in the world. Rather than numb or deny my sadness, I want to honor it.

Shit happens to all of us. We face job losses, health scares, death, or terrible tragedies (like Sandyhook or Orlando). Even the monotony of working a soulless job can make us sad.

I struggled this week with whether to even refer to Orlando, and then I realized, that each of us has a responsibility to use our platform - whether it's a kitchen table, a board room, our FB page or a stage - to take a stand for love and peace: at work, on the street, at home, and in the public discourse.

We need our sadness. It's what connects us to each other and our own souls. Our emotions make us human. Staying connected to our dark emotions like sadness is part of the "without sacrificing your soul" part of being a Corporate Rebel.

Here are a few thoughts from this sad place:

1. Sadness is a natural human response when something is wrong. It's a sign that you are sensitive to the world around you and that you're paying attention. Be glad for that.
2. Sadness opens your heart. When you experience the full range of your emotions, you know you're alive.
3. Your sadness creates compassion for others: a customer who needs your help, a colleague who is struggling, a friend. Reach out.
4. Your sadness creates connection. People crave connection. (In fact, connection is one of the #1 factors that creates happiness at work.) When you share your vulnerabilities with others, the result is amazing.
5. Sadness leads to action. To give money. To write letters. To advocate for change in your workplace or community. To support those directly effected by tragedy and loss.

Own your little part of the universe. Love is bigger than hate. And it is our responsibility to live love every day in our souls and our actions.

Warmly,

Christina

P.S. If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, they can sign-up for The Corporate Rebel Video Podcast and Newsletter HERE.

Rebels Know a Little Something About Balance

For a couple of weeks, I’ve been all jacked up (gory description coming below). You see, I’m a great doer. I get things done like nobody’s business. And if I’m not paying attention, my sense of being goes out the window.
 
Being? What’s that?
 
Being is keeping a focus on who you are in the world. It’s how you show up. How you are being. Being and doing: you need to choose both to be successful, balanced, and happy. (That’s the punch line so you can stop reading right here. Except there's more.)
 
Allow me to engage two extremes to make the point.
 
Some of my friends and clients default to the being side of things. They are deeply tuned in. And sometimes, they get lost in the airy, fairy beauty of the world or of their emotional experience.  When they are lost in the being, it’s hard to get things done, to focus, and to keep commitments to themselves and others.
 
Then there are those of us (me!) who default to doing. Pedal to the metal, get things done, check things off the to-do list because, by god, my self-worth is tied to being productive. If we don’t stay organized, it makes all kinds of statements about who we are as people.
 
I wouldn’t be a coach if I didn’t have strategies for how to balance these two energies because remember the punch line? We need both! And man, I need both like a fish needs water.

1. Recognize which side is your default. Are you more of a constant doer or a committed be-be? (See the descriptions above if you need hints).

2. Learn the signs that you are out of balance. Gory description: when I’m out of balance, my energy hovers in my chest, I get jumpy and constricted, I talk fast, and my family finds me not delightful.

3. Forgive yourself. (meaning, don’t add beating yourself up to a lack of balance) and gently invite yourself back on the balance horse.

4. Staying in balance requires conscious choice and discipline. Have a couple of simple practices that bring you back into balance.
 
For you be-bes: Do the one thing you’ve been avoiding or use your deep tuned-in place as a spring board for action grounded from your best tunest-iniest place.
 
For you do-ers: Go outside and sink your toes in the grass, restart (or start) your meditation practice, drive slowly, move consciously, and be intentional about connecting to your heart and soul.
 
Doing enables you to get stuff done, to bring your gifts to your world. Being enables you to be grounded, to have your actions mean something to you and to others.
 
You need both. And if you’re like most people, it takes intention to maintain balance.

Got it? I'm glad!
 
Christina
 
P.S. Will you share this newsletter on your Facebook page or your Twitter? Just click the buttons below and presto – the little computer fairies will carry the post right to your Facebook page.
 
P.P.S. If you need a balance practice, I highly recommend Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey’s meditation series. They have a new one starting on November 2. It’s free. It’s easy. It’s a daily dose of balance on a stick. Click here to check it out.

Oh No! We're Ending!

A good ending is important. By good, I don’t mean perfect or rosy or even happy. Even a crunchy, hard ending can be good. Maybe a better word is clean. A clean ending is important. Like a clear, clean break-up. (As if I ever had one of those.)

Without an ending, stuff you don't want will stick and come with you on your journey like an unwelcome parasite.
 
(Disclaimer: This story is told with client permission. In fact, she feels like a rock star to see her story in print!)

One of my clients called for her session in tears last week. She had wanted to change jobs for two years and finally accepted a new position. She gave her notice with joy. Then she entered a period where she felt nothing. Until, one day, big emotions started pouring out.
 
She was baffled and relieved to be experiencing sadness. As she talked about the company she was leaving, her deep relationships and the many important experiences she had there became clear. She had grown up as a person and as a professional at this company.  Leaving represented saying good-bye to the person she had been and entering her new job further evolved.
 
Before she could move forward, she needed to end well, to close the experience of this job cleanly.  

From her experience, here are the things you can do to create clean endings for yourself whether you are ending a job, a relationship, or an important experience:

1. Say good-bye to things that need to be left behind.  You can say a quiet good-bye to yourself or have conversations or create rituals that enable you to let go. I once burned a stack of letters from an old boyfriend as a ritual to ensure that he left for good.
    
2. Honor important relationships. When you leave a job or an event, tell people what they meant to you and what you learned from them. Do it even if you cry. Do it even if the relationship was hard.
    
3. Choose the insights you want to take with you. You get to decide what to take to your next opportunity or relationship. Be conscious  of how you’ve evolved, claim those things, and add them to your life toolbox. 

Whenever you leave, consider how to give the experience an end. Whether it’s a quick hug at the end of a dinner party, a tearful conversation, or a ritual burning of letters, a good ending leaves you free to begin the next step of your journey from a fresh, clean place.
 
The end.
 
Christina