<![CDATA[Cat Cuevas - Blog]]>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 06:47:14 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Drunk OD: Moscow Mule and Understaffing]]>Sat, 09 Sep 2023 00:26:20 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/drunk-od-moscow-mule-and-understaffing
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Drink: Ginger Beer Moscow Mule
Pairing: With ginger to settle an upset stomach and indigestion from being understaffed or having too many priorities, let's unpack how to help your teams when you're understaffed or simply have too much to do.
The Situation
Whether your team has been downsized by layoffs, you're in a fast-paced start-up trying to tackle everything at once, or you're working with executives who are struggling to truly prioritize, at some point leaders have  all felt the dreadful sinking feeling in their stomach when we realize they're on a one way train to failure town because there is an overwhelming amount of work.

The balls are starting to drop. You're forgetting things. You're noticing errors in your work. Your eye is twitching, you've got insomnia and your jaw is never unclenched. You've relinquished your optimism of working a few more hours on the weekend to catch up. Now you're just "in it" and desperately trying to get out alive because what you're doing isn't sustainable and your wellness is tanking. 

The Real Talk
We've all heard the phrase: "if everything is a priority, nothing is a priority." It's one thing to know it, and another thing to dig yourself out of it. It can involve navigating internal politics or your own hang-ups around completionism, perfectionism, disappointing others, being likable, being competent, etc. 

The real talk here is simple. No one is going to get you out of this but you. So, let's figure it out together. 

Some Solutions
1) Figure out which gods you're trying to please. 
Whether it's power, profit, relationship, perfection or politics, figure out which "gods" you worship and serve them intentionally. This becomes your decision-making criteria. If you haven't been given criteria by your leaders, do your best to create it and then test it out with a few colleagues. Know the business and the company's culture. What initiatives or leaders thrived the last time this happened? Ask why and how. Then, get to know how you and others operate under stress. Once you've got your prioritization criteria, let your team and others know how you are using to make decisions about what work stays, what work goes and what gets pushed out. 

2) Check yourself (and with your team) about what is realistic.
What was normal and realistic yesterday, may not be today. Test all your assumptions about what you believe is a "normal workload" or should be a "reasonable expectation." Timebox how long you'll work under your new assumptions, and mark your calendar for when you will check in on them again. Talk to your executives about this and get their alignment so you are on the same page. 

3) Line 'em up. This one comes from what I've learned from my Sifus at Seven Star Women's Kung fu for when you find yourself outnumbered.  Figure out who is most dangerous... or in a business case situation what is the single most important thing to keep track of. Then, no matter what, always keep your sights on that person, situation, project, metric, etc. Everything else? Line 'em up so you're only ever fighting/addressing one thing at a time. Don't try to multi-task. Rank them in order by which you will address them, one at a time. 

4) Go on the offensive. This is not the time to sit back and wait for someone else to tell you what to do and how to do it. Find or create a way to step out of the stream of the firehose for just a moment so you can breathe. Cancel a meeting, take a day off, or call your therapist. Make space to breathe. Shift your mindset from defense to offense. Sitting back and trying to deflect all the balls coming your way won't help you make headway. Now's the time to know what your priorities are, tell everyone what your priorities are, and go after them. 

5) Primary targets. In Kung Fu self-defense situations we often tell folks to only go for primary targets, or in other words, only take action when it has a clear, intentional impact. Don't block, don't defend, don't flail, and don't attack targets that won't create the exact effect you need - only act in ways that have strong, clear, intentional impact. Don't waste your precious time on actions that won't get you results. (It's easiest to do this when you have are clear on your criteria).

6) Good enough is good enough. Decide what you're going to give up (quality, speed, detail, risk assessment, process, etc.) in order to mitigate what's coming at you. Let folks know what you're sacrificing in order to meet the criteria you set. Then really go for "good enough" and timebox when you will check back to see if your temporary standard of good enough is really still good enough. Pro tip: Don't sacrifice relationships. 

