Monthly provocations and practices for transformational leaders. Disrupt the reactive cycle keeping you and your team stuck in the status quo to create real and sustainable change.
The gifts in the darkness
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Were you ever afraid of the dark? I was. I was convinced there were monsters hiding in the shadowy, creaky corners of my childhood home. As I grew older, I associated light spaces with safety and darkness with danger. (Though I did, at times, run toward the danger.) And I’ve seen how racism and colorism apply this light/dark binary to human beings, with devastating consequences. I’m holding all of these associations in mind as we face more forms of darkness this month: Our nights (at least up here in the northern hemi) are growing longer. Our view of the future (pretty much everywhere) is growing murkier by the minute. Our collective sense of optimism seems to be waning like the crescent moon giving itself over to shadow. Perhaps we’re still afraid of the dark. But let’s not miss the gifts it has to offer us. GIFTS OF DARKNESSRest + ReleaseSustainable Growth Strategies from the ForestI spent my morning today with the trees, learning from how they respond to less daylight and lower temperatures. You already know trees go into energy saving mode. Evergreen trees slow photosynthesis way down while deciduous trees stop it completely. They release their leaves, which fall to the ground to decompose and provide nourishment for the tree and its neighbors, while readying and protecting the buds that will burst open come Spring. But trees also transform on a cellular level during these cold, dark months. Their cells become more porous so they can release water to be held in the space between them. That way, as the water freezes, the tree’s cellular integrity is not compromised. These geniuses of strategic growth have figured it all out: Growth is a cycle, not a straight line. Rest is what allows for a cycle of release, regeneration and renewal, aka growth. Without it, we don’t have a growth cycle—we have a death spiral that calls itself “exponential growth” until it crashes and burns (out). Without rest, we cannot release. We only accumulate. (”Exactly!” come the cries from certain corner offices.) But we accumulate everything, including tensions and toxins that taint our rewards and poison our means of production. Releasing what is no longer needed not only eases our burden, it can—like the leaves—enrich the conditions around us. Rest is what makes our work possible. Rest is not the opposite of work. Rest is the opposite of struggle. If you do not rest, you will struggle. If you want to do great work, you must rest. Rest is not passive. Especially in today's world, amid busyness of our lives, we have to choose it actively. Then, at least in my experience, we have to carefully calibrate how it integrates with work, family, community and other demands (and gifts) of a full and rich life. As with any good thing, I think we can rest too much, which can lead to disconnection and even depression. 🌓 If you find the integration of these opposites—light/dark, rest/struggle, self/other—to be a challenge in your life/work, check out what's coming up in 2025 down in News + Notes. 👇 For your consideration:
If rest feels uncomfortable or impossible right now, Reader, or if you could use some space and structure for practicing it, consider joining this month’s Mini-Retreat on Rest + Release on December 13. (RadiantLeader.co members can RSVP free here.) “…when you slowly begin to believe and understand your inherent worth, rest becomes possible in many ways.”—Tricia Hersey, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto Rest Easyyou can rest with eyes open you don’t have to rest for years it doesn’t have to be nothing Join the Mini-Retreat: Rest + ReleaseYou are worthy of rest… and you probably need more of it. Rest isn’t just a matter of self-care—it's a strategic necessity. Rest renews our capacity for presence, perspective and purpose. Without it, we are at the mercy of our reactivity. We can't see clearly enough to make new choices. This 90-minute mini-retreat invites you to rest, with simple strategies you can weave into daily life. You’ll have an opportunity to release what's no longer serving you. What are you ready to let go of? Let's head into the new year a little lighter. Reminder: Mini-Retreats are free for RadiantLeader.co members, who can RSVP here. Not a member yet? Here's your button:
News + Notes👀 NEW! Video Mini-Series: How to Transform Culture This short series breaks down what culture is (and what it isn't), what a healthy, high-performing culture looks like, and how to systematically cultivate the ecosystem necessary for achieving your desired results in the service of a truly purposeful vision. If you are want to change your outcomes, start with your culture. If you want to change your culture, start here. 👉 (And please do like, subscribe and share... let's get these ideas out into the world!) 🌟 Coming Soon: New Year Intention The January installment of this newsletter will drop Dec 29 because I know many of you like to have your New Year Intention Workbook (2025 edition) ahead of New Year's Eve. And this year, you also have the option to join:
[💡Pro tip: Join RadiantLeader.co for the month to participate in the challenge and you can join the New Year Intention Mini-Retreat for free.] 🌓 2025: From Fear to Flow What a time to be a leader. Our increasingly unpredictable and rapidly changing world asks more of us than ever: How can we create organizations that are both financially successful and socially responsible? How do we build trust in an era of uncertainty, misinformation and skepticism? How can we leverage emerging technologies without losing the essential human elements of creativity and empathy? How can we prevent burnout in a culture of constant demand? In my experience, these questions have as much to do with the complexity within us as they do with the complexity around us. (And isn’t leadership the intersection of the two?) In the coming year, the focus of this Radiant Change newsletter and the RadiantLeader.co space will be honoring this complexity and expanding our story of ourselves to work effectively with it. Each month we'll practice with a universal tension—doing vs. being, self vs. other, knowing vs. learning—and grow our capacity to hold it. We'll play with paradox and soften toward our shadows. We'll bust toxic binaries and build nourishing boundaries. This is how we meet this moment. This is how we shift ourselves from fear to flow and our cultures from reactive to creative. I know the inclination to shrink. But the invitation is to expand. I can think of no more important work. And I’m delighted to be in it with you. Onward together. Kristen Lisanti |
Radiant Change
Monthly provocations and practices for transformational leaders. Disrupt the reactive cycle keeping you and your team stuck in the status quo to create real and sustainable change.
When you think of a toxic work culture, what comes to mind? Screaming bosses? Fierce competition? Endless arguments? Not me. In my experience, if there’s one telltale sign that a culture is in decline, it’s not shouting. It’s silence. “We’re polite to death,” a client recently told me. “Nobody says what they actually think. We smirk and nod in meetings, then spend the next week in sidebar conversations complaining about what we just agreed to.” Sound familiar? We've been conditioned to see...
We adopted a puppy last week. His name is Axl. When Axl sits, he gets a treat. When he stays, he gets a treat. When he comes when called, another treat. The simple system of training a dog works beautifully—desired behavior, immediate reward, quick results. It’s easy to see why we’ve designed our organizations with this strategy of rewarding specific behaviors with external prizes—it works. Axl is learning to sit because I am teaching him what I value and giving him something he values in...
Have you noticed that there are bad words in business? I mean words that are innocuous in daily life, but when you dare utter them in a work context they’re practically scandalous? I’ve written before about the f-word, and today we’re going to talk about the b-word: Boundaries. The notion of saying no, drawing a line or setting a limit strikes fear in the hearts of many leaders I know. But I believe boundaries are scary because we misunderstand them. We think of them as barriers, brick walls...