How we show up at work is how we show up in our lives. How we are able to achieve goals professionally has everything to do with how we orient and ground ourselves personally. And how we do this work as individuals is what creates our organizations’ cultures and fosters our ability to succeed in achieving our institutions’ visions.

This year, more than ever, my personal and professional goals are inextricably connected and the process of building a business requires me to bring intention and examine not just what I want to achieve but how I want to measure success. As the New Year approached, instead of setting resolutions, I decided to pick two words that would guide and ground me personally and in my consulting work with clients throughout 2024. My words for 2024 are “Peace” and “Pride.”

Peace: 
As an individual: 
When an opportunity or decision presents itself, I ask myself these questions:
Does saying “yes” to this opportunity create peace in me? 
Does saying “yes” to this opportunity enable me to foster peace in my relationships?
Does saying “yes” to this opportunity empower me to promote peace in my community?

In my work with organizations: 
Throughout my career I have seen and worked with organizations whose mission and vision statements communicate a commitment to promoting peace and reducing or eradicating violence, and yet those same organizations do not have or embody peace within their workplace culture. This dissonance has everything to do with why so many amazing nonprofits struggle to retain employees and, in turn, struggle to achieve their organizational goals and live out their mission. When I partner with an organization, I seek to create space and opportunity for connection, relationship building, deepening trust and communication within the workplace, and ensuring that the work you do in the community feels aligned with what you and your colleagues experience within the organization.

Pride: 
As an individual: 
In 2024 I want to seek and cultivate experiences and opportunities that give me a sense of mastery and pride. For me, pride becomes possible when there’s a structure of support that enables me to feel courageous and to try things that have felt outside my comfort zone or have intimidated me in the past.

In my work with organizations:
When I take on a new partnership, my goal is to support individuals and organizations build or expand programs that become a source of pride and exceed industry standards. Whether it’s training an employee who is new to the field and building their public speaking/classroom management or prevention skills, or supporting a university to develop new policies or implement updated programs and procedures, I want our work together to strengthen that individual, that organization, and that community long-term.

What brought you moments of peace or feelings of pride when you look back on 2023? What words or resolutions are guiding you in 2024?