A Norse-influenced poem by Longfellow.

“I heard a voice, that cried,

Balder the Beautiful

Is dead, is dead!”

“I knew nothing about Balder,” wrote Lewis, “but instantly I was uplifted into huge regions of northern sky, [and] I desired with almost sickening intensity something never to be described (except that it is cold, spacious, severe, pale and remote)”  When I read that passage, I shivered with a combination of sympathetic hypothermia and passionate recognition.

“Also, when change takes place through nonviolence, the societies that emerge are often more democratic, inclusive and pluralistic than when change happens through violence.
Consequently, I believe Israel, Palestine and the world at large will reap huge benefits from nonviolence.
It’s a win-win for everyone.”

–Julia Bacha

Romantic to me is to eat Jack Johnson inspired banana pancakes with raspberry toppings on a sunny Sunday morning out in the backyard over a squared patio table with checkered table cloth.

This weekend, we made our first attempt at the pancakes.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions

Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

We found out we had baking soda, but no baking powder.  We wondered if we could use them interchangeably.  Goolge said we shouldn’t so we did.  Not sure why we ever bothered with googling it in the first place.

Apparently, baking soda did no harm to the taste.  They are just what I imaged, soft, puffy, and full of banana flavor.  I ate all four of them. Hongfei only had a few scrapes here and there.   Opposite to me, when it comes to food he is more into presentation than taste.  We had no pictures of these pancakes for a reason.  We couldn’t flip them in one piece so they ended up looking like scrambled pancakes!  We blamed it on the pan!

Next time, we will do better…with a new pan!  After all, the process of perfecting the romantic recipe is romantic in itself.

(Recently, I constantly find myself buried in work, reacting instead of planning, struggling to get work done instead of taking the time to reflect…..
then I found this blog…addressing the exact same issue.
Yay! I am not alone!!)

For Great Leadership, Clear Your Head
from HBR.org
by Joshua Ehrlich

Getting stuff done is overrated. Knowing where you are going and how to get there — strategy — is everything. But many managers still spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking. Your first challenge is learning how to stop the action.

But focusing and thinking about the big picture are not as simple as blocking out time and turning off your devices. It is about managing your attention, or what I call “mindshifting.”

I once coached an executive who was a high potential on the fast track, with tremendous charisma, drive, and analytical skills. And although Deirdre was great at executing, she struggled when she took on responsibility for the direction of her business, often scattered and stressed by the amount of work. To break her transactional habit, I suggested the following five rules.

Remove the obstacles. For Deirdre (and many other managers), her biggest obstacle was trying to do it all herself. Not only did she learn to say “no” to administrative tasks and unnecessary meetings, but she also started asking for help from her team when she needed it. She came to find that in order to trust and delegate, she needed to build a stronger team, which became her big-picture, more strategic priority. By freeing herself from the allure of details, she was able to start zooming out — that is, looking up ahead and out wide at her team’s strategy.

Quiet the noise. When Deirdre began to carve out quiet time, her focus became clearer. Mindful breathing helped her quiet internal distractions: Each morning she would sit for five minutes, with the intent of focusing on her breathing. Whenever her mind would start to wander, she would gently bring her attention back to her flow of breath. With practice, her present-focused mindfulness improved. Mindfulness helps leaders to solve problems more creatively and learn more quickly and flexibly (see Ellen Langer’s research at Harvard). Mindfulness also helps you tolerate anxiety and discomfort, which helped Deirdre listen more actively and take personal risks. She began to read more broadly and expose herself by attending conferences and networking.

Percolate. Think of the last time you had a great idea. Did it come when you were under pressure? More likely it came when you gave it time to gel. Deirdre began journaling and reflecting on her ideas over the next couple of months. And when she realized that reflection — while essential — could be potentially self-deceptive, she engaged a diverse group of senior mentors, peers, and directs to help develop her ideas.

Clarify your message. Half the battle with strategic thinking is conveying your vision — where you want to take your business — and conveying it clearly. It doesn’t have to be grand, just compelling enough to align your team’s energy and attention. Deirdre practiced communicating her vision with her colleagues and mentors. She asked for lots of feedback, and clarified her message based on what people heard.

Keep reflecting and adjusting. Besides being clear, a strategy must be effective. If your strategy is off the mark, don’t be afraid to change course. Deirdre reframed failure as an opportunity to learn. She made it a habit to regularly reflect on the available data to see whether her strategy was still working. Over time she zeroed in, and her adjustments became finer.

Staying focused on the big picture in your business is no easy task, but increased mindfulness and reflection can help you to convey and execute your leadership strategy. Of course, some or all of these tips may not work for everyone. Find what works, and then keep polishing it.

by Linda Hill & Kent Lineback

……………………………
Seek out people’s perceptions and perspectives in the context of a specific task, project, or program. Asking broad, general questions can feel threatening to those you’re asking, particularly if they work for you. So, develop a practice of “checking in” with people at the beginning and end of a piece of work (and in the middle if it’s a lengthy project).
At the start, ask what people hope and expect to get from you, the boss, through the course of the work.
At the end, ask if people got what they needed. U
se the specific piece of work as a setting for a candid discussion of what worked and what didn’t, where you might have done less or more, and what you should do differently next time.
That discussion can sometimes serve as a springboard to a more general discussion about you as a manager and what people need from you.

This approach can work even for everyday tasks.
Every time you make an assignment or request, no matter how small, ask if what you want is clear.
And then ask what the person needs from you, if anything, to perform that task.
The answer will often be, “Nothing.” But when the person does make a request, agree on what you will do, do it, and then check back to see if everything, including your role, worked out as hoped.

Approaching every task, large or small, this way may or may not produce direct game-changing insights for you, but it will create relationships in which people know you’re open to their thoughts and insights