When you fly into Australia direct from another international destination like Singapore, Los Angeles or London, country law dictates the airline must decontaminate the airplane for any potential insecticides before anyone may disembark the plane. If it's your first time to Australia you might think you're on the set of the movie Ghostbusters or worse, caught up in an international flu pandemic.
Once the landing has completed and the pilot has pulled the plane up to the gate, flight attendants parade up and down the aisles spraying a World Health Organization approved aerosol disinfectant. You have no idea what it is, but there is an implicit trust that Australia -- and by association, the flight attendants -- know what they're doing. They're acting on behalf of the interests of an entire country.
I find myself needing to apply some form of disinfectant to the fuselage that makes up my current professional projects.
In particular, I've recognized over the past several weeks that if I want the Dual Purpose book project to safely and successfully disembark, my own patterns and behaviours must change.
I have a case of the sophomore book blues. To combat it and to ensure I improve the final result, I've decided to take a sabbatical from all other forms of social. That includes contributing, participating or mingling in personal/professional social networks whether face-to-face or digital. This includes coffees, beers, and lunches. This includes other forms of writing.
As hard as it might be for someone who draws his energy from other people, a 60km bike ride today put things into perspective.
I need a different strategy.
Thus, I'm applying the disinfectant.
Call it the 'sophomore blues sabbatical'. (that should be the name of a band)
See you on the other side, whenever that is.
WORK-LIFE BLOOM
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT
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Dan is a conference organizerโs ideal speaker. Not only did he inspire and energize our group, but he also masterfully adapted his content so it resonated with the audience and our conference theme. As a bonus, Dan is able to nimbly navigate to adjust to a reduced time slot when other speakers went over time without sacrificing the impact of his session.
Director and General Counsel
Dan accomplished what we set out to do, which was not only to be inspirational, but also to leave everyone with tools and food for thought / self-reflection to improve their personal and professional lives.
Hermann Handa, FCT
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, โThere is no ownership without belonging.โ
Christian Pantel, D2L
Dan Pontefract suggests leaders must be transformational and transactional, collaborative and considerate, daring and decisive, inclusive and insistent, playful and formal, harmonious, and humble, encouraging and results-driven. In a word, Flat.
Robert Morris
โHow to strengthen engagement, empowerment, and execution, then leverage them for a decisive competitive advantageโ