Finally, these tips work best in acute situations. They are not meant to keep you resilient and strategic in chronic understaffing or long-term chaotic/toxic situations. We'll Drunk OD together about the chronic situations another day. 
@christianwashgarvey “My plastic surgeon doesn’t want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose.” Name that movie. Are we all laughing so we don’t cry this Spring? Is that the vibe? □✌□#oxfordms #oxfordmississipi #mississippi #olemiss #universityofmississippi #momsoftiktok #momtok #momlife #cluelessmovie #cluelessmoviescenes ♬ original sound - Christian
]]><![CDATA[Drunk OD: DEI is Dead, and a Grateful Dead Cocktail]]>Tue, 29 Aug 2023 22:27:01 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/drunk-od-dei-is-dead-and-a-grateful-dead-cocktailPicture
This one may be tough to swallow...
Drink: Grateful Dead Cocktail (vodka, gin, tequila, Chambord, rum and sour mix - yikes!)
Pairing: This cocktail pairs well with the debate over whether DEI is "dead." It's colorful, full of strong opinions and laced with the serious and most ridiculous parts of the conversation. One of these and you'll surely be in for a heated debate. Non-alcoholic alternative... mix every kool-aid flavor together and a cup of sugar.  
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This episode is based on a piece I wrote for Unify Consulting. 

The Situation
Is DEI dead? This headline is catching the attention of many, especially in this polarized social-political landscape. As federal and state DEI legislation and funding come into question, leaders, employees and parents wonder what the impact will be on business, schools, and ultimately their lives. As we continue to see racialized and gender violence in the news, we ask what safety will look like in our communities and workplaces.

This kind of uncomfortable, complex, high-stakes, and often heated conversation should be held in community. So, let’s explore it together. Spoiler alert - it's not dead. And, in full transparency, I'm not drinking a grateful dead cocktail. Eww. 

The Real Talk
Here is why DEI is not dead.

Diversity. We are all unique individuals who belong to and contribute to our organizations and communities in different ways. That beauty cannot be erased. Full stop. Many people across history have tried - through boarding schools, genocide, limiting access to gender-based heath care, Jim Crow laws, intimidation and more.

Any business that can’t accurately meet the needs of its diverse customers is going to lose its competitive advantage to those that can. The business case for diversity hasn’t changed. The environmental case for diversity hasn't changed. The community case for diversity hasn't changed. 

Inclusion. Inclusion is a fundamental human drive to feel connected, welcomed and a member of a group. It’s when humans lack inclusion and connection that we face severe impacts on our health and well-being. If you want your team’s cross-functional work to fail, get rid of inclusion. Inclusion is necessary for collaboration, problem-solving, innovation and overcoming obstacles. Any systems thinker will tell you that for an organization to work, it requires strong connections and relationships that are built on a foundation of inclusion. Our fundamental human rights are connected to every individual being a member of Earth and the human species. 

Equity and Accessibility. Humans are unique. We each require different resources and support to feel our best, be our best and do our best. If a business wants to encourage poor performance, a sure way to create it is to prevent people from getting what they need to be their best. A big part of every people leader’s job is to help remove barriers for their team members. This isn’t new, nor is it changing.

Belonging. Each of us has a desire to feel relevant, a sense of purpose, connection to something greater than ourselves, and to feel loved. Can you live a happy, meaningful life without these? We have so much to belong to: each other, ourselves, our children, our ancestors, the land, the oceans, the solar system... the potential for belonging is endless. 

DEI always has and likely always will be challenged because at its core, it's purpose is to redistribute power. Here are five reflections leaders can contemplate as you navigate DEI conversations. 

Some Solutions
1) Leaders, you aren’t on the sidelines. Whether you want it, believe it, are ready for it, or not, you are on the playing field. Every decision you make creates our shared reality and answers the question, “Is DEI dead?” Stop asking the question and start showing the world your answer.

2) Participate consciously. Let’s think more critically together. Who is in the conversation about whether "DEI is dead" and what stake do they have in DEI work? Who benefits from and who is harmed by the debate over whether DEI is dead? What dialogue have you participated in, and what have you learned about yourself through the conversation?

3) Focus on the work. What action have you taken with your leadership team and employees to ensure a more diverse, inclusive, accessible and equitable environment regardless of the debate? In what areas do you create belonging, and in what areas are you creating othering?

4) Actions speak louder than words. What DEI beliefs and practices are fundamentally aligned to your company’s values, operations and legacy? What DEI beliefs and practices are at the core of your personal and leadership values and behaviors? What are you keeping alive through your actions? How are you mentoring up, down and across your organization in ways that model an appreciation for diversity, a stance on inclusion and a commitment to equity?

5) What are your outputs, results and impact? DEI and business share common ground regarding a focus on measuring impact (not good intention). Who are the customers of not only your products and services, but your leadership? What impact are you having on them? Do your results show that DEI is alive and well?

