Buzzwords versus Fresh Language
Question: How do you rid words in an organization that become the buzz of leaders and then get watered down? A leader’s job is to consistently communicate the vision and mission of the organization. I love when entrepreneurial expert Dean Hamish said, “if they’re not mocking you, you’re not saying it enough!” On…
Poems to Use at Work
If you’re even slightly curious about what poetry brings to business, here are a few of my recent favorites, along with some ideas for how to use them with a team or group. By Libby: • Diving In • Trust • Just on the Edge By other favorite poets: • Everything is Waiting for You…
Recurring Images
I should probably leave the following out of any poems left to write. Okay, for a year, I’ll leave out the following so that I can begin anew, think fresh thoughts, create something special. Okay, just one poem. One poem without the following: pigeons roosting on the roof violins lips mountains…
Harvesting
This year I harvested my first ever eggplants from my garden. It’s been many years since I had a garden, and I’d never grown eggplants before. Truth be told, my garden got minimum care in the warmest month because I was traveling a lot, so what I really did was see that little eggplant plant…
Messiness and Ambiguity
Maybe, like me, you prefer a clean and orderly house or workspace. Maybe, especially when you have something important or unpleasant to do, you will clean your closet instead, sort your spice rack, match all your socks. There is probably somebody, somewhere who’s researched the relationship between cleanliness and genius or brilliance and clutter, deeper…
WBO Names Pioneer Square Business Owner Libby Wagner as 2014 Finalist for Nellie Cashman Woman Business Owner of the Year Award
For immediate release September 2, 2014 WBO Names Pioneer Square Business Owner Libby Wagner as 2014 Finalist for Nellie Cashman Woman Business Owner of the Year Award An innovative, inspiring and generous female entrepreneur vies for the prestigious honor SEATTLE – The Women Business Owners (WBO), one of the Puget Sound’s leading organization for women…
Martha’s Vineyard
It wasn’t the possible president sighting or the teensy plane ride over from Boston. It wasn’t the lackadaisical way they loaded our luggage and us after security. It wasn’t the lack of streetlights or the blissful absence of McDonalds or Hiltons. It wasn’t the rough and rocky beach with the moderate houses and beach bungalows…
Happy Song or Sad Song?
Recently on my trip to Ireland, I enjoyed live Irish music almost every night. It was heaven . . . I love the fiddle and mandolin, and I learned to love the harp and uillean pipes as I got to watch excellent musicians in pub sessions share their talents. One night in Kenmare, County Kerry,…
Speak
Remember that reoccurring dream since eighth grade? The one where either all your teeth fall out or you need to scream and you cannot? No matter how wide you open your mouth, how much air your lungs can hold. Nothing. Somehow you know you have something to say that’s important, critical. Maybe it might save…
Chops
This morning I checked FaceBook. It’s not a great morning habit and eats up time looking at obscure people’s updates. (How did they even get on my newsfeed?) I was, however, looking at an article by a colleague, Dorie Clark, about travel tips, as if I could ever make the ritual any easier, and somehow…