Megan Tamte is comfortable being vulnerable. She allows people to see her for who she really is—even when it’s messy. For the founder of the fast-growing women’s retailer Evereve, it’s something that goes back to the styling floor of her first store, in Edina, Minnesota, where Megan remembers facing “uncomfortable and awkward situations all the
In 2008, my good friend Jeff Dykstra* faced significant fear of the unknown. He’d already taken a huge risk leaving the private sector and moving his entire family to Lusaka, Zambia, in 2006 with World Vision. Now, he was only a few months away from finishing his commitment in Africa. His next career move weighed
In the wonderful documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, revered sushi chef Jiro Ono does something completely uncommon and unnecessary. Despite being 85 years old and widely considered the world’s greatest sushi chef, he never settles. We can sum his constant push toward perfection in the Japanese word shokunin, meaning “craftsman” or “artisan.” But even beyond technical
Complaining reached its peak in our house recently. Kids complaining about food, about homework, and about each other. Us complaining about kids complaining. Us complaining about work, about how busy we are and about something the other did or didn’t do. We have a lot of happiness and love in our family, but we’d slipped
I often wonder what meetings would be like if there were time limits on each person speaking. In professional basketball, for example, they allow each team 24 seconds to take their shot at the net. The clock resets only after a team has attempted their shot or turned the ball over to the other team. Think
Several weeks ago, I sat at my desk literally propping my head up, willing my eyes to stay open and completely drained of energy. All I wanted to do was fall asleep, which surprised me because I wasn’t getting less sleep than normal. So what was different? I realized my mind had been heavily processing more
I live in a neighborhood with narrow streets. Parked cars are allowed on one side of the street. This makes it nearly impossible for two oncoming cars to pass each other. There are no signs or guidance as to how to navigate this predicament. But behavior expectations develop over time. I expect, for instance, that
Do you ever feel resentful that people aren’t listening well enough to you when you talk? Perhaps it’s your boss, a client, or your husband. Maybe you’ve said, “I told you that, but you didn’t listen!” Or you’ve thought, “Why are people on their phones in our meetings!?” It can be a difficult and frustrating
This post was originally published on Nov. 5th, 2014. It was modified and reposted on Aug. 26th, 2019. The leader of a business association once took me out to lunch to recruit me for membership. He had his work cut out for him. I had two legitimate hesitations in joining: First, I’m uncomfortable adding another
Criticism: The expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes. Sometimes that’s a verbal punch to the face. It may be a facial expression of disapproval or a tone of voice that betrays annoyance. Perhaps it’s a passive/aggressive comment. You might not realize that you’re delivering criticism, but your expression