Football IS life. Here’s Why.

Before there was Believe…

Before Ted Lasso, Coach Beard and biscuits with the boss…

There was Brandi.

Source: AP

As always, I know you are thinking- what the hell does this have to do with your company or your job? Keep reading…

My relationship with soccer started as a young age, not as a player, but as soccer “sister”. My brother, who undoubtedly inherited the athletic genes in our family, spent a lot of time on the pitch. My gifts, of gab and feelings-- was perfectly suited to sidelines; this was before parents started getting crazy (I mean, they were crazy, but no one was putting it on Tik Tok) and I had the benefits of being a sibling so my "passion" could still be chalked up to teen angst. Plus, there was no Nintendo switch or an iphone to keep me busy back then. I actually watched the damn games!

So to make it abundantly clear, we are not new at this soccer fan thing. Ultimately, my brother played D1 college soccer-- and our family, on a visit to Japan to visit family, attended our first World Cup together in  2002 (Japan/ Korea). .. and we got hooked.

2002 FIFA World Cup

2002 FIFA World Cup

Before I got married in 2007, my husband and I talked about starting a family and I said, only after the 2010 Word Cup (South Africa).

2010 FIFA World Cup - Pretoria, SA

Group Stage USA 1 - Algeria 0

2010 FIFA World Cup - USA v. Algeria

In 2015, when I realized a US v. Japan final was going to repeat itself in Vancouver… I booked flight and hotels with every last reward point I had, made my dad pack his bags to get to the final game of the Women's World Cup. The whole time, I reveled in the fact that I couldn't lose with both of my teams in the final. (USA won the rematch this time)

2015 Women’s World Cup Final - Vancouver, BC. USA v. Japan

Final Score: USA 5 : Japan 2

And finally, last fall, me, my brother, Mom and Dad made it to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup-- a 20 year anniversary of our very first WC experience. I left my husband and kids for 10 days, told them to look for us on TV, and wished them a Happy Thanksgiving. What a blessing to be able to be with my mom, dad, and brother for 10 days and celebrate with the world.

2022 FIFA World Cup - Qatar

Group Stage USA v. England (DRAW)

2022 FIFA World Cup - Qatar

Group Stage Japan 2 : Germany 1

But before ALL of this, there was the "sports bra" heard 'round the world.  The 1999 Women's World Cup Final. USA v. China. Pasadena. Sell out crowd of 90,185.

CREDIT: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

 0-0 draw after extra time… led to penalties. GAH!

Each team made their PK's…until the 3rd PK for China was saved by US Goalie, Brianna Scurry. (also a legend!)

Brandi Chastain stepped up in the 5th position, drilled it in, ripped off her shirt, and unleashed one of the most iconic celebrations in soccer history, men's or women's… cemented her legacy in US soccer forever.

In the days after, she was criticized for being disrespectful, for showing skin, being too brash, un-woman like-- but for many, including myself, the image endures as badassery personified. The gall of everyone seeing your sports bra (!)

FUN FACT: FIFA created a rule the following year— penalizing any player, man or woman, who removes their shirt during a goal celebration.

Here's what you might not have known-- Brandi Chastain was not supposed to shoot in the 5th position. She was supposed to go 6th in the line up (if it came to a 6th).

Additionally, US coach Tony DiCicco, told her to take it with her left foot. To be sure, she was always considered a two-footed player, but she had NEVER taken a penalty with her left foot- EVER. He wanted her to use her left foot because he thought it would surprise the Chinese goalie.

He was Right.

When she was recently asked about the moment on the "Men in Blazers" podcast (so good and entertaining, BTW— check it out!)

She explained that DiCicco had brought her back to the National Team (post-injury), switched her position (from striker to the back line). And when he told her to take the PK with her left foot-- despite never taking a penalty kick with her left foot in her LIFE… she did it because she could and he knew the same.

““When he came to me with anything, I knew he would not put me in a position to fail.””

— Brandi Chastain, Men in Blazers Podcast 8.2.2023

Well, that quote stopped me in my tracks. I hit pause and played it back.

In a nutshell, that is leadership at work.

He believed.

He 100% believed in her ability to convert the PK. He believed in her confidence and trusted his own instincts as a coach. And he believed in her left foot.

She believed.

She believed she was made for that moment. She believed if her coach told her she should do it….that she could.

