If December was tiring, January feels a tad...aggressive. I have 12 months to do all the things, yet they are somehow all begging to be done right now. Here’s your reminder to sometimes let it be. Right now, DC is cold and gray. If you’ve planted some seeds - they may just be underground for now. The picture is from a recent walk when I wasn't sure if what I'm planting - patience, new mindsets - is really taking root. New shoots pushing through frozen ground are a good reminder that the growth will come.
Emerging Themes in January:
The social contract at work is being rewritten - and workers are holding the pen. Gen Z employees will be the ones to watch - they’ve normalized talking about emotions at work, are beginning to climb in careers, and are getting support from Millennial Managers on setting boundaries and ensuring purpose in their careers.
Meanwhile, moms are losing it. The latest round of Omicron and school closures have put us into collective whiplash – looking for an end to the uncertainty, when there is none in sight. Great article on this here: Parents Are Not Okay
But there’s hope: kindness at work and conscious capitalism are trending. With James Rhee’s TED Talk on Kindness garnering millions of views, and the CEO of Blackrock’s latest letter to investors calling on his fellow Corporate leaders to focus on ESG as a means to respond to customers and employees, green shoots are on the horizon.