DEI is not dead because it is alive within each of us, every day, through our thoughts, beliefs, actions and results. What actions will you take today to keep it alive?
]]><![CDATA[Drunk OD: Bloody Mary and Existential Dread]]>Sun, 20 Aug 2023 23:23:01 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/drunk-od-bloody-marys-and-existential-dreadPicture
Drink: Homemade bloody mary
Pairing: Packed with vitamin c, a bloody mary made from fresh tomatoes hits the spot when you're trying to keep your teams motivated during bouts of existential dread. Optional: w/o alcohol, w/vodka or w/tequila.
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The Situation
In the pacific northwest, late August is tomato season. All local gardeners are sharing pictures of their harvests on social media and trying to figure out what to do with the sudden surplus of tomatoes. 

It's Friday eve, and it's been a long week...

Your leaders are citing despair in their front line managers, and a trending lack of engagement and motivation. If you're being honest, you feel it too, though most days you use all your coping strategies not to feel it. 

The problems ahead of us are bigger than any one company or that you can solve. Anyone paying attention feels the existential dread, helplessness and hopelessness. There will always be leaders that don't... that dismiss DEI, human-centered practices, climate change and think social issues aren't related to business.

But that's not you. You see that it is all connected: our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, companies, communities, the economy and the planet. Your emotional cup is full. Forget treading water, you're relying on snorkeling gear because your head is already below the surface. And you are responsible for leading hundreds, maybe thousands of people through each day to hit their metrics while the planet is on fire and ecosystems are collapsing. Where do you even start? 

The Real Talk
This is where you learn who you are as a leader.

Reminding folks to take mental health days is nice, but doesn't cut it. A friendly email from the CEO isn't going to help. The leaders I've talked to are either 1) numbing out, 2) burning out, or are 3) woefully out of touch with their employees. They don't know how to sit in the deep, existential discomfort.

It is now your job to listen, empathize, strengthen relationships, and transform helplessness to inspired action... for yourself and others. 

This is where I invite leaders to look outside of work for insight. What brings you joy? How do you create community? When have you had to repair a relationship before? When have you had to find hope and belonging after losing it? 

This is where a bloody mary - made with garden fresh tomatoes - can help. As an avid gardener, here are some of the lessons I've learned about leading during existential dread from tomato season. 

Some Solutions
1) Tune into the broader ecosystem. Tomatoes don't grow in isolation. They require the sun, water, good soil, bees, worms, spiders and tending. When you tune into all the beings and elements that make a tomato grow, you realize you're not alone. Everyone is working together, even if they don't know it. Remember your place in the whole. 
​
2) Influence what you can. You can't control the ecosystem but you can attend to your strands in the web... in other words, your inputs, outputs and relationships. When you have small but meaningful impact in your most immediate communities, it brings healing and relief. 

3) Honor the cycles. Today it's tomato season, tomorrow it's spider season (and then pumpkin spice season). What can we learn from each unique season that helps us regenerate ourselves, each other and the earth? Every turn of the wheel has intelligence and gifts. Get off your outlook calendar for a minute, and figure out what season you're in - personally, professionally, in your family, in your company, in your community... How can you be in right relationship with that season? Grow things in the right season.

4) Share your abundance. The thing about tomato season is all the tomatoes ripen together. What started out as tasty tomato salad every night, quickly turns into "I'm out of tomato recipes and there isn't enough room in the freezer!" When you're filled with abundance, share it and brighten someone else's day. If today, you've got your peace, make sure to tell everyone at the end of every call how much you appreciate them simply existing and working with you. My dear friend and colleague Dara, always remembers to send out a "thankful Thursday" message. Be like Dara. Share your tomatoes. 

5) Anchor to your why. We've all heard the quote, "what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?" A more provocative version is, "what would you do if you were guaranteed to fail?" What's so important to you, that you'd do it anyway, knowing you'd fail, knowing the earth is at a critical point, knowing there's no fixing whatever the problem is? That's your why - why you are here. How are you going to show up regardless of the potential outcome? That's who you are as a leader. Anchor to that. Because maybe if we all did, things would be okay. 

