Over all these years, I’ve been fortunate to connect—either directly, or indirectly through their books and teachings—with so many terrifically creative thinkers. People who have impacted my worldviews in meaningful ways, and given me insights that led to significant shifts in beliefs. Each has taught me new tools and approaches that have helped enormously in […]
In “Working Through Hard Times,” the Introduction is an essay I wrote back at the beginning of the pandemic, called “Things Fall Apart.” As we approach the one year mark of the arrival of COVID-19, I’m imagining the inverse. Sometimes things come together, often with an unexpected elegance. My belief is that by gently and consistently calling forward […]
In the spirit of picking up the phone that I wrote about in “Working Through Hard Times,” I dialed the number of a friend the other evening. She’s an amazing leader who lives halfway across the country. Someone who is humble, focused, and persistently positive in her leadership. She has vision, she’s grounded, and determined […]
In the four months since the release of “Humility: A Humble, Anarchistic Inquiry,” I’ve had a couple of good questions about its contents come my way that—initially—I had no answer for. I’m happy to share that the reflections that followed have helped me to further understand the importance of humility in our organizational ecosystems and to see […]
Many thanks to all of you who reached out with such positive thoughts after to my recent piece about our 2032 Vision. I appreciate everyone who asked for a copy. I’m happy to share—inspiring visions and interesting ideas, ever imperfect, can only lead to more creative thinking across our ecosystem when shared widely. Speaking of […]
Thursday, January 28, is a morning that I will remember, in the best possible ways, for a long time. Probably, for the rest of my life. Unlike so many other days lately, nothing particularly noteworthy that I know of happened on a national scale that day. And yet, here at Zingerman’s, it was a day […]
Remember March 2020? What were you doing a year ago–in the “before” time? Personally, I was spending a lot of time on the phone. We were interviewing prospects for a newly available position as a ZingTrain Trainer. Someone who could help pick up the load at the end of July when I would be stepping […]
Change is hard. Especially when the change wasn’t your idea to begin with. But change is a necessary part of life. Do you know anyone who hasn’t experienced a change in the past year?! It’s all around us! Deliberately bringing positive energy into the change process ensures that any change you make is not only […]
I don’t have that many regrets in life, but one of mine is that I never managed to meet Grace Lee Boggs. Remembering Grace Lee Boggs: A Life of Hope and Inclusion She lived relatively close by in Detroit and passed away, just six years ago, at the age of 105. I have read a […]
At the end of this week, I have a new pamphlet coming out. Like the pandemic, it wasn’t something I’d planned for. While the idea for the previous pamphlet—“Humility: A Humble, Anarchistic, Inquiry”—had been in the works for over a year, the idea for this one only came into my head a couple months ago. […]
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve written a lot about the importance of bringing love into our leadership lives and daily work. As I continue to do more with the organizational ecosystem model (email me at [email protected] if you want the drawing), I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose. In the metaphorical model that I wrote about […]
Way back in 1990—in the same year that the two Germanies were reunited, Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and eight years after Paul and I had opened the Deli—my friend Lex Alexander from North Carolina told me about a new book he was reading. And loving. It was written by a guy from Iowa […]
This new 4-part workshop series combines one of ZingTrain’s longest-running workshops, Living Servant Leadership, with three newer offerings, all geared towards providing practical, immediately-applicable tools, techniques, and perspectives to support leaders in developing and evolving their skills.
This series will be offered both virtually and in-person at our training space in Ann Arbor, MI! Choose what will work best for you.
