Erik Foley

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Erik Foley

Five Resources Sustainability Brings to a Crisis (and Recovery)

Five Resources Sustainability Brings to a Crisis (and Recovery)

In a crisis, sustainability needs to be at the table. The matrix of relationships, understanding of complexity, and penchant for courageous innovation among skilled practitioners make sustainability professionals key assets. I will suggest five resources sustainability brings to the table during the crisis, during recovery, and in the renewed world

How to Survive and Thrive Right Now as a Sustainability Professional

How to Survive and Thrive Right Now as a Sustainability Professional

To save you and I both some writing and reading time, I could summarize my point this way: make it a business meeting, not a sustainability meeting. But you would wonder what I meant....fine. Here's what I mean: Several years ago, I was helping a large pharmaceutical

Mother Magic and The Invisible Labor of Christmas

Mother Magic and The Invisible Labor of Christmas

This idea and concept comes from my wife Dr. JoAnn Foley-DeFiore. She, like mothers everywhere, has put the magic in our holiday gatherings for years and not received nearly enough credit, commendation or compensation. Let's set the record straight on Christmas: a fat white guy who works one

The Sincerity Trap: How Some Leaders Misuse Emotion

The Sincerity Trap: How Some Leaders Misuse Emotion

From the toolbox of leadership, a troubling item has emerged: the weaponization of sincerity. In this story, Brene Brown and others who advocate for open hearted and vulnerable leadership are cast as the brilliant inventors who may have lost control of their creation. The mask of emotion used to manipulate

The Power of Small Time: Thinking Slow in the Fast Lane

The Power of Small Time: Thinking Slow in the Fast Lane

A quiet leadership crisis is unfolding: the erosion of time to think. Many leaders I work with in corporations around the world express a yearning for deeper thinking time amidst their busyness. They understand when I say the mantra should be to "think slow and act fast." Yet,

Reimagining Strategy: If Toni Morrison Led the Boardroom

Reimagining Strategy: If Toni Morrison Led the Boardroom

What would it look like if Toni Morrison led a strategic planning retreat? I am forever in the midst of a human experiment, on myself. The experiment is to intentionally combine ideas often kept apart. In Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson suggests putting such segregated ideas together is

5 Reasons Every CEO and Business Student Should Watch OUR PLANET

5 Reasons Every CEO and Business Student Should Watch OUR PLANET

Being sick can be a great source of inspiration. For me, I was recovering recently from Lyme disease and while couch-bound I decided to finish a series I had started, Our Planet (Netflix), an incredible, technology-enabled deep dive (literally) into our natural world. Every CEO and business student should watch