6) Leave some room for awe. One tiny seed alone can't feed a whole family, but nurture it to grow and anything is possible. 
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]]><![CDATA[Drunk OD: Back to Office Mimosas]]>Sun, 20 Aug 2023 20:35:36 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/drunk-od-back-to-office-mimosasPicture
Back to the office continues...
Drink: Homemade mimosa
Pairing: A homemade mimosa with fresh-squeezed orange juice is perfect for employees whose leaders are requiring them to come back to the office. Non-alcoholic option: Sanpellegrino Aranciata 
@betches I think about all the work i could be doing while commuting #hybridwork #goingtotheoffice #workfromhome #commuterlife #commute ♬ original sound - betches
The Situation
Are you sick of this debate yet? Are your leaders making bets on if your company's return to office mandate is going to fail? For the majority of my career I've worked in hybrid environments and coached/consulted for people leading in hybrid environments. 

Executives across the country are continuing to want, or make, their employees return to the office. The problem? They are taking a profit-first approach rather than a people-first approach, and experiencing backlash. Simply put, for many employees, the benefits of being in the office are not as important to them as the benefits of flexible, remote work. 

The Real Talk
Both in-person and virtual work can be effective based on the nature of the work that needs to be accomplished, the skills of employees, the support the employer provides, and cultural expectations of how work gets done. You can find research and anecdotes to justify it any which way. Both in-person and virtual work are necessary for most businesses to be able to do well. 

Many companies have used remote or hybrid work successfully for years. Today, the way leaders are trying to bring employees back to an office is not resonating. It's not rocket science why. CEOs and employees have very different motivations, incentives and cultural experiences. Even if they theoretically share a set of company values, they are operationalized very differently. Here are some things to consider while you sip your homemade mimosas. 

Some Solutions
1) Leaders, know why you're making the shift. This should not be about you and what you think worked 20 years ago. What work actually needs to be done in person? Most executives and senior leaders are going to be too far removed from how the day-to-day work gets done to know what's effective now. What data do you have to back up your stance? Return to office requires more than compliance, it requires strategy. 
​
2) Provide resources, not ping pong tables. Don't ask employees to return to an office if you have not invested in setting up a work environment that maximizes in-person relationships, collaboration and productivity. When companies transitioned TO work from home, companies provided resources. Don't expect your employees to personally bear the burden of returning for you. Assume their lives and expectations have changed. 

3) Ask your employees what they want. Managers - have you gotten to know how your employees work? What makes them successful at home, in hybrid environments, or in an office? If you are going to transition, start with what works for them and test it out before making it a requirement. Learn what would add value to their lives regarding coming into the office and re-think your benefits. Remember, your power and rank will influence the conversation, so build trust and psychological safety in advance. 

4) Create a reasonable transition timeline. Many people changed their lives significantly during the pandemic. Have you considered the financial cost of the transition, as well as the hit on productivity, engagement, top performer retention, etc.? If you want to avoid change shock, take the time necessary to transition. What you're asking folks to do is not just change their desk... it's changing their entire lives. That's a big ask, especially if you haven't created enough "what's in it for me." 

5) Remember, employee diversity makes a big difference in the impact of returning to the office. How are you going to mitigate different populations experiencing a negative impact that affects their morale, engagement and productivity? 
  • Will you make accommodations for people with disabilities or who are neurodivergent?
  • Will you provide flexible start/stop times for parents, and childcare benefits?
  • Will you vigorously address racial and gendered microaggressions?
  • Will you make your culture safe for trans and non-binary employees?
  • If having women leaders is important to you, will you take the time to understand how coming into an office is substantially different, more time consuming and more expensive for them?
Take a long, honest moment to reflect on who is benefiting from returning to the office and who is disadvantaged at your organization. 

6) Is this really about leadership? Great managers and strong leaders drive productivity and engagement. Belonging, loyalty, commitment and feeling supported aren't about sitting next to each other. Have your leaders taken time to reinvest their teams in the company's mission? Can your leaders inspire, empathize, give/receive meaningful feedback, foster inclusion and help their teams feel connected to something bigger than themselves no matter where they are? Butts in seats won't solve for mediocre management. 

7) Think bigger. Does your company have a real commitment to sustainability and the environment? How has working remotely helped reduce your carbon footprint? How has it affected your local communities? Move beyond profit being your driver and think about your people and the planet we all live on together. Be a leader that helps harmonize the people-profit-planet economy. 
]]><![CDATA[Drunk OD: Clear as Mud, or a Dirty Martini]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2023 23:47:03 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/drunk-od-clear-as-mud-or-a-dirty-martini"I don't know how I could have been any clearer." Picture
Drink: Dirty vodka martini
Pairing: A mid-shelf dirty vodka martini pairs great with middle management miscommunications, especially when the person ordering doesn't actually like olives. One martini is all it takes to get the miscommunications flowing. 
The Situation
A director level leader is getting coaching because they are having a hard time activating their team. They just don't understand how their team members are missing the mark. Now, a decent leader is spiraling into micromanaging, has lost confidence in their team's competence, and relationships are strained increasing the social anxiety of the team. Both the director's and managers' performance is tanking, and you're drowning in meetings before and after meetings just trying to clarify what's going on. 
The Real Talk
When anxiety is high, Mercury is retrograding or people are undergoing change (isn't that always?), communication is likely to degrade.

