Posts by Beth Anstandig

They shake your hand and say they’re so glad you’ve joined the team. You have an impressive title, a shiny new badge to enter the building, and the passwords you need to start your first tasks. Now what? Well, according to EVERYONE, the rest is a confounding mystery. We are on-boarded into groups for about…

We’re inspired to choose the road less traveled and we think it’s what will make us heroic and extraordinary. But have you ever noticed how much trouble we get into along the way? One of my favorite things to do is wander around on horseback with no particular goal. It’s not something that humans do…

I spend a lot of time with horses and dogs, and my family will insist I acknowledge here,  I’ve also become a crazy cat lady in the last couple years. I love this life with animals because they help me see myself as a human animal. And seeing myself as a human animal shifts how…

Through the dark valley, the call is heard. Two ears stand up and listen intently as the howl echoes, and the notes bend and change. There is a pause. A choice. A barely noticeable but critically important moment. A dilemma is born. A pull toward togetherness and friendship, toward safety and community, closeness and love. And,…

How often have you heard people complain about being stuck, wanting to make a change but finding it impossible? What about the friend in analysis paralysis who walks around a decision for years and never makes it? A mentor of mine called it terminal ambivalence which always made me think of being trapped in a traffic roundabout,…

Buzzwords are like old sweaters. They’re familiar and comfortable but eventually the yarn gets frayed and their shape falls apart. We have perhaps saturated the concept of leadership beyond recognition. It used to be sweater and now it’s a tattered blanket. Leadership used to refer to management, the people in power, and how we bossed each other around in the workplace.…

There’s a sweet and simple time in baby and toddler development when redirection is just about a foolproof discipline strategy. Baby is teething on your cell phone as it starts ringing and you need to answer it. You grab it from his hand, scan the floor for a bright and shiny almost anything, hand it…

I love the unique perspectives about relationships, leadership, and culture that animals have to offer us. As humans, we can get quite stuck in our heads, thinking and staring at our own stories, identities, and egos. The animal lessons are tangible and straightforward. What you see is what you get. And if you spend a few…

When we talk about leadership, our clients often think we are referring to how we manage others or build teams. So, they are shocked and confused, and even a little grumpy with us, when we take the leadership puzzle, shake the box, and scatter the pieces everywhere. We can be a bit disruptive! Which is interesting…

Come down to earth! Get your head out of your ass! Get your head out of the clouds! Stop mooning around! Pay attention. Get to work on time. Time and tide that wait for no man willingly Pause for the bare-armed girl brushing her hair In a brown pickup truck on a summer evening. –Jim…