Are “nice” and “kind” the same? The answer is an emphatic no. Is the distinction between these two adjectives important in both life and business? Absolutely. Understanding the difference is essential to the development of a high-functioning emotional intelligence toolkit and more productive interactions between teams and individuals.

My main point is this: philanthropic events are a team sport. They are a place where “we” should apply before “me.” Therefore, when providing feedback regarding your individual experience, pause to ensure you’re providing constructive, actionable advice for how to improve.

My plea today is to bring the temperature down in political discourse by being mindful of the language we use. Yes, extreme language makes for juicy headlines, but it also creates unnecessary barriers to constructive conversations.

Please make the time today to fill out the paperwork with your employer to support the United Way in your community through automated payroll deduction. If your employer does not run a United Way campaign, then (a) donate directly on their website, and (b) encourage your company’s human resources leader to reach out to your local United Way and get a campaign started.

So is ambition dead? The answer depends on one’s perspective. If your definition of ambition bends more toward blind ambition to climb a ladder at any cost and show a “boss” that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead, then I say that this type of ambition is on the way out and should peacefully fade away.

The name “quiet quitting” is problematic because the phrase implies that something nefarious is going on—namely that an individual has checked out and is dead weight to a company or team. The phase is unnecessarily sensational and leads many to jump to the conclusion that quiet quitters are detrimental to company performance and team morale. In my opinion, we need to quickly relegate this phrase to the historical annals of corporate and popular vernacular.

Hopefully we can all agree that living in a more educated society is better than living in one that is less educated. Does everyone need to go to college? The answer is an emphatic “no.” Should everyone commit to continued learning and growth throughout their lifetimes? Absolutely. Limited educational backgrounds lead to more fixed mindsets and societal participants who are unsympathetic toward groups that don’t look or think the way they do. They are also more easily swayed by group-think and the psychology of crowds.

If trust is nowhere to be found, if no one knows what their colleagues are doing, if waste and entropy abound, and if the customer is a mystery, then achieving an organizational flow state is highly unlikely. I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but to find flow in a large, toxic, chaotic organization would be a real oddity.

If you’re a leader and are frustrated that flow is difficult for your people to experience, then make your purpose, vision, and cultural aspirations crystal clear; align goals up, down, and across the organization; respect your people by treating them as your most valuable asset; minimize waste and unnecessary organizational friction; foster a maniacal focus on the customer; install effective visual management systems; and make sure incentive systems are congruent with all of the above.

Did we grouse about how busy we were? Maybe a little, but for the most part we just got after it. Our spouses were incredibly supportive and were involved in the business from the start—stuffing envelopes, talking to customers, and packing boxes of soft-cover books to be shipped to all corners of the globe.

As I look back, the work didn’t feel like work. We had entered a flow state.

If your people truly are your most valuable asset, it becomes a business imperative to ensure that the skill portfolios of your team members are maintained and nurtured in good times and in bad—especially when the seas get rough.

A steward is aware of the balancing acts that surround them, is adept at navigating the treacherous waters of extreme viewpoints, and acts with the interests of myriad constituencies in mind.