Here's the thing - it doesn't matter how clearly you think you communicated your message. If it didn't get through, it doesn't count, and you're still responsible for the broader impact as a leader. ​You're also responsible for elevating your team's communication skills... in-person, virtually, across cultures, over multiple messaging apps, navigating polarizing politics, through gif memes, with AI chatbots... something leaders of yesteryear didn't have to deal with.  

There are a million reasons why communication fails: someone didn't eat breakfast, got bad ChatGPT advice, laughed at the wrong meme, had a stressful meeting right before yours, instructions were ambiguous, cultural nuance, nervousness to ask for clarity due to power dynamics...  

How are modern leaders supposed to manage their own communication, let alone the communication of their teams?! 

Directors and senior leaders play a critical role in translating and getting their teams to operationalize strategic initiatives. In a perfect world, Directors should be able to delegate down tasks and operations to their managers without having to follow up on every single detail. They set expectations and outcomes to achieve, then let their managers shine in accomplishing them. But if they can't effectively communicate a vision, strategy and expectations about how and when something gets done, they not only sabotage the team, they sabotage their own leadership. 
Some Solutions
1) Agree on a centralized communication platform and etiquette. Most directors I know can't keep track of who texted, Teamsed, emailed, Slacked or actually called to tell them something. If you've got a shared goal, write it down in a shared location so everyone knows where to reference it.
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2) Be clear. Really, really clear. Lose the jargon, acronyms, adjectives and adverbs. Slay your assumptions. (Check out the peanut butter video below). Speak it under a sixth grade reading level and with as few words as possible.  

3) Ask for a paraphrase at the end of every conversation. This might feel awkward to do at first, especially with other leaders, but it works. Try these phrases. 
  • When I said "xyz," what did you hear?
  • Please repeat back to me the instructions so I can make sure I got them across the way I intended. 
  • Before we move on, will someone paraphrase me in their own words.

​4) Make it a team habit to check for clarity and confirm your understanding. Leave at least five minutes at the end of every meeting to confirm what's next. 
]]><![CDATA[Limited Series: Drunk OD]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2023 20:39:58 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/limited-series-drunk-odPicture
Remember when Comedy Central hosted a rotating cast of inebriated narrators trying to retell important, interesting and offbeat stories from history? What would happen if senior leaders, executive coaches and seasoned consultants shared their unfiltered stories and advice on leadership, teams and organizations? Welcome to "Drunk OD."
Drink: Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch
Pairing: Rogue Farms Honey Kolsch, introduced to me by my brother in law, is a refreshing, light, not too sweet beer, perfect for the summertime. It will appeal to all genders, and is a great way to ease in slowly to taboo topics. Rogue Farm's mantra is "Dare. Risk. Dream." Dare more than others think is wise. Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical. This saying has always spoken to my pragmatic idealist heart and it's perfect for launching this limited summer series, Drunk OD.
Non-alcoholic option: Heavenly Body Golden Wheat.

Welcome to V1 of Drunk OD.
For years, me and handful of my beloved and brilliant colleagues have joked about making a podcast called Drunk OD. The premise? Get loose, get real, and give advice. The lot of us have worked across international time zones, Fortune 500 companies, sectors and industries. We've heard about the good, the bad and the ugly in organizations. And, do we have stories to tell. 

OD stands for organizational development. We may unpack the academic history of the predominantly white male field in a future episode, but for now, let's define OD as simply the science and art of changing an organized system, like a business. A company might need help expanding to a new market, retaining employees, navigating AI implementations, or aligning its operations to its culture. 

Asking for help isn't easy, but often necessary if you are a leader facing down relentless change. Over my career I've worked with many incredible, talented leaders aligning strategy, improving inclusion, and navigating change. I've learned as much from mine and others' successes as failures. We won't be sharing names of clients but we will be revealing lessons learned, and giving away pro tips. 

