I have always believed that working in communications involves creative thinking. My day-to-day work involves a great deal of creation—messaging, stories, language that I hope will resonate with target audiences. And this is the part of the work that I …
Communications as understanding
I think one of the most painful things I’ve had to hear for the past several years are people’s stories about how they’ve fought to maintain good relations with their loved ones who have swallowed Fox News storylines hook, line, …
Find – and learn – your work story
I saw our neighbor recently. I don’t see him that often—he’s a very nice guy, but he’s hardly ever home, and also, he has a grown son who moved back in with him for stints over the past several years …
Help more women lead
I admire Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th district in Congress, very much. I don’t agree with all of her policy positions, many of which feel difficult to achieve on a practical level, but I believe that …
Muscle memory and work
I took several years of piano lessons as a child; my level of skill would kindly be described as “intermediate.” I still play occasionally, though—my parents gifted me the very old Steinway upright that I first took lessons on, which …
Writing’s hard. Give help. And ask for it.
Over the course of my working life, I’ve been asked to write countless things. Once I write something, I generally remember how to write the thing again, but in lots of cases, I didn’t actually know how to write the …
Communications: From practice to belief
I’ve been struggling with belief, lately—what I believe to be true, and what I believe can be true. And I was worried that this could present a problem for me in my chosen line of work, which is communications for …
Random thoughts about philanthropy
This month, I can’t seem to herd my thoughts into order, so I am just going to shake my brain free of random thoughts I’ve been having about philanthropy—a field I’ve worked in and around for most of my professional …
Taking the first steps towards change
I am a lifelong devourer of books, but I rarely read nonfiction. I don’t know why, but reading big, fat books about building the Brooklyn Bridge or Lincoln’s cabinet just don’t grab me, narratively, the same way that fiction does. …
Can we make work suck less?
I am having an unexpectedly slow start to work in 2022—unexpected because I thought I had projects lined up and now they’re either stalled or assuming different shapes than what I originally envisioned. This has left me with a lot …