Strong Ground summary

Once we’ve started reconnecting with our core, our next challenge is to build some strength. Strength is what allows us to keep showing up when it would be so much easier to shut down. True strength looks less like gritted teeth and white knuckles and more like meeting uncertainty with courage and self-respect.

Courage begins where certainty ends. Courage is also better framed as a choice, not a trait. It’s the decision to admit a mistake to our boss, to speak up at the dinner table, to take a leap of faith that feels aligned but no less scary. Vulnerability, then, is the beating heart of courage. It’s the difference between protecting ourselves and evolving ourselves; fastening our armor and peeling it off. Both can be draining, but only courage grounded in vulnerability is ultimately sustainable. 

With our core and strength shaping up, our next frontier is our awareness. Awareness is what takes grounded confidence from something largely turned inward to something largely turned outward, enabling us to stay attuned to others and to the shifting dynamics of the complex world around us.

Awareness starts with perception, but perception alone isn’t enough. True awareness asks us to see and understand others or dynamics, not just register them. For instance, situational awareness helps us “read the room” and anticipate challenges. Whether in the boardroom or dining room, situational awareness encourages us to zoom out, take stock, and respond accurately and appropriately.

The penultimate skill set and mindset we want to develop is our thinking. We discussed metacognition in the first section, but we will unpack distinct types of thinking in this section – specifically, those essential to living, loving, and leading with grounded confidence today.

Critical thinking is the first type of thinking to tap into. In an age of constant noise and competing narratives, learning to pause and examine what we’re told is mission-critical – and far easier said than done. A simple yet revealing question to cut through the clutter is “Who profits from people believing this?” This kind of inquiry hones our discernment, encouraging us to make informed, rather than impulsive, decisions.

The final skill set and mindset to train is communication. Once we’ve learned to think critically and creatively, we need to express these thoughts in ways that connect, build trust, and galvanize action. 

Start by making your communications accessible and clear. We’re after DUPLO, not LEGO. We all have a collection of topics and issues for which we possess a rich and expansive understanding. However, when discussing or explaining these things to others, we want to trade complexity – LEGO – for simplicity – DUPLO. This applies whether you’re writing a company-wide memo or talking to your kids in the car. Make your message easy to follow and anticipate confusion before it arises.