Other Resources We Recommend
We’re proud to recommend the work
of a few friends, colleagues and clients.
Roger Hayse and Andrew Jillson, Directors of Hayse LLC — a consultancy to law firms in transition — regularly share insignt for leaders of firms in transition. Formation, growth, restructuring, compensation and succession are among the topics on their blog — Managing Law Firm Transition. If you lead or aspire to lead a professional service firm, this blog should be on your reading list. You can subscribe on the blog’s home page.
A Solution for Quality Video
For your website or social media channels, for alerts and updates, for professional profiles and client spotlights — the list of places most of us would like to incorporate video is growing. And CMS offers a solution that delivers broadcast quality video without the logistical hassles and budget nightmares. (Most of the video on this site is a product of the CMS Your Story solution. If video is on your wish list, contaxt Mark and Clint.
For Some Perspective...
Through his life-long work, Heartbeat, Landon Saunders always delivers a perspective rooted in hope and joy. His weekly email is a welcome bright spot in our in-box. You can find Landon’s most recent contributions here, or use the Contact information on our site, mention Landon’s weekly email, and we’ll send you information on how to subscribe.
The Work of a Human Being
I had a cup of tea and then walked to the auditorium. The people I would address a few minutes later were gathering. My topic would be “What to Do When Nothing Works.” Following my talk, I led a question and answer session. The comments from the group were stimulating; the questions were good ones. At one point, the discussion moved toward the subject of work. Several in the audience had lost their jobs. A young man stood up and, with some intensity, said, “Would you please tell me, sir, what the work of a human being is?” The audience stirred a bit uneasily sensing, I think, the emotion behind the question. The young man’s eyes and voice carried passion in them: passion born of hurt, conflict, confusion and, maybe, some fear. His question was more than a question about professions, careers or bread and butter. The question had little to do with workweeks, paychecks, vacation time, benefits and retirement. It went beyond youth and age, beyond ethnicity, beyond gender, beyond disability…The young man’s question is the question of every human being on this planet. It is a question that goes to the heart of life’s meaning. It touches every part of our existence.
The answer I gave him then is maddening, but it is the place to begin. The work of a human being is to fulfill your own unique life. This means your work includes all facets of your life: job, home, play, leisure…everything! Your job, alone, cannot satisfy you because your capacity as a human being is greater than any job. Your life within your home, alone, cannot satisfy you. Neither can play or leisure or anything else on its own. If you allow any one area to occupy undue space in your life, you will never know certain parts of yourself. You will miss part of your own life.
This week begin the work of a human being by looking at your own unique life with curiosity, acceptance and joy, asking yourself if there are areas of your life that are taking up too much space? Are there neglected areas where you can explore unknown parts of your unique life? When you invest your time and energy into this real work of a human being, you will finally begin to fulfill the fullness of your own unique blend of creativity, talent, experiences and capacity for joy—the fullness of your unique humanity.
With The Sun On Your Face
There is a story told about Alexander the Great and his famous horse Bucephalus. Bucephalus was a powerful, beautiful animal, but no one had ever been able to ride him. He was so wild no one thought he could be ridden.Young Alexander watched the strong and the brave try to ride Bucephalus. Finally, he figured out what it would take to tame him. Alexander had studied Bucephalus long enough to know his secret: Bucephalus was afraid of his own shadow. Whenever the horse saw it, he reared in attack as if the shadow was another wild stallion.
Recognizing the true source of the horse’s actions, Alexander strode to the center of the arena, jumped astride Bucephalus, and rode him straight toward the sun. With their shadows behind them, Alexander was able to tame this once un-ridable horse.
So many of the problems we encounter every day are problems we have decided are unsolvable. But, just like with Bucephalus, many problems can be conquered if you know the secret. Simply being strong or brave is not enough. You must have the patience to study the problem until you can recognize the source and adapt.
Before you know it, no matter the shadows you’ve encountered, you will be riding again with the sun on your face.
— Landon Saunders
Joy All The Way Down
I was walking through a subway station one day when I saw where someone had painted across a wall, “Get a Grip, What a Trip.” I don’t know what the person who spray painted the words meant by them, but I found myself thinking about time: how to carry time and how to carry my day. “Get a grip. What a trip.” Get the right grip, and you can carry time. Get the right grip, and you can carry the burden of your life no matter what it is.And this gets to the very heart of things. What is the right grip? What is the best way to take hold of the whole of our lives? In my life I have found the answer to be joy. Not a shallow, greeting card type of joy, but a joy that is rooted in acceptance: acceptance of self, acceptance of others, and acceptance of life.
To get the right grip, we must learn to be filled with this kind joy, right now, with the people we love. Nobody can carry the weight of a marriage without joy. It’s too heavy. Take a vow to be joyful. Take a vow to live with your children in joy. Take a vow to be joyful with your work.
Consider the little boy who said, “Dad, what holds up the world?” And his dad said, “Son, the world is carried on the back of a giant turtle.” The little boy went away, thought about that for a while, and then came back and said, “Well Dad, what does that turtle sit on?” His father replied, “On the back of another giant turtle.” And before the little boy could get the words out to ask his next question, the father said, “Son, it’s turtles all the way down!”
To get a good grip on our lives we must understand that it’s joy all the way down.
— Landon Saunders
Just To Be Alive!
There’s hardly anything more draining on a human being than activity without insight. You know the feeling. You go for days under pressure, working so hard that you scarcely have time to stop and think about what you’re doing.Without insight, your outward life starts to conflict with your inner needs. Outside, you feel attacked by ringing phones, demanding people, paperwork, and deadlines. Inside, you experience increased anxiety, loneliness, headaches, and stress.
How can you get the inner insight you need to gain mastery over the outer activities of your life?
Why not try and start your day with a quiet moment of solitude? The poet, Mary Oliver, wrote, “It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in the broken world.”
Take a few moments, before the noise of the day takes hold, to be simply alive and reflect on what’s really important. Take a moment to remember who you are, and to decide how you’ll respond to your day. You will be amazed at the difference these few moments of solitude and insight can bring to your day.
— Landon Saunders
The Far Side of Pain
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to avoid pain. Sometimes this meant I had to avoid people, including my friends. I was afraid to get too close to them. Any relationship that can bring a lot of pleasure can also bring a lot of pain. But the cost of this kind of life was too great.
Norman Cousins said, “Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies within us while we live.” In trying so hard to avoid pain, something was dying inside me.
I had to become more vulnerable. I could either avoid the possibility of pain and suffer a kind of death inside me, or I could open myself to others, knowing it would mean some pain and struggle.
I made my decision, and I found that facing pain, working with it, making my way to the far side of it, is to find great joy. I know it’s a paradox. The most truthful things always are. Yet, the joy that comes from being with others is finally all we have.
— Landon Saunders
A Good Question
I have a young friend who applied to five universities, and they all accepted him. He needed some help deciding which to attend, so he turned to his dad. But his dad raised more questions than he answered:“Son, when you graduate from college, what then?”
“Well, I’ll get a job.”
“And then what?”
“Well, I’ll get married and have some kids.”
“And then?”
“Well, I guess I’d live a long and happy life.”
“And then?”
Finally the boy was frustrated and blurted out: “Then I’ll die!”
“And what then?”
Quietly the boy answered, “Good question, dad.”
The big questions of life are also questions about death. The brevity of life puts things in perspective like nothing else can. Take some time this week to think about the things that will be most important to you on your last day on this planet. Those are the things that are important today.
— Landon Saunders