When you feel like a victim of your circumstances

I have to tell you about the retreat I went on at the end of July.

It was transformational. After my week away I feel so clear, calm, and focused.

We all have times as leaders when we feel stuck, or like a victim of our circumstances. That “stuck” feeling is your mind telling you that you need to step away from the problem and think.

Stepping away is a gift that no one else can give you but you. Removing yourself from the daily grind, changing your scenery and routine, and being in nature changes your perspective. And your perspective is everything.  

A retreat is a critical act of personal and leadership development. And I’m not talking about taking time off to relax or see family. Those are important too, but the kind of retreat you need as a leader is one where you work deeply.

I worked hard on my retreat! And when I left, none of my circumstances had changed. But my perspective had. I have so much clarity, stillness and surrender inside me. Like I said, the time away was transformational.

My challenge to you is to ask yourself: what areas of your life need your deep work and attention?

I guarantee you won’t find answers by responding to more emails.

My Latest:

• I’ve been nominated for the Thinkers 50 Global Rankings! If you have a second to spare, I’d love it if you’d enter “Charlene Li - The Disruption Mindset” in the Your Global Ranking Nominee section. Thank you so much!

• If strategy is the roadmap determining where you go, then culture is the engine that determines how fast you can get there. In Leading Disruption, I discuss why you must put culture first, now (not later). Join the conversation.

• If you know there's something amiss with your culture, how do you change it? In yesterday’s livestream I shared how you can turn around the big battleship of culture, so you can aim your firepower at one disruptive target. Watch the replay.

• Next Tuesday I’ll be live to discuss how we can — and must — rethink the employee relationship. Join me live at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET to learn this groundbreaking philosophy.

Good Things:

• Good Reads: The Alliance by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh is about the employee relationship (the topic of my livestream on Tuesday!). Reid and Chris suggest thinking of this relationship as an alliance, and to think of an employee’s job as a tour of duty. Imagine checking in with your employees or manager every few years to discuss if it’s time to “re-up” the job. Pretty different, isn’t it?

• Referral: Callum Rawling from my team, who specializes in creating video content for keynote speakers and coaches. He’s been such a help with my videos. You can connect with Callum on Instagram or LinkedIn.

• Resource: Ecamm Live! I love this virtual camera because I can embed slides into my video stream, which is especially helpful in Zoom presentations to avoid the tiny-head-big-presentation look. Ecamm creates a much better experience for your audience, and lets you control what your slides look like. Here's a short video example.