I literally whacked myself in the head today. Don’t ask me how exactly, but I managed to open the passenger car door into my face. I am lucky I didn’t break my nose, but as I sat with my head tilted back and bag of ice on my face, I wondered what the universe might be trying to tell me.\n\nThe message I chose to hear, is that I need to stop moving so fast…slow down. So instead of the typical frantic pace of a Monday morning, I paused instead of pushed. I cleared some space to think. I got out in nature walked around a nearby lake and explored my new surroundings. I sat quietly for 30 minutes. I read more about a topic of interest. I let myself breathe. I need to make some strategic decisions, and my mind had been too cluttered to think clearly. I didn’t find “the answer” today, but I am happy to report that I feel my mind is in a better place to find it.\n\nIs it the job of a leader to “whack” people in the head in the figurative sense? Yes! To ask the hard questions? Yes! To give constructive feedback? Yes!\n

Ideally, people would whack themselves in the head – like I did.   But they usually don’t, content to continue on the same path without stop along the way to see how things are going or if they should move in another direction.  So while I don’t condone violence, I am a proponent of shaking things up. So punch yourself, slap a peer, pummel an employee and see what happens.