The intersection of trust, respect and ability— that is the magic that makes impossible things possible.

The World Cup is perhaps the most exaggerated example I could use, the biggest stage in the world, and yet, I KNOW from my experience, that leadership brilliance can be seen and heard every day, under any circumstance.

Imagine what we would be collectively be capable of if we all felt the same as Brandi and Tony at that time ...

 we would be Unstoppable. on the pitch. Off the pitch. At home. In the office.

That is the power of trust and confidence.

The rest as you know, is history. The US Women’s National Team became the defining force in the women’s game, winning two more World Cups in 2015 and 2019, until two days ago, when it all screeched to a halt. (that is another blog post!)

As for me, I'm going to watch the rest of the tournament and cheer on my other team, Japan. (I promise you— they're going to be in the final.) And while the US women couldn't quite get the job done this time around, I know we'll be back-- because even the best in the world need a reset.

If you're not on the soccer bus, hop on! If you already are-- then you already know how special it all is, particularly if you've been to a World Cup.

Enjoy the rest of the Cup-- because we got next. #2026

Until next time my friends…Be well & stay well!

Jean

PS: a very special shout out to all of my World Cup friends I’ve made over the years…your enduring friendships are treasured!

The Art of Nemawashi

We’ve all been there— you spend an exorbitant number of hours on a proposal or presentation for work— revising, reworking, crossing every T and dotting every I. You walk into the meeting, maybe you’ve listened to your favorite song to pump you up (Lizzo? Queen?), completed your requisite power pose (Thanks Amy Cuddy! ),and head in — confident and capable. #readytoslay

But somehow the meeting goes awry and the leadership team throws up ALL OVER IT. (sigh)

It happens every day, all the time. You were prepared, you had the data, you have the right solution— and when it first happens to you— you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the hell happened?

The answer?

Nemawashi. AKA- the meeting before the meeting.

Thank you, Lin Manuel Miranda!

Simply put, nemawashi is the Japanese concept of informally socializing change, a new idea, a shift in strategy with stakeholders BEFORE you get into the “room where it happens". (Hi Hamilton!)

Translated literally, the Japanese characters are “ne”, or root, and “mawasu” — to go around. The idea is that if you want to move a tree to a new location, you “go around the root” and work carefully so once you transplant the tree, the tree will adapt seamlessly to the new environment.

In my experience in working with C-suite leaders and leaders of large organizations, surprises are not unexpected, but typically not welcomed.

i.e.— they are paid to deal with “surprises”, but most would rather not deal with them, particularly if it means taking a different path from A to Z.

I was pretty far into my career when I finally understood the art of newamashi and the importance of the step before heading into any major meetings that involved a new approach.

At its core- it’s a reminder that not everyone is going to come along for the ride with you and you might need to give a little more TLC than others.

On the flip side, unchecked newamashi can be 100% unproductive… inefficient, and not conducive to quick decision making.

In those cases, the practice of newamashi is exhausting, frustrating and entirely too time consuming. There has to be a healthy balance somewhere.

So I’m going to keep this simple— let’s not overthink this one, friends!

The lesson here is with anything in life … whether it is work, personal, relationships— big decisions…(even with decisions that seemingly only affect you), require you to take a moment to understand who your stakeholders are— and take a minute to “tend to the roots.”

You want your solutions and ideas to flourish; and if you spend a little time upfront— my hope is that when the time comes, you will enjoy great success.

Be well, stay well. Mask up, sleeves up (when it’s time for your vaccine!)

Take care of yourself and each other!

Jean

The Floor is LAVA!!!!

Ok folks— some of you may judge me for this, but my unofficial Facebook survey says I’m in the majority on this one. Netflix’s “The Floor is Lava” is officially my new escape.

It is totally ridiculous, contestants hamming it up trying to cross an obstacle course until they eventually successfully get to the end, or sadly, meet their demise in said lava.

Teams compete against each other to see how many of their team members can successfully get across and how long it takes them.

Sometimes they all make it across, sometimes none — and the teams are made of of 2-3 friends, usually linked by some common element. (college buddies, workout pals, co-workers, siblings, etc.)

By now you are wondering why I’m giving you a run down of the show. I’m an HR professional, not an entertainment reporter. Truth. Stay with me!

