Unlocking Growth for Organizations and Idealists Like You

You are enough. Just as you are. Now.

You have everything you need to take the next step. To make the next choice laid before you.

You have been perfectly prepared for this moment. Every past learning has led you presently here.

You can trust your heart, your instincts, and your intuition. The quiet whispers deep within are nudging you to your truth.

You can let go of needing to figure it all out. You won’t. You can’t. You don’t need to.

Is falling the path to growth? Is failing the prerequisite for success? Is slowing down the way to create speed?

Yesterday my niece, Anna, came over to visit. She's going into her senior year of high school and taking full advantage of her summer break. Luckily for us, our house is a frequent stop on her summer circuit and we've seen her more in the last month than the rest of the year put together.

We were having friends over for an easy dinner and as we got things ready, Anna sat down at the piano to play. Gorgeous, delicate music filled the room. I was mesmerized at her intricate and tender playing. 

This week we celebrate the longest day and shortest night as the sun radiates its light on the northern hemisphere of the earth. All over the world, communities, citizens, and beings of all walks of life gather to honor the natural turning point of the seasons. As a collective, we unite online, in-person, heart-to-heart, mind-to-mind, and breath-to-breath to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

The Plenty team is gearing up for one of our favorite weeks of the year – it's Collaborative week in Boston. If you aren't familiar with the conference, the Collaborative is a three-day experience connecting the social sector to share solutions and inspire change. We find it to be different than any other conference in the space – a fascinating blend of nonprofits, for-profits, technologists, futurists, leaders, and idealists. In short, these are our peeps! And yours too, we bet.

This year, Plenty is proud to join only four other companies – Classy, Southwest Airlines, the Boston Foundation and Fluxx – as a presenting sponsor. We're so excited to increase our commitment to this incredible convening of passionate, intelligent change-makers.

Have you ever been in an awkward meeting? I've attended my share, and probably have been responsible for more than a few, too. I've noticed that one thing that separates useful meetings from awkward meetings is a willingness to go down the rabbit hole.

Let me explain.

It's December 1991. I realize that some of you reading this haven't been born yet (ack). I was just getting home from winter break from the University of Rochester. Rochester had a very late break, usually around December 23rd or so until late January. Most of my high school friends were on the opposite schedule and left back for school right after the holidays. My sister had long since graduated and moved to London. So winter breaks at that time of my life meant a lot of alone time and a lot of time with my parents. Which, because of how my dad worked, meant time with my mom.

Sometimes people don’t want the pep talk. They just want to be heard. They want to be allowed to exist in the space they're residing in, without the input or opinion of others.

It’s a tough lesson — one that requires daily practice, especially for those of us wired to help, uplift, and encourage. It’s particularly important for those of us embodying roles of consultant, coach, and confidant.