I was on a sales call this week for a company with many client-facing employees. And I felt a jolt of excitement from the possibility of "covert inclusion." That's my favorite kind of work.

A friend invited me to a small group discussion in his home. Six or seven of us. I knew him, not much else about what to expect.

Sometimes I envision all of us walking around in invisible protective bubbles, like that old movie  “The Boy in the Bubble.”

This week in class, we learned musical improv. We played a game that required us to come up with improvised lines of lyrics on the fly, while staying on the beat. That requires being fully in the moment. If your mind wanders for even a second, you’re out of sync. It’s an exercise in holding up your end of the bargain for the team.

I’m currently taking an improv class, and it’s teaching me a lot about the energy we bring into a room before we even say a word