So Q (my 8 year old) and I were bingeing our 4th episode of the night, watching three teams trying to traverse the lava in the Planetarium. (BTW- all of the rooms have themes)

Team #1 - Three Beantown buddies (“the Bostonians”)— a young, trash talking bunch and invoking Tom Brady’s greatness to propel them through. I thought they had a shot.

Team #2 - A trio of middle-aged siblings (“the Siblings”) who looked fairly suburban (I’m sorry suburban friends!)— and their fun fact was that in their family- they had 36 grandkids. 36. That is a lot of epidurals.

Two of them had 12 in kids between them total (6 each), with the youngest brother with none. Pretty sure he’ll get them to the big 4-0 once he starts to procreate. I thought:

They are never going to make it. I mean— they don’t look athletic, and that woman has had 6 kids, I’m sure her core muscles are shot. Not gonna happen.

Team #3 - Dubbed the Tri Force Heroes — they were a group of 3 black women gamers, lovers of Zelda— super fit, lanky— with long limbs that I was sure would come in handy for the course.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I kind of have to so I can get to the end game.

Guess who won?

(dramatic pause)

---

Of course, the Siblings— the ones I thought would bite the dust earliest — prevailed and captured the lava lamp trophy.

Their adversaries took the course and tried to brute force their way through. They relied primarily on physical strength and agility to help them maneuver through the course independently.

The Siblings, however, stayed pretty close to one another on the course. They tested the stability of objects before they jumped. The used each other as backstops so they wouldn’t go flying off the end of moon rock. They steadied the sputnik-satellite thingy so another could walk on it safely. They spoke words of encouragement (“I love you”) — and I was literally like, is this the time to get sentimental??? You’re gonna drop in the lava!

Ultimately, their brains, strategy and teamwork guided the two brothers across. While the sister came up just short— there was no doubt her brothers would have made it across without her. #teamworkmakesthedreamwork

Which brings me to the moral of the this week’s blog: Unconscious Bias

A good friend last week thought I should write about unconscious bias— and I hesitated— I didn’t feel like I could author something compelling enough. But after watching this episode and I realized that I could make the concept more accessible to those who don’t quite understand it or are afraid of it.

Accessibility is an important part of the education process, because not everyone has the benefit of learning or observing what it is. Sometimes, you need the examples and analogies, for concepts to make sense.

I checked my bias and it was ALL OVER THE PLACE. See below.

"They look more fit”

“They are middle aged suburbanites”

“They are young and limber and are probably better athletes”

“She’s a mom to 6 kids, there is no way she can leap those rocks”

#SMH

Unconscious bias is bias that permeates the way you think, judge certain people and situations. They are stereotypes we employ all day, every day.

I have it.

You have it.

We all do.

And while this is a benign example— it is a reminder to me (and hopefully for you)— that you need to check your bias, because if it creeps in while you’re watching a TV show— then what do you think it’s doing when you go to work?

At the end— I should’ve known better than to second guess a mom of 6. If she can do that— she can do ANYTHING.

Including conquering the lava.

Would love to hear how you’re checking your bias… let me know!

Be Well, Stay well.

Jean

PS - apparently the creators went through 50 iterations of the lava formula to get it just the right lava-ness.

Congrats to the Sibs!

A Tale of Two Cities? Try 77.

A couple of days ago, I shared some pictures of my beloved Chicago, more specifically, my neighborhood, Bucktown.

Things have been calmer the last 48 hours in Bucktown, but the difference between rest and unrest can be a fine line in a city. I took my first walk around since the weekend, and I saw a lot of pain, remnants of destruction, countless tributes to George Floyd and others who have lost their lives, but also beauty, hope and helpers.

They say Chicago is a tale of two cities— North and South, but it is really 77 cities woven into one.

I still hold my breath when I hear of a protest, hoping it won’t turn violent and that cooler heads will prevail. The only thing I can hope for is progress. Incremental steps forward everyday.

I know a lot of organizations are looking for answers, actions, a new playbook. It’s ok not to have one just yet- the commitment to change and to do something different is more important right now. The issues of systemic racism and bias have been so deeply entrenched for centuries- fight to urge to “fix”.

Declare your intent.

Then look, listen and learn.

Sharing some new pictures — some might see spray paint and boards. I saw inspiration and hope.

Be well & stay well,

J