Are you ready to go rogue? We'll be dishing out real talk, real solutions and real sass. In this limited series, we'll take a light-hearted approach to tough topics related to work, leadership and what happens when groups of people get together to try to accomplish something bigger than themselves.  

A few notes before we start...
1) The author and guests may choose to safely consume adult beverages. You never have to and our official stance is that we do not approve of any substance abuse on the job. 
2) No matter how good advice might be, context and culture matter. Our tips won't work in every situation. 
3) We're here to have fun, but also recognize leading is hard. We have immense appreciation for those leading through their day-to-day behaviors and those in leadership roles. 

Now, scroll down for a taster of what fun we'll have. 
@betches I think about all the work i could be doing while commuting #hybridwork #goingtotheoffice #workfromhome #commuterlife #commute ♬ original sound - betches
]]><![CDATA["It Starts with Me" on MLK Day]]>Fri, 14 Jan 2022 17:27:11 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/it-starts-with-me-on-mlk-day
​January 16th, my grandmother celebrates her 97th birthday. January 17th our nation commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 93rd birthday. As we step tentatively into the new year - some of us with new glimmers of hope and others still tending to the wounds of the previous years – we begin to ponder how to celebrate and honor the important days ahead. 
Both these birthdays hold significance to me and made me wonder how to find joy and reverence in their life and legacies. What does it mean, this year, to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day given everything that has happened – a year that has blurred, amplified and illuminated the intersections of our personal, political and professional identities and roles? To answer that question, I went back to the archives.
 
In 1983, Coretta Scott King shared her perspective about how the day should be observed with The Washington Post.
 
“The holiday must be substantive as well as symbolic. It must be more than a day of celebration… Let this holiday be a day of reflection, a day of teaching nonviolent philosophy and strategy, a day of getting involved in nonviolent action for social and economic progress.”
 
January 17th, throughout the month, and in our everyday actions we can strive to practice nonviolent action and Beloved Community.
 
Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence included six principles:
  1. Nonviolence is away of life for courageous people.
  2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.
  3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people.
  4. Nonviolence holds that suffering for a cause can educate and transform people and societies.
  5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.
  6. Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.
 
How are you carrying these principles with you as you connect with your neighbors, clients, co-workers, family members and friends? When is the last time you spoke out to replace an unjust or inequitable policy? Or had a courageous conversation about inclusion in the workplace? Can you articulate how systemic and institutional racism impacts your clients, customers and your business model?
 
At Unify, I’m working with some incredible people to weave these principles into the new diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) coursework that’s being developed for 2022. I’m inspired by The King Center’s philosophy of Beloved Community as a realistic and achievable goal that could be attained when a critical mass of trained and committed people make nonviolence a way of life. This is one way we plan to honor and celebrate MLK Day all year as we learn to weave it into the fabric of our interactions and operations.
 
This year, Dr. Bernice A. King calls for MLK Day to be a day on… “a day on to educate, to advocate, and yes, to activate… beyond this one day and beyond the United States.” She extends an invitation from their family and King Center to take meaningful action through the theme, “It starts with me,” shifting our priorities to focus on “voting rights, livable wages, affordable housing, healthcare, quality education, criminal justice reform, green initiatives to address climate change, and other issues related to social, economic, and ecological justice.”
 
How will you commemorate this day, and more importantly a lifelong practice of Beloved Community and Nonviolence? What does this day mean to you? Here are some additional ideas for inspiration.

  • Learn about the Voting Rights Act and its importance to racial justice and democracy.
  • Get to know who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was.
  • Take a virtual tour of the National Civil Rights Museum.
  • Read the full collection of Dr. King’s writing, not just out of context quotes.
  • Connect with your elders and learn about how they experienced the Civil Rights Movement.
  • Support organizations that fight for racial justice.
  • Learn how your company is impacted by issues of social, economic and ecological justice… and what they are doing to correct inequities.
  • Attend a nonviolent communication course.
]]><![CDATA[Leader Skills Series: Recap (Intrapersonal)]]>Wed, 24 Feb 2021 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/leader-skills-series-recap-intrapersonalWe spend our whole lives getting to know ourselves, unlearn old habits, and becoming who we are as an individual, member of a group, and leader. These aren't skills that can just be taken in a management workshop, graduate school or webinar. Leaders practice them over and over. The same skills we practiced at 15 or 35 or 65 reveal our growth, understanding and relationship to ourselves. Before we move on to interpersonal skills, let's recap our list of intrapersonal skills for leaders. 
 
