I hear from a lot of people who feel tired, stifled, belittled, overwhelmed, and patronized at work. They feel disrespected in meetings, put down by their "teammates," or are just exhausted to their core. So many of us put up with jobs and organizations that diminish who we fundamentally are. We feel bad, heavy, or mixed up at work but tell ourselves that it's just because we're not tough enough to "hang." We become convinced that since we feel badly, something must be wrong with us.
Read MoreWe need a new vision for work - a vision that's more alive and more vibrant than the mechanical environments that most of us are offered in our jobs today.
Many of us still believe in old stories about work, stories that tell us things like: "you need a boss," "what matters is the bottom line," or "once you get to the top, you'll be happy."
Even if we know those things aren't true, we still cling to them and strive to fit into stories that don't serve us. We're hungry for something else, but we aren't quite sure what that is.
Read MoreI grew up as the oldest of five kids. Our family of seven was...bustling, to say the least.
As the oldest, I thought it was my job to minimize the stress on my parents as much as possible, and so I got very good at being obedient (until my teenage years, anyway - but that's a post for another day).
I was a pretty mellow kid and didn't get bored easily, and my siblings were fairly similar. One thing we heard over and over again at church was "you kids are so well-behaved!"
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