Margie’s Insights & Interviews
Welcome to Margie’s blog where she shares personal stories, interviews, tools and more for living bravely.
Don’t assume. Ask!
Ever find yourself feeling resentful at people for what they do... or fail to do? Perhaps your boss just puts too much on your plate or doesn’t pay you what you're worth. Maybe a co-worker, friend or family member continually oversteps boundaries, or continually asks...
Lean Toward Discomfort
Whether it's change you choose or change forced upon you, change looms large on the horizon for 2017. You will handle it better and seize it's opportunities when you lean into the discomfort it always holds. As we look out toward the year ahead, change looms large...
Build Your Courage Muscles
Courage is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. And in our increasingly fearful world, it's a muscle we must practice daily. Here's 7 ways to help you do just that. Of course while fear often gets a bad rap, without it our cave dwelling ancestors...
How Will You Show Up For Life?
"First say to yourself what would you BE, and then do what you have to DO." - Epiticus It's great to focus on what you want to accomplish in the year ahead. Habits you want to start. Or quit. Goals you want to achieve. Changes you want to make. Money you want to earn....
Risk More Rejection
When I met Teresa while running a leadership program at her company, she was miserable in her job as a risk analyst and had been for over 12 months. A year earlier she had applied for more senior position in her firm. When it was given to a less experienced analyst,...
Five Powerful Questions To End 2016 Strong
As we near the end of the year it’s easy to get so caught up in all that still needs to get done that we fail to look back on the year just gone – to acknowledge how far we’ve come and who we’ve become in the process. I am sure you’ve done plenty this year. And I’m...
Spread Joy, Not Stress
Nearly every person I've spoken to over the last week or so has mentioned to me how much they have on this merry month of December. Holiday parties. School concerts. Travel planning. Teacher gifts. Card writing. Present shopping. Christmas decorating. Gift wrapping....
Women Going Global
Last week I had the opportunity to facilitate a 'power panel' of female founders at Business Chicks 'Movers and Breakers' conference. It's easy to look at women like Samantha Wills, Emma Isaacs and Lizzy Abegg - three trailblazing Australian entrepreneurs who have...
Make The Best Of Your Mistakes
I’m sure, like me, you’ve made your share of mistakes over the years. Times you’ve made a bad decision or taken too long to make any at all! The word mistake comes from the Latin to “miss-step.” Mistakes are, literally, nothing more or less than a step (or two) in the...
Be Trust-Worthy: Stand By Your Beliefs
Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with former Australian Prime Minister John Howard. We were both keynote speakers at the same conference and ended up having time together between speeches and afterward at a reception. Like every political leader,...
Make Big Plans, Just Use Pencil
I’ve been doing a lot of rejigging of plans this week. I had big plans for a jam packed trip to the US in a few weeks, including day in Vegas to speak at a leadership conference. Due to some pretty major stuff that’s happened with the client organization, the event...
Rethink Possible
When I was living in Washington D.C., I landed a regular advice segment on the national cable show RLTV (Retirement Living TV). I knew their market was 'seniors' but I recall shuddering when the producer defined seniors as "50 plus". While I was further from 50 then...
How To Raise Brave Girls
On my 40th birthday my daughter Maddy, 10 at the time, gave me a handcrafted birthday voucher on which she wrote: “This vowcher lets you be my gest at the Oscars when I am nomnated for best actres.” (I figured she stood more chance of that than winning the national...
Run Your Own Best Race
Do not waste time focusing on the gifts or good luck of others. Focus only on making the most of your own. One of my favorite images from the Olympics was of South African Chad Le Clos in the 200m butterfly final glancing across to his arch rival Michael Phelps in the...
Time To Tell A New Story?
I'm not sure if you're an Olympics fan, but despite not being fanatical about any sport, the Olympics have reeled me in to my TV set over the last couple weeks. From Michael Phelps to Usain Bolt, their stories of persistence and determination are inspiring. Of course...
What Would You Write On The Courage Wall? Don’t Wish It. Do It.
Get a new job. Not worry about money. Eat mayo. Travel to a foreign country. Ask for help. Try out for the Princeton crew team. Bike over a volcano. Ask for Date #2. Go into a shelter. Quit my job. Tell my secrets. Love myself. These are some of the things people have...
Win The War On Terror: Don’t Fuel Fear
Terrorist attacks. Police shootings. Brexit. Political coups. Refugee crisis. Zika virus. President Trump. Let’s face it, we live in fearful times. There’s no shortage of headlines alerting us potential threats to our safety and future. Which is why, when headlines...
Listen Up! You May Just Learn Something
Ever been in a conversation where you felt like the person you were talking to wasn’t listening to a word you said because they were too busy trying to convince you of their opinion? Yep, me too. It’s a common phenomenon. So much so that there’s likely been times...
Your Failures Don’t Define You
If you study history, you will find that all stories of great success are also stories of great triumph over adversity. But often we overlook the setbacks and only see the end success. We think the person got lucky: “He/she must have been at the right place at the right time.” Or maybe they were just really smart. Or talented. Or well connected. But that’s all bunk. While it may have been a little bit of each, what ultimately led to their success was their refusal to allow their setbacks and failures to define them.
Choose Growth Over Comfort
Last year I was invited to interview Sir Richard Branson on his private Caribbean island. A career highlight for sure! Fortunately for me, "Just call me Richard" is incredibly down to earth person who quickly puts people at ease around him. Phew. During our interview...
