Dori’s Blog, Articles & Inspiration
Book Review: Crucial Conversations — Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, & Emily Gregory
This is another book that I read over 20 years ago, when it first appeared. In fact, I still have my original copy. I bought the new one when a client asked me to come back into her workplace and do some leadership development, communications training and team building with her team. She and her peers in her work place had been reading this book so I wanted to brush up on it as a backdrop to our planning and preparation.
Book Review: The Success Principles — How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield, with Janet Switzer
Jack Canfield is the author and/or co-author of over 150 books, with over 100 million copies sold in 47 languages. The Success Principles is one of his bestselling books and “has legs,” debuting in a 10th anniversary edition in 2015. I had this book, read parts of it, let it go, got it again, listened to more of it, let it go and got it again and am reading it, and listening to it, cover to cover!
Book Review: The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
What I love most about Rick Rubin’s gem of a book is that it has invited me to play again, to create for the sake of creating, to loosen my grip a little on outcomes and enjoy the process, to realize that I am an artist, a creator. We all are.
Transitions: Strategies for Coping with the Difficult, Painful and Confusing Times in Your Life
For years, I’ve felt that the energy in my home was stagnating and I’ve yearned for more flow. The part of me that can see almost everything in life as a waking dream or through the lenses of pattern and symbol is very clear that my home is holding up a mirror for me, showing me the clutter and debris in the way of all that is truly me.
The Beginning
I am activating my observer, really paying attention to my behaviors, my environment, my thoughts, my beliefs, and appreciating all the things that have fueled or inspired me in the past that may be having a different impact now… including, blocking the energy, stopping the flow, leaving me feeling stuck in my otherwise beautiful life and home.
Perspective and Solace – Updated, September 30, 2024
This blog, originally posted on December 28, 2022, feels just as relevant now as it did then. While the sources of unprecedented turmoil have morphed and changed (e.g., ongoing challenges with COVID-19, monkey pox and triple E, a looming expansion of war in the Middle East, massively destructive weather-related events, and the uncertainty and divisions tethered to the upcoming elections in the United States), so many of us are still experiencing the overwhelm that we were engulfed in by end-2022.
Welcoming All Of You, As You Are
This blog was originally posted on November 22, 2022, yet the message feels just as relevant now, so I wanted to share it again. And…given some of the tough stuff happening at the time, I wanted to share an update.
Not Just a Pretty Face
After a friend had to cancel her visit to me for the first week of July, I felt a tug to “fill in the time” with a new plan. I noticed a bit of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) popping up as everyone I knew seemed to be going somewhere special for the holiday week and to kick off their summers.
My BE BOLD Story with Katherine Morales
In this second episode of “Authentic Conversations with Entrepreneurs” with Katherine Morales, I shared my Authentic Story of devastating loss in my 20s, a lack of acknowledgment or empathy from my employer and how all of that led me on a journey to helping myself and others to “Be BIG” and say “YES to life!”
A Gift You Can Give The World: Cultivating The Leader Within You
I arose to the sound of the doorbell and an unexpected visit from a fellow football mom, former client and friend. She happened to be in the neighborhood and had come by to leave me a beautiful little bouquet of flowers, a simple gesture, both to honor our friendship and to celebrate a milestone in my business.
Underneath It All, Real Is Real
After several of my fellow mystery scholars started an email-based discussion about the new movie Mignonnes, aka “Cuties,” on Netflix, I became curious.
Becoming Your Best, True & Whole Self
In June, while exercising in my neighborhood, I passed an older gentleman. He looked quite fit in his racing bike attire and was taking a break. Leaning on his recumbent bicycle in the shade of a tree, he took a sip from his water bottle and kept staring at me as I approached. I nodded to him and he smiled back.
A Shift In Perspective Is A Miracle
Perspectives work is about freedom, movement, core values and the power of choice. It gets us out of stagnation and into action, right action, meaningful action and aligned action. There are many reasons to do perspectives work. Among them, it gets us moving again, which makes it one of the most powerful tools in my coaching toolbox.
An Invitation to Embrace Your True Inner Authority – My Manifesto
Emboldened by my recent work with Tara Mohr and her Playing Big Facilitator’s Training and reinvigorated by my recent work with Carole Kammen, where we played with Voice Dialog, an exciting and powerful method for exploring our many selves, co-created by Sidra and Hal Stone, I am excited about my life.
How To Be Decisive In Uncertain Times
Jenny is a client of mine who, in the middle of this pandemic, found herself trying to decide whether to quit her job or not. She was beating herself up unnecessarily for “not being decisive.” In her pre-COVID-19 life, she was considering leaving her corporate gig and starting her own business.
The Lilac Story – A Lesson In Leadership & Gifts That Keep On Giving
Recently, my husband, Michael, and I raised a glass to toast his mom, my mother-in-law, Jacqueline Klass, affectionately known as Jackie. She would’ve been 93 had she still been alive. She was a quiet and diminutive, yet formidable and heart-centered, force of nature; someone who always had your back, the kind of mother I would wish on anyone I know.
What Will Be Left As A Testimony To Your Story?
On day 7 of our 14-day tour of National and State Parks in Arizona and Utah, my husband, Michael, and I enjoyed Arches National Park, in Moab, Utah. In the guide to the park, they highlighted that each of the 2000 arches catalogued has its own lifespan, timespan and story. None will be here forever.
My Vision For Humanity – How To Lead Well & Love Our Lives
Hi, my name is Dori Klass. It’s January 1st, 2019. This date feels important. It’s the beginning of the rest of my life. I’m 58 years old. I’ll be 59 in May. If I look at it through one lens, I realize that a big part of my young productive life is over. Many of us are facing this new question – what if I’m around for another 40 or 50 years? It’s a question that makes me sit up a little straighter. How about you?
Choose Powerfully
Are you struggling with a significant event, loss or transition in your life – health, relationship, career? Are you feeling stuck and out of control; dominated by external factors and forces? Unable to move forward positively and meaningfully?
Know Yourself
Are you struggling with a decision? Are you paralyzed by too many options and behaving strangely because of it? Are you noticing yourself feeling wishy washy or ambivalent, operating from an “either this or that” perspective?