Awareness of self - Leaders must establish relationship with themselves. You do this by increasing your intimacy with yourself.

Awareness of impact - This is your ability to describe your lived experience, both as a reflection and in the moment. 

"I" - How to think more holistically about who you are, and speak from your personal and multidimensional experiences.

Self-management - More than regulating emotions, it's self-awareness + awareness of impact + plus action. 

Direct Connection - How to speak to (not about) another person, but more importantly connect with them. 

Congruence - An important reframe on authentic leadership.

Joy - It's  an activation of purpose, a clue of belonging, and quite possibly what can heal the world. 

Land - The leadership competency that is missing, and critical to shaping who you are as a leader. 

HSL - The love languages that actually create transformation.

Curiosity - If you can't consistently practice curiosity, you can't lead. Period.

Purpose - The four existential questions that help you know what you're about.

Becoming - My favorite leadership competency. Equal parts wayfinding, flow, grace and mystery.

There are so many ways of learning and leading. I believe, today's leaders need these skills. What would you add to the intrapersonal skill list? What practices help you better know and form a better relationship to yourself? ​
Like what you're reading and want to stay in touch? Follow me on Instagram and Linkedin. Then check out my podcast, My Beloved Americans. ​
]]><![CDATA[Leaders Skills Series: Purpose]]>Mon, 01 Feb 2021 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/leaders-skills-series-purposeWhy are you here on the planet? What part of the story of humanity are you playing? Great leaders are connected to an unshakable sense of purpose. So much of our careers focus on what we do and what role we play. But, what is the simple truth behind why you exist in this world? It is both a spiritual and practical question.
In organizations, we have vision statements. These express the world as we seek to contribute to it or transform it. A vision statement is the reason an organization exists - its purpose for being. Let's bring that down to the individual level. 

Drawing again on the work of Dr. Mark Jones, he poses four big questions that help us reflect on our existence and reason for being. They are  questions a leader at any level can ask themselves.
  1. (How) am I relevant?
  2. (How) am I connected to something greater?
  3. (How) am I in relationship?
  4. (How) am I loved?
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When you can answer these four questions, you'll be closer to clarifying your purpose. And when you know your purpose you can be more steadfast in crisis, confident during stressful settings and difficult decisions, and trusted by your followers because they know what you're about at your core. Let's explore each question in more detail.

​Am I relevant - This one feels heavy, doesn't it? We hear this from manufacturing workers wondering if robots are taking their jobs. We hear this in political and cultural debates, and around the relevance of white supremacy culture and governance models. There are hundreds of things in our lives that were relevant at one point, but aren't relevant anymore. Books, songs, movies, kitchen appliances, clothes, computer programs, mindsets... They all served a purpose at one time. 

There's a difference between what you DO being relevant, and YOU being relevant. We live in a culture where we often associate what we do or what we produce with who we are. Take a moment to challenge the relevance of that narrative.  

What is core to who you are? Is it bringing joy? Reducing suffering? If there were one thing you were brought to Earth to do, what would the people around you say it is?

Am I connected to something greater - Take a moment and make a list of all the greater sources, communities or ideologies you're connected to. Might include an alumni association, military service, spiritual community, the land, or any identity group. Name all the ways you're connected to something bigger than yourself. What do these have in common? What do they reveal about how you might be living out your purpose?

Am I in relationship - While it seems impossible to NOT be in relationship, we all feel lonely sometimes. Think of the multifaceted and limitless ways you're in relationship with your family, body, pets, emotions, neighbors, food, sky, plants, coworkers... there are an endless number of relationships available to you. Where are your relationships the strongest? Which relationships feel the most generative and life-giving? Take a look at your top five relationships as determined by you. What you notice? 

Am I loved - To start, write down your definition of love and how you know when love is being expressed. Write down your origin story of love - how you learned what love is. I want you to really challenge yourself to expand beyond the idea of romantic love here - and it is totally okay to use your imagination if you feel skeptical. How is love and your expression of love connected to your purpose?

Move slowly and gently through these reflections. Then, dig deeper with an anti-oppression mindset. For example, a colonial mindset might tell you you're only relevant and valuable if you are producing something. It might tell you a story that your relationships should be selected through hierarchy and power-over something or someone else. A construct of love might be rooted in a framework of ownership, possession or obedience. 

Part of my purpose is to increase joy in myself and others. No matter what job, what relationship, or what circumstance, it is my purpose to cultivate joy in every interaction.

