This episode tells the story of 10-year-old Andy as a member of the La Crosse Boychoir, my mentor, Dan Johnson-Wilmot, and outlines three benefits of focusing on good posture for your personal and professional journey of continuous improvement.

"Nothing says “you’ve got this,” more than good posture. Many people will tell you that “clothes make the person,” but those clothes have to fit onto a frame—your frame. So before you go out and spend big money on a new wardrobe to boost self confidence, make the time to invest in posture by strengthening both mind and body."

My goal with this muse is to gently, but purposefully change the arc of the conversation in corporate circles around the concept of empathy and empathetic leadership. In my opinion, empathy is great, but it lacks two essential ingredients—the willingness/ability to help, and the ability to detach. Compassion represents a logical extension of empathy as it combines the ability to recognize someone else’s feelings and the motivation to help them do something about it. This addition of the motivation to help requires an ability to separate or detach oneself from the challenge the other person is experiencing. Without this ability to mentally detach, their challenge or pain becomes yours and carrying around that emotional burden will ultimately lead to your own exhaustion and burnout. Yes, it’s awesome that you feel another’s pain and want to help alleviate it, but if it’s at the expense of your own well-being, what’s the point?

Financial literacy is a woefully underdeveloped skill in both our homes and businesses. I frequently hear business leaders lament about the lack of financial literacy within their teams. In my first book, Balancing Act, I outline the four most important future-facing skills and financial literacy (and it’s more sophisticated cousin, financial acumen) is one of these four critical skills. So what is to be done to close the financial literacy skills gap? Use your annual budget process as an experiential learning opportunity for managers and key individual contributors in your organization.

Optimally, your company’s budget should be an elegant financial expression of a tight, cohesive storyline that explains how tactics and execution in the upcoming year align with the company’s purpose, long-term vision, and master (or top level) goals.

So how do we balance control and empowerment? How do we create a high trust, high accountability workplace? We do so by installing a clear set of guardrails and guidelines within which the organization can function. Said differently, we install a “management operating system.”

If I’m living my personal purpose in both life and work and striving toward my long-term personal vision, then the likelihood that I feel unworthy of my successes is reduced because my success is more genuine to me and, no pun intended, purposeful. So if natural feelings of unworthiness and self-doubt creep in, I can remind myself that my success didn’t come out of nowhere, but was instead the result of planning, skill, and hard work.

What I do know is that reducing the negative feelings that accompany my imposter syndrome has distinct benefits. My anxiety is much more manageable, I’m happier and feel more fulfilled, and I believe I’m a better parent, partner, and friend. So how did I reduce my exposure to imposter syndrome? I defined and connected to my personal purpose.

Far too many of us look at the prospect of our fleeting, mortal lives with dread. We fill our lives with busy and hurry—seldom, if ever, stopping to check in with ourselves and ensure we’re living out the promise of our purpose. One of my goals with the Saturday Morning Muse is to help drive a shift in perspective—from the negative to the positive—from “I have to,” to “I get to.” If you want to be an effective, compassionate leader in life and in business, start engaging in your own mindfulness practice. What do you want to be known for? Up to this moment, have you done the best that you could?

To add value and deliver results, one must be appropriately educated and skilled in one’s chosen field. Continuing to add value throughout one’s career requires the adoption of a lifelong learning and continuous improvement mindset. Resting on one’s laurels and previous accomplishments is never a good idea. While it’s easy to grouse and complain that we live in a “what have you done for me lately world,” the better path is to adopt the mindset that success comes from continuous learning and improvement in outcomes and results. If failure occurs, learn and move forward.

You see, developing a robust professional network takes time, energy, and skill. Contrary to the common perceptions noted above, everyone can build an impactful professional network. Doing so requires a host of human skills (a.k.a., soft skills) such as communication, influence, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, active listening, persistence, drive, courage, intention, and many others.

In today’s Muse, I’m going to focus on the topic of meetings. Love them or hate them, meetings are a meaningful part of corporate life and represent a significant opportunity for improvement—meaning making meetings more effective—as part of any organization’s continuous improvement practice.

The consistent truth to the creative process is that the only way “there” is “through.” To cut straight to the point today is that the skill of patience is woefully underrated and under-appreciated. Knowing when to push forward and when to let a project or idea sit is an incredibly important skill—for content creators and business leaders. Patience is key. Sometimes, some things, just need to sit.