Lead With the Message You MOST Need Your Audience to Hear. If you need to communicate with your team about upcoming changes, avoid the urge to bury it or sandwich it between other key points. Instead, practice leading with the most important message you need your audience to hear and then build on it.

If you're feeling a bit lost or overwhelmed by it all today, counter that feeling with some small acts of appreciation. Not only will you brighten someone's day, but you may also feel the glow of the gesture for days to come.

Even in challenging and uncertain times, there will always be people who light the way and protect the truth; leaders who bring their souls to work, and who care without condition, as I felt repeatedly in this hopeful series of conversations. Thanks to each of these special guests for joining me this season and to you, for being along in this learning journey with me.

As we've learned well over the years, any strategic planning process—from launching a prize to setting an organization up for its next five years of impact—requires a fierce commitment to focus, a shared understanding of the goal, and a collective commitment to the target. 

Your role might change, and your job might evolve, but your mission can always remain intact, whether you choose to stay or leave a certain environment. When everything around feels upended, stay planted in what you know for sure, even if that means advancing the work a different way, and from a different place.

There’s no other way to say it. These are difficult days that require difficult conversations and decisions. We can either feel defeated and come into each new day unsure if we have a chance, or we can align around what’s in our control and maintain our best game plan discipline.

So, while the headlines may lead you to believe that DEI is dying, look closer, and you'll see that most organizations remain just as committed to their core commitments, even as pressures mount. Look beyond the headlines. You'll find positive actions and adjustments being made to keep DEI efforts on track and moving forward—and excellent inspiration to keep your efforts moving forward, too.

Take 10 minutes today with this playlist. Sit on the ground or get out in the fresh air and find a song that speaks to you. Tune out the chaos of the world if just for a few minutes and let music do what it does best... Let the music ground you. Let it calm you. Let it meet you wherever you are.

This roller coaster ride will likely have more dips ahead. If you're already feeling queasy, focus now on grounding yourself and your team in careful planning so you can be here for the long haul.  

The power of communication is that we can use it to diffuse heated moments, we can use it to soothe people feeling uneasy or upset, and we can use it to bridge divides. If you find yourself communicating in ways that are elevating situations, then try some of these tips—or pass them along to someone who might find them valuable.

There’s so much we wish we could avoid, control, and change. But we are here now. So, let’s see what we can do about it together.

This was almost the end of a true story until a thoughtful group of veterans came together with a local nonprofit and CBS News to make good on America’s promise. They rented a venue right here in Maryland and covered the costs of plane tickets and travel to bring all musicians and interviewees to one place, giving dozens of hardworking, talented student musicians a chance to play the music they had been promised.

I know the feeling of wanting more from a colleague—and the feeling of personally underdelivering. Even when I’ve given something my all, sometimes the results are less than I hoped. Those moments can be defeating, and they can knock us off course. If they happen too often, they’re a certain recipe for job transition. So, I’ve come to navigate these requests differently in recent years.

If you can—and I think you can—see through your promises and your practices. We can't change what others do or choose not to do in their leadership practices, but we can control our daily actions and practices.

Get the practice in. Do the reps. Do the work. Seeing your practice through may be that simple reminder someone needs today to believe in their practice, too.

We may not be able to predict the future or reduce the uncertainty of what’s ahead, but we can remain grounded in the certainty of what’s right in front of us, taking stock of what we know, showing appreciation for who we have, and taking positive action at this moment. You may find that your actions calm someone else’s sense of uncertainty.

No matter the industry or the discipline, whether you work on issues of healthcare or housing, problem-solving is best done when it involves those closest to the problem. And yes, sometimes, the best action is to simply get out of the “dam” way.

Mitch Albom has a way with words. As the author of some of the most beloved and bestselling books of our time, his tales about love, life, and faith help us see better versions of ourselves and our shared humanity. Albom is brilliant at telling stories that let us get lost in words only to find deeper meaning at the end of each story he writes.

These days are hard, for all of us, in many different ways. The best we can do is hold the light we have up for others. Because I promise you this: when you hold your light up for others, you will also feel the benefit of its glow.

Though President Trump was Bishop Mariann's primary audience, was she actually addressing all of us? Was her message a simple reminder—in moments big and small—that grace, compassion, and empathy for one another should guide how we treat one another?

You can choose to lead in this way, regardless of other circumstances. It's about what we choose to do with what we have. Rather than asking, "What does this change mean for us?" consider asking, "What can my leadership in this changing time mean to others?" and then, be that change.