What's yours?
Like what you're reading and want to stay in touch? Follow me on Instagram and Linkedin. Then check out my podcast, My Beloved Americans. 
]]><![CDATA[Leader Skill Series: Becoming]]>Fri, 15 Jan 2021 00:32:06 GMThttps://www.catcuevas.com/blog/leader-skill-series-becomingThis might very well be my favorite addition to any list of leadership skills. Becoming. Most competency lists will include something like "learning" or growth mindset," but becoming is so much more. It's part science, part art, and part magic. It's about intimacy, trust and work. It's about knowing when to hold on tight, and when to surrender. When people have it, you know it because it is palpable. It's almost like they have an otherworldly tranquility about them. And leaders need that now more than ever. 
I define becoming as the awareness and practice of being in motion and relationship. It's wayfinding - the locating, following and discovering a route through any given space. In the context of intrapersonal skills, it's your ability to find your way through yourself and your experiences. More concretely, it's about being able to demonstrate the following:
  • familiarity with your life cycles  
  • flow through organizing and disorganizing experiences
  • an application of time, history and context 
  • grace and compassion for your process
  • mystery and magic
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Familiarity with your cycles, routines and rituals. Whether they are daily, monthly, yearly... Whether they follow the moon, the seasons, schools or the stock market... we create, are shaped by, and reinforce cycles that become habits or rituals. 
  • What rituals did your family or ancestors observe and why?
  • How do you know when you're at the beginning, middle or end of a cycle? 
  • What practices do you use when you want to end a relationship with a cycle you have been loyal to?
  • How are your rituals or cycles helping or hindering you?

Organizing vs disorganizing. Most literature in organizational development and leadership refers to behaviors and experiences that are healthy/unhealthy, or functional/dysfunctional. This places an inherent good/bad judgement on the situation. Instead, I've been learning to reframe things as organizing (something that encourages harmony or alignment) or disorganizing (something that encourages disruption). The practice here is not in one's ability to manage and correct anything, but rather to have an awareness of and flow between organizing and disorganizing states of being. 
  • What is your relationship to harmony and disruption?
  • How do you sense when it's time for a change vs time to rest?
  • What does it look like when you are able to flow instead of manage your experience?

Time, history and context. Who you are right now is a result of time, history and cultural context unfolding. You have a generosity for the road you've taken, where you currently are, and a vision for your ongoing journey.
  • When you look back at your life, what might you tell your younger self about who you are becoming?
  • What is the multifaceted history of the land and community you currently live; your job position and organization; your family tree or friend group?
  • What is special about who you are right here, right now and how it converges with others, the land, your community, etc.?
  • How do you belong to this exact moment in time and space?

Grace and compassion for your process. We are all fallible, messy and fumbling our way through this world (trying our darndest to look like we know what we're doing). Take a breath, pause and for a brief moment just be who you are instead of trying to hard to be someone or something else. 
  • Under what conditions do you give the most grace to others?
  • Practice giving grace to yourself. 
  • How do you know when you should give yourself more or less grace or compassion?
  • What might happen if you gave yourself unconditional compassion?

Mystery and magic. I can't tell you how many times a coach or a therapist has told me, "maybe that's not for you to know." There is a small stack of things in life we know we know. A marginally bigger stack of things we know we don't know. And an infinite stack of things we don't know we don't know. Mystery and magic are about two things. First, giving up the need to know everything or be certain about something. At any given moment, we could be invited to give up something we thought was 100% true.

Second, that we expand our ways of knowing. We cling to our ways of knowing so tightly. When we evangelize (or only deem acceptable) narrow ways of knowing, we limit ourselves from becoming. Us humans have often thought our intelligence is superior. Our current political climate reveals a desperate need to redefine and clarify our shared reality. How do we know what we know anymore?
  • What are your primary ways of knowing and how did you learn them?
  • When was the last time you experienced a deep unlearning - where something you knew was turned inside-out?
  • What are some things you know but can't explain? 
  • Where have you experienced a little bit of magic or mystery lately?

We are all in a constant state of becoming - of departing, arriving, meeting, returning - of being in motion and turning that which is potential into reality. When we're really "in it" it is hard to see the forest from the trees, but leaders still need to lead. Leaders are called on to find additional ways of knowing, give grace,  and learn how to belong (and return to belonging) to themselves and the world around them. 
Like what you're reading and want to stay in touch? Follow me on Instagram and Linkedin. Then check out my brand new podcast, My Beloved Americans. ​
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