The news is exhausting. I don’t even watch it on TV or social media, and still it seeps in. Which tells me this is the perfect time to practice connection before content.

I’ve noticed from your survey responses that many of you work with people who say things like, “We get DEI already and it was overblown to begin with.”

August is always a quiet time for work, which means lots of time for pickleball. In fact, I’m competing in a local tournament today. At tournaments, there’s a lot of time for conversation and bonding while we wait and watch other matches. The feeling of belonging alone is worth the price of admission.

This week, in the middle of an in-person workshop, a participant raised their hand and said, “What’s the point of this? We did a workshop like this last year, and nothing changed. Leadership still sucks.” Many nodded. A few laughed. More hands went up.

Vacation, and its multitude of interactions with dozens of strangers, family, and old friends, was a great reminder for me that there are opportunities to connect everywhere we look. You can practice connection-building right now, today. It creates win-wins, for you and the other person. Use kind curiosity